Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapakse yesterday rejected the contention that there will be no political solution once the LTTE is defeated.

"This is only an attempt to save the LTTE from imminent defeat at the hands of the security forces who are making great sacrifices to liberate our motherland," he said.

Rajapakse called on the whole country to ensure that unnecessary obstacles are not thrown in the way of the forward march by the security forces by calling for protests and demonstrations against the government at this very crucial juncture "when we are knocking at victory’s door."

He called on the political parties in Tamil Nadu not to unfairly politicize the issue of Tamil civilians in the North for their own benefit and bring undue pressure on the Indian government to save the LTTE terrorists from imminent defeat.

"They will only be prolonging the sufferings of the poor Tamil civilians in the North," Rajapakse said.

Specifically dealing with the issue of Tamil Nadu fishermen about whom the political parties in Tamil Nadu are deeply concerned, he explained that all these years the Sri Lanka Government had ignored flotillas of Tamil Nadu fishing vessels trespassing in Northern Sri Lankan waters on a daily basis.

This poaching was ignored in the interest of good relations with Tamil Nadu by whoever was in power here, despite the LTTE taking cover behind such fishing vessels to attack and willfully destroy SLN boats and camps.

The incursion of Tamil Nadu fishing vessels into Sri Lankan waters gave the LTTE a major advantage as the Tigers were able to provoke naval fire and blame the SLN for atrocities against Indian fishermen.

Gotabhaya....

This had been accepted by the Tamil Nadu Police Chief following a detailed investigation into allegations made against the SLN.

There were certain instances when the SLN was pushed into arresting Tamil Nadu fishermen on Sri Lankan waters. But the Sri Lanka government always cared for them, fed them well and clothed them until they were able to quickly return to their own villages.

This was despite Sri Lankan fishermen who were arrested by the Indian authorities for entering Indian waters languishing in Indian jails for months one end.

It was therefore unfair for Tamil Nadu political parties or the State Government to accuse the SLN of atrocities against Indian fishermen.

Rajapakse also rejected the contention of a so called "humanitarian crisis" in North Sri Lanka as alleged by Tamil Nadu political parties.

The government was looking after the welfare of the people living in LTTE controlled areas sending sufficient stocks of essential food and medicine well knowing that the LTTE plunders the greater proportion of such goods for their own use.

The government had a sound mechanism in place to handle the urgent and essential needs of people displaced as a result of the conflict that is intended to free the Tamil people from the clutches of the terrorist LTTE.

The experience gained during the liberation of the Eastern Province was presently being put to good use in ensuring essential supplies to the Vanni through the Commissioner General of Essential Services, the Secretary to the Ministry of Nation Building and the Government Agents.

The President repeatedly stresses that the Tamils are our own people and is deeply concerned about their welfare. He is continuously in personal contact with the concerned officials and authorities stressing that essentials must be supplied without any hitches.

Rajapakse also said that about 800 IDPs who have come to Vavuniya during the past eight months of intense fighting are very well cared for. ``If you interview them, you will find that they are well dressed and healthy and not starving as reported by some,’’ he said.

Over the past 30 years, when the LTTE was on the brink of defeat, there had been calls for ceasefires and negotiations. The LTTE always took advantage of these to strengthen itself militarily to prepare for war.

The Tigers President Premadasa and many other politicians, specially moderate Tamil leaders as well as Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. The end result of all the ceasefires and peace talks brokered by Western countries and the Tamil Nadu and Indian governments only resulted in the LTTE becoming militarily stronger because there were able to breathe freely and raise enormous amounts of money globally by taxing the Tamil Diaspora. Locally in Sri Lanka they used various means including ransom to raise funds.

The amount of weapons, including artillery, mortars, machine guns and mines, captured by the military following the liberation of the Eastern Province, demonstrated the use of such funds for procuring weapons.

Everybody, especially politicians in Tamil Nadu and elsewhere speaking for the LTTE, must understand that by calling for a ceasefire they are only prolonging the suffering and misery endured by poor, helpless Tamil people.

Rajapakse said that all the government was trying to do today, as it did in the Eastern Province, is to liberate the people from the clutches of the LTTE and restore democracy.

He said that the President was very keen on making the necessary constitutional reforms to meet the aspirations of all Lankans and especially Tamil speaking people to ensure that all the people of this country equally enjoyed the rights they are entitled to as citizens of Sri Lanka.