Tamils being persecuted in Sri Lanka is bunkum, says George Master’s daughter

The daughter of George Pancharatnam, better known as George Master, the LTTE’s one-time media spokesman, visited her father at the CID last week.

Domiciled in Australia, Gayathri Jude arrived in Sri Lanka last week with her husband and two children to see her father who is being held by the CID following his surrender to the army during the height of the military thrust against the LTTE.

She is a lecturer at a leading Australian Universitywhile her husband is an engineer.

Gayathri said she was cautioned against visiting Sri Lanka by her friends and relatives who predicted the worst in a “hostile land”. She said when she announced her plans to visit Sri Lanka, they had warned her that the police will not only kill her, but her husband and two children as well, she recalled. If not, they will be tortured, they warned.

She said that she returned to Sri Lanka with a great degree of fear. On arrival, she had called the CID and asked whether she could visit her father.

The CID officers were very cordial and cooperative. They had asked her not to wait till Saturday but to call over on Friday, Gayathri said. She had visited her father with her family.

She said the OIC, CID, and his officers were so accommodative and had asked her to visit again the following day. She said that she never expected such a warm reception from the police in Sri Lanka.

She said that she had a long, leisurely chat with her father on both days and the CID had made her experience a pleasant one. She also said that her father had said that he is being treated well by the police.

Gayathri said that she last visited Sri Lanka in 2005 to attend her mother’s funeral. She also mentioned that she now realize the extent of the false propaganda spread by the LTTE to mislead the international community and tarnish Sri Lanka’s image.

To say that Tamils are being persecuted in Sri Lanka is bunkum, she stressed. She said that she is talking through experience, though she herself feared the worst at first.

She thanked DIG (CID) and the Director, SSP for the goodwill extended to her. - (Lankapuwath)

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