Solo-U urged not to involve clergy in ad campaign

BY CHAMIKARA Weerasinghe

PRESIDENT of Bhumiputra Party, Dr. Harischandra Wijayatunga yesterday said that he would like to make a humble request from Deshamanya Lalith Kothalawala, not to drag members of the clergy in Sri Lanka, be they Christian, Buddhist, Hindu or Muslim, to his "SOLO-U" agenda.

Dr. Wijayatunga said that a person of Deshamanya Kothalawala's calibre was not expected to create any sort confusion but it now seemed that his actions had already given vent to religious anxiety.

Dr. Wijayatunga was referring to a recent newspaper advertisement published by Society for Love and Understanding (SOLO-U), controlled by Deshamanya Kothalawala, which carried a message from the Archbishop of Colombo, Dr. Oswald Gomis.

"It's a shame that Mr. Kothalawala had attempted to misuse the Reverend's message addressed to the Christian community to his personal advantage by giving it a provocative title as " Christians Awake" when there was no such mention to be found from the Reverend's entire text," he said.

"Hence, it proves that Deshamanya Kothalawala has misused the Reverend's message to suit to his SOLO-U agenda," he said.

"However, this advertisement has aroused much confusion among religious communities. As a person promoting love and understanding Kothalawala should know better the consequences of his actions, " he said.

"Further, I, earnestly request Dehshamanya Kothalawala not to drag Buddhist prelates into this, because he had already done so," he said.

Dr. Wijayatunga stated that religious co-existence had always been a fact of life in the island and requested Deshamanya Kothalawala to keep away from using members of clergy, Buddhist, Christian , Hindu or Muslim from his SOLO-U advertisement as a responsible citizen in the country.