Tamils will never suffer - Minister Devananda

EPDP Leader and Minister Douglas Devananda said yesterday that President Mahinda Rajapaksa and Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa deserve full credit for ending the suffering and hardships faced by Tamil people in the North and the East.


He said that the Tamil community experienced loss of lives and destruction of their properties throughout their history . "They will never face such a situation again due to the excessive efforts taken by the Government led by President Mahinda Rajapaksa," he added.

"I had been one of the leaders who at one stage carried a weapon for independence struggle. Due to unavoidable situation in the past, we were compelled to carry the weapons," the Minister said.

The Minister added that he did not want to offend the past to justify present. He was of the view that the armed struggle should have been stopped. Tamil political parties and the people criticized the LTTE when they expelled other communities from the Northern province in the late 1990s.

He was of the opinion that language policy has not been implemented in the country properly. The Minister stressed that a legislation should be brought to parliament to make Sinhala and Tamil compulsory subjects in schools.

There should be a mechanism by which the Sinhala youth can learn Tamil language and vice versa soon.

Answering a question raised by member of the Commission H M G S Palihakkara whether people are extorted by LTTE sympathizers in the Vavuniya district, the Minister said there were few extortion cases reported from the area initially. (Daily News)