MINISTER WIGNESWARAN’S PROPOSAL WILL RESULT IN LOODSHED: VEN. SUMANARATHANA THERA

Deputy Chief Sanghanayake of the North-east and Batticaloa Mangalaramaya temple Chief Incumbent Ven. Ampitiye Sumanarathana Thera said people of all communities in the North and East were perturbed by the Northern Province Chief Minister Wigneswaran’s proposal for a merger of the North and East and a federal state that would result in bloodshed in the country once more.

The Ven. Thera told the media that the people of the North and East had a harrowing experience during the 30-year war and that those in other parts of the country had experienced it as well. He said people all over the country had now focused attention on what was going in the north.

“We witnessed how innocent people were massacred in cold blood while thousands of security forces personnel laid down their lives. Today Chief Minister Wigneswaran and Leader of the Opposition R. Sambandan are attempting to create a similar recurrence. They are sadly mistaken if they believe that it would be a welcome move for the people in the North and East. All those concerned including rulers, scholars and intellectuals in the country must focus their attention on the secret ploy hatched by the politicians in the North to disrupt communal harmony and to engulf the country in a military situation again.” Ven. Sumanarathana Thera said.

The Ven. Thera stressed that the government must take action against the Chief Minister and the Leader of the Opposition for such moves that amounted to a violation of the constitution.