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'That is not real freedom ... this is not true peace'

Four years after the end of the armed conflict in Sri Lanka, Tamil grievances on the island have yet to be solved, reported The Guardian.

The paper went on to say that despite an apparent economic boom, much of it spurred by foreign aid and loans, by some measures conditions had actually worsened for the Tamils, even according to government figures.

"But progress is patchy – up to half of respondents in some areas said they had insufficient food – and by some measures things are worse than before. If rates of infant or maternal mortality in parts of the north have improved, in others they have risen, government statistics reveal."

Tamil civilians in Kilinochchi, speaking anonymously about the current situation to the Guardian said,

"Before, it was safe for women, now it isn't … Before, we could talk freely, now we can't"

"OK, so there is some development but that is not real freedom … this is not true peace."



Elaborating on how the struggle for justice is not yet over, the TNA's Ananthi Sasitharan said,

"I am not alone. We are many who are searching for our husbands. We do not want another armed struggle. We have suffered very much from the war. But during the LTTE time [in power] we had a very happy life. So the political struggle must go on."

The newly elected Sasitharan also spoke of tourists visiting the North, many of them Sinhalese coming to inspect sites, which are remnants of the armed conflict.

"They destroyed our beautiful country. They eliminated our society and erected victory monuments in our land and now they are coming to enjoy our destruction."

"We are a people changed by war. There is no healing."

See the full report here.

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