Normal life returns in north after LTTE's defeat: Rajapaksa

President Mahinda Rajapaksa today said people in former battle zone in northern Sri Lanka were "happy" and leading a normal life after the defeat of the Tamil Tiger rebels in 2009.
"They (a section of international community) may criticise us but people from one end of the country could now travel to the other end without any fear," Rajapaksa said addressing a gathering at Telippalai in Jaffna, the heartland of the former rebels.
"I know people are happy that they can now travel without any fear," Rajapaksa said referring to the conflict in the past when frequent bomb explosions disturbed civilian movement in the region.

Rajapaksa said the presence of troops in the north has been reduced to 12,000 from 70,000. "There was a time that we witnessed military camps almost everywhere...," he said.
Deescalation of military presence in the north has been major demand by the international community.
Tamil minority groups and human rights bodies have demanded that presence of the military must be reduced to bring about normalcy and restoration of civilian life in the former battle zones.
The government argued that national security demands it to retain a considerable military presence in the region, where a conflict raged for over 30 years.