Business leaders slam Darusman Report

The private sector, in a critique released last week, has slammed the Darusman Report, saying that demonising the Government's strategy against terror would only fester old wounds.

The assessment released by the private sector highlighted several major flaws in the Darusman Report. "It is time to move on in constructive ways. The interim report of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) has some realistic suggestions. It is far from perfect, but it may be a step in the right direction," the assessment noted.

The business leaders took exception to the Darusman Report's description of the LLRC as "deeply flawed" saying it was imprudent for the Panel of Experts (POE) to express such a judgement without waiting for the LLRC's Report.

The statement was issued by the grouping comprising the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce, the Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry of Sri Lanka, the National Chamber of Commerce of Sri Lanka and the Joint Apparel Association Forum, which dealt comprehensively with the 200-page report by POE.

The report will be forwarded to relevant agencies of the UN and the Colombo-based diplomatic missions. The Government has welcomed the private sector initiative. Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa and External Affairs Minister Prof. G.L. Peiris have appreciated the move.The business community in its report criticised the POE for categorising the LTTE as the most "disciplined" and most nationalist of the Tamil militant groups in spite of being proscribed in 32 countries, including India, US, Canada and EU.

The critique highlighted the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi by the LTTE as one of the LTTE's most heinous crimes. "To describe the LTTE as "disciplined", particularly in the backdrop of the POE's own findings that the LTTE killed civilians who were attempting to flee the area, forcibly conscripted children, used civilians as "cannon fodder", and forced the already traumatised civilians to dig trenches amounts to a grave blow to the very principles of humanity and the dignity of all those who have suffered at the hands of the LTTE,"it said.