Sri Lankan spokesman in London Tv debate says it is ridiculous to
ask for ceasefire for defeated terrorists
(By Walter Jayawardhana)
While Sri Lankans, Tamils and Sinhalese alike rejoice
the defeat of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, (LTTE) and more than one
hundred thousand Tamil civilians ran away from them, it is ridiculous
some Tamil Londoners demonstrate asking a ceasefire as a last ditch to
save the terrorists, said Douglas Wickramaratne in London's Sunrise TV
breakfast show.
Douglas Wickramarane , the President of UK's Sinhala
Association and a Tamil spokesman Arjunan Ediriweerasingham debated the
controversial London demonstration carrying the official LTTE flag and
blocking streets of the parliament.
Wickramaratne said, "This is an unauthorized
demonstration by a banned terrorist group even carrying the terrible
LTTE flag. Will the British government ever allow Al-Qaeda to hold a
rally blocking London streets."
When one of the two interviewers asked Arjunan
Edirweerasingham about the human shield used by the LTTE to protect
their own skin the Tamil spokesman said there is credibility about such
stories because the Sri Lankan government has not allowed the Western
press there.
But when Wickremaratne said the UN as well as Sir John
Holmes have stated so, Edirweerasingham asked "Who is this Mr. Holmes?"
Then the Sinhala Association President had to tell him that Sir John
Holmes is an under secretary general of the United Nations.
When one of the interviewers said that they saw Tamil
civilians not walking to the other side from the LTTE enclave but
virtually running away from the LTTE enclave the London Tamil spokesman
evaded in his reply.
Douglas Wickramaratne said the LTTE had treated the
civilians very cruelly in the past by implementing "ethnic cleansing" by
chasing out the Sinhalese and then 100,000 Muslims from Jaffna allowing
them to take just œ 5 worth of Sri Lankan money and those civilians are
still languishing in various camps. At that time, strangely, the people
who are clamouring about Tamil civilians, who are also victims of the
LTTE, were shamefully and strangely silent, Wickramaratne said.
Edirweerasingham said Sri Lanka's real problem is the
Tamil rights have been crushed by the Sri Lanka government and they are
imposing Sinhalese as the sole state language since 1956. He also
accused the government of killing thousands of Tamils.
Wickramaratne said Sri Lanka is the only country in
the world which has made Tamil a state language while there about 100
million Tamils all over the world. Tamil enjoys parity with the
Sinhalese as the national state languages and in India where there are
70 million Tamils it is only a provincial language, he said.
Wickramaratne called them one of the most priviledged minority in the
world.
Edirweerasingham reiterated the Tamils want a
ceasefire in the war to stop this genocide. The war should be stopped
forthwith. He said.
Wickramaratne said Sri Lanka is a sovereign nation and
its citizens , whether Sinhalese, Tamils or Muslims have got the right
to life. The perpetrators of the killing grounds, where the terrorists
walked into villages and slashed the abdomens of pregnant women, and
shot infants and killed in holy places are the LTTE. They have
strengthened themselves during past ceasefires. Another ceasefire means
another round of killings of impunity, Wickramaratne argued. |
