We celebrate the victory of peace and not the victory of war, President Mahinda Rajapaksa said, adding, that the best way to respect war heroes is by keeping peace.

The great victory achieved by the security forces through great sacrifice of lives must be preserved and remembered by all, the President said, delivering his speech at the Victory Day celebrations in Matara today..

He urged the public not to allow any external forces to misuse the country’s openness.

The President further said that civilians in the Northern and Eastern provinces are now enjoying the benefits of peace and harmony thanks to the Sri Lankan war heroes. 

“However, some pro-LTTE elements and Tamil diaspora are attempting to revamp the remnants of the LTTE.  Some are trying to make floral tribute to the brutal terrorist leader Prabhakaran,” he said.

But they never remember the Tamil leaders such as Alfred Doreiappa, Neelam Thiruchelwam, Lakshman Kadiragamar who were brutally killed by the LTTE, Rajapaksa said.

 The President stressed that Sri Lanka’s peace loving people and the government will never leave room for such evil elements to raise the ugly heads of terrorism in this country again.

The President also added that the Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) is the best place to find solutions for the national issues and that trying to uplift terrorism is the biggest injustice to the Tamil people.

“Some governments are blind, deaf and dumb. They are opposed to our celebrating this victory,” he said addressing the gathering.

Most of the western envoys, including that of Canada who had said she would decline an invitation to attend the parade, stayed away from the event.

Canadian High Commissioner Shelley Whiting had said that the parade was inappropriate because the government should be concentrating on reconciliation.

“Five years after the end of the conflict, the time has arrived for Sri Lanka to move past wartime discourse and to start working seriously towards reconciliation,” she had said.

Rajapaksa said despite views expressed by some quarters that Sri Lanka must not celebrate the event he was determined to carry on with the celebrations.

“This is something we should celebrate forever.”

“We celebrate the victory of peace and not victory of war. Best way of respecting war heroes is keeping peace.”

Sri Lanka celebrated the fifth anniversary of the victory over separatist terrorism on Sunday (May 18) in Matara, under the patronage of President Mahinda Rajapaksa.

Almost all armed services personnel who actively engaged at the humanitarian operation marked their presence in the event while the parade was lined up in three categories according to the East, Wanni and Northern fronts.
 
All the contingents of the three armed forces, Police and Civil Defence Force participated in the parade as the President also received the state guard of honour by the members of the armed forces.

 Religious dignitaries, Prime Minister, Speaker, Chief Justice, Secretary to President, Secretary Defence and Urban Development, Chief of Defence Staff, Tri-Service Commanders, Inspector General of the Police, Director General, Civil Security Department and a host of invitees, including Ministers, Deputy Ministers, Parliamentarians, Heads of State Agencies, Diplomats took part in the event.