"I was teaching in Mannar from 1971 to 1978. I learnt to speak and write in Tamil during that period. I had a lot of Tamil friends. I do not have any Tamil friends now, because I moved from North to South to work. Today I am talking in Tamil after twenty five years, which gives me a great pleasure. I do not have the need to speak in Tamil in Galle, where I live.

The innocent civilians are suffering. If a bomb goes off in the country, Tamils get arrested immediately, and harassed. Bombs neither have hearts nor minds to think whether the people who will be killed are Tamils or Sinhalese or Muslims.

We Sinhalese living in the South have not witnessed the war directly. But we as human beings bear the burns of war. The whole village used to get together and mourn fro days, when the dead bodies of our fellow villagers used to come in large numbers during the height of war.

We Sinhalese, Tamils and Muslims of this country have to live in peace and harmony. We all have to work towards peace with dignity" says Karunathunga Welikala (59) a retired teacher from Galle