Addressing a press conference in Colombo, the organization's coordinating secretary Sunil Aluthgamage told a media conference, "the government failed for the past two months to have the home guards released, which means we have to rally the Sinhala people in the North-East for this purpose."
He said there had been instances in the history of the Sinhala people where they had to shed their blood for their liberation. "We are prepared to resort to any measure to protect the Sinhala people in the North-East," Mr. Aluthgamage said.
He said that they decided to suspend the launching of their struggle as a ministerial delegation assured them that they would do everything possible to get the home guards released before October 7.
Mr. Aluthgamage alleged that most remote villages in the North and East have been occupied by Tamils with the support of the LTTE. A large number of Buddhist religious places have now been turned into kovils in certain areas of Vavuniya, Ampara and Trincomalee districts, he said.
Referring to the SLMM role in the home guards issue, Mr. Aluthgamage said that they had stopped dealing with the SLMM as they had not taken any action to obtain the release of the home guards.
He also warned that if the SLMM continued to turn a deaf ear they would not allow them to function in the North-East.
