By Walter Jayawardhana

President Mahinda Rajapaksa said there is no possible way of reverting back to the inglorious past of letting the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) once again run the Eastern and Northern Province as allowed according to a document produced by the United National Party, trampling the human rights of all people with impunity.

He said the IDP camps have hundreds of Tamil children who have now started going to school with their school bags across the shoulders in place of the rifles from the child soldier camps of the LTTE, formerly, where they were detained to stay surrounded by barbed wire fences and stolen from their parents.

He said today there is no racial, religious, caste or any other discriminations in the country violating any human rights.

The President was addressing the Tamil and Muslim communities of Matara and Hambantota Districts at Medamoolana, his ancestral home.

He said, all communities have the right to live on an equal footing today proudly.

The President recalled how the LTTE started killing Tamil leaders starting from Alfred Duraiappa, the former Mayor of Jaffna. They also killed a Sri Lankan President and inflicted injuries to an eye of another President. Finally, they came to Akmeemana and attacked a ceremony organised there. The LTTE killed infants and even unborn children who were still in their mothersƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ wombs.

They killed Muslims in the East. Thousands of Muslims were driven out of Muttur. But the President pointed out that he was able to resettle them in the District within 40 days. He questioned whether there was any other country where displaced civilians were resettled within 40 days pointing out Palestinians are languishing in their camps for years,still. All communities can now live within the country without fear and suspicion and engage in their jobs. Some claim that Sri Lanka does not respect human rights. The President queried as to what rights other than this they were talking about. He said the Government had been able to enthrone the rights of the people who were deprived of them by the LTTE. This is the freedom that is prevailing in the country. He said the government has also strengthened an independent judiciary in the country.

President Rajapaksa further said no one queried whether the issue of human rights was raised when the LTTE chased out Muslims in their thousands from Jaffna. There was no other Government than the present administration which adverted attention to the needs and the rights of the masses.

The President said the Late S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike succeeded in effecting a clear change to the countryƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s economy and espousing indigenous culture. He described him as a noble leader who rejected the UNP and founded the SLFP. The President recalled that D.A. Rajapaksa, his father, was the only Parliamentarian to join Mr. Bandaranaike when he crossed over to the Opposition after ditching the United National Party.

Ministers Maithripala Sirisena, Nimal Siripala De Silva, Chamal Rajapaksa, A.H.M. Fowzie and Bandula Gunawardena, Deputy Ministers Lionel Premasiri and Vadivel Suresh, Parliamentarian Nirupama Rajapaksa, Presidential Advisor A.H.M. Azwer and many Southern political representatives were present