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| Monday, 3 November 2003 |
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Politics | |
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| LSSP on last week's communalist mayhem The Lanka Sama Samaja Party joins its voice to the general abhorrence that has been expressed over the communalist thuggery that was unleashed on the Sinhala-Tamil cultural event held in Colombo last week. We are not concerned in identifying one or other group of communalists with this barbaric act for in our view communalism in general in its perverse tribal form must be held responsible for acts of this nature. The Sinhala-Tamil cultural event was in fact an expression and manifestation of Sri Lankan Nationalism which seeks to bring unity to what exists as healthy cultural diversity on ethnic, religious and other valid basis. What we saw in the attack on this project is the inevitable reduction of communal politics to a mindless hooliganism that in fact lacks even an ethnic consciousness. The organizers of the Sinhala-Tamil cultural event of last week deserve the congratulations of the nation for the determination with which they carried on with their scheduled programme undeterred by the hooliganism that was unleashed on them and the participants in the event. This hooligan act came hot on the heals of the ill-thought out street demonstration in Colombo on Deepavali day. The LSSP concedes that this had no connection with Deepavali but it did show a callous disregard for the religious feelings of the Hindu community that is part of this country and commands respect. The LSSP is glad that though invited to do so it had decided not to participate in this street demonstration. However at the invitation of a sister party in the People's Alliance it did send a speaker to the public meeting organized by that party and held later that day. Looking back the LSSP regrets that it did so and offers its apologies to the Hindu religious community, states LSSP General Secretary Batty Weerakoon in a press release. |
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