International   

Anandasangaree’s plea to Prabakaran

B. Muralidhar Reddy

COLOMBO: In an open letter to LTTE leader Prabakaran, president of the Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF) V. Anandasangaree has urged the LTTE chief to give up his demand for separation and accept a federal solution within a united Sri Lanka.

In a 10-page letter titled “The only way open” released here, Mr. Anandasangaree has sought to remind Mr. Prabakaran of the hardship, sufferings and ruination brought upon by the policies of his organisation on people of north and east and asserted that a federal solution would “receive very wide support, surprisingly even from un-expected quarters”.

He urged Mr. Prabakaran to understand his concerns, for the Tamil speaking people in particular and of all Sri Lankans in general. “Since things seem to be going out of control, please take suitable remedial measures to bring back peace and tranquillity to a suffering nation, without any further delay.”

He said some of the matters he was referring to in the letter were not brought to the LTTE leader’s attention in his previous letters. “The time has now come for you to take full responsibility for the present precarious condition in which our people live.”

Mr. Anandasangaree urged Mr. Prabakaran to act with responsibility and caution, forgetting all that had happened and work for a prosperous future of all the people of Sri Lanka.

“Like some others who project the LTTE as the sole representatives of the Tamil people, I will not do so because you are not considered by the Tamil people as such, mainly due to your ruthlessness. You know very well that you have earned the name as the most ruthless person in the world. Are you not aware that you are fast losing your credibility day by day, by causing terror and tension to the people.”

The TULF leader said S.J.V. Chelvanayagam’s newly formed alliance would have sorted out the Tamil problem peacefully but it is Mr. Prabakaran who aggravated the situation by taking drastic steps, never heard of in the history of Jaffna till that time.

“You should be held responsible for the deaths of over 70,000 people of all faiths, of all age groups, of both sexes of all communities in Sri Lanka not only at the battle front but also in land and claymore mine attacks, hand grenade and bomb attacks and also massacres of innocent ones in buses, trains, etc. The Kepitigolawa and Aranthalawa massacres, attempt to sink the ship carrying 700 service personnel in mid-sea, the killing of the hundred odd Navy personnel going on leave and returning for duty and many other massacres in the mosques etc. cannot be justified. What harm did the 31 innocent Buddhist priests you slaughtered at Aranthalawa do to you?

“Can you cite one single incident of this nature in which a Sinhalese civilian got involved. Furthermore please take it for granted that up to now not one Tamil life was taken by any one of those so called Buddhist Sinhala chauvinist although some talk irresponsibly.”

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

Olmert hopeful of peace process
Blair to be West Asia envoy?
Anandasangaree’s plea to Prabakaran
Sarkozy warns Sudan of tough measures
Pakistan protests NATO killings
Pakistan turns to OIC on Rushdie
Lethal strain
India, Bangladesh begin talks
Tulbul-Wullar talks postponed

Copyright © 2007, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu