Palaly-KKS security zone not raised in phone call from Delhi Gota checks with GL

Calls for wide-ranging consultations on 13A

By Shamindra Ferdinando-May 18, 2013

Having consulted External Affairs Minister Prof. G. L. Peiris yesterday afternoon, Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa told The Sunday Island that contrary to media reports, acquiring land by the government for the expansion of Palaly-Kankesanthurai security zone hadn’t been raised by Indian Foreign Minister Salman Khurshid when he phoned his Sri Lankan counterpart on Friday morning.

Rajapaksa said that positioning of armed forces during the war as well as post-conflict situation would be the prerogative of the government. The deployment of troops and military assets would be done in accordance with overall post-war security plan hence it couldn’t be amended owing to domestic as well as external factors.

External Affairs Minister Peiris is expected to explain the government position in parliament this week.

The Defence Secretary said that the issue of poaching Indian fishermen in GoSL custody had also been raised during Friday’s telephone conversation.He said that Sri Lanka needed time and space to addressing remaining issues. Those who had been continuously complaining about heavy security forces presence in the Jaffna peninsula had conveniently forgotten the Sri Lankan Army maintained 43,000 personnel in the Jaffna peninsula during 2007/2008 period whereas current deployment stood at 13,200. But the actual number of ground presence was less as a certain percentage was on leave at any given time, the Defence Secretary said.

Commenting on the simmering controversy over high security zones, he said except for Palaly-Kankesanthurai sector, the military had given up all other security zones in the peninsula since the conclusion of the conflict in May 2009.

The Gajaba Regiment veteran said that the government’s efforts to formalize the taking over of land had been misconstrued as planned seizure of land. In fact, the military had been holding onto the area for many years and was now in the process of formalizing the takeover.

The Defence Secretary urged those who had been critical of the government to examine the situation in the Northern and Eastern provinces before and after the conclusion of the conflict. At the height of the conflict, the Palaly-Kankesanthurai sector covered 13,000 acres and now it was down to 6,200 acres, while 21,000 acres of land held by the military, too, had been released in stages.

Responding to a query, the Defence Secretary said that the LTTE had held considerable amount of land in the Vanni mainland for many years, though none of those shedding crocodile tears for the civilians dared to urge the LTTE to release land even after the signing of the Ceasefire Agreement in February 2002.

He challenged civil society organizations to make an assessment as regards the land issue. "Did any one of them intervene when the LTTE drove the Muslim population from the Jaffna peninsula and the Vanni mainland in late October 1990?" he asked.

Commenting on persistent calls for amending of the 13th Amendment to the Constitution before the first Northern Provincial Council election, the Defence Secretary said that President Mahinda Rajapaksa during a meeting with an Indian parliamentary delegation explained the circumstances under which the controversial piece of legislature was introduced.

"People of Sri Lanka never asked for 13th Amendment. The government is answerable to the people. Let there be a wide ranging discussion on the issue," he said.

The Defence Secretary said that the armed forces on Saturday celebrated their triumph over the LTTE with the magnificent display of arms and equipment. The fourth Victory Day parade was meant to highlight Sri Lanka’s victory over terrorism, an unparalleled feat of which the armed forces were justifiably proud.

NOT A WORD ABOUT SARATH FONSEKA ON VICTORY DAY

May 19, 2013 

Even though the war victory was celebrated in a grand scale in Galle Face yesterday, not a single word was spoken about the former Army Chief Sarath Fonseka, who was instrumental in defeating the LTTE, UPFA MP P. Digambaram said.  

The National Workers Congress leader, who crossed over to the government after contesting the General Election under the UNP, stated that the large sum of money spent on celebrating Victory Day could have been put to better use by spending it on disabled soldiers.

Rs 312 billion is being spent to purchase aircraft engines and new luxury cars are being imported for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) to be held in Sri Lanka, Digambaram said at a press conference of the ‘Vipakshaye Virodaya’, the joint opposition alliance, in Colombo today.

“The money spent on this can be used for the ‘Samurdhi’ and to pay the farmers’ pension fund,” he said.

Nava Sama Samaja Party (NSSP) leader, Dr. Wickramabahu Karunaratne, speaking at the briefing, said that the soldiers who sacrificed their lives and those wounded in the war were not mentioned during the Victory Day celebrations held yesterday.

The Tamil people were not allowed to commemorate the victims of the war and were instead arrested, he said referring to the arrest of 15 person including the General Secretary and National Organizer of the Tamil National People’s Front (TNPF) in Mannar yesterday.

Mawbima Janatha Party leader, Hemakumara Nanayakkara, who also attended the press conference, claimed that 100,000 buns were ordered to feed the people participating in the protest organized by the government supporting the electricity tariff hike.

However, only 3,000 people showed up and therefore the remaining buns were thrown into the Bere Lake for the fish, he said.

The former Minister stated that 12,000 “rice eaters” gathered at Campbell Park on May 15 for the opposition’s protest against the electricity tariff hike and that 3,000 “grass eaters” joined the government’s protest in Lakehouse Roundabout.