Lanka to strengthen anti-terror legislation

NAGERCOIL: The Sri Lankan government is all set to make the anti-terror legislation more stronger, said Batticaloa district MP of Tamil Desiya Kootamaipu (Tamil National Council) Seenithamby Yoheswaran here on Thursday.“The Sri Lankan government has lifted the state of emergency due to international pressure. But we have come to know that they are going to make the anti-terror legislation more stringent,” said Yoheswaran, who was here to participate in the Vinayakar Chathurthi  procession organised by the Shiv Sena at Melpuram union.He said the funds provided by the India for rehabilitating Lankan Tamils do not properly reach the targeted beneficiaries. “Once the war ended, the Indian government reached an accord with the Sri Lankan government to construct around 50,000 houses in Northern Sri Lanka to accommodate the internally displaced Tamils, but not even 1,000 houses have been built so far,” Yoheswaran detailed.On the dismissal of the mercy petition from Rajiv Gandhi killers, the Batticaloa district MP said India is a Hindu nation with Hindus constituting more than 80 per cent of the population. “Hindu means one who does no harm and one who loves life,” he stated. “Therefore, it is not appropriate that a nation that swears by the above-said qualities awards death sentence. It is not agreeable,” he said. He also welcomed the recent resolution passed in the TN Assembly demanding that the death sentence awarded to Rajiv’s assassins be commuted to life imprisonment.“Earlier, all political parties used to raise the Lankan Tamil issue during TN elections. But after the election, the issue would disappear like water bubbles. But this time, State Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa not only made the Lankan Tamils problem an issue during the election, but also continued to show her fervour towards the Lankan Tamil cause even after that. I thank her for this,” Yoheswaran added.