[hemantha33]

Many Tamil Leaders killed by LTTE - Prof. Suriyanarayan
Professor Suriyanarayan a former professor at the University of Peradeniya and presently at Madras University the keynote addressee at the 60th Independence Day celebrations held at the Mahabhodhi Centre in Chennai, said that the LTTE had killed many Tamil leaders over the past three years. He also expressed the view that the political leadership of both the UNP as well as the SLFP was also responsible for this conflict.

Delivering the keynote address on the theme "Sri Lankan and Indian Relations," he went on to say that the Sri Lankans had suffered a period of terror or a "bheeshana samaya" in the period 1988-1989 and that they were once again living in fear of bomb blasts.

Thousands of Tamils flock to India to escape the armed conflict. Around 65000 Sri Lankan Tamils who have arrived from areas such as Vavunia, Anuradhapura, Jaffna, Mannar, and Batticaloa, and other areas in the North and East are in refugee camps in Tamil Nadu while no permanent solution has still been found to the problem. Professor Suriyanarayan indicated.

There were academic bonds between Madras and Sri Lanka. The Madras University which was established in 1857 had two Sri Lankan students among its first batch which was evidence of over a hundred year relationship between the two countries. Sadly the India-Sri Lanka Foundation established by a former President to promote cultural relations between the two countries was not functioning, he said.

"Several Tamil leaders had been killed by the LTTE, during the past two decades," he pointed out.

An Independence Day message from President Mahinda Rajapaksa was read out by Sri Lankan High Commissioner in S.India, P.M.Amza, where the President stated that both the Sinhalese and Tamils were celebrating Independence Day together in Chennai and that this would help strengthen relations between the two countries.

Courtesy: Government Information Department

[ereshthush]

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