A FEW TAMIL POLITICIANS STILL PROPAGATE LTTE IDEOLOGY – DEFENCE SECRETARY

Although the Sri Lankan military had completely defeated LTTE terrorism militarily 10-years ago, the challenge of defeating its separatist ideology still remained as some Tamil politicians were attempting to propagate it in the minds of the Tamil people, Defence Secretary Maj. Gen. (Retd.) Kamal Gunaratne said yesterday.

He said the aspirations of the majority of common Tamil people were different from the ideology of those politicians. “The innocent Tamil people who were battered under LTTE terrorism do not want a separate country but some Tamil politicians want devolution

The innocent Tamil people who were battered under LTTE terrorism do not want a separate country but some Tamil politicians want devolution of power

of power,” he said when he met the visiting Zambian Army Chief Lt. Gen. W.M Sikazwe at the Ministry.

Referring to military expertise that was used in the final battle to end terrorism in the country, he said the LTTE terrorists were using asymmetric warfare tactics and the Sri Lankan military had to develop its own asymmetric warfare, which reduced the LTTE to merely an ideology after mid-2009.

Maj. Gen. Gunaratne also highlighted the lasting relationship between the two nations which dates back to the heydays of the Non-alignment Movement (NAM).

Lt. Gen. Sikazwe sought the possibility of sharing the expertise and experiences of the Sri Lankan military as a furtherance of the existing Sri Lanka - Zambia military relationship.

“Zambian military would greatly be benefited by the Sri Lankan military’s innovative asymmetric warfare tactics”, the visiting Army Chief said.

At present, six Officer Cadets and one officer in the rank of Major from the Zambian Army are undergoing training at Sri Lankan military institutions including the Kotelawala Defence University. Lt. Gen. Sikazwe is on a five day visit to the island since February 21 with a Zambian Army delegation which includes Brigadier General Simusandu, Defence Attaché High Commission of Zambia, New Delhi, India, Brigadier General G Ng’andwe, Director General Training, Colonel Leonard Peter Daka, Deputy Director General Policy Doctrine and Strategy, Colonel Jethrow Chipili, Director Zambia Defence University, Colonel T. Banda, Chief Instructor Staff College, Lieutenant Colonel M. Shapwaya, Commandant Special Forces School and Captain M Mulenga, Aide-de-camp.