Dense 'Taraki' theories from the cool climbs of the west
[May 12, 2005]

By a Tamil moderate  
[Asian Tribune] 2005-05-12

Of the several out pouring articles in various journals after Sivaram’s abduction and murder, I was intrigued and disturbed by an article in the LTTE website TamilNet which says Sri Lanka’s President must be answerable for the murder.

The writer says that “during her tenure as the President several Tamil journalists and political activists including Nimal Ranjan in Jaffna, G. Nadesan in Batticaloa, Kumar Ponnambalam in Colombo and Chandra Nehru in Batticaloa have been murdered, all in High Security Zones, and she is responsible and answerable for the murder of Sivaram as the Executive President of Sri Lanka and Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces”.

The mere fact the crime was committed in a high security area in Colombo is the one reason for the bold declaration that the President was in some way responsible.

The President of Sri Lanka Chandrika Kumaratunga was elected to office first in 1994 and then for a second term in 1999. Her massive mandates were to end bloodshed and bring peace and democracy to the country. The writer of the said piece has chosen to portray Kumaratunga to the world as an autocrat wielding a gun.

If that were the case what does he then have to say of the other crimes committed in these so called security zones such as the murder of Dr. Neelan Thiruchelvam, who was a Tamil intellectual and human rights activist.

Was the President also responsible for the Central Bank bomb, where hundreds died? The President herself was targeted for murder in December 1999 in the heart of the city. However she has been magnanimous enough to put this behind and talk peace with those very adversaries.

President Kumaratunga hails from a respected family of democratic politicians who never believed in violence. She persuaded some militants of this country to give up arms and join the political mainstream. Mr. Sivaram was the military Commander of the PLOTE before he renounced violence and became a journalist. Some former militants are now holding Ministerial Portfolios in her Cabinet.

To incriminate Kumaratunga by twisting facts with or without knowing the real situation is to my mind a gross distortion of the truth. She is the popularly elected President of the country constitutionally empowered to declare war and peace. The Commander in Chief need not indulge in witch hunting as the writer implies. Maintaining a much flawed Cease Fire Agreement against many odds is sufficient proof of her firm commitment to peace.

 

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Last Updated Date: May 12, 2005