COLOMBO: Sri Lanka's Army chief Mahesh Senanayake has accused certain politicians, retired officers and civil society activists of trying to sow seeds of war in the country by sabotaging the country's reconciliation efforts with the Tamil minority community.
Senanayake ordered his troops not to allow any individual to drive a wedge between the military and the civilian population in the former battle zones in the north and eastern provinces.
In a memo sent to Army battalions and released to the media, Lt General Senanayake accused "certain politicians, retired military officers and civil society activists" of being critical of the Army's reconciliation efforts, conducting lectures to make the civilians lose confidence in the state and the military. "
They are trying to sow seeds of war. The media has exposed their conduct," the memo says.The Army chief says such people should not be entertained at any military camp and the Army should not take party in any events organised by them and should not patronise such anti-reconciliation elements.
His remarks came after Sri Lanka's lone Tamil woman minister Vijeyakala Maheswaran resigned last week after her controversial remarks seeking revival of the separatist militant outfit led to an uproar in Parliament.
The LTTE had run an armed movement for a separate Tamil homeland in the northern and eastern provinces of the island nation for nearly 30 years before its defeat in 2009 by the Sri Lankan army.