Focus on Minister Paulraj’s UK statement

The UK, in March this year, imposed sanctions on former Chief of Staff of the Sri Lankan Armed Forces, Shavendra Silva, former Commander of the Navy Wasantha Karannagoda and former Commander of the Army Jagath Jayasuriya, as well as Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan, known as Karuna Amman, formerly of the LTTE. Sri Lanka never had the courage to point out how the UK allowed the LTTE to build conventional military capacity.

- BY SHAMINDRA FERDINANDO

Women and Child Affairs Minister Saroja Savithri Paulraj recently proudly declared that the national election wins, secured by the National People's Power (NPP) last year, transformed the country for the better by elevating all citizens, irrespective of race or religion, as equals before the law enforcers?.

The first Tamil Member of Parliament, elected from the Matara District ever, Paulraj said that the Tamil community greatly feared whether justice would be done if members of the community visited police stations. They were also frightened that the armed forces would treat them differently, the firsttime MP, who is also a member of the NPP's National Executive Committee said, adding that the Tamil community had been also apprehensive whether they would be accepted as citizens of Sri Lanka.

However, the NPP's triumph changed the ground situation.

At the onset of this statement, lawmaker Paulraj said that she must repeat the same in Tamil. The declaration was made at a public gathering in the UK.

Among those who had been on stage at that moment were Justice and National Integration Minister Harshana Nanayakkara and Health and Mass Media Minister and Chief Government Whip Dr. Nalinda Jayatissa.

During the second JVP insurgency (1987-1990), anti-subversive operations targeted the Sinhalese.

The writer, on many occasions, observed the police and military manning checkpoints leaving out Tamils, Muslims and Sinhala Catholics when buses entering the City were checked. That was the general practice all over the country.