Former President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga issuing a statement has said the decision to release three ex-LTTE cadres who attempted to assassinate her was a correct decision.
Releasing a video on her personal Facebook page, Kumaratunga said out of the three, two are a husband and wife duo from Kotahena who were accused of fitting the explosive vest on the suicide bomber who attempted to kill her.
She said before proceeding with the process of releasing these prisoners, the President’s Secretary Saman Ekanayake had sought her approval to which she readily agreed.
“Just because they continue to languish in prison does not mean I will get my eye back. Nor will it solve the problems of the country’s Tamil people. Therefore I readily consented to their release,” she said.
The ex-President said in fact she had wanted them to be released a decade prior. “As Buddhists and as all other religions also profess we must be able to forgive. I am well today despite the loss of one eye. Therefore releasing them was the correct thing to do” she said.
According to her, she was able to forgive and also call on all LTTE cadres to join hands to resolve the problem just two days after the attack because her own father the Former Prime Minister was able to ask others to forgive his attacker even while on his deathbed.
A woman suicide bomber wounded Former President Chandrika Kumaratunga and killed at least 15 people at an election rally in the capital, Colombo on 18 December 1999. The attack on the President was carried out while she was walking to her car after making a speech at a rally by a woman who jumped over a barrier.
