The Minister of Justice and National Integration, Attorney-at-Law Harshana Nanayakkara, states that the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) will be repealed in the future and a people-centric act will be presented to replace it.

The Minister made these remarks during a discussion held today (19) at the Kilinochchi District Secretariat with representatives of civil society organizations and public representatives.

He mentioned that the relevant draft bill is expected to be presented within the next two months.

Minister Nanayakkara emphasized that this legislation is being introduced solely to counter terrorism and not to suppress individuals or any other parties.

Commenting further, he said:

“It has been one and a half years since our government came to power. When I visited this same venue a year ago, I had to speak about missing persons. At that time, the mechanism to investigate these missing persons had collapsed.

“Within a year, the necessary recruitments were made, and provisions were allocated for the Office on Missing Persons (OMP). You had deep pain regarding the OMP and past governments.

“The politics that prevailed at that time led to this. If the previous governments had a political need, they could have done these things. The war ended in 2009. However, the fact that issues regarding missing persons still persist means that previous governments had no intention to conclude these investigations. Due to the thirty-year war, both the North and the South shed enough blood and tears. Such situations cannot happen again.

“If a war is never reoccur, coexistence and friendship must be built. Justice must be served for the missing, and these investigations must reach a conclusion. The incumbent government has a grave need to fulfill this.

“At present, the release of land in the North is being carried out systematically. Measures have also been taken to open roads. We can no longer allow the Tamil people to feel like they are second class citizens in Sri Lanka. Trust must be built within the people of the North. We are committed to that. It is not easy to liberate a land that has been poisoned by racism, religious extremism, and communalism. The government is committed to achieving it.”