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President vows to counter terrorism
President Mahinda Rajapaksa has vowed to counter terrorism vigorously,
while assuring that his government will take all the necessary measures
to safeguard human rights.
Speaking to the ODA committee of the Upper House at the Diet Building
in Tokyo on Monday, Rajapaksa said Sri Lanka has suffered heavily
from terrorism and several democratic solutions to harmonise the
needs of different communities have been attempted by successive
governments. He added that all such attempts have failed due to
the arrogance of the LTTE that believes only in violence and terror.
“We, all who believe in democracy, agree that terrorism has
no place in modern society. It is not an acceptable means of expressing
political dissent. There is no excuse for killing innocent children,
women and men and terrorise innocent civilians. The government will
vigorously counter such terrorist threats,” he vowed.
While affirming that his government is firmly committed to work
with all stakeholders in promoting a political settlement, he emphasised
that his administration has also mobilised all major political parties
including Tamil and Muslim parties to formulate a political settlement
addressing concerns of minority communities.
“The All Party Representative Committee (APRC) has come a long
way in its deliberations and is expected to finalise its proposals
soon. In the meantime, the devolved administration enjoyed by the
rest of the country under our Constitution, will be strengthened
in the East and North Provinces systematically. We hope that the
LTTE will denounce violence and terrorism and cooperate with all
these efforts to work out an acceptable solution,” Rajapaksa
said.
He also called on the Japanese Government to use their goodwill
with the global community to exert pressure on the LTTE to give
up terrorism and come to negotiations, in order to find a lasting
political solution, which will be beneficial to all Sri Lankans.
President Rajapaksa also spoke about the long standing friendship
that the two countries have been enjoying and especially spoke on
the unique and commendable role played by Japan in the development
of our country. He pointed out that Japanese ODA accounts for 60%
of bilateral assistance and 40% of the total ODA received by Sri
Lanka.
“The Japanese ODA in Sri Lanka has contributed to build up
modern infrastructure facilities. They cover wide areas including
telecommunications, sea port and air port, highways and bridges,
power generation and distribution system, water supply and irrigation,
hospitals and schools. The construction of our parliamentary complex,
national television network and the national blood bank are also
landmark contributions made by your government,” he said.
According to the President, the economic development is the key
to promote peace and democracy. “In the context of our country,
development is lagging in many regions whether they are in the south
or north, and it cannot be delayed any longer. I am encouraged that
you believe in development as a necessary step towards promoting
peace,” he said.
He also took the opportunity to reassure that the government will
take all the necessary measures to safeguard human rights. He said
that a commission of inquiry was appointed to investigate serious
concerns of human rights and the cabinet has already approved a
bill on witness and victim protection. Rajapaksa also claimed that
most of the allegations on human rights abuse in the country had
no basis.
Concluding his speech, Rajapaksa also requested a special grant
assistance to build a national hospital for workers’ and a
teaching school for nurses in Colombo. He said that the project
will be dedicated to the upliftment of welfare and productivity
of the working population of Sri Lanka.
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