Some parties using racism to win election – Anura Kumara Dissanayake
Some political parties have most shamefully turned to racism and extremism with a view to getting ahead in the Presidential race, National People’s Power (NPP) presidential candidate and JVP leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake observed at a public event in Negombo on Saturday.
Dissanayake made this observation at an event to launch the NPP’s Policy Framework on National Unity which is a part of its Presidential election manifesto.
Dissanayake said that the political stage of the Presidential election campaign has turned into a “swamp of racism” where certain parties would nurture any form of racism and extremism for their advantage.
He made this comment on racism in reference to the recent uproar raised in some political circles regarding the signboard of the Palaly Airport in which the text on top is Tamil.
“One of the most discussed topics on some political stages is the signboard of the Palaly Airport where the text on top is in Tamil, followed by the Sinhala text. Now this has come under the spotlight on political stages in areas where there are more Sinhala votes,” he pointed out.“These politicos go around making allegations that the Sinhala language is given second place, attempting to create ethnic tension in order to obtain the Sinhala votes. However, Gotabhaya Rajapaksa’s election campaign office in Jaffna displays a signboard with the Tamil text above the Sinhalese text. This is to obtain votes from the Jaffna district. We as citizens of this country should totally reject this type of politics and these kinds of politicians.We, as the National People’s Power, stand to protect the rights of all ethnicities,” Dissanayake emphasised.
(Source: Daily News – By Amali Mallawaarachchi)
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Sri Lankan politics is riddled in racism and extremism, even without the excuse of elections!
And this has been tolerated without disciplining any of the politicians.
Eg TNA politician stating that she wants the LTTE to return. In any other country, this pro- terrorist stance would have resulted in immediate arrest by TID, home and laptop seized and searched, and expulsion from the government!
Yet, she remains a minister.
TNA politicians demand a separate state, which is based on racism and intolerance of other races.
Muslim ministers resigned en masse ” to protect their people” ; abandoning their portfolios without any consideration to the welfare of ALL SRI LANKANS.
Again, they were re-instated. What example does this set for future politicians?
Until we have ministers who belong exclusively to political parties which are not based on race or religion; racism and extremism will continue to exist in Sri Lankan politics!