President of Sri Lanka's oldest Tamil political party, Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF) Leader V.Ananda Sangaree while condemning the Kilinochchi claymore mine attack and the Dehiwala train bomb attack that killed sixteen and nine civilians respectively queried how could the army or paid agents of the army strike so close to the LTTE headquarters in Kilinochchi, as claimed by some Tamil newspapers.
Blaming the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) also for the Kilinochchi Claymore Mine explosion Sangaree said, "How is it possible for the armed forces to reach areas so close to their Head Quarters. Even if one assumes that it is the work of the paid agents of the armed forces, the LTTE must seriously consider winding up the fighting and come to terms with the Government, since their days are numbered. Secondly even if one accepts that army can reach these areas through their paid agents, it cannot be true all the time."
He said, "My strong suspicion is that the Tamil Media is pressurised by the LTTE to put the blame on the forces soon after some incident takes place, merely to gain sympathy from the International Community after themselves doing it either intentionally or by mistaken identity. I call upon H. E. the President to appoint a presidential Commission to find out who is responsible for such attacks taking place in the LTTE held areas and how within a few hours the Local papers claim that all such attacks are by the deep penetrating unit of the forces."
Following is his full statement: "A claymore mine attack at Murugandy in Kilinochchi on Friday afternoon took the lives of 16 innocent men, women and children and also left 3 seriously injured. A bomb blast in a crowded train on Monday left 9 killed, 73 injured and out of the four women killed one was a pregnant mother. I strongly condemn both incidents and grieve with the kith and kin on their losses. This is not a cricket match for anyone to announce the score and celebrate it with a party. How many widows, widowers, orphans and destitute persons, these two horrible incidents had created? One who left home, happily in the morning returns home in a beautiful coffin, some in pieces and some others beyond identification.
Thousands of innocent non-combatants had died and also thousands in the war front. Now we have in our country several thousands of widows, widowers, orphans and destitute persons, not to count those who had lost their eyesight, limbs etc. The pain of the loss of a life is felt only by the victim's dear ones and not by those who promote the war and who gain by the war. Is there no end to this? - is the question every one of us should ask.
"As I had been repeatedly pointing out, the Human Rights Violations continue unabated both in the Government controlled areas and in the LTTE controlled areas, the only difference being that there is transparency in the former and complete blackout in the latter where people open their mouths only when asked to do so.
"I am misunderstood by some for accusing the LTTE and holding them responsible for the claymore mine attacks taking place in their areas. My reasons for doing so are two fold. One is My strong suspicion is that the Tamil Media is pressurised by the LTTE to put the blame on the forces soon after some incident takes place, merely to gain sympathy from the International Community after themselves doing it either intentionally or by mistaken identity. I call upon H. E. the President to appoint a presidential Commission to find out who is responsible for such attacks taking place in the LTTE held areas and how within a few hours the Local papers claim that all such attacks are by the deep penetrating unit of the forces. His Excellency can refer a few selected cases for a Presidential Commission to inquire into. As one who had represented the Kilinochchi Electorate for over 14 years, I have an interest in knowing whether what the papers say are voluntary or under compulsion.
"At least at this stage, if the Government comes out with a reasonable proposal acceptable to the International Community, not out of fear for the LTTE, but only to give confidence to the International Community to take a bold step forward to help to find a solution. Every one who has sympathy for the poor innocent man on the street who falls a victim to the LTTE's claymore mine, bomb or even their bullets must without any hesitation support my proposal. The TULF condemns all types of violence on the innocent civilians."
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