Lanka-Maldives ties

Visiting Maldivian President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom was conferred the highest Sri Lankan National Honour Sri Lanka Mithra Vibhushana by President Mahinda Rajapaksa on Tuesday.

This was the first time that Sri Lanka has honoured a visiting Head of State in such a fashion. It no doubt represents a landmark in the relations between the two SAARC neighbours. The proximity to India and its influence in the region has sometimes made us overlook the importance of the Maldives which has always been a close friend of Sri Lanka with many shared objectives.

We have many similarities too with the atoll state including shared cultural and linguistic ties. There have been many state visits by leaders of the two countries over the years which has helped to cement exiting bilateral ties and recognise each other's importance in the regional geo-political realm.

Maldives has always been a happy hunting ground for Lankan holidaymakers who are attracted by the beautiful resorts of this tourist paradise while also availing themselves of the many business and trade opportunities.

The removal of visa requirements has encouraged more and more Lankans to travel to the Maldives. The current visit of the Maldivian Head of State it is hoped will open up more opportunities and scope for Sri Lankans in the Archipelago.

We hope the current visit by President Gayoom would also lead to increased interaction between the peoples of the two countries and break new ground on many fronts at State level.

Maldives which is a popular tourist destination can help Sri Lanka in this sphere by sharing information and strategies that may be mutually beneficial to both countries. There are many areas in which we can emulate the Maldives. The two countries will continue to enjoy a mutually beneficial relationship.

A dastardly act

The dastardly attack by the LTTE on a group of unarmed soldiers who were cleaning up a church premises deserve the outright condemnation of the entire civilised society.

Six soldiers were killed when the LTTE directed artillery fire at the St. Sebastian's church in Thallady killing six solders and wounding ten.

The LTTE had fired a barrage of artillery fire towards the church while the soldiers were performing this task, causing heavy damage to it.

The attack carried out on a group of soldiers who were engaged in a meritorious task of cleaning a place of religious worship goes to show the barbaric nature of the LTTE which gives a tuppence about unwritten laws in war.

This is not the first time that the LTTE had breached this code. At the height of the IPKF operations in the North the Tigers gunned down an entire Indian Commando unit while they were descending from their parachutes in the North, described as one of the blackest episodes in the Indian chapter in Sri Lanka.

The soldiers who were engaged in cleaning the shrine in Thallady may or may not have belonged to the Christian faith. What have those stout defenders of human rights got to say about this incident ? What do those Westerners who never fail to lecture the Government have to say about this attack on a place of worship ?

It was after all a Church that has come under attack. What would have been their reaction if the offenders were the Forces ? It is time that these pious advocates of human rights identify the LTTE for what it really is.

Who is there to talk about the human rights of the solders who were killed while cleaning up a holy sanctuary ? It is time that these busybodies remove their blinkers and take cognizance of the true nature of the LTTE and the facts staring in the face before them.

They ought not to miss the wood for the trees by placing the onus only on the Government alone to uphold human rights. By always emphasising that the LTTE is a terrorist outfit which can do as they please, certain sections of the international community have allowed the Tigers to carry out their brutal acts with impunity.

They should at least now desist from implicitly condoning acts of brutality of the LTTE by insulating the outfit while at the same time passing strictures on the Government for alleged human rights violations when it is only performing its legitimate duty of battling a terror outfit aiming to dismember the country.