Northern people want Navy to remain in the North: Ganesan

The people in the North want the Navy to remain there in order to prevent the South Indian fishermen from encroaching into Sri Lankan waters, a Tamil politician said today.

Minister of National Integration, Reconciliation and Languages Mano Ganesan, who was the chief guest at the launch of the Sinhala translation of International Human Rights Charter by Hemachnadra Pathirana in Colombo said the Northern people whom he met recently had informed him that they want the Navy to remain in the North.

“When I visited the North recently the people there want the Navy to remain. When I asked them why they said this is because the Navy could prevent the South Indian fishermen from stealing fish from Sri Lankan waters,” the Minister said.

“I think the country should be aware of these sentiments of the Northern people,” he added.

“At the same time the Minister said the members of the security forces who had done wrong should be penalised. “A Security Force in any country when engaged in a war tends to commit offences. The Indian Peace Keeping Forces also committed offences and so did the American forces in countries such as Iraq. Also few members of the Sri Lankan security forces have also committed wrong doings in the war,” he said

“Therefore those members of the Sri Lankan security forces who had done wrong should be penalised. One cannot disperse the army or penalise the entire force just because some have done wrong. You don’t dissolve Parliament just because few MPs are corrupt,” the Minister further said.

Minister Ganesan said some including the then former President Mahinda Rajapaksa are talking of betraying the Sri Lankan security forces today forgetting what he did in the past. He said it was the former President who went to Geneva calling for action against the disappearances and killings in 1987/89. The Minister said former President actually went to Geneva against the security forces.

Mr. Ganesan was critical of the TNA MPs as well stating that they fled the country during the last regime without fighting for rights. “It was I who fought against extra judicial killings and disappearances together with some Sinhalese leaders when all the TNA MPs fled the country,” he said. (Yohan Perera)