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Right
of reply "We deny all the malicious allegations made against us in the article titled 'JVP allegedly hijacking food convoys' which appeared in the Sunday Times of 09/01/2005. There has not been a single occasion in which JVP volunteers hijacked relief convoys. "There is of course hi-jacking by the LTTE in the unliberated areas under LTTE guns. So we wonder whether there has been an editorial error whereby a visitor to the LTTE areas has written this falsehood in a mixed up mood. Your story also says that JVP volunteers were watching films in the name of doing relief. Our volunteers, often with only a few hours sleep a night, would not be insane to watch films - they would have actually fallen asleep in their seats because of their extreme exhaustion - while millions in this country and other countries in the region were in deep shock and mourning. Since the morning of December 26th, the day the Tsunami struck, our volunteers were among the people distributing food and clothing, providing medical supplies and removing debris and cleaning toilets. Regrettably, however, the victims of the tsunami rarely, if ever, saw whether the leaders or the members of the other parties visiting the disaster areas or doing the back-breaking but necessary voluntary work, which our volunteers did. There was of course relief work done for TV cameras. "We respect The Sunday Times. But its credibility is at stake when such mischievous stories are published. This is a time in which everybody, especially politicians, are being tested. The people in the affected areas know exactly who came to their help and how. And who did not. Please help inform the people outside the affected areas by reporting accurately both the actions of those who came to help as well as the inaction of those who were not to be seen in their electorates at the time of their greatest need. "Please observe our actions with an open, objective mind. Our volunteers will continue to serve the people and the people will judge." |
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