Will the President reveal forces casualty figures before the election?

(January 21, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) The official casualty details suspended by the government whilst the war was intensively fought are long overdue. The government is conveniently avoiding the full disclosure of the casualty toll for political reasons, except for only hyphening its victory against the LTTE.

Except for ad hoc comments of deaths of soldiers, comprehensive details are kept away from the public.

In addition to deaths, thorough details of persons missing in action and the injured soldier’s information are still to be released after eight months of ending the war.

The Colombo print media too is maintaining silence fearing pressure from the government intelligence service for taking up the issue.

It is suspected family members of many soldiers killed are still to hear their fates. The government has a habit of conveniently classifying deaths of many soldiers as missing in action to avoid paying the contractual sums on their death.

According section 30 (1) of the Constitution of Sri Lanka, the President who is the Head of State, the Head of the Executive and of the Government, and the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces has the important responsibility to reveal the details of dead men and women of Armed Forces and give due respect for their national duty in the war front.