Black flags in Tamil city of Jaffna as Sri Lanka president calls
\nfor a new start for war-battered nation<\/p>\n
Agencies
\nColombo<\/p>\n
For the first time in 20 years, Sri Lanka marked its independence
\nday on Tuesday without the specter of civil war.<\/p>\n
But in the once troubled Jaffna Peninsula, home to most of Sri
\nLanka's 3.2 million Tamil minority, the mood was subdued. Black
\nflags fluttered over homes as most refused to take part in the
\ngovernment-arranged celebrations.<\/p>\n
Thousands turned out for Tuesday's celebration in Colombo --
\nthe first since February's historic cease-fire between the
\ngovernment and the Tamil Tiger rebels.<\/p>\n
Lights and decorations were festooned throughout the capital
\n-- targeted in the past by rebel suicide bombers. A 21-gun salute
\nkicked off the celebration, which included dancing school
\nchildren and marching soldiers.<\/p>\n
President Chandrika Kumaratunga, dressed in a cream-colored
\nsilk sari, inspected an honor guard.<\/p>\n
Kumaratunga called on her people to leave behind the violence
\nthat has scarred the once idyllic island country.<\/p>\n
\"It is now time for all of us to put the war behind us and
\nlook to a future where we would recognize and respect the rights
\nand aspirations of all our communities,\" Kumaratunga said in a
\nspeech celebrating Sri Lanka's independence from Britain in 1948.
\nKumaratunga also said her country still struggled to unify.<\/p>\n
\"We have failed to build on our strengths and evolve into a
\nmodern and pluralistic nation. The failure metamorphosed existing
\nconflicts into a violent armed conflict,\" she said of the 19-year
\ncivil war that pitted the Tamil rebels against the Sri Lankan
\nmilitary since 1983.<\/p>\n
The Tamil rebels wanted an independent state in the Jaffna
\nPeninsula, saying they were discriminated against by the 14
\nmillion Sinhalese. The rebels now say they are willing to accept
\nself-rule in Tamil majority areas.<\/p>\n
Tamils in Jaffna boycotted the national holiday, saying their
\nindependence has yet to be won.<\/p>\n
Kumaratunga on Tuesday asked her government to unveil its
\nplans for a final peace deal with Tiger rebels as Tamil regions
\nboycotted the country's independence day celebrations.<\/p>\n
Unsigned posters in the island's Tamil-dominated Vavuniya
\nregion, 256 kilometers north of Colombo, protested the
\ncelebrations saying minority Tamils did not enjoy freedom.<\/p>\n
A cultural show organized at a local Tamil school was also
\ncanceled, officials said, adding that they suspected members of
\nthe rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) may have been
\nbehind the boycott.<\/p>\n
However, there was no official word from the LTTE on the
\ncountry's celebrations marking the 55th anniversary of
\nindependence from Britain. The Tigers are currently engaged in
\npeace talks with the government.<\/p>\n
Kumaratunga, who is bitterly opposed to her cohabitation
\nadministration's handling of the Norwegian-backed peace process,
\nsaid it was time Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe revealed his
\nplans to the nation.<\/p>\n
\"All the stakeholders in government and parliament, as much as
\nall our peoples, must be kept informed of the policy framework
\nthe government wishes to employ to achieve peace.<\/p>\n
\"In short, the vision and action plan must even now be clearly
\nformulated and presented to the country,\" Kumaratunga said in an
\naddress to the nation.<\/p>\n
She asked the prime minister, an arch political rival, to
\nlaunch a \"deep study of the causes for the setbacks and failures
\nencountered in the past one year.\"<\/p>\n
Kumaratunga stressed that core political issues underlying the
\ndecades-old Tamil separatist conflict must be addressed to
\nachieve a lasting peace in a country where more than 60,000
\npeople have been killed in fighting since 1972.<\/p>\n
This year's celebrations marking the anniversary of
\nindependence from Britain were held without the fear of rebel
\nattacks.<\/p>",
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