President Rajapaksa praises Thatcher’s commitment to fighting
terrorism
President Mahinda Rajapaksa sent a message of condolence on the death
of former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in which he commended
the Prime Minister for her commitment to fighting terrorism.
“While the former Prime Minister stamped her impress on the political
and economic spheres of her country bringing it back on the economic
landscape of Europe, she also stood steadfastly against the scourge of
terrorism both in the United Kingdom and around the world, undaunted by
an assassination attempt on her life,” President Rajapaksa said.
Prime Minister Thatcher visited Sri Lanka in 1985 for the ceremonial
commissioning of the Victoria Dam Hydroelectric Scheme. During a press
conference at that event, responding to a question about terrorism and a
political solution to Sri Lanka’s ethnic conflict, she said: “With
regard to my own view about terrorism, it has not varied and will not
vary. Terrorism must never be seen to win. If it does, it is the end of
democracy.
There is a democracy in Sri Lanka and I believe that, as in Britain,
the problems must be solved through democracy-at any rate by all who
believe in democracy.”
While remembering the Prime Minister Thatcher’s visit to Sri Lanka,
President Rajapaksa, in the letter addressed to British Prime Minister
David Cameron, called Prime Minister Thatcher “a friend of Sri Lanka”
and convey the condolences of the Sri Lankan government and the people.
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