In the face of justice: As pointed out by TULF leader Anandasangaree, “Human rights are openly violated by the LTTE. They have as a result of no opposition from virtually any source today set up a real dictatorship in the north east of the country and are now reported to be in pursuit of this dictatorship and strengthening it to make its goal achievable.”
Sunday, July 23rd, 2006Mr. S. L. Gunasekera has taken the Bishop of Mannar to task for his letter to the Vatican in regard to the reported attack on the Pesalai Church.
If his Lordship had limited his statement with regard to the damage to the Church and the killing of some of the faithful, even without questioning the truth of his statement, one could have understood and appreciated the stand of the Bishop.
He had certainly a case for the condemnation of what had happened at the Pesalai Church, and it is a pity that he took the opportunity to go beyond the Church incident to make a kind of policy statement on the activities of the LTTE, virtually attempting to exonerate the Tigers from all the terror and violence they into had plunged the country into for nearly 20 years.
Today a substantial part of the world has openly condemned the LTTE for the terror they had unleashed on Sri Lanka for over 20 years and without hesitation branded them as terrorists.
A charge was even made before the United Nations General Assembly against the LTTE for the abduction of nearly 5000 children for the LTTE baby brigade, 5000 children snatched - forcibly taken away - from their parental homes causing untold grief to their parents, who had no choice but bow to the demands of the LTTE.
As pointed out by TULF leader Anandasangaree, “Human rights are openly violated by the LTTE. They have as a result of no opposition from virtually any source today set up a real dictatorship in the north east of the country and are now reported to be in pursuit of this dictatorship and strengthening it to make its goal achievable.”
The Catholic Church with over a billion followers is highly respected in the world today. It has not hesitated to stand up and defend the rights of all people - not only Catholics. The famed Evangelist Billy Graham said of the late Pope John Paul II - that he was the keeper of the moral conscience of the world, because of what he did in his lifetime to uphold human rights.
In the face of the stand maintained by the Church in the world, what the Bishop of Mannar has attempted to do by making a virtual policy statement on behalf of the LTTE is unacceptable.
Maurice Lord, Colombo 13
http://www.nation.lk/2006/07/23/letters.htm
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