The country may again be in danger due to racist and anti-religious statements and it is the responsibility of the entire Nation to prevent such situations from emerging, former speaker Karu Jayasuriya said.
Jayasuriya, who is also the Chairman of the National Movement for Social Justice (NMSJ), said that the NMSJ is paying close attention to certain statements being made by various parties these days, and the various activities being carried out in connection with them.
"Having studied them in depth, we warn that there may be an attempt to put the country in grave danger once again, through such acts," Jayasuriya observed.
Issuing a statement today (02), NMSJ chairperson Karu Jayasuriya further said:
"We are greatly worried about the statements made by some parties on various religious sentiments. When considering the series of unpleasant incidents that took place in the country, it is very clear that most of such have been caused by irresponsible statements and activities.
In such a situation, it is vital that everyone pay close attention to whether there are evil attempts to bring the country to such a destructive state once again.
A similar background was seen in the country before the tragic situation that we faced in 1983. The incidents of the same nature led to the riots in 1915.
Moreover, in a country that has still failed to heal the painful scars caused by the Easter Sunday terror attacks of 2019, which claimed hundreds of lives, this kind of situation should not be taken lightly at all.
It is our responsibility as a nation not to allow such an unfortunate situation to happen again, considering the tragic fate faced by every country that has failed to establish ethnic and religious harmony, as well as recalling the devastation that previous incidents caused to our country.
We believe that the country's political authority as well as all religious leaders, civil society organisations and the media have a strong responsibility towards that end. We also believe that this is the time for intelligent people to come forward to defeat such narrow efforts.
Therefore, we, the NMSJ, request the political leaders, religious leaders and all the citizens in general to act intelligently, patiently and with restraint in the face of the evil purposeful efforts that we face, and to come forward to defeat all the efforts that can lead our country to destruction again."
