SL Govt. insensitive to Tamil agony - Pararajasingham

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 24 April 2001, 11:29 GMT]
“The Tamil people have totally lost faith in the Sri Lankan government. The Liberation Tigers observed a ceasefire unilaterally for four months because they felt that the Tamil people should not continue to suffer and to create a climate conducive for Norway’s peace efforts. By rashly rejecting their ceasefire and stubbornly refusing to reciprocate it, the government displayed its gross insensitivity to the agony of the Tamil people”, said Mr. Joseph Pararajasingham, Tamil United Liberation Front MP for Batticaloa, in a comment sent to the Tamil press Tuesday.

“It is now evident that the Sri Lankan government was not genuinely interested in peace but was only paying lip service to a settlement. The Liberation Tigers have got the full backing and support of the Tamil people. The international community can no longer view with suspicion the LTTE’s bona fide and its commitment to peace efforts”, the MP said.

“The International community should have seized the window of opportunity opened by the LTTE’s ceasefire and prevailed on the Sri Lankan government to move closer to negotiations and peace. The trust the Tamil people had in the good offices of the international community has been betrayed”, according to Mr. Pararajasingham.