'Short sighted politics created ethnic polarity'

Short sighted party politics during the last 30 years created the ethnic polarity which was the reason for the people to work for national integration, said National Languages and Social Integration Minister Vasudeva Nanayakkara.

The minister was addressing a meeting at a youth camp in Badulla recently. About 200 youths from Batticaloa, Vavuniya, Kinniya, Badulla and Moneragala participated.

The Minister said ethnic harmony prevailed among various communities before three decades ago. "The National Languages and Social Integration Ministry has launched a national programme which tries to give legal powers to village and plantation communities to handle language rights issues. This we call language societies. They will have their own constitution and autonomy. By doing so, all three communities should take care of the ethnic integration through language rights promotion," the minister said. Senior DIG Uva Pujitha Jayasundara also spoke.