Remove obstacles for amity and development of North

The greatest obstacle to progress in the reconciliation front appears to be an LTTE Syndrome which has plagued Government officials and even the Armed Forces.

The recent arrest of the Jaffna Mayor is a case in point. Let us analyse the facts of the case.the Mayor says that he recruited five persons to clean up the city of Jaffna and gave them blue uniforms which had the tag of the Jaffna Municipal Council.

Although the Mayor stated that their principal function was to clean the city they were seen to direct traffic which is the duty of the Traffic Policemen Universally.

This is certainly a matter which had to be investigated by the authorities.

However, the Mayor and the five members were arrested because their uniforms were blue which triggered the LTTE syndrome as it allegedly resembled the uniform of the LTTE Constables of the years gone by.

When the matter was brought before the Magistrate an enquiry was made whether the uniform had an LTTE badge which was answered in the negative.

If the Government is sincere in its efforts at bridging the gap of hostility the matter could have been handled in a better way by a discussion with all parties. this is the danger when a person of the calibre of Mr Weerasekera, a former senior officer of the Military holds the post of Minister of Internal Security as wrong signals are being sent downwards.

The haul up of the Mayor and his staff of five before a court of law is not warranted as they have not contravened a law of the land. The government must remember that much work has to be done to build up the trust and confidence of the people in the North and incidents of this nature will only hinder the progress towards amity.

We have to help the people in the North to erase from their minds the period of terror, sufferings, and hardships that were unleashed during their domination by the LTTE and warmly welcome them to our fold sans the aura of suspicion.

It is now twelve years since the eradication of terrorism and a Parliamentary committee should be formed chaired by the Prime Minister, including the head of the TNA and heads of other Tamil parties, along with other senior Ministers tasked with identifying the problems in the North and the development and solution of all problems outstanding.