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Don’t give in to diaspora claim of Tigers are Tamils: Rajiva tells West


Permanent Secretary to Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Disaster Management and Human Rights has told the CNN that the West should not give in to pressure by certain Diaspora people’s claim that the Tigers are the Tamils.

Permanent Secretary Prof. Rajiva Wijesinha, while interviewed by the CNN stated that some diaspora people keep saying that the Tigers represent the Tamils. “They do not. Tamils are decent hardworking people who have been mostly under the control of the terrorists for a number of years,” he said.

Driving home a point on the pressures exerted on Sri Lanka by the west, Prof. Wijesinha said if the international community could discuss and act on how things could be done better, Sri Lankacould do a lot more than already done.

He said Indiahas already done this and the results were clearly visible as India has been consistently against terrorism.

When the CNN interviewer asked whether she, as a journalist would be allowed access into IDP centres Prof. Wijesinha said it has and is being done on a limited basis. “Earlier this year, a lot of journalists covered this area and gave excellent coverage. But like bad money, bad journalism gave up all the good,” the Professor said citing some of the adverse and doubtful reports that were circulated accusing Sri Lanka of Human Rights violations during and after the fight against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) whose top leaders were killed in mid May by the Sri Lankan military.
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