Drug dealers, Police said instigating religious strife in Mannar

[TamilNet, Monday, 04 October 2004, 12:20 GMT]
“Our office in Mannar town was attacked with the backing of the Sri Lanka Police. It appears to have been well premeditated. Some anti-social elements here that are opposed to our campaign to rid of Mannar of drugs want to attack us and hinder us. They are using religion to divide the community so that they can continue their nefarious activities without any hindrance. We will not rise to the communal bait. Mannar, as you know, has become a major transit point for drugs. We want to stop this”, said Mr. S. Iniyavan, head of the LTTE's political division for Mannar, speaking to TamilNet Monday.

“We identified ten Police personnel who were involved with the persons who attacked our office. We brought it to the notice of the Sri Lanka Police and the army in the presence of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission on Friday. They promised to take action”, Mr. Iniyavan added.

“We had nothing to with the killing of a Muslim youth last Thursday night. But the murder was exploited by interested parties to provoke communal strife in Mannar and stop us from campaigning against drug abuse and social decay in the district”, he said.

“All the Tamil speaking people live amicably in Mannar regardless of their different religious beliefs. There are some persons here who want to divide the people of Mannar by instigating religious acrimony. They are corrupt anti social people who are lackeys of the Sri Lankan army and Police. In our campaign to eradicate drug abuse in Mannar we have found that these corrupt persons are behind attempts to create religious strife in this district”, he said.

“Those who are opposed to the Tamil people’s struggle for rights are finding many means to divide our community and undermine our political cause. In the Mannar district they are trying to use religion to divide and confuse our people. They want to provoke communal strife in Mannar. But we are determined to stop it. We are fully aware of the fact that they want to provoke us. Therefore whatever the provocation we will resort to very peaceful means to dialogue between all the people in Mannar and to maintain communal harmony”, Mr. Iniyavan said.