The Tamil Tigers have foolishly killed a person whom they could have
made use of to achieve anything other than to divide the country for
which he was totally against lamented V. Ananda Sangaree, President of
the Tamil United liberation Front (TULF) , who is considered the
leader of the moderate Tamils in Sri Lanka.
He was commenting on the alleged perpetrators of the assassination and
the victim of the suicide bomb killing, Highways Minister Jeyaraj
Fernandopulle, a member of a minority Tamil group in the country.
"The fact that he had been repeatedly elected in a predominantly
Buddhist constituency, although a catholic, goes to his credit showing
to the world that he was loved and respected by all sections to the
People in this country irrespective of one's race or religion",
Sangaree said in a statement..
Sangaree said Fernandopulle was championing the cause of minorities
without fear and his views on the ethnic question were fair and
clear.
Following is the full statement of the leader of the TULF:
"The tragic news of the assassination of Hon. Jeyaraj Fernandopulle
came as a rude shock to me. He was my good friend and onetime
colleague of mine in Parliament. He was a very frank and out spoken
person who expresses his views without mincing words. The fact that he
had been repeatedly elected in a predominantly Buddhist constituency,
although a catholic, goes to his credit showing to the world that he
was loved and respected by all sections to the People in this country
irrespective of one's race or religion.
"He had been championing the cause of the minorities without fear. He
loved all and worked hard to bring normalcy back to our People. On the
ethnic question his views were very fair and acceptable to the right
thinking people. He was a gentleman par excellence.
"The LTTE had foolishly targeted a person whom they could have made
use of to achieve anything other than a division of the country for
which he was totally opposed. It is a pity that a gentleman who had
proved himself as a great son of the soil and an asset of the Nation
had been snatched away prematurely depriving the country of his
contributions for peace.
"I share the grief with his dear wife, his beloved children, his wide
circle of friends and his constituents, all of whom miss him. I also
express my deepest sympathies for the unfortunate kith and kin of all
the victims of this mass scale assassination under taken by a misled
foolish youth."
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