TNA parliamentarians boycott Mannar development meeting

[TamilNet, Sunday, 10 September 2006, 13:10 GMT]
Five Wanni district Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarians boycotted the Mannar District Co-ordinating Committee (DCC) meeting held Saturday in the Mannar district secretariat with Rear Admiral Mohan Wijewickrema, North East Provincial Governor in the chair. "Development is not an immediate priority at this time when hundreds of Tamil civilians fleeing to South India to save their lives from abduction, killing and harassment from Sri Lanka armed forces," said TNA parliamentarians, sources said.

TNA parliamentarians representing Wanni district, Mr.Selvam Adaikalanathan, C.Kanagaretnan, Sivasakthi Ananthan, Vino Noharathalingam and Sivanathan Kishore, said the boycott decision was taken unanimously by all TNA parliamentarians.

"We can look at development after the urgent need for safety and security of Tamil people in NorthEast is established. We want the ongoing destruction of life and properties in our homeland in the North East by State armed forces to stop," said Mr. Noharathalingam.

He added Tamil people are being killed daily in North East due to military operation by the State armed forces. Several people have died in indiscriminate aerial bombardment and artillery fire by the SLA and SLAF.

Tamil people in Trincomalee, Jaffna, Vavuniya and Mannar are displaced in thousands from their homes to ensure their safety. Most of them have come to Mannar to flee to South India to seek refuge there, he said.