Critics have distorted SL fight against LTTE

Sri Lankan Ambassador to the US Jaliya Wickramasuriya told an audience in North Carolina that critics had distorted the historical record of Sri Lanka’s successful fight against terrorism in an effort to halt successful reconciliation and redevelopment.

During his North Carolina visit, Ambassador Wickramasuriya met with members of the local Sri Lankan community in Raleigh and he also visited a Buddhist temple.

Speaking to the Council on World Affairs Council of Greensboro, Ambassador Wickramasuriya explained that Sri Lanka has established an independent Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission to examine actions taken by both sides during the government’s conflict against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

The LLRC is vital to reconciliation efforts, since it has taken public testimony from top government officials and civilians affected by the conflict.

Some groups have called for an independent investigation of Sri Lanka by the United Nations. Ambassador Wickramasuriya said that LTTE supporters are pressing for an investigation as a means of hobbling Sri Lanka’s peaceful recovery.

“Though the LTTE proclaimed to be fighting for the rights of the Tamil people in Sri Lanka, its violent methods meant that it had very little real support among Tamils there,” Ambassador Wickramasuriya said. “In fact, the LTTE killed thousands of Tamils through terrorism. Tamils, who dared to run for public office were gunned down – hundreds of them.  That’s why people in Sri Lanka despise the LTTE.”

Sri Lanka has realized significant progress following the end of the conflict. Its GDP was 8.2 percent in 2010 and unemployment and inflation have both dropped. Per capita income has doubled in the last five years and is on track to double again by 2016.

Foreign direct investment in 2011 will reach $1 billion, according to government economists. Tourism was up in 2010 50 percent over 2009, and it was up 65 percent over the 2010 pace for the first quarter of 2011.

During his speech, the ambassador noted that the government has committed substantial resources into redeveloping Northern Sri Lanka, rebuilding damaged homes, roads, bridges, rail lines and water systems. The national electrical grid is expanding to the entire country for the first time.

And, he said, “there has not been a death due to terrorism in two years, ever since the conflict ended. Terrorism is over.

“Sri Lanka prides itself as a democracy,” the Ambassador continued. “We also pride ourselves for having defeated a terrorist group that the Federal Bureau of Investigation called the world’s deadliest. And we pride ourselves in freeing our people and helping them to overcome the hardship caused by years of strife.

“A recent Gallup poll had indicated that people in the North are happier than they have been in five years of polling. That’s because they have freedom and there is no more violence.”