LTTE’s record of terror brought new regulations - President
[Thursday, December 07, 2006 - 5.30 GMT]

Taking all this into consideration the record of endless violence and terror by the LTTE, our Government decided to reactivate provisions of the Prevention of Terrorism Act to face this cruel and senseless terrorism. We also have for the first time defined terrorism, and brought in special provisions and regulations to curb it. I wish to tell you that our Government took this decision giving due consideration to all relevant facts and making a deep study of the situation” said President Mahinda Rajapaksa, in his address to the nation yesterday (Dec. 6, 06) explaining background for promulgating the new regulations against terrorism.

The President said these regulations had been promulgated in keeping with the United Security Council Resolution No. 1373 of 2001 adopted under Chapter 7 of the United Nations Charter, under which it is obligatory to take meaningful measures to prevent and suppress terrorism.

He further said these regulations will not be an obstacle to the Government’s firm decision to provide a political solution to the North East issue, to which the Government was committed.

“If, under whatever pressure the LTTE honestly comes for talks with us, we have no need to shut the door. But, it should be an honest move. We believe that these new regulations will clear the path for the LTTE to legally enter the democratic stream. I trust that all international organizations will work towards this end,” the President added.
                                                  
Here is the full text of the President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s Address to the Nation.

Text of the Address to the Nation by President Mahinda Rajapaksa on December 06, 2006.

Venerable Members of the Maha Sangha
Respected Clergy of other religions
Mothers and Fathers,
Brothers and Sisters
My Dear Children, and
Friends

It is now a little over one year since you elected me as President of our country. When I was given in charge of the country, what you expected of me was the defence of our motherland. I am aware that more than one year ago, it is with the greatest confidence that you entrusted me with the responsibility of protecting our beloved motherland, and not being subdued by whatever forces that sought to divide it. What satisfies me most about the past year is the ability of our government to gradually extricate our country from the great betrayal it was facing.

While realizing the importance of this moment to all of you in the Sri Lankan nation, I have decided to address you today to assure you of living up to the trust placed in me as the custodian of the Sri Lankan State.

Although Sri Lanka is geographically small, and the Sri Lankan nation is numerically small, throughout history we have been regarded with pride and respect in the world. However, it is also a fact that the greatness our
nation had over the centuries has been challenged by the threats it faced from the latter part of the 1970s and the beginning of the 1980s.

The countrywide movement of violence by the LTTE that began in 1975 with assassination of Mr. Alfred Duraiyappah, the distinguished Mayor of Jaffna and great humanist who stood resolutely for Sinhala  Tamil unity, has by now brought immeasurable, humiliation, damage and discredit to the nation, in a manner that is both serious and gravely criminal.

We cannot forget how this honoured motherland of ours was made a graveyard in the eyes of the world with the assassinations of our former President Ranasinghe Premadasa, and respected politicians such as Defence Minister Ranjan Wijeratne, Leader of the Opposition Gamini Dissanayake, Minister of National Security Lalith Athulathmudali, and the statesman par excellence
former Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar who took the voice of the Sri Lankan Tamils to the world, and also a large number of other national leaders; and the many thousand heroes of war among whom were Denzil
Kobbekaduwa, Wijaya Wimalaratne, Parami Kulatunga; prominent Tamil leaders such as Appapillai Amirthalangam, Neelan Tiruchelvam, Yogeswaran,
Pararajasingham and Raviraj, and also the destruction of the economic nerve centres such as the Katunayake Airport and Central Bank.

Besides all this the massacre of bhikkus at Arantalawa and devotees at the Sri Maha Bodhi, the attack and killings at the Dalada Maligawa, the killings at Pettah comprise a series of killings that still make Sri Lankans shudder, and have entered world history as the inexcusable crimes of brutal terrorism.

Beginning with Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike, all leaders from President J. R. Jayewardene to President Chandrika Kumaratunga sought to face up to this grave threat to the nation and bring peace to our motherland. Similarly, my effort as your Head of State is to build a
peaceful Sri Lanka where the Sinhala, Tamil and Muslim people can live as brothers. I have described this effort as a New Sri Lanka.

Friends, how has the LTTE responded to the efforts of these leaders of various parties to achieve peace through three decades?

The LTTE that assassinated the Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, who gave his utmost towards peace in Sri Lanka, continued to assassinate all leaders who extended their hands for peace; or attempted to assassinate them. Meanwhile, in an attempt to show the world that it had abandoned its expectations for Eelam, it came to the negotiating table giving the
impression that it was seeking another objective. On the other hand, it continued to organize the battlefield as it wished.

I became the custodian of this country on November 19 last year through the mandate given by you. Just two weeks after that, in the absence of any provocation or any reasonable grounds, six soldiers were killed on December 6. In this manner, until the attempt to assassinate the Army Commander inside Army Headquarters on April 25, 142 of our soldiers and policemen were killed. This was done without any provocation. As the Government and a member of the world community we were patient in the face of all this. We were restrained in the face of all these atrocities, in the cause of peace. When some were asking whether “Mahinda had no spine” I remained totally committed to peace. What I told you then was that I would resolve this even by meeting Prabhakaran face to face, and asked that you remain calm.

It was only when they came into Army Headquarters and attempted to assassinate the Army Commander that we decided we cannot succeed in our task unless we respond to the LTTE in the language it understands.

After this when they blocked the Mavil Aru anicut, destroying thousands of acres of paddy and driving people in the Eastern Province to death without drinking water, we carried out a limited operation to save those people.

Similarly, you will recall that when our troops were tied down at Mavil Aru they boasted of capturing Jaffna within four days and attacked our Forward Defence Lines at Muhamalai.

However my dear friends, amidst all its atrocities and savagery we as a responsible government decided to give ear the LTTE. Accordingly, in February 22 this year we met them at Geneva. The outcome was that they
abandoned the talks raising an issue that had no direct relevance to the North East crisis.

Meanwhile, you will also recall how without any reasonable cause, and against all norms of civilization, a bus was bombed at Kebetigollawa killing and injuring a large number of innocent civilians, in a tragedy that shook the very earth.

Even after that savage attack we still decided to talk with the LTTE. At a time when we were blamed for it by the country, we yet decided to proceed to Geneva, for the second time. We were so flexible being fully aware that peace was a very dear commodity.

However, what was the response of the LTTE? Having obtained all the facilities and privileges, they went to Geneva and said they were not willing to meet us. We were caught in an abundance of shame. Even the international community was trapped. Yet we did not decide to withdraw from the Ceasefire Agreement or the talks. Although we did not agree with the clause in the CFA defining the boundaries of LTTE controlled areas, we did not take any steps to go beyond those limits. I tell you with all responsibility that we have at no time been on the offensive. What we did was permit the LTTE’s spokesman to come to Colombo for treatment for a heart ailment on humanitarian grounds, when such a request was made. What country or organization in the midst of war would act with such humanity?

When Jaffna was under threat of heavy attack, Tamil youth were abducted and innocent Tamil people were in danger of being caught in the middle of an unnecessary war, and when the LTTE sent message through its web site asking that 50,000 coffins be readied for the Sri Lankan troops, we decided to close the A9 at Muhamalai. We did not close the A9 in its entirety but only at Muhamalai. Although this led to an instant shortage of food throughout Jaffna, we have by now brought this situation fully under control. In the last three months we have sent 47,500 metric tons of food and medicine to Jaffna. But, in the previous six months what had been sent was a little less than 30,000 metric tons, and there was no shortage of food then!

Meanwhile, over a hundred unarmed members of the Navy on their way home on leave were killed by the LTTE at Digampaney in Dambulla. This inhuman act
was perpetrated violating all accepted norms of decency.

In the midst of all these unfavourable conditions, as a people-friendly government we decided to again go for talks with the LTTE. Accordingly our delegation went to Geneva on October 8. What happened was that as they have done throughout the past, they abandoned the talks once again confirming that the have no alternative other than the utopian dream of Eelam. Having put aside the social, economic and political issues that were at the core of the North East crisis, they took up incidental matters to abandon the talks. This is the well known tactic of the LTTE, particularly meant to mislead the international community.

Further, how can it be possible to justify the using of more than 20,000 innocent civilians as human shields in the Vakarai area? Who can justify the attacking and driving away of the lorries carrying food for that area
under the flag of the International Red Cross and the World Health Organization? Is driving innocent mothers and children into starvation in the name of Tamil liberation a crime that one can bear?

Similarly, can the LTTE’s brutality in disrupting the education of the Jaffna students, what had never happened before, be ever condoned?

I am not prepared to belittle the responsibility of State you have respectfully entrusted to me, or compromise its sovereignty, in the face of the LTTE’s inflexible terrorism. The entire world should reject the LTTE’s
policy of treating the Ceasefire monitors as mere messengers.

Friends,

Taking all this into consideration, our Government decided to reactivate provisions of the Prevention of Terrorism Act to face this cruel and senseless terrorism. We also have for the first time defined terrorism, and
brought in special provisions and regulations to curb it. I wish to tell you that our Government took this decision giving due consideration to all relevant facts and making a deep study of the situation.

We have introduced the necessary regulations today. These regulations have been promulgated in keeping with the United Security Council Resolution No. 1373 of 2001 adopted under Chapter 7 of the United Nations Charter, under which it is obligatory to take meaningful measures to prevent and suppress terrorism.

I ask you not to belittle this decision as one taken in view of the failed attempt by the LTTE on my brother, the Defence Secretary Gotabhaya’s life.

There is a matter that you should bear in mind. The LTTE attempted to kill Gotabhaya was concurrent with their announcement about the Eelam state. This is the first attack carried out after that announcement. It is not Gotabhaya only who was attacked. They also injured Foreign Secretary, Mr. Palihakkara and killed security services personnel and innocent civilians.
Therefore, I ask you to think deeply about this. I wish to specially request this of the international community.

I also wish to make this an opportunity to thank the United States of America and other countries that have rejected outright the demand for a separate state or the so-called Eelam, and also express my gratitude to all foreign countries that fraternally stood with Sri Lanka in support of our independence and unity through several decades.

It is necessary to state here that it is the primary task of all our foreign friends, committed to safeguard the independence of Sri Lanka, to exert the necessary pressures to defeat the LTTE’s firm belief that liberation is brought about only by bloodshed.

The Cabinet of Ministers has decided to implement the provisions of the Prevention of Terrorism Act as well as a large number of other regulations, with effect from today. In the face of terrorism that is engaged in playing a suicidal game with our lives as well as the destiny of the Sri Lankan nation, we cannot anymore be satisfied with a partial response.

We should make a firm commitment not to allow anyone to take these new regulations lightly. Whatever one’s status may be, supporting terrorism is act of enmity towards both the country and the nation. We are not ready to allow that. Similarly, there is no room anymore to assist terrorism directly or indirectly, and talk about democracy. This is because they use this democratic space to design the destruction of the entire society. The democracy that creates an opportunity for terrorism is a joke. It is no simple joke but a deadly joke. We already reddened our eyes through that joke.

Not only we; but the United States and many other countries too, are facing the challenges of terrorism today. Those countries do not confuse terrorism
with democracy. In whatever country it may function, wearing whatever mask, terrorism remains the same. Therefore, we have no path left but its total defeat. Hesitation by us in the face of terrorism is to endanger the destiny of the entire nation. I am not ready to commit that error.

I also wish to make a request from all our political parties and their leaderships. What our government is facing is separatist terrorism which is the common enemy of us all. It is the responsibility of us all to face it jointly and defeat it. This is not a thing that can be achieved by making allegations and counter allegations against each other. I have already demonstrated that I am a leader who is not ready to kneel before terrorism,
but a leader committed to safeguarding the democratic rights of the Tamil people. Therefore, in the name of the nation, I appeal for the practical support of all of you to defeat these challenges. By practical support I mean the support that is not confined to words. It is support that is extended to me and to my government. If instead, the decision taken by us at this moment is not properly implemented, its full benefit will go to terrorism. Therefore, I call upon all political leaders
to assist us to overcome this challenge, by building a genuine and practical unity for the sake of our motherland.

I, therefore, appeal to all members of the Tamil community and all organizations that value democracy not to have any fears about these regulations that are effective from today. These regulations will not affect any rights in the workplace, field and university. I will not allow the violation of human rights in any manner through these regulations. These regulations will only defeat the fascist thinking of the LTTE. What these regulations will do is bring democratic politics to the Tamil political arena.

Our government has taken this initial step today, enabling me to discharge my basic responsibility of defence of the State in terms of the powers vested in me as Commander-in-Chief, at time when the Foreign Minister of the country has been assassinated; the assassination of the Army Commander was attempted; the third ranking officer in the Army was assassinated; when there was an attempt on the life of the Defence Secretary, and when innocent civilians are killed in large numbers.

These regulations will not be an obstacle to our firm decision to provide a political solution to the North East issue. We are committed to it. You are aware that just now a special committee comprising all political parties is preparing the relevant proposals for this purpose. I have instructed that they be placed before you very soon. As stated by me when addressing you on the last Independence Commemoration Day, I am firmly of the view that only by shedding more tears for peace can we reduce the blood that is spilt in war. Therefore, I wish to state that actions taken by our government
relating to the North East crisis are based on this belief.

If, under whatever pressure the LTTE honestly comes for talks with us, we have no need to shut the door. But, it should be an honest move. We believe that these new regulations will clear the path for the LTTE to legally enter the democratic stream. I trust that all international organizations will work towards this end.

All steps that we take to build a new Sri Lanka can be made a success only by defeating this beastly terrorism. But, I will not allow the development activities of the country to be weakened. As stated in my speech on the first anniversary of my assuming office, I am not ready to carry on the lament that the North East crisis will weaken our development activities.
Similarly, I am not ready to make excuses before you that this crisis is an obstacle in our pursuit of national development. The anti-terrorist struggle and the development of the country should be a parallel process.

We who introduced the politics of brotherhood in place the politics of enmity to which the country was accustomed, are able to do this. This can be achieved by the coming together of the highest aspirations among the blue, red and green hues in politics.

Therefore, at this decisive moment I wish to make one request of you. I ask this of all political parties, all media, and all people’s organizations. You decide whether you should be with a handful of terrorists or with the common man who is in the majority. You must clearly choose between these two sides. No one can represent both these sides at any one time.

The new century waits for the day when the Sinhalese, Tamils, Muslims and Burghers all join as one nation to fight together to defeat the challenges of the future. I intend to dedicate my second year in office to realizing
this objective. My government and I are ready to resolve all problems peacefully, because we are neither terrorists nor savages. But one must not mistake this for cowardice on our part.

We cannot move an inch forward other than by defeating this cruel terrorism that is intertwined with the common destiny of my country and the Sri Lankan nation. I am happy to be able to be committed to this task. I am happier still by the support extended to us
for this purpose by the entire nation. The mental satisfaction from this alone would suffice to take our lives forward. This is the lesson I have been taught by my people and the history of my country.

May you all be blessed by the Noble Triple Gem.
May all deities bless you.

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Last Updated Date: December 07, 2006 -5.30 GMT