http://www.defence.lk/new.asp?fname=20120206_04

Sri Lanka Defense Secretary refutes allegation of extremist elements
Defense Secretary Mr. Gotabaya Rajapaksa has stoutly denied
allegations that he was militarizing the Northern Province. He has said that
troops are maintaining only "absolutely essential" presence in all the districts
in the country.
Responding to the charge by Tamil parties and the pro-LTTE
elements overseas that army camps have flooded the North Mr. Rajapaksa has said
that within a short time of ending the 30-year war against terror huge
development activities have been carried out in the North and the armed forces
have contributed in the implementation of many of these projects.
The Defense Secretary in an interview to the Indian daily
"Deccan Herald" has reminded that what Sri Lanka faced was not an ordinary
insurgency but real war, and the LTTE cannot be compared with any other
terrorist outfit, not even Al-Qaeda. He has called upon the extremist Tamil
politicians to shed Tamil extremism and grab the post-war opportunities to
assist their long suffered community. He has said that it is sad to note that no
one appreciates what the country has achieved in such a short time by resettling
nearly 300,000 war-displaced civilians and rehabilitating about 11,000 Tiger
cadres, besides carrying out massive development activities in the North.
The Defense Secretary has pointed out that international
agencies, including the French MSF (Medicines Sans Frontiers) and the Indian
medical team, were present in the battle zone to receive survivors and
surrendered militants. He has also pointed that Sri Lanka has now transferred
law and order to the police and started recruiting Tamil policemen. He has said
recruitment to military had stopped and even retirement vacancies were not
filled. But they could not send back the soldiers after having used them to win
the war as they were breadwinners. Nevertheless, there would be sizeable
military presence to ensure that the "past does not revisit".
Courtesy : Department of Government Information