Mahinda Gunasekera Honorary President

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ 

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ By E-mail July 24, 2011

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Hon. Jens Stoltenberg
Prime Minister of Norway
Oslo, Norway

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Hon. Jens Stoltenberg,

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Deepest Sympathies on the Tragic Loss of Life

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ We write to convey our deepest sympathies on the tragic loss of life in the City of Oslo and Utoya island caused by senseless violence apparently aimed at changing certain Norwegian government policies. We are deeply affected by the loss of life of so many innocent young people on Utoya island whose lives were snuffed out in the prime of their youth in this vain attempt to give a political message by a misguided individual or group. We would like to express our heartfelt condolences to the immediate family members of the victims on their sudden and unexpected personal loss.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ We as Sri Lankans understand the impact of your countryƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s tragedy as it was almost a daily occurrence in our motherland over the past three decades to hear of death and destruction caused by the deliberate detonation of over 385 suicide bombings by killers wearing cyanide capsules in their necklaces, planting of bombs in buses, trains, shopping centres, exploding claymore mines and carrying out machete attacks at midnight on remote villages to ethnically cleanse parts of the country sought for a separate state called ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-EelamƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ of all non-Tamils by members of the internationally designated terrorist group known as the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) also called the Tamil Tigers. Sri Lanka is today breathing the air of freedom following the military defeat of the Tamil Tigers in May 2009, bringing to an end their reign of terror and restoring the right to life of all her 21 million citizens who were constantly targeted by these terrorists.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Whilst it is not our intention to belittle the tragedy faced by the Norwegian people, we must point out the acrimony in our hearts to recall the peace facilitation carried out by Norway from 2002 till 2008 where your impartiality from the outset was called into question, as no doubt your primary role was influenced by big power politics and a hidden agenda of working towards a two state solution that would result in the break up of our tiny island homeland. We remember the diplomatically couched words each time a bomb went off in Sri Lanka admonishing us not to react but to get back to the negotiating table where we wasted long hours with a conniving and intransigent terror group to our disadvantage, whilst they continued to build up their weapons stockpile and military capabilities to cause greater harm sooner or later. We hope your experience in Sri Lanka has taught you to be an honest broker and not play games with other nations.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ We Sri Lankans have learnt important lessons in seeking international mediation in good faith, as we are not privy to the interests or the agendas of the international mediators or interlopers that answer our call for assistance. The past is the past, and we are busy sorting out our issues and resolving them in the best interest of all our people as we move beyond the dark days of terrorist violence in our land.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ We do not hold any ill will towards Norway or the Norwegian people, and truly share your sadness and grief at this moment of sorrow as you make efforts to understand, accept and build a better tomorrow.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ With very best wishes,

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Mahinda Gunasekera
Honorary President