Ranil wants to create a SMS generation - Minister Sirisena

Nadira Gunatilleke

Today, there is nothing to talk about the United National Party (UNP). During the UNP’s two year term, its leader signed an ‘agreement’ with the terrorist leader Prabhakaran and today his emptiness shows when looking at the strategy he proposed to recruit new members to his party, Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) General Secretary and Health Minister Maithripala Sirisena said.

Addressing a ceremony at the SLFP headquarters yesterday, Minister Sirisena said the UNP leader proposed that youths send text

messages to others to recruit them to the UNP.

“He thinks that sending a text using a mobile phone can be used to recruit youths to the UNP. It shows that he does not have any vision or new ideas,” the Minister said.

“Ranil wants to create a SMS generation using mobile phones. But, the SLFP is making giant strides under the leadership of President Mahinda Rajapaksa,” Minister Sirisena said.

Minister Sirisena pointed out that UNP politicians are similar to broiler chicken, because they do not have any taste or nutrition. They

do not know about the history of the motherland or at least the history of their own political party. But SLFP is entirely different

from the UNP because it always had a non aligned foreign policy. People who say that there is no difference between the UNP and the

SLFP do not have any idea about the history, political ideologies, political visions and policies of these parties.

Minister Sirisena stressed that Sri Lanka even after receiving independence in 1948, lived with an enslaved mentality thereafter. They did not feel the independence. Nothing was independent. There was no recognition at all for our agriculture, indigenous medicine, etc. The local rulers just followed the same ruling system without making any changes. It was late leaders like S W R D Bandaranaike and D A Rajapaksa who changed the status.

“Anybody can become a patriotic citizen of his/her motherland only if he or she has a good knowledge of the country’s history.Without knowing history nobody can become a patriotic, he said.

“Foreigners such as Robert Knox and Dr.H.C.P. Bell fell in love with Sri Lanka after carefully reading and studying the history of our country, “ the Minister added.