Wigneswaran welcomes military training for school leavers

Jaffna District MP and former Chief Minister of the Northern Province, C.V. Wigneswaran, welcomed Minister Admiral Sarath Weerasekara’s suggestion that youth above 18 years be given military training.

“I welcome the suggestion, but I suggest 16 years and aboveshould be given military training but in their mother tongue. All activities should be offered in Tamil language in the North and in the East,” he added. He even went on to suggest that former LTTE cadres can be used for this particular mission so that they can earn a living. If there is a shortage of Tamil speaking officials to train Tamil youth, the Government should seek South India’s support to conduct such training, the MP had told the Tamil Media when this question was posed to him, on Friday (29).

“In the 1950s while at Royal College we had senior cadetting and that was conducted in English and that connected students of all communities but it was in 1958 that I participated for the last time at the Independence Day parade representing my school and thereafter I rejected doing so after the 1956 Sinhala Only law was introduced.”

“I now welcome the idea, as it would discipline students but I also fear whether this suggestion is to militarise the country,” he added.

(Source: Ceylon Today – By Sulochana Ramiah Mohan)

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