Anti-peace rallies mark anniversary of deal with Tigers
Colombo (AsiaNews) – Protests and rallies yesterday marked the fifth anniversary of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between the government of Sri Lanka and the rebel Tamil Tigers. The rallies saw movements against dialogue with the rebels take to the streets together with promoters of a hard line approach to the Tamils. These are supporters of the Marxist People’s Liberation Front (JVP), a member of the government coalition, and Buddhist monks belonging to the extremist National Bhikku Front. While protesters called for the abrogation of the ceasefire signed on 22 February 2002, civil society is forcefully calling on the authorities to press ahead with the peace process which has been stalled for a year.
Around 8,000 followers of the Buddhist group marched in the streets of the capital carrying banners saying things like “Immediately cancel the agreement of betrayal”. Actually, as Erik Solheim, Norwegian Minister for development and cooperation, pointed out yesterday, the 2002 ceasefire which was reached thanks to Oslo’s mediation is no longer respected by either of the two parties and remains valid only on a formal basis.
“Although the rebels and government insist that they are still faithful to the ceasefire, the people are not seeing concrete results. We ask politicians to react in a wise way and to resolve the conflict, starting out from the 2002 accord and proceeding with negotiations,” said David Fernando, a passer-by who was interviewed by AsiaNews. Another, Rasaish Muttu, said: “Only a few people are against a peace agreement. President Rajapakse should act in the name of the people of this country who want to attain peace.”
The separatists of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) have been fighting since 1983 for independence in the north-east of the country from Colombo. Since December 2005, the country has seen a resurgence in clashes that has claimed 4,000 lives.
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21/04/2009
