Need to act with extreme caution

Full text of the letter addressed to Mahinda Rajapaksa, President of Sri Lanka by V. Anandasangaree – President, TULF, is follows;

By V. Anandasangaree

(March 10, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) I am distressed over the claim of the Security Forces that the final outcome of the Eelam War would be decided within this week and that the next 72 hours will be very crucial for the LTTE. It is not the LTTE that I am worried of. It is the country and the people that I have foremost in my thinking. What Lieutenant General Sarath Fonseka said during a recent briefing to the Forces at the Vavuniya Head Quarters is very relevant in the present context and cannot be overlooked by anybody.

He said, “Our progress from now onwards should be made meticulously, taking maximum preventions, keeping the civilian factor in mind at all times”. It is reliably understood that there are over three hundred thousand people trapped in Vanni. The members of the LTTE are fully mixed up with the civilians and are prepared for any eventuality. In a frustrated situation they won’t hesitate to do anything to provoke the Forces to the Maximum. The war cannot be brought to an end in a hurry to please any individual of a political party. Every one will have to act with extreme caution. My strong plea to all concerned is not to give an opportunity to the LTTE to achieve their ambition of seeing the Jallianwalla Bagh incident repeated here so that they can rouse the feelings of the Tamils all over the World and the International Community. What I say is that a group that is using over three hundred thousand people and starving them is not incapable of doing any thing to achieve their end. Jallianwalla Bagh is the incident in which the British Soldiers fired at a peaceful meeting continuously for ten minutes while the trapped Indians screamed for mercy. The 1650 rounds they fired killed and wounded 1516 people.

This incident still remains as a black mark in the history of the British rule in India and became a turning point in their freedom struggle. It is not that I want an incident like that to happen but I don’t want any such thing to happen. Even a small incident like this will help a dying movement to redeem itself.

Kilinochchi and Mullaitheevu Districts had a total population of 420,000 and 105,000 families. We all know that the LTTE always had been giving exaggerated figures. If we take 75 % of that as true these two districts should still have not less than 300,000. If the ID persons of Mannar and Vavuniya now in Mullaitheevu is added to this the total will be still higher. Out of these only about 40,000 had come to Vavuniya. In all probabilities taking into consideration the people who had left Vanni earlier, the present number 330,000 must be correct or nearly correct.

The total requirement of food needed for the 330,000 people is roughly 5000 tons. Most of the people living there are on the verge of starvation. There is obviously an acute shortage of food and drugs that should be met by sending additional stock. It is the Government that had been feeding the LTTE during the past quarter of a century. If the Government wants to save its people, then it should send food and drugs to meet the requirement of all in Vanni, till the people are freed.

To avoid a disastrous situation the forces should be advised to stop aerial bombing, shelling and artillery attacks forthwith. This step should be taken immediately, if your Excellency agree with me that a serious development had taken place in Vanni to warrant your intervention. -Sri Lanka Guardian