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More Muslim Harthals In Kathankudy.

Muslim in Kathankudy organized a massive harthal and a protest campaign today against marginalizing Muslim aspirations in the PTOMS.

"We are not against our Tamil brothers or peace process, we are against marginalizing our community and its interests. We are the most affected community by the Tsunami and we have a right to demand equal representation in the Joint Mechanism" said a participant to our correspondent in Kathankudy.

The protestors hoisted black flags and burnt tires on roads paralyzing the normalcy in the area, according to our correspondent.

" Government Muslim ministers betrayed our community interests for their ministerial portfolios, we support the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress's non cooperative stance against the PTOMS with LTTE" said another protestor.

Rauff Hakeem, the leader of the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress will be addressing the crowd tonight.

In the 1990's, over hundred Muslims were massacred by the LTTE in their systematic ethnic cleansing campaign in Kathankudy. LTTE cadres surrounded the mosque during the evening prayers and shot and hacked Muslims to death.

"The President and her Government are like a bunch of pick pocketers”,

In what was claimed to be the biggest mass rally ever to hit Colombo, the main Opposition United National Party (UNP) today alleged that President Chandrika Kumaratunga and her Government were acting like a bunch of 'pick pocketers' merely to stay in power.

"She is trying to steal another year, even though her term as President ends this year. They are acting like pick pocketers," a sun burnt UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe declared this evening to many thousands of party supporters at Lipton Circus in Colombo at the end of the Jana Bala Meheyuma, which began at Devinuwara on the 2nd of this month.

Wickremesinghe insisted that the people should not allow this to happen. "We as citizens of Sri Lanka and not as political party affiliates should not let her take advantage, and violate our legal rights as citizens of this country," he mentioned.

He declared that it was the peoples right to elect a new President this year. "If moves are made to violate the masses rights, then 'people power' should get into action," the UNP leader requested. "Neither the Government nor the Chief Justice nor the Election Commissioner has any right to violate the rights of the people," he noted.

He also insisted that the Government was not paying attention to the public woes because of their own political bickering within the Alliance. "Because of the power struggle, one wing of the Alliance' has already been clipped," he said and added that his party was ready for an election even tomorrow.