Colombo – Sri Lanka’s President Maithripala Sirisena, on Tuesday promised to promote reconciliation between communities in his address to mark the sixth anniversary of the defeat of Tamil rebels.
The president, who spoke in Matara, said the government would embark on development and reconciliation simultaneously.
“At the end of the war, the focus was on developing infrastructure damaged during the war.
“Priority was not given to mend the minds broken due to the war.
“In my opinion we failed by not concentrating on reconciliation,’’ Sirisena said.
Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, who spearheaded the military campaign to defeat the Tamil rebels, concentrated on the construction of roads, bridges and buildings in the former rebel-held areas at the end of the war in May 2009.[pro_ad_display_adzone id=”70560″]
However since being elected president in January, Sirisena had moved to build unity between the minority Tamils and the majority Sinhalese who were divided by the conflict.
The government has banned events commemorating the former rebels on the grounds that their organisation, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, was still banned.
However, ceremonies to commemorate civilians killed during the conflict were permitted by the police.
Residents in the northern region lit oil lamps and candles to remember those killed, but made no reference to the rebels killed. (dpa/NAN)
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