President calls for unity against terror

The assassination of Minister D. M. Dassanayaka deserves the most vehement and unequivocal condemnation by all those who respect democracy, desire peace and value human life.

His assassination in a claymore mine attack by the LTTE is yet another example of its continued commitment to terror and violence to achieve its separatist goals, and absolute contempt and disregard for human values and the policies and practices of democracy.

This sad event is a further reminder of the need to redouble our efforts to rid our country of terrorism and the use of violence to achieve political ends.

It also draws attention to the constant threats faced by all those who stand for the democratic way of life, from the forces of terror that have been strengthened for too long through the politics of appeasement.

It is no accident that Minister Dassanayaka who was targeted in this cowardly attack was spearheading the work of rehabilitation and reconstruction in the Eastern Province, since its liberation from the clutches of the LTTE by the Armed Forces.

As State Minister for Nation Building, he made it his mission to restore normalcy to the lives of all of our people in the Eastern Province, irrespective of ethnicity or religion, who had been living under the oppressive yoke of the terrorist LTTE for nearly two decades.

His assassination shows that such work on behalf of the people invites the hatred of the forces of violence and terror, and gives the lie to the LTTE's claim that it is the liberator of the Tamil people of Sri Lanka.

Minister Dassanayaka was also an exceptional representative of the people of Wayamba - the North Western Province - who was always in the forefront of activity on behalf of the rights of the people, especially in his electorate of Anamaduwa and adjacent areas.

He was one who saw much development take place in the area and was respected by the people for his work as a political activist and Member of Parliament of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party.

The large community of Muslim people driven out of Jaffna by the LTTE in 1990 in one of its worst acts of ethnic cleansing, who are now settled in camps in the Puttalam District, found in Minister Dassanayaka a close friend and indefatigable worker on their behalf, and his work among them showed his ability to rise above divisions of community and faith.

His assassination should be a further call for unity by all who stand for freedom and democracy to come together, shedding petty political or other differences, to decidedly defeat terrorism in our country.

I extend my heartfelt condolences to his wife Indrani and daughter in their hour of immeasurable grief, and my sympathies to the people of Anamaduwa at the tragic loss of a worthy representative.

May he attain the Bliss of Nirvana!