Campaigning heats up ahead of north Lanka polls

Campaigning ahead of crucial polls in Sri Lanka's Tamil-dominated north, due to take place after 25 years, has heated up with the country's two main leaders visiting the province in the last two days.
President Mahinda Rajapaksa and main opposition leader Ranil Wickremesinghe have both campaigned in the region ahead of the September 21 provincial polls.
Rajapaksa invited the Tamil minority to shed communal feelings and unite to support his development drive.
"People must make use of the government. They must forget the past and join in for development" said Rajapaksa, referring to his government's steps towards reconciliation with the Tamil minority since the end of the nearly three-decade civil war that killed an estimated 100,000 people.

The war ended in 2009 when government troops finally crushed LTTE rebels.
"We are holding this election having freed you. You can't go back to the demands made in the past when democratic leaders were assassinated", Rajapaksa said.

He criticised the main Tamil party, TNA, for a manifesto which seeks to revive the separatist intents pursued by the LTTE. Rajapaksa said the problems in the north cannot be settled in a day or two.
Meanwhile, Wickremesinghe said his party's vision was to let all communities live peacefully.
"Sinhalese, Tamil, Muslim, Burgher, Buddhist, Hindu and Islam all have the same rights", Wickremesinghe said. He added that northern extremism cannot be tamed by using southern extremism and vice versa.

"We can achieve peace only by promoting a Sri Lankan identity devoid of all differences of race and religion".
In the first north and east provincial council elections held in 1988, only one political party participated due to the LTTE's armed campaign to set up a separate Tamil homeland.
The two provinces de-merged in 2006 as a result of a court order and the first ever eastern provincial council election was held in 2008.
The international community, including India, have been constantly urging Sri Lanka to hold the election in a free and fair manner.