Sirisena’s Blatant U-Turn On Deepavali Press Release Indicates Duplicity On Tamil Issues
President Maithripala Sirisena‘s Media Division, headed by former Sirasa employee Dharmasri Bandara Ekanayake, today took a blatant U-turn by revising its own press release on the Deepavali Celebrations at the President’s official residence.
The first version of the press release, which was circulated among journalists, carried the President’s remarks on the current political situation and his plans for the Northern province and its people.
In the first version of the press release, Sirisena was quoted saying his strong ambition to resolve the problems in North will remain the same.
It also says Sirisena acted with great responsibility when it came to issues concerning to people in the North and he decided to “change” the Prime Minister due to the latter’s failure to find solutions to their burning problems.
The press release also says the President has faith in a political solution that does not divide the country and he has instructed security forces to release all lands belonging to religious places in the North.
However, the second press release, which was circulated minutes after under the title ‘Deepavali Celebration – Edit News’, omitted the President’s remarks about the release of lands, development in the province and the current political situation.
It only highlights Sirisena’s remarks on Deepavali and the national unity.
A source familiar with the matter said the amendments to the press release only indicated Sirisena’s duplicitous policies and double-standards when it comes to Tamil issues.
“It is evident that Sirisena did not want the Sinhala audience to know what he communicated to the Tamils about their issues. This alone is a strong sign that Sirisena was blatantly lying when he made those promises,” she added.
