Prisoners Of PTA: An Appeal To The President
Dr Ratna Bala
His Excellency Maithripala Sirisena,
President of Sri Lanka
Your Excellency,
You already know the plight of the Tamil prisoners arrested under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) held in prisons for many years. They may have had hope that end of war would pave the way for them to be with their families soon. Since then they have made several kind requests for compassionate consideration of their plight. When all their hopes were in vain for last six years as last resort they are now on fast unto death-sathyagraha and praying that your heart will feel their anguish and come to rescue them.
Your Excellency,
Thirty years of brutal war have done enough damage to our people and the country. Many parents have lost their children, many children have become orphans and many women have become widows. Many have disappeared and their loved ones are still looking for them.
These people who were arrested under PTA have spent many valuable years of their lives in prison and seen their lives silently nibbled away. All these years they lived with hurting heart knowing their parents and families too are undergoing extreme hardship outside the fence. For all these years of sufferings many of them haven’t done any significant crime that can’t be pardoned at this juncture.
Your Excellency,
After the end of war we are talking and talking about reconciliation without any significant steps to build trust and hope. Only if we can listen to our own people we can find what is important to heal ourselves. With so much of talking, over and over again we lose sight of what is important and what isn’t.
Your Excellency, Read More
