http://www.dailynews.lk/2012/05/07/news01.asp

Govt. tracking down ex-LTTe cadres who avoided post-war rehabilitation

38 taken for questioning

May 5, 2012, 6:48 pm

By Shamindra Ferdinando

In the wake of a simmering row over search operations in the East, a senior police official said on Friday that 38 ex-members of the LTTE had been taken for questioning.

Responding to a query by The Sunday Island, the official said that the government had no option but to track down those who had avoided the post-war rehabilitation process.


During a recent operation conducted in the East, the police had detained 38 persons, though over 100 persons were initially questioned. The Terrorist Investigation Division (TID) was now in the process of identifying ex-LTTE cadres who had to be rehabilitated regardless of opposition by the Tamil National Alliance (TNA).


TNA leader R. Sampanthan last week demanded President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s intervention to secure the release of those taken in by the TID.


The official said that the government couldn’t change its security policy to appease the TNA which once categorized the LTTE as the sole representative of the Tamil speaking people.


A spokesman from the president’s office said the TNA leader had conveniently forgotten that his party wouldn’t have been able to even engage in politics without the LTTE’s permission if the government failed in its war on terror campaign.


MP Sampanthan, who had remained silent while the LTTE forcibly conscripted children to be used as cannon fodder, today criticized the police and armed forces engaged in legitimate internal security operations, he said.


In spite of fully enjoying the peace dividend since the conclusion of the conflict in May three years ago, Sampanthan had been continuously targeting the President, the government and its armed forces, both here and abroad, presidential spokesman, Bandula Jayasekara said.


In fact, the TNA leader had failed to realize that none of the Tamil speaking politicians would have been free to engage in politics as long as the LTTE remained active, he said. Instead of thanking the President for resolutely pursuing an outright battlefield victory in spite of heavy domestic and international pressure, the TNA was working overtime to undermine the incumbent government, he said.


It was unfortunate the TNA had failed to realize Tamil speaking people appreciated efforts made by the government to ensure post-war security and political stability, the presidential spokesman said.


Presidential spokesman said: "None of those complaining about routine security operations bothered to even urge the LTTE to release human its shield during the final phase of the conflict. MP Sampanthan should talk to his nephew, Arun, whose parents died in the hands of LTTE assassins in Colombo during the IPKF presence here.


That didn’t prevent Sampanthan’s TNA from recognizing the LTTE in the run up to parliamentary polls in April 2004 as the sole representatives of the Tamil speaking people for its advantage. As long as the TNA felt the LTTE could overwhelm the army, it remained silent and didn’t care how many conscripted children died on the battlefield."