Collaborate with Colombo or get lost in Geneva: SL President tells Tamils in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Sunday, 05 March 2017, 23:22 GMT]
SL President Maithiripala Sirisena who visited Jaffna on Saturday was reiterating the same words of former SL President Mahinda Rajapaksa at both the military and civil event in Jaffna. His visit was fully packed with military events except a single event, which was a PR stunt of launching the “Tell the President” office in Jaffna. Mr Maithiripala Sirisena, who has been claiming earlier that he was also in command of the final phase of Vanni war in his capacity as a deputy defence minister in 2009, was addressing the SL military in Jaffna on Saturday vowing not to allow anyone to subject the troopers of the three armed forces to stand for criminal trials in connection with alleged war crimes. During his trip, Sirisena was not prepared to meet the demonstrating women who were searching for their kith and kin or the graduates demanding jobs.



ITAK leader and TNA MP Mavai Senathirajah, who was addressing the civil event openly proclaimed that none of the promises extended by Mr Maithiripala during the elections to the Tamil people in the North and East have been fulfilled.

While Mr Senathirajah was making a list of key failures, Mr Sirisena was talking about playing together, dining together and about people being able to travel in buses between Colombo and Jaffna. Those who were not able to protest during the previous regime were now able to protest, he said reminding the times of white van abductions. Mr Maithiripala was smiling when he was reminding about the times of white vans.

Sirisena was openly advocating against waging peaceful demonstrations with a hint that he would only listen to collaborators like M.A. Sumanthiran, who was seated beside him and conversing with him about a new ‘development’ programme to Jaffna.

In the meantime, the occupying police stalwarts of the SL State were threatening the demonstrators by taking photos.

The protesting mothers were also confronting TNA Parliamentarian E. Saravanapavan, who was trying to create a conflict of interest between the protesting mothers seeking whereabouts of their kith and kin and the protesting graduates who have been on a continuous protest demanding jobs.

Mr Sirisena was evading to respond to key questions raised by Mr Senathirajah.

Meanwhile, National List Parliamentarian of Sirsena’s UPFA in Jaffna, Angajan Ramanathan, told his supporters in Jaffna that Maithiripala Sirisena was irked by the protests taking place in the North and East in recent times. The visibly disturbed SL President went to the extent of questioning Mr Angajan why the people were protesting in Jaffna if they want international intervention instead of protesting in Geneva.

Former SL President Mahinda Rajapaksa was also telling Tamils in the past to go and try protesting in Geneva implying that his regime was having the necessary geopolitical backing from the USA, the UK and New Delhi.