Let's build Sri Lankan Nation to safeguard all communities – Lal Kanthe
TUESDAY, 16 APRIL 2013
Sri Lanka needs a humanitarian system sans communalism and religious fanaticism. A Sri Lankan Nation should be created that will safeguard all communities says former JVP Parliamentarian and President of National Trade Union Center K.D. Lal Kanthe.
Speaking at a meeting held in Kegalle which is a part of the programme of meetings being held by the JVP throughout the island under the theme 'A rational country, a just society & an independent human being' Mr. Lal Kanthe said, "This country doesn't have a media freedom at present. White vans pursued journalists. Now there are no white vans coming behind journalists. It is not because of eh democracy of this government but because journalists and media institutions have been careful not to write what the government doesn't like. They have got used to writing to avoid white vans coming behind them.
In such an environment masses do not get an opportunity to know the truth.That's why we have to go from village to village and make the people aware of what's happening in the country. Today there is a strange censorship to the media in this country. The media criticizes ministers and MPs. They write about assaults on Chairmen of Pradeshiya Sabhas; Ranil Wickremesinghe is criticized and party weaknesses are revealed. However, the media cannot criticize the royal family.
There is no unity among communities in this country. WE would never allow Sinhalese communalism to harm Muslim or Tamil communities. The JVP would be responsible for creating national unity to safeguard all communities. If things are left to happen and communalism is spread Sri Lankans will be assaulted not only in Chennai but also in Muslim countries.
We should have our house in order. Hence, we need a humanitarian system sans communalism and religious fanaticism. We should create a Sri Lankan Nation. Let's rally round a good programme. We could give the leadership, show the path and make sacrifices. Let's build a people's government. We call upon all to join us in this task."
Former Parliamentarian Gaminie Rathanayake also spoke.
COLOMBO — Sri Lanka's police have begun keeping track of foreign tourists to "ensure their own safety", officials announced on Monday.
Hotels and guest houses have been told to submit weekly reports of their foreign guests as part of a new security plan for tourists, police spokesman Buddhika Siriwardena said.
"Tourists are important to our economy. This is to ensure their own safety," Siriwardena told AFP. "This scheme will ensure officers will have details of tourists in their areas to protect them."
Hotel owners said they have been asked to pass on passport and visa details of all foreigners in addition to information already given to the authorities for maintaining industry-related statistics.
"Some people may be put off because this looks like surveillance," a hotel executive, who declined to be named, said.
A British national was killed in a gang attack at a southern tourist resort in December 2011, and two Europeans were beaten up in central Sri Lanka last month.
The British Foreign Office website says violent crime against foreigners is "infrequent" in its former colony, but notes an "increasing number of reports of sexual offences, including on minors".
Tourism has grown sharply after troops crushed Tamil Tiger separatist rebels and ended nearly four decades of ethnic strife that claimed up to 100,000 lives, according to UN figures.
Hotel prices have increased three-fold as a million tourists visited Sri Lanka in 2012, double the average in the final years of the civil war. Sri Lanka scrapped its visa-on-arrival system and began charging entry fees in 2011.
Police are using an ordinance issued in 1866 to oblige hotels to provide the information.
