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ANANDA SANGAREE AND SIMON HUGHES BRUSH SHOULDERS AT THE SRI LANKA INDEPENDENCE DAY CELEBRATIONS IN LONDON

By Walter Jayawardhana

photo by Nimal Navaratne

Sri Lanka’s Tamil United Liberation Front leader V. Ananda Sangaree, Britains Liberal Democratic leader Simon Hughes, Labour Party state Minister Stephen Timms and British parliamentarians Steven Hammon and Andrew George were among the distinguished people who converged on London’s Sri Lanka High Commission to wish Sri Lanka their best wishes on the nation’s 60th Independence Day anniversary.

They were guests at a party attended by London’s diplomatic corps and the press hosted by Sri Lanka’s High Commissioner, Mrs. Kshenuka Seneviratne and Mr. Suren Seneviratne.
During Sri Lanka’s independence week I wanted to tell British parliamentarians the truth about Sri Lanka and expose the lies uttered by the LTTE, said Ananda Sangaree speaking to some British guests at the party.

During the independence week I flew to London to speak to some British parliamentarians who have been misguided by the false propaganda of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) against our motherland said Sangaree when asked by reporters why he was suddenly seen in London instead of Colombo. Informed sources close to Sangaree said Liberal Democrat Simon Hughes was one of the British leaders to whom the TULF leader spoke.

The diplomatic and press party to commemorate Sri Lanka’s 60th anniversary was held on February 5 while the flag hoisting ceremony of the independence anniversary was held on February 4 at the High Commission Building at 13 Hyde Park Gardens in London. On February 4th the Sri Lankans rejoiced themselves by eating kevum, kokis and kiribath.

Sri Lankan High Commissioner in London
Mrs. Kshenuka Seneviratne in an animated conversation with
Liberal Democratic leader Simon Hughes at the
Sri Lanka independence day celebrations in London Feb 5
(Photo by Nimal Navaratne)

“Over the past 60 yrs,” said High Commissioner Kshenuka Seneviratne, “ our country has made remarkable progress economically, socially and politically with all nationals being stake holders in this progress. As a result of our free education policies we have a high literacy rate comparable with the developed world. Our public health service has contributed to increasing life expectancy. We have progressed to the status of a middle income country and sustain a 6 to7% annual growth in spite of the conflict.”

Mrs. Seneviratne, said Sri Lanka has a progressive private sector spearheading export led growth and a service sector comparable with developed regions of the world. “Successive governments,” she said, “ have also preserved our democratic traditions with regular elections and a vibrant multi-party system. We can therefore on a day such as this rejoice about our achievements.”

The Sri Lankan lady envoy in Britain said, today an ambitious rehabilitation and reconstruction programme has been launched in the eastern province. Very soon this year we will have elections in the east thereby restoring the democratic rights of the civilians. The government is keen to ensure that the people in all parts of the Northern Province also very soon enjoy the same rights and freedom, and is taking concerted action to this end to eradicate terrorism in this region.
Nearly 500 people gathered on both days to celebrate the Indian Ocean island republic’s independence celebration after living under the British colonial rule over one hundred years.

London Buddhist Vihara’s Venerable Bogoda Seelawimala, A Hindu priest Sri Ranganatha, Rev. Father Nimal Ponweera and Mr.Al Haj Ishack Thahir officiated at the religious observances before the High Commissioner hoisted the national flag solemnly marking the independence celebrations.
Mrs. Seneviratne appealed to the Sri Lankan expatriates present at the ceremony to make use of their maximum power as registered voters of Britain for the benefit of their mother country.
Meanwhile V. Ananda Sangaree told guests at the independence party that when he was travelling abroad once he was confronted by varied propagandists supporting the LTTE.

One such person in Canada once asked him whether he knew that the Sri Lanka Army has raped about 75,000 Tamil women. Sangaree said that he told the accuser if he could give 10 names of the 75,000 he would immediately quit politics. The person could not give the audience a single name, the Tamil leader said. Such are the lies our nation has to confront he lamented.

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