The leader of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), R Sampanthan, said Tamils must be patient about the militarisation of the Tamil homeland, urging people to wait and see as Sri Lanka's new president had only been in office for one week.
Asked by BBC Tamil on Saturday, what the TNA was going to do about the Sri Lankan government's announcement on Friday that there would be no reduction in the numbers of troops deployed across the North-East, Mr Sampanthan replied, "it has not been long since the government came to power."
"Only a week has gone by," Mr Sampanthan said, stating that he was aware of the news reports regarding the government's announcement.
"I think we should be a little patient. As time goes by let us see what will happen regarding the military," he added.
Prior to the election, over a hundred war affected women and a number of women's groups across the North-East called on the future president to prioritise demilitarisation.
"[Take] immediate steps to demilitarise the country, particularly the North and East and return all lands occupied by the security forces, police and others to their rightful owners and to provide compensation," the women wrote.
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