{"id":17466,"date":"2013-03-02T04:44:31","date_gmt":"2013-03-02T09:44:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=17466"},"modified":"2013-03-02T08:04:23","modified_gmt":"2013-03-02T13:04:23","slug":"sri-lankan-army-did-not-kill-prabhakarans-son-balachandran-says-mahinda-rajapaksa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=17466","title":{"rendered":"Sri Lankan Army did not Kill Prabhakaran’s son Balachandran says Mahinda Rajapaksa"},"content":{"rendered":"

By
\nR. K. Radhakrishnan <\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

S<\/strong>ri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa has denied that the Army killed LTTE chief Prabakaran\u2019s 12-year-old son Balachandran.<\/p>\n

\u201cHad it happened, I would have known [it]. It is obvious that if somebody [from the armed forces] had done that, I must take responsibility. We completely deny it. It can\u2019t be,\u201d he told The Hindu in an exclusive interview.
\n
\nOn new evidence of wrongdoing in the final stages of the war in 2009, collated by international organisations and media outlets, he said that putting out such reports and videos was their job. \u201cWe must not merely look at one side. They must not merely listen to one group and the Opposition [in Sri Lanka]. So they [the Opposition] are trying to get the support of other countries to create an \u2018Arab Spring\u2019 here. That won\u2019t happen in Sri Lanka.\u201d <\/p>\n

Provincial elections <\/p>\n

Asked whether he would hold the Northern provincial elections in September, as he had told this newspaper, Mr. Rajapaksa said: \u201cYes, we will hold [the poll] in September. That\u2019s why we have postponed the other [provincial] elections too. I did not want to face the criticism that I was doing it only because I had no intention of holding the Northern provincial elections.\u201d The North would have powers which are \u201cnot more, not less\u201d than those enjoyed by the eight other provinces. <\/p>\n

On the coming U.S.-sponsored resolution at the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), Mr. Rajapaksa said Jaffna was provided with all infrastructure just three years after the war ended. \u201cWho did this within three years? Anybody who has come and seen it has talked about it positively and has commended us.\u201d <\/p>\n

Even India was \u201charassed\u201d by the UNHRC over Kashmir, he said. \u201cSri Lanka is like a volley ball. Everyone is taking turns punching it to cover up their sins.\u201d <\/p>\n

On the issue of a political solution for the Tamil people, he said that unless the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), an umbrella group of Tamil parties, joined the Parliamentary Select Committee, there could be no way forward. \u201cWithout TNA [on the committee], I will not be able to do anything\u2026 Earlier, all the leaders gave their solutions from the top. It has failed. The 13th Amendment has failed. Everything has failed,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

Mr. Rajapaksa allayed fears that MPs of the majority community would hijack the agenda, pointing out that some individuals and parties in the government would not allow it to happen. <\/p>\n

The President said he had not discussed with India its support to Sri Lanka at the UNHRC. \u201cIndia must know its duty, as a neighbour\u2026, as a friend of Sri Lanka. I can\u2019t dictate to India.\u201d <\/p>\n

Referring to External Affairs Minister Salman Kurshid\u2019s comments in Parliament on accountability for alleged human rights violations in Sri Lanka, he insisted that Sri Lanka had held people accountable for excesses. \u201cWe have filed cases\u2026 We have handed down punishments. But this can be done only as per the laws of this country\u2026I have released 14,000 [LTTE] prisoners, who had serious charges against them like murder, after a process of rehabilitation. Had I filed cases against the 14,000 people, what would have happened? I am a Buddhist. We have tolerance and compassion. There are still some more people [of the LTTE] in prison. We are examining ways\u2026to release them.\u201d <\/p>\n

Sri Lanka\u2019s relations with India were fine after the 2012 vote in Geneva. \u201cThere are many incidents to show that the relationship is good. We don\u2019t hold\u2026 Indian fishermen who routinely fish in our waters\u2026Thousands of fishermen are crossing and fishing\u2026We sent so many Indian prisoners back home. Despite incidents in Tamil Nadu [where Sri Lankan pilgrims were sent back], there has not been any incident [involving] Indians in Sri Lanka. I understand that there are people who want India to have some confrontation with Sri Lanka\u2026 It is all politically motivated,\u201d he said.
\nCOURTESY:THE HINDU<\/em><\/p>\n

Tweet<\/a><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By R. K. Radhakrishnan Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa has denied that the Army killed LTTE chief Prabakaran\u2019s 12-year-old son Balachandran. \u201cHad it happened, I would have known [it]. It is obvious that if somebody [from the armed forces] had done that, I must take responsibility. We completely deny it. It can\u2019t be,\u201d he told …<\/p>\n

Continue reading ‘Sri Lankan Army did not Kill Prabhakaran’s son Balachandran says Mahinda Rajapaksa’ »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[12],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17466"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=17466"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17466\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17484,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17466\/revisions\/17484"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=17466"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=17466"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=17466"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}