Sri Lanka News Updates with Discussions

Who allowed to 800 cadres including LTTE leaders to escape from Thoppigala?

(LeN-2007 July 13, 7.30 PM)The United National Party says that it has information from Army internal sources that 800 cadres including LTTE leaders to escape by orders from the top and questions if it is a part of the deal between the government and the LTTE.

The head of the UNP media unit Lakshman Kiriella made this allegation at a special press briefing held in its office today.

He said that the Army spokesman Brigadier Prasad Samarasinghe had told earlier that around 1000 cadres including Tiger leaders Ramesh and Jeyam were stranded in Thoppigala and they would be captured or eliminate within two months. Media gave wide publicity to this. He asked how Thoppigal was captured in two three days in contrast to the earlier statement that it would be captured in two months.

As Indian intelligence had also said the military plans were changed suddenly to allow 800 LTTE cadres to flee to Mullaithivu via Welikanda, Serunuwara, Muthur and Manirasakulam safely with Multi barrel rocket launchers, Mr. Kiriella said .

Mr. Kiriella asked from Brigadier Prasad Samarasinghe and Major General Pannipitiya to explain to the public how the LTTE cadres fled to Mullaithivu whilst the Army had surrounded the Thoppigala area in three cordons.

The UNP MP said that the political hands avoided the victories of the heroic Army.

Mr. Kiriella said that the celebrations of the government after capturing the empty camps following allowing the LTTE to flee was a big joke. He said that this was another part of the President Mahinda Rajapakse's secret pact with the Tigers providing Rs. 1.5 billion.

He thoroughly denied the betrayal of the military plans of the heroic Army by the political leadership and allowing the Tiger cadres to escape.

He said that the truth was that the Army could not obtain the expected targets of the Thoppigala operation.

The Story of the Shiva Lingam: Shiva saw not sense in the transitory pleasures of life, so he rejected samsara, smeared his body with ash, closed his eyes and performed austerities. Shiva's tapas generated so much heat that his body transformed into a pillar of fire - a blazing lingam that threatened to destroy the whole world. The gods did not know how to control Shiva's fire. Suddenly there appeared a yoni - the divine vessel of the mother-goddess. It caught the fiery lingam and contained its heat, thus saving the cosmos from untimely destruction.

Special Features: A Shiva lingam is made of two separate pieces. One is the actual lingam, the horizontal stone with the polished top. The lingam consists of two separate stages. The upper most is polished representing Shiva. The middle portion is a octagonal, is unpolished and represents Vishnu. Each section comprises 1/2 of the total height. In this case each section is 6 inches tall. The spout of the lingam is perfect for catching any liquid that is used during a puja. On the upper most portion of the Lingam is an arrow pointing to three horizontal marks. The three horizontal marks are a symbol of Shiva.