Colombo: Hailing sacrifices of security
forces personnel who became disabled during country's civil
war, the Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa has thanked
them for their contribution in defeating LTTE.
"Though you are physically handicapped, you are stronger
than most of the others in our society and I am eternally
grateful to the strength you all gave me to defeat LTTE,"
Rajapaksa said here yesterday.
"You are the only ones who can hold your head high and
live with dignity and self respect." he said at a function to
mark the International Day of Persons of Disabilities.
"What you ask is not sympathy but the right to exist. I
like to remind you that I will always respect and pay heed to
this request," he said.
"There were also those who sacrificed their legs so that
we can today walk freely on our soil. These are the real
heroes," he added.
The President said one of the yardsticks by which a
society is judged is the way in which that society treats its
disabled.
"Going by such a barometer I am certain that our country
is up there on the top. We will endeavour to provide you with
a life that would enable you to live with self-respect,"
Rajapaksa added.
Three decades long civil war in the country ended in May
this year with the killing of tiger chief Velupillai
Prabhakaran.
PTI
First Published: Friday, December 04, 2009, 18:14