NO MILITARIZATION IN THE NORTH: GOTA
Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa has denied that the northern region is being militarized and said that security forces personnel “are maintaining absolutely essential presence”, the Deccan Chronicle reported.
Responding to a question
about the complaints that the military presence in the north was overwhelming — Tamils complained that they were present even during private family functions — he shot back, “We have minimum army presence there.”
“There are military cantonments even in Kashmir, in Tamil Nadu. But now there are no roadblocks, no cordonand-search. We have transferred law and order to the police and started recruiting Tamil policemen.” He said recruitment to military had stopped and even retirement vacancies were not filled. But they could not send back the soldiers after having used them to win the war as they were breadwinners. Nevertheless, there would be sizeable military presence to ensure that the “past does not revisit”, the Defence Secretary told the Deccan Chronicle.
“We have achieved large-scale development and restoration of normalcy within a short span after ending the 30-year war on terror”.
It’s said some people do not recognise this and instead are talking of sanctions against us. Is this fair and justified?” Mr Gotabaya, told Indian newspaper ‘The Deccan Chronicle’ in an interview at his high-security office in Colombo.
Mr. Gotabaya Rajapaksa had pleaded for a “fair assessment” of the development work and restoration of normal life in the northern region “within a short time of ending the 30-year war against terror” instead of summary branding of the government as rightsabuser.
“In these two-and-a-half years since winning the war, we have made great progress but, unfortunately, some people do not recognise that and harp on unnecessary
We have achieved large-scale development and restoration of normalcy within a short span after ending the 30-year war on terror
GOTABAYA RAJAPAKSA
issues, talk of sanctions (against Colombo).
It was not an ordinary insurgency but real war. You cannot compare the LTTE with any other terrorist outfit, not even Al-qaeda,” Mr Gotabaya said in an interview. He called upon the Tamils to “shed Tamil nationalism and grab the post-war opportunities”.