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Council members in Tamil town in Sri Lanka resign to protest rebel threats
Associated Press,
Thu February 13, 2003 11:39 EST .
JOE ARYARATNAM - Associated Press Writer - JAFFNA, Sri Lanka - (AP) All 23 members of the town council in Tamil-dominated Jaffna resigned Thursday alleging they had been threatened by Tamil Tiger rebels seeking to postpone the reopening of a public library torched by anti-Tamil mobs nearly 22 years ago. The library was scheduled to reopen Friday, but it was unclear whether it would happen on time. The Tigers argue that reopening the library, whose cherished Tamil texts were destroyed in the arson, should wait until more books are collected and until after an additional wing is built with material explaining the building's history and the effects of its destruction. The arson in 1981 disillusioned many young Tamils, prompting them to join militants fighting against the Sinhalese-dominated government. The militants say Mayor Sellan Kandian is rushing to reopen the library during his term, which ends Monday. Council members, who are mostly Tamils, alleged that Tigers had threatened them in order to block the opening, but did not elaborate on the threats. ``As democratically elected members, we are resigning, protesting the obstacles placed against our democratic rights,'' said a statement signed by the councilors. ``We are resigning under pressure,'' councilor Sebastian Iruthayaraja told The Associated Press Thursday. ``We don't want to see a bloody scene during the opening ceremony tomorrow.'' The library was renovated at a cost of 120 million rupees (US$1.26 million). It lost its entire collection of 97,000 books and about 150 centuries-old Tamil scripts on herbal medicine when the original two-story building was destroyed in June 1981. Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam rebels started their insurgency in 1983 to create a separate state for the minority Tamils. They say Tamils are discriminated against by the Sinhalese in education and jobs. Jaffna, which is 300 kilometers (185 miles) north of the capital, Colombo, was the scene of some of the heaviest fighting in a war that killed more than 65,000 people and displaced 1.6 million. A Norway-brokered cease-fire signed last February halted the conflict, and the rebels have agreed for regional autonomy instead of total independence. The government began renovation work on the library in 1999 and the new library has about 25,000 books in the Tamil and English languages. The French government earlier this week donated 800 books.
Published: Thu Feb 13 12:59:57 EST 2003
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