LTTE, GoSL must work for sustainable peace- Jaffna Bishop

[TamilNet, Friday, 06 April 2007, 10:55 GMT]
Jaffna Bishop, Rt. Rev. Thomas Savundara- nayagam in his Easter Message delivered Thursday said: "In the perilous climate where abductions, disappearances and killings have become normal occurrences, people in Jaffna are leading a life filled with fear and mental trauma. Many are seeking danger-filled ways to escape from this open prison. The Government of Sri Lanka and Liberation Tigers must work with sincerity to arrive at a honourable, sustainable settlement to the conflict."

"We only hear the desperate cries for help from people who are suffering from acute shortage of essential goods, hunger and severe lack of transport facilities.

"In the northern corner of Sri Lanka, we are living in unspeakable human conditions amid shocking imposition of draconian laws, threats of incarceration, and escalating preparations for a renewed battles.

"In the east more than 150,000 of the most vulnerable people are undergoing immense sufferings uprooted from their ancestral lands and living in camps with shortage of rations, worsening health conditions and with minimum basic facilities.

"In our holy area of Madhu in Mannar, several thousands are gripped with fear and death from mines.

"In this holy of Easter, I urge and reiterate my message of peace to both the Government and LTTE to work with commitment and sincerity, to attain a fair and just solution to the decades long conflict," the Bishop said in his Easter Message.