While the government was silent on or avoided the issue by saying that it would end when the peace talks succeeded the President raised the issue of child conscription by the LTTE. The scale of such recruitment is said to have diminished as a result.

The law of the land must be obeyed in every part of the country and by everybody had the LTTE members engaged in illegal activities been arrested such activities would have diminished considerably. The arrested members could have been exchanged for soldiers in captivity or tried according to law. If the LTTE wants peace just as much as we do they will never scuttle the peace process on this issue on the other hand, if they are not sincere, they will scuttle the peace process in any case once they have finished their military preparations.

We should thank the President for having raised the issue of child conscription and hope that she will continue to be vigilant in the future. It would appear that it is a good thing to have as President a person who does not belong to the government in power.
Bhikku C. Mahinda
Makola