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800 Tamil businessmen, Hindu leaders meet President Rajapaksa

by Hiranya Malwatta | June 6, 2009 at 06:03 am

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Hindu religious leaders and over 800 Tamil businessmen met with President Rajapaksa at Temple Trees on Thursday (4th June). President addressed the gathering in Tamil after which a number of businessmen who were gathered there spoke as well.

Hindu religious leaders and prominent and influential leaders and representatives of the large Tamil business community in Sri Lanka were highly appreciative of the President’s recent announcement that there will not be any minority community in Sri Lanka, and that all Sri Lankans will be citizens in a single country with equal rights and status.

More than 800 representative of the Tamil business community felicitated the President at Temple Trees last evening, for the restoration of peace in the country, the new hope given to the Tamil people of being treated as equals and for being the only national leader since independence to disavow the division of the nation into majority and minority communities.

President invited them to join hands in reconstruction and restoration work in the North, to resettle the people displaced due to the war and to liberate the country and people from terrorism.

Response from the gathered people was very positive.

They pledged to support the President and the Government and said they were ready to support the President in achieving the new development goals for the country, and in the Government’s plans to carry out urgent reconstruction and restoration work in the North, to resettle the people displaced due to the war and to liberate the country and people from terrorism.

Addressing the gathering in the Tamil language, President Rajapaksa said Tamil business persons should come forward to help the innocent Tamil people who had been freed from terrorism, just as the Sinhalese were today helping the displaced Tamil people in the welfare villages.

“There can be no differences on community basis in the country from now on. I consider it both my duty and responsibility to protect the Tamil people,” the President said, adding that everyone should be able to live without fear and mistrust, with equal rights, and that everyone should join to rebuild a beautiful land.

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israeli.agent

at 08:10 on June 6th, 2009

It is very clear that ordinary Sri Lankan Tamils were always willing to live in peace with the Sinhalese and others. Only LTTE terrorism was the roadblock for permanent peace. As a result a situation arose that there is no more worsening to it.

It is heartening to see that Sri Lankans who actually live there - unlike KTTEs and the minority of terrorism supporters who just dream their Utopian ee'l'am - reaching out each other and trying to re-establish trust and peace in the Island Nation.

.Agent.

Hiranya Malwatta

at 09:09 on June 6th, 2009

Yes it is heartening Agent.

800 is not a small number - 800 prominent Tamil businessmen coming and talking to the President and showing that there are Tamils in Sri Lanka who are very happy about the elimination of LTTE, is heartening indeed !

lalith

at 07:00 on June 8th, 2009

Good post Hiranya. Thank you.

What more can I say?

Yarl Moli (not verified)

at 09:31 on June 8th, 2009

As a tamil & former LTTE cadet (escapee!!), I appreciate this move by the tamils business men to get down their business on line because they are the Jews of Srilanka:-) We need more dialogue within the community as you can see how the tamils & sinhalese live together in Colombo and suburbs. It is language problem in the country, other than that NOTHING!! Some of diaspora tamils are agitating because they have now nothing to do with the country, don't want to go back, got their green-card or whatever to survive in western hemisphere, never had any personal attack by LTTE or never been recruited or been partciapted in LTTE activities, and watching only the news from LTTE site from India or anywhere! Forget those things. We, both sides, suffered by this war last 30 years!! again 30 years!! We all are one way or other same ethnic people...

Hiranya Malwatta

at 09:49 on June 9th, 2009

Appapillai Rajendra (not verified)

at 17:21 on June 11th, 2009

It is a tragedy to see how the 800 Tamil Businessmen lost all the sense of morality to throw aside the slaughter of Tamils in Mullaitivu in the larger picture of annihilating the Tamils when over twenty thousand Tamil lives were snuffed out in a hail of artillery shells and bombs on the last days of the war in plain sight of the world at large,. How can one think of a united Sri Lanka when side by side the horrendous mistreatment of 300, 000 Tamils is still continuing in the appalling Concentration Camps that are out of bounds to journalists, AI, foreign NGOs and Human Rights Organizations, where torture, extortion, raping and killing of Tamils is taking place on an unparalleled scale by the brutality unleashed by the Sinhalese Government. That is not all. Tamils visiting Sri Lanka are being harassed at the Colombo Airport and extortion in the name of Gotabaya is the order of the day. http://www.srilankaguardian.org/2009/06/sri-lanka-harass-visiting-tamils-at.html

With theories of ‘Internal Conflict’ and ‘Terrorism’, and now the sprawling explanation put to blame on the LTTE of Tamil Extremism, one is unable to comprehend how the ideological fixation of’ fighting terrorism’ and ‘ending armed conflict’ by destroying the Liberation Tigers justifies that any number of Tamil civilians is expendable.

In doing so, Mahinda is making it possible that there is only ‘One Solution’ to the vexed Tamil Problem that has been created by the Sinhalese Governments over the last six decades – that is an independent, sovereign state of Tamil Eelam.

chanaka

at 21:46 on June 11th, 2009

Mr. Rajendra, so sad about you. Well all those u mentioned was done by LTTE and that time you all keep your mouth shuts why? because u will be find dead or vanish from the LTTE. or u will belong to the same group of LTTE pay role list. accept n

As Tamil or what, it is great to see people in Sri Lanka try to help each other. U should appriciate it as a Tamil rather thinking like canibal life styles like LTTE. Great post Hiranya. See how people turn there backs when there is a great work going to start. These people not going to built roads and Homes in Colombo. They are going to do all for there brothers and sisters and see how these makes things upside down.