Grieving parents plead: Let our children go

By Lakna Paranamanna

Parents of disappeared Tamil youth displaying photographs and details of their missing children gathered outside the Fort Railway Station where they chanted slogans in Tamil and Sinhala urging the government to release their children soon.

The grieving parents from all over country including the North and East took part in the demonstration organized by the Campaign for the Freedom of Political Prisoners (CFPP) and the We Are Sri Lankans (WESL) organization.

WESL Executive Committee Member Udul Premaratne told the protestors and the people who had gathered there that the democratic rights of Tamils in the North and East had not been assured although it had been more than two years since the ending of the war.  “Although the defeat of terrorism could have been turned into a victory to be celebrated equally by all ethnicities of the country, the government has not ensured such an environment for these parents who are protesting today. Their democratic rights have been violated and in spite of the infrastructural development carried out in the areas, the people do not enjoy a true sense of freedom and peace,” Mr. Premaratne said.

He said the government should bear responsibility for all the disappearances that have been reported from those areas and urged the government to release details of the Tamil youth who have been detained by the security forces.

He also urged the government to release all political prisoners and ensure good governance and democracy in the country to ensure ethnic harmony.

Source: Daily Mirror – 01.07.2011