His Excellency Mahinda Rajapaksa,

President of Sri Lanka.

Your Excellency,

THE GOVERNMENT  SHOULD NOT TAKE  A CHANCE  IN  SENSITIVE ISSUES.

You are aware that I have no aspirations for any positions and also not greedy for power.  But as one very much concerned with the welfare of the people, be they Sinhalese, Tamils, Muslims or from any other ethnic group, it is my duty to point out to you any problem that affects our people.  The matter that is very widely discussed and debated today is about the internally displaced persons, their number, the serious problems they face under the control of the LTTE and how the problem should be tackled.  Any matter relating to the IDPs, being so sensitive and unprecedented in the history of Sri Lanka, the Government cannot take a chance.  Contradictory reports from various sources have caused a lot of confusion, first in determining the number of displaced persons as pointed out by me, at the meeting we had and secondly catering to that number, their various needs.  Among the displaced are children, pregnant women, elders, feeble and the disabled, about whom the relatives are very much worried.  The sufferings they undergo have created a lot of sympathy for them among the International Community.  It is only now the International Community is openly showing their resentment and condemning the LTTE for refusing to allow the IDPs to go out.  At the same time it is the expectation of the International Community, Human Rights Organizations and the UN that the Government should look after these people properly till they are safely evacuated into areas under the control of the Government.  After all, it is the Government that fed all the LTTE cadre these 25 to 30 long years and it is also obliged to continue to do so atleast till those people are freed. The assurance given by you that it is the Government’s duty to look after all its citizens, gives me much relief.  I have conveyed this massage to as many people as possible within Sri Lanka and abroad. 

Your Excellency, I still do not agree with the Governments position with regard to the number of displaced persons trapped in areas held by the LTTE.  The Government should endeavour to find out the real situation without leaving it vague.  I persist on this in order that no one can find fault with you.  You have the Herculean task   of re-settling over 100,000 families with several hundreds of thousands of people.  Reports published by Government Agents in the North cannot be rejected totally, on the grounds that these reports were prepared under pressure from the LTTE.  All these years, these reports had been prepared by officials and accepted by the Government.  Apart from the figures related to population, which every one knows as exaggerated, almost all other information provided in those reports are very valuable and true.  The reports of the Government Agents of Kilinochchi and Mullaitheevu Districts give the population figures as 195,832 and 220,311 respectively totaling 416,143 as on 31.12.2007.  If due to LTTE’s pressure the figures were doubled, even then both districts together should have had 208,071 people.  These figures do not include Vavuniya and Mannar Districts, both of which together had a population of 285,674.  If 50,000 people of Vavuniya and Mannar are also trapped in the LTTE controlled area then there should have been atleast 258,000 displaced persons under the LTTE control.  If the people numbering 55,000 who had come into Government held area, is deducted from the displaced, there should be certainly more than 200,000 still trapped in the LTTE held area.

I am neither trying to mislead anybody nor talking, having been misled by the LTTE propaganda.  All what I quoted are from authoritative sources that cannot be disputed.  The Government has a moral duty although not legally bound, to explain this position to the satisfaction of the United Nations, Human Rights Organizations and generally to the International Community.  We need not antagonize any body and the Government should not allow anybody to antagonize any organization which will prove damaging.  Above all the Government should allay the fears of the local people who are worried of their kith and kin and want to know as to what is happening to these people who are over 200,000 in number.  Their concerns are understandable, because there is a ruthless organization involved which won’t hesitate to do anything for their benefit and not answerable to anybody.

Under the present circumstances the only option the Government has is to continue to supply food and drugs for atleast 250,000 people until the correct position is determined, which I am sure will be in the region of 300,000.  The Government should do this not merely to maintain its credibility but purely as part of its duty to the citizens of this country.  The ball should be thrown into the LTTE’s Court.  The LTTE, as I pointed out to you in one of my previous letters, that out of desperation and to earn the sympathy of the International Community and the Diaspora, will not hesitate to re-enact the Jallianwalla Bagh incident in which over 1500 innocent civilians were either shot dead or seriously injured.  It is this incident that made the Indian Freedom struggle to take a different turn to the detriment of the British Rule in India.

At this juncture I kindly request you to advice the forces to go slow and not to be in a hurry to liberate the remaining 25 Sq. Km of land under the control of the terrorist where all these people are squeezed in to, because it will cause more hardships to the innocent civilians.   Whether the number is 80,000 or 200,000 it does not matter but the fact remains that the people are undergoing immense hardships.  Apart from the mental agony and torture they undergo, they have to sleep with corpses and throw away the dead bodies of their beloved ones with no facilities to cremate or bury them.  The wounds they sustained are stinking.  Yet no one is prepared to leave the rest of the family behind and escape to the no-fire zone.  Every one wants to go out only with the entire family and not alone.  They live with deadly snakes, wasps and mosquitoes.  There is every possibility of the breaking of an epidemic at any time.  Above all the threat of a bomb falling or a shell or artillery firing in their direction is there all the 24 hours of the day.  They are living in constant fear and tension  

Your Excellency you know the fear and tension Colombo had on the day the LTTE’s small aircraft bombed Colombo.  The LTTE cadre are not merely brutal but are real brutes.  But we are neither brutes nor brutal.  How can people live peacefully in the south when their own kith and kin undergo all these hardships?  I am sure you will agree with me that all what is enumerated here is only a small fraction of the sufferings they undergo.  The two districts of Kilinochchi and Mullaitheevu taken together is more than 2500 Sq. Km in extent and it is humanly impossible for over 200,000 people to live in a small area of about 25 Sq. Km.  They should be freed before some disaster takes place.  Hence please advise the forces to go slow and not to march forward any further till all the innocent people are safely evacuated.  The lives of so many thousands are at stake and all the good name the Forces earned all these days by sacrificing several thousands of their comrades, can be lost with one unpleasant incident.

If 4000 injured people had come to Trincomalle, one can guess as to how many innocent people would have been killed.  Due to whose fault the people died is not the question, but why should the innocent people be allowed to die when there are various options the Government has to save them, is the question every one is asking.  More the people die the merrier the LTTE become and there are people to glorify them.  But the Government can’t adopt the same attitude because the Government is answerable for every civilian deads or injured, irrespective of who is responsible for such death or injuries.

The first option the Government had was to fight to the last.  Now on the last lap of the war fighting with bomb, shelling and artillery attacks will result in very large number of casualties.  If ship transportation of food and drugs is blocked it will result in people dying of starvation.  The only option, safe and sure is to request the UN to intervene and warn the LTTE to release the civilians.  The LTTE cannot refuse the request of the UN.  There is nothing wrong in requesting the UN to intervene because the very purpose of organizing it is to maintain world peace and security.  Let any one say anything.  One should have lost something dear to him or her to feel the pain of terrorist activities.  But you as the President of this country and being responsible for the safety and security of the people, must atleast accept the offer of America and India to bring immediate relief for the trapped people by evacuating them without any further delay.  However if there is no such offer the UN is our only hope and inviting the UN to intervene or seeking the help of friendly countries is the bounden duty of the state.

I assure you that I am not trying to play politics but only doing my duty not merely as a Tamil but as a citizen of Sri Lanka.  I also do not want the International Community to blame you or me for any lapses on our part.

Thanking you,

Yours Sincerely,

V. Anandasangaree,

President – TULF.