The liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, one of the most dreaded terrorist organisations in the world, is still active in various parts of the globe, according to the Commander of the Sri lanka Army.
lt-General Daya Ratnayake, Commander of Sri lanka Army and the Chief of Army Staff, told The Pioneer in an exclusive interview that activities of the lTTE terrorists are being monitored by Sri lanka to prevent the recurrence of the kind of the three-decade old civil war, which was crushed by the Sri lanka Army in May 2009.
“We wiped out the top leadership of the lTTE in Sri lanka. But supporters and activists of the lTTE are operating freely from various corners of the world and we are following their movements,” said the General.
The General spoke to The Pioneer at the venue of the Defence Seminar 2014 organised by Sri lanka Army at Colombo. The three-day global conclave, which begins on Monday, will see experts from various countries sharing inputs with the top echelons of the Army about the challenges faced by a raising nation. “We want to have sustainable peace, economic and social development to make Sri lanka the Wonder of Asia,” he said.
General Ratnayake was all praise for India. “More than 80 per cent of our training needs are met by India. Our officers and soldiers are trained in India’s defence establishments. We always cherish the friendship with India,” he said.
Having given enough hints to the outside world — especially countries and groups criticising Sri lanka for alleged human right violations — that the Army may not withdraw fully from the Northern Province, General Ratnayake said the military has to play a big role in Sri lanka.
“Nobody expected us to win the war against the lTTE. Nobody thought we would be able to remove the landmines laid by the Tigers.
We successfully removed the entire landmines and integrated more than 13,000 lTTE terrorists into the civil society. Certain people do not like this and they are raising the bogey of rights violations,” he said.
Referring to the television documentaries and pictures being circulated by certain individuals and groups, the General said they are only artificially created allegations. “The Army is out to help the Government make Sri lanka a role model for outside world. We will play a major role in making development and security sustainable,” said Gen Ratnayake.
“The final war of May 2009 was fought by the Army with three directives from the Government; zero causality to civilians, minimum damages to the civilian establishments and the Army and maximum damage to the lTTE leadership. We won the war and ensured that the directives were executed in letter and spirit,” said General Ratnayake.
He also rubbished reports that the Sri lanka Army has taken control/ownership of land in Jaffna belonging to the civilian population. “It is easy to make allegations. But so far nobody has come forward to substantiate the charges,” he said.
Interestingly, it was announced on Sunday that the Gross Reserves of the country’s Central Bank crossed $9 billion mark on August 8. The official Gross Reserves reaching the $9 billion mark is a sign of Sri lanka’s economic stability, pointed out a spokesman of the seminar.