PRESIDENT Mahinda Rajapakse was displeased with the tiny crowd that was assembled to ‘greet the leader’ at his election rally in Jaffna on Wednesday, reports TamilNet.
Up to 60,000 police and 20,000 troops have been mobilised to see the April 8 election through and to take control of the ballot boxes.
Rajapaksa’s main opponent, ex-colleague and ex-military chief Fonseka, has already been put in prison and faces a court martial, and the jails are expected to be filled after Rajapakse wins the election.
Candidates who oppose Rajapakse go in fear of the threat to their lives from ‘white van’ gangsters who have been assassinating critics of the president, including journalists.
However, no power on earth could force the Tamil masses to turn up to greet Rajapakse in Jaffna.
In fact, hundreds of thousands of Tamils are still in concentration camps in the north of the country where operations are still taking place to identify and ‘cancel’ Tamil Tiger members and supporters.
Despite efforts by Minister Douglas Devananda and the candidates of Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) and Eelam People’s Democratic Party (EPDP) it was possible to bring in less than 400 persons to attend the propaganda meeting in which Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse participated Thursday in Jaffna’s Duraippah Stadium.
Mahinda Rajapakse appeared disturbed and displeased on seeing a small crowd and delivered an address which failed to cover the much expected and vital issues like a political solution, the resettlement of uprooted families in Valikaamam North in Sri Lankan Army-occupied High Security Zone (HSZ) and restoring some aspects of ‘normalcy’ in the Jaffna peninsula.
The Sri Lankan president first thanked those who voted for him in the presidential election and said that Tamils and Sinhalese should live as brethren and relatives.
He further said that he will get the Tamils a solution for the ethnic problem in the form of the setting up of a ‘People’s Council’.
Rajapakse arrived by helicopter which landed in Nalloor Education Department playground on Thursday morning and from there he was taken to Nalloor Kanthasuvaami Koayil for worship.
He next performed religious rites at the Naaka Vikaarai Buddhist temple in Aariyaku’lam where the chief incumbent welcomed him and conducted the prayers.
The president was then led to Duraippah stadium under heavy escort.
The people brought to the meeting had to pass through many check points with fences built with iron rods and netting where they all were thoroughly inspected.
They were allowed to sit only at a distance of 200 feet from the stage.
Duraippah Stadium and its surroundings teemed with SLA soldiers, police personnel deployed to guard the president besides the presence of his special security team which accompanies the president everywhere.
Minister Douglas Devananda, Northern Province Governor Major Gen. G. A. Chandrasiri, Jaffna Mayor Ms. Yogeswari Patkunam and the candidates of SLFP and EPDP were some of those present at the meeting.
The day before the rally Douglas Devananda, a minister in Mahinda Rajapaksa’s cabinet and the leader of the paramilitary-cum-political party Eelam People’s Democratic Party (EPDP), publicly warned the editor of Yarl Thinakural, K. Vamathevan and its administrative manager, A. Nadarajah for having published as front page news the attack on the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) candidate Ankajan.
Devananda stated that the reporting had negatively affected election propaganda for his party besides damaging his reputation.
Devananda openly threatened that Vamathevan and Nadarajah would not be able to go to work Friday if they failed to apologise to him at a press meet he held for the local media in Jaffna Srithar Theatre Thursday morning.
The open threat by Devananda to the lives of the news editor and the well reputed manager of the Jaffna daily has created fear and panic among media personnel in the Jaffna peninsula.
Minister Douglas Devananda further accused the Yarl Thinakural editor and the administrative manager of ‘purposely misreporting’ the Thursday early morning attack and claimed that it was SLFP candidate Ankajan’s group that had opened fire on and burnt the vehicle of Jaffna Mayor Ms. Patkunam Yogeswary.
The EPDP leader further instructed the Yarl Thinakural editor to publish his version of the attack in Friday’s Yarl Thinakural.
Besides, during the press meet Minister Douglas Devananda phoned the owner of the Colombo Thinakural daily, Samy, and its chief editor Thanabalasingham and spoke to them with the phone speaker on so that the attendees of the press meet could hear the conversation.
Editor Thanabalasingham and owner Samy said that they knew nothing about the said news coverage and added that Yarl Thinakural has been ‘infiltrated by persons who act on their own’.
They further requested Douglas Devananda to ‘summon the persons involved to Srithar Theatre and warn them’, the sources said.
This also caused shock and fear among media persons in Jaffna and Colombo.
Conflict and clashes between the SLFP candidates and EPDP candidates contesting Jaffna electorate are now taking place frequently in the Jaffna peninsula despite the fact that both parties support Rajapakse.
Douglas Devananda, who is allocated 8 seats by the Colombo Establishment, has become increasingly intolerant of the campaign by the SLFP that is contesting with a 4-seat allocation.
• Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) candidate Ramanathan Ankajan and his supporters were attacked around Wednesday midnight between Aanaipanthi and Aariyaku’lam on the Jaffna-Point Pedro road by a group of armed men belonging to the Eelam People’s Democratic Party (EPDP).
Three supporters of Ankajan were abducted at gun point by the armed men who had set fire to one of the vehicles of Ankajan group.
Ankajan and his supporters were engaged in making arrangements to welcome President Mahinda Rajapakse.
Conflicting interests between the candidates of SLFP and EPDP who are contesting jointly in ruling United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) ticket may be the cause for the attack.
There were no army soldiers or police present at the location during the attack.
Around 100 to 150 armed men had first blasted a hand grenade and opened fire on the vehicles of Ankajan group and then attacked them smashing the vehicles.
One of the vehicles had been completely burnt and Ankajan and his supporters had fled to save their lives.
