Pakistan guarantor of Lanka's sovereignty: Asian Tribune

Tue, 2008-08-05 05:34 

By Janaka Perera in Colombo

Colombo, 05 August, (Asiantribune.com): Sri Lanka Broadcasting Chairman Hudson Samarasinghe said yesterday (August 4) that India cannot threaten and bulldoze her way into Sri Lanka in the same way she did in 1987 because the world has changed much since then. 

Samarasinghe recalled how the Indians – during the "Operation Vadamarachchi" - 'appealed' to the then Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranasinghe Premadasa, "Please tell your President to stop the war" That was the start of the Indian interference that prevented Sri Lanka from nipping the Tiger menace in the bud. (Premadasa, along with the National Security Minister Lalith Athulathmudali, was among the strongest opponents of Indian intervention). 

The SLBC Chairman made this observation during his usually hard-hitting, daily news analysis over the Isira Sinhala Radio Channel of which he is the CEO. Participating with him in the program regularly is Shan Wickremasinghe, Chairman / Proprietor, Teleshan Networks Limited (TNL) which operates Isira.

Samarasinghe however stressed the need for Sri Lanka to prepare to defend herself if Tamil Nadu one fine day secedes from India. In the event of TN becoming an independent State there is absolutely no doubt that she will invade Sri Lanka over the Tamil issue, he warned. 

These comments came in the wake of the reported results of a recent survey conducted by the Tamil Nadu magazine 'Ananda Vikatan' which stated that 54.25 percent of people there support the LTTE and that many of them were proud that the Tigers possessed a standing army.

Samarasinghe also drew attention to the BBC report on Tamil National Alliance Leader R. Sambandan meeting Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh during his Sri Lanka visit. Sambandan has reportedly told the Indian Premier that if the LTTE is branded a terrorist organization then the Sri Lankan government was a terrorist organization three times over.

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