Heavily armed Sri Lankan forces have surrounded Wednesday Cinnamon Lake hotel in Colombo, where opposition presidential candidate and former Sri Lanka Army General (retd) Sarath Fonseka was residing with opposition leader Ranil Wickramasinghe and JVP leader Somawanse Amarasinghe, reported Tamilnet yesterday morning.
Sarath Fonseka, who is trailing in the presidential contest against his former Commander-in-Chief Mahinda Rajapakse was scheduled to hold a press conference yesterday morning, but journalists were not allowed to reach the hotel and were waiting at Sri Sittampalam Gardiner Mawatte.
In the meantime, Sri Lankan military spokesman Udaya Nanayakkara has alleged that Sarath Fonseka was harbouring SLA deserters inside the hotel.
The military has also been deployed around media outlets in Colombo.
‘We know General Fonseka is inside, but our interest is in the army deserters who could be armed,’ the military spokesman said warning Fonseka that it was a criminal act to harbour SLA deserters.
Meanwhile, offices and buildings of all media organisations in Colombo are provided with ‘tight security’ by the Sri Lanka Army, Military Spokesman Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara told journalists.
However, sources close to Sarath Fonseka told media that the former army general was only employing retired military men and a few disabled soldiers for his protection.
They blamed the Sri Lankan Defence Secretary and the brother of the SL president, saying that Gotabhaya Rajapakse was trying to ‘tarnish the image’ of Fonseka.
The hotel is situated opposite the Sri Lankan Air Force Headquarters.
Sri Lankan President and Commander-in-Chief Mahinda Rajapakse, his brother Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapakse and the former SLA Commander General (retd) Sarath Foneska and many other commanders have been responsible for major war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide against the Tamil people.
Meanwhile, in the thirty five electorates seats of 160 seats announced up to 8.00am yesterday morning, Sri Lanka’s current President Mahinda Rajapakse won twenty seven electorates and the rest went to General Sarath Fonseka.
The total votes polled by Mahinda Rajapakse had risen to 1,285,074 (59.63) against Gen Sarath Fonseka’s 830,554 (38.54) votes.
Earlier, Susil Premjayantha, general secretary of the ruling United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA) and a senior minister in the government led by incumbent President Mahinda Rajapakse on Tuesday evening said that his party would challenge the victory of General (retd) Sarath Fonseka in Court of Law if he becomes elected president.
He made the announcement after the closure of the presidential poll and after the counting of postal votes began.
Several other ministers participated in the joint press conference.
He added General Fonseka was not a voter.
Despite the Commissioner of Elections Dayananda Dissanayake ruling that the factor he (Fonseka) was not a registered voter had no bearing on being elected President, Minister Susil Premjayantha said the matter would be challenged in courts as General Fonseka was not qualified to be elected President.
Meanwhile, in an article sent to TamilNet, Professor Dheeran in Tamil Nadu says that genocide is a national policy of the State in Sri Lanka since independence, citing the various facets, stages and sequences of State-orchestrated genocide against Tamils in the island, denying land, suffrage, polity, economy, culture and ultimately free physical existence.
Eezham Tamils have more reasons to claim independence than many other such cases.
The twist of the national question by the International Community only resulted in removal of guarantee against genocide.
It paved the way for China’s entry.
The new equations provide new opportunities for the recognition of Tamil Eelam. The diaspora, free and powerful enough, should be steadfast in the only goal of liberation.
Referendum is an international way to achieve it and efforts of re-mandating Vaddukkoaddai Resolution follow that line, he writes.
In his article, he says: ‘Genocide is a National Policy’ to the Sri Lankan Government since independence in 1948.
‘When all political movements for equality and freedom failed, the Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF) in 1976 came out with the Vaddukkoaddai Resolution declaring that “the only solution and aspiration for Eelam Tamils is the establishment of a free and sovereign state of Tamil Eelam.”
‘TULF requested Tamils in the North and East of the island to consider the 1977 general elections as a referendum to mandate the Resolution, which the Tamils overwhelmingly did.
‘The Sri Lankan government responded to the Tamil mandate by the Prevention of Terrorism Act of 1979 which prohibited talk of session as an act of terrorism and by the Sixth Amendment to the Constitution in 1983 that constitutionally declared talk of secession by its citizens from inside or outside of the country a serious punishable offence.
‘Thus the Tamils were disenfranchised in pursuing democratic politics on their national question.
‘When all democratic avenues were thus closed, the youth who wanted to pursue the Tamils’ political goals, had no other option other than to resort to militancy, even though senior politicians at that time were against it.
‘The LTTE led by Mr V Pirapaharan was steadfast in the Tamil national goal and in the militant struggle against the Sri Lankan state chauvinism and thus received the entire support of the Tamil people.
‘During the course of the 30 years of war, on two occasions there were important peace talks.
‘The Indian arranged talks in Thimphu in 1985 and the Norwegian facilitated peace talks in Oslo following the February 2002 Ceasefire Agreement (CFA). Both the talks have failed.
‘Even substantial concessions on the part of Tamils could not make the powers to bear upon Colombo to come out with solutions.
‘Other than initiating the peace talks to diffuse the momentum of the armed struggle of the militants, the international community never took any substantial steps for negotiated peace.
‘After the terror attacks on the Twin Towers in the US in September 2001, the International Community, to suit its interests, included geopolitically selective national liberation struggles as international terrorism, despite criticism by many political observers.
‘This gave the opportunity for terrorist states to crush national liberation movements, in the guise of “democratically elected governments”.
‘The Mullivaikkal war (in May, 2009) though shows resemblances of victory for Colombo against the LTTE, has brought in serious questions in the international scene.
‘The response of the Tamil Diaspora, in accordance with the request by Mr V Pirapaharan on his Heroes’ Day speech of 2008, is engagement in novel ways with all sections of international community to gain support for the cause of Tamil Eelam, but at the same time steadfastly sticking to the cause of Tamil Eelam that has not been surrendered in Mullivaaikkaal.’
