Emergency is prelude to war - Vanni MP

[TamilNet, Friday, 11 February 2005, 06:07 GMT]
“You are reintroducing Emergency Regulations (ER) to wage on the Tamil people so that you can cling on to power. The emergency is not for the south. It is for oppressing the Tamil people in the northeast with an iron fist as you did in the past. You need war to stay in power. It is the only way for you to deal with the political and economic crisis in which you are engulfed today. You killed Kousalyan to provoke the Tigers to war. You expect the Tigers to rise to the bait”, said Mr. Selvam Adaikalanathan, Tamil National Alliance MP for Vanni, addressing President Kumaratunga’s government during the debate on Emergency in Parliament Friday.

"Your designs to secure 4.5 billion dollars in aid by hoodwinking the world with phony peace talks failed miserably. But the Tsunami disaster was a windfall for your crisis ridden government. It is filling your coffers with money to run the state and stay in power. Clearly, you want to strengthen the army with Tsunami aid. The first thing you did after the Tsunami was to send a committee to buy arms abroad. Then you buy a warship for the Navy. You do not care for the plight of the people. Singhalese protested against not receiving Tsunami aid on your independence day. It shows that you are neglecting even Singhalese who were afflicted by the disaster", Mr. Adaikalanathan said.

He pointed out that the Sri Lankan authorities were fabricating accusations against the Tamil Rehabilitation Organisation (TRO) to prevent it from delivering humanitarian aid to the people in the northeast.

"The Emergency is also aimed at barring the TRO from working for our Tsunami afflicted people", he said.

"You take our patience for military weakness. You are, as always, making a big mistake. We are ready for war just as we are ready to work peacefully for a political settlement in a united country. I warn you, if war is what you want, the Tamil people will fight on until we achieve Thamil Eelam", the MP asserted, winding up his address.