Janaka commences the counter attack on Rajapaksas

The operation to politically attack Lands Minister Janaka Bandara Tennakoon by carrying out an attack on the mosque in Dambulla has now boomeranged on the President, government sources said.

The operation launched by Ven. Inamaluwe Sumangala Thero and liquor businessman and MP Lakshman Wasantha Perera on a Presidential directive to destroy the mosque in Dambulla was also aimed at Minister Tennakoon.

Perera’s Lak FM and Ven. Sumangala Thero’s Rangiri Dambulu FM for the past few days have been trying to instigate communal disharmony and has also engaged in a mud slinging campaign at Tennakoon.

Tennakoon then summoned a press conference and revealed a large number of details about the Dambulla clash that was not known till then. Most media institutions have given publicity to the revelations made at the press conference.

He told the media that although the issue of relocating the mosque could have been amicably settled, it has now gotten out of hand and it would therefore not be possible to relocate the mosque.

He added that Ven. Sumangala Thero was acting with venom against him due to a personal dispute.

All senior SLFP members have praised Tennakoon, who hails from an SLFP family for generations, for standing up to the Rajapaksas and stating the facts without keeping silent like most of the ministers when confronted by the Rajapaksas. A senior official from the SLFP headquarters said that Tennakoon’s bold move has given strength to many in the SLFP as well as in the Cabinet of Ministers.