COLOMBO, Dec 24, Reuter: Sri Lanka, a Buddhist majority country plagued by guerrilla violence, lifted a two-month-old night curfew on Saturday to allow Christmas celebrations.
A government statement said “Cabinet decided that there will be no curfew on the night of 24th December which’ is Christmas Eve.”
National Security Minister Lalith Athulathmudali told reporters that the move would enable Christians to attend midnight services,
The Indian Ocean Island will lift the curfew on Sunday night to allow celebration of a Hindu festival.
Hindus are 15 percent and Christians seven percent of the 16 million populations, the majority of whom are Buddhists.
An official said any decision to reimpose the curfew from Monday night would depend on the security situation.
The curfew was first imposed in October when Marxist rebels began a violent campaign to try to topple President Junius Jayewatdene’s government.
The People’s Liberation Front, made up of members of the majority Sinhalese community, has been blamed for most of the violence including attacks on voters and election officials at last Monday’s presidential poll.
In recent weeks the curfew has been announced daily at only a few hours’ notice.
Athulathmudali told a news conference on Friday that violence had eased since the election, won by Prime Minister Ranasinghe Premadasa. Premadasa is due to take the oath of office on January 2 at a Buddhist Temple in Kandy in the central hills.
Premadasa, after his election, appealed to Tamil Separatist Guerrillas in the north and Sinhalese rebels in the parliamentary elections set for February 15.
Athulathmudali said he was unaware of any direct response to Premadasa’s appeal, but he noted that violence had eased since the election.
A Government spokesman said on Saturday the security situation remained comparatively quiet. He said “there have been a few sporadic killings, but some of them may not be politically motivated. He said the government was doing its best to “reach some peaceful adjustments,” with militants in the north and south.
The Government plans let a five-year-old emergency lapse when its month-by-month imposition runs out on January 15, Athulathmudali said. He appealed to the people to respond positively to the gesture.
An official said several hundred militants detained under emergency laws would be released when the emergency ends.
The emergency first imposed in 1983, had been extended every month to give extra powers to the security forces to deal with rebel violence across the island.
Athulathmudali said schools closed since October, because of student unrest alleged to have been instigated by the front, would be reopened in the first week of January,
Article extracted from this publication >> December 30, 1988
