The Tamil UNP MP, Vijayakala Maheswaran, who was forced to resign from her ministerial post after Sinhala politicians objected to her call last month for a resurgence of the LTTE to control the violent crime in the North-East, said she was not sorry for her comments.
“I will not succumb to others’ sentiments or pay a price that I am not entitled to settle," she told Ceylon Today in an interview.
“I was born on Tamil soil and if the people from the South had lived with us they will have the same sentiments I have expressed."
“I expressed how the Tamils lived during the LTTE time and how they are living now. We did not know what rape was, child rape, drugs, molesting, sexual harassment, murder and robbery but now it is ‘forced’ on us. If that expression is worrisome to others, that is not my fault.”
“My LTTE sentiments had triggered so much of issues but the same South embraced persons such as Karuna Amman, former Eastern Province commander of the Tamil Tigers, also need to be recalled at this hour.”
“I stand by what I said and will not lose my dignity or respect by withdrawing the statement I made.”
“Any action against me is welcome and I don’t fear it, but I will continue to do my work for the people who placed their trust in me.”
Ms Maheswaran is currently under investigation by Sri Lanka’s Organised Crime Prevention Division (OCPD) after the National Organiser of Sinhala Ravaya, a Buddhist monk named Magalkande Sudantha, lodged a complaint with regards to the speech.
Last week the OCPD announced that 59 statements had been recorded by the Sri Lankan police, including from 14 government officials and 30 media personnel who were present at the speech in Jaffna last month. The OCPD report has now been submitted to Sri Lanka’s Attorney General.
