By February 1990 the carnage was over and Premadasa had won the war in
the south. But Indian troops were still entrenched in the north,
bogged down in a fight with Tamil Tigers. Premadasa, however, had
secured a ceasefire with the Tigers. According to Presidential adviser
Dayan Jayatilaka, Premadasa ordered the Sri Lankan Air Force to
evacuate to safety the wife and daughter of the Tiger leader
Velupillai Prabhakaran from their jungle hideout. He then ordered the
military to deliver heavy arms to the Tigers to use against the
Indians and rival Tamil groups.
In thirteen months of talks in Colombo, Premadasa offered the
guerillas more than any other Sinhalese leader had. The Tigers used
the time to regroup, while the Sri Lankan army was confined to
barracks. In June 1990, four months after the Indian troops withdrew,
the Tigers accused the president of ‘saying one thing and doing
another.’ War broke out again, and Premadasa was blamed. ‘Every time
one of my Far men gets his leg blown off,’ said an army captain in
1990, ‘I think of our president...’
the south. But Indian troops were still entrenched in the north,
bogged down in a fight with Tamil Tigers. Premadasa, however, had
secured a ceasefire with the Tigers. According to Presidential adviser
Dayan Jayatilaka, Premadasa ordered the Sri Lankan Air Force to
evacuate to safety the wife and daughter of the Tiger leader
Velupillai Prabhakaran from their jungle hideout. He then ordered the
military to deliver heavy arms to the Tigers to use against the
Indians and rival Tamil groups.
In thirteen months of talks in Colombo, Premadasa offered the
guerillas more than any other Sinhalese leader had. The Tigers used
the time to regroup, while the Sri Lankan army was confined to
barracks. In June 1990, four months after the Indian troops withdrew,
the Tigers accused the president of ‘saying one thing and doing
another.’ War broke out again, and Premadasa was blamed. ‘Every time
one of my Far men gets his leg blown off,’ said an army captain in
1990, ‘I think of our president...’
pissu thread? UNP karayo kiyannea modaya kiyana eka universal truth.
