COLOMBO, Dec 30: Breaking new ground in political communication, Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse on Tuesday addressed the people of the war-afflicted Tamil-speaking northern district of Jaffna in the Tamil language to say that he would restore to them all that they had lost due to decades of civil war.

“All that was lost to you due to terrorism will be restored. It will not be long before your brothers and sisters, who are trapped in areas such as Kilinochchi and Mullaitivu, can be happy. That is when, just like the new dawn in the east, there will be a new spring in the north,” Rajapakse said in a video message to the “Future Minds of Jaffna” exhibition being held in Jaffna.

The president said that it was time that the people of Sri Lanka forgot the unfortunate events of the past. Beginning his address with the Tamil greeting ‘Vanakkam’, the president reminded his audience that in the past, the people of the Sinhalese-speaking south and the Tamil-speaking north, had close interactions with Northerners coming to Colombo to trade, and the people from the southern district of Matara setting up bakeries and restaurants in Jaffna.

Early leaders of the Tamils like Sir Ponnambalam Ramanathan, who spoke Tamil, Sinhalese and English, wished that all the ethnic groups lived together in unity, he recalled.

“The people in the south of the country always admired the industrious nature of those of the north. Similarly, it was the wish of the people of Jaffna that every one be as friendly as those from the south,” he said.

“It was a student leader from Jaffna who made the first demand for freedom from colonial rule for our country. Tamil leaders such as Sri Ponnambalam Ramanatha understood well how the imperialists were trying to divide us.”

“We cannot live in a country that is divided between the North and the South. We must live in unity,” Rajapakse stressed.

Over 20,000 people visited the “Future of Minds” exhibition. Sri Lankan cabinet minister Douglas Devananda, who is an MP from Jaffna, said singers, dancers and mimicry artistes from Tamil Nadu had performed at the exhibition.