President Gotabaya Rajapaksa emphasized that his government has no intention of hiding the report of the Presidential Commission on the Easter Sunday attack. The President said that there are no negotiations in this matter with any person or a party and they do not expect to appease anyone either.
The President expressed these views during the 13th ‘Discussion with the Village’ programme held at the Maduragama grounds in the Weragala Grama Niladhari Division in the Giribawa Divisional Secretariat in Kurunegala on Saturday, March 6.
The President said the Easter Sunday attack is a national issue. It should not be made a political theme. The victims of this attack are entitled to a proper and accurate investigation into the cause of the tragedy. Archbishop Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith’s agony and his genuine concern regarding this matter is justifiable.
The President points out that it is sad and hypocritical that the politicians of the former government, who were silent at the time of the attack, were raising black flags now.
“The Easter attack took place in 2019 when the previous government was in power. Disillusioned with the wrong policies of the then government, the people demonstrated their anger to the then government at the Co-operative elections as well as in the Local Government elections in February 2018,” the President said.
The President also said that he didn’t come to power exploiting the Easter Sunday attacks.
For the government in power before 2015, national security was a top priority. Those who came to power in 2015 ignored national security. No matter what human rights allegations are made, the defence policy that was in effect before 2015 is back in operation, he also stated.
The President emphasises that the government is responsible for the national security of the country and says that there is no room for separatist terrorism or Islamic extremism and strongly rejects all baseless allegations.
The ‘Discussion with the Village’ programme commenced from Badulla district. Programmes were organised covering the Matale, Ratnapura, Anuradhapura, Ampara, Polonnaruwa, Kalutara, Moneragala, Kegalle, Kandy, Puttalam and Trincomalee districts.
The idea behind this programme is for the President to engage with rural communities living in remote areas without intermediaries about their longstanding unresolved problems and to present them directly to officials for solutions.
Problems that can be solved on the spot are instantly addressed. The rest, which takes time to deal with, are noted down to find solutions later. The objective of the programme is to reach out to the people of the village, understand their problems and find solutions giving considerations to their own suggestions.
The Giribawa Divisional Secretariat is located 27 km away from Galgamuwa town, bordering Anuradhapura district in the north and Puttalam district in the West. The distance from the center of the Giribawa town to Weragala village is 3 km.
Weragala has been identified as the poorest and the most difficult Grama Niladhari Division out of the 35 Grama Niladhari Divisions in the Giribawa Divisional Secretariat.
