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