By Shamindra Ferdinando
Island.lk
January 16, 2014
The Defence Ministry yesterday said that Northern Provincial Council member Ananthi Sasitharan was under investigation, though she had publicly distanced herself from the LTTE fighting cadre.
A
senior Defence Ministry spokesman said that the ongoing inquiry was
meant to establish her role during the conflict as well as the post-war
era. The Defence Ministry was responding to criticism of its decision
to weigh the need to rehabilitate Ms. Sasitharan.
During the conflict Ananthi Sasitharan worked at the Kilinochchi Divisional secretariat.
Ms
Sasitharan successfully contested the first Northern Provincial
Council polls last September. Representing the Illankai Tamil Arasu
Kadchi (ITAK) she polled the second highest preferential votes in the
Northern Province comprising the administrative districts of Jaffna,
Vavuniya, Mannar, Kilinochchi and Mullaitivu.
Asked
whether authorities had specific information regarding Ms.
Sasitharan’s involvement in terrorism, the official pointed out that an
attempt was being made to sanitize her on the basis that her husband,
Velayutham Sasitharan alias Elilan functioned as the political wing
leader of the Trincomalee district.
The
Defence Ministry alleged that the LTTE created a political wing
especially to infiltrate territory in Northern and Eastern Provinces,
during the Norwegian arranged Ceasefire Agreement (CFA) in early 2002.
The CFA stipulated that LTTE could establish political offices in areas
under the government control, the ministry said, adding that the
Sasitharans could have taken advantage of the CFA on many occasions.
Sri
Lanka wouldn’t give special status to those terrorists masquerading as
political activists, the Defence Ministry insisted. Referring to the
killing of LTTE political wing leader S. P. Thamilselvan in early
November 2007, the ministry stressed that the former Jaffna commander
was targeted as he was a member of a terrorist outfit.
In
fact, a US military team that examined the ground situation in late
2002 asserted that the LTTE was exploiting the CFA to its advantage. The
team from Pacific Command alleged that: "Since the signing the CFA
with the government of Sri Lanka, the LTTE has increased political
presence within military controlled territory and actively
repositioned, re-equipped and re-trained combat forces. As a result of
these activities, the LTTE has improved its ability to affect civilian
popular opinion, interdict military lines of communications and seize
control of additional territory."
The ministry
said that those who had visited Sri Lanka to examine the ground
situation ended up listening to either former terrorists or the Tamil
National Alliance (TNA) which endorsed the LTTE as the sole
representative of Tamil speaking people leading to the outbreak of eelam
war IV.
