No welcome for Karuna in new Govt. - Amaraweera

Pic by Pradeep Dilrukshana

By Sandun A. Jayasekera

Karuna Amman alias Vinayagamurthi Muralitharan would not be welcomed into the new government to be formed after the August 5 Parliamentary polls led by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa or given any position in the SLPP or SLFP either, Power, Energy and Transport Minister Mahinda Amaraweera said yesterday.   

Responding to journalists at yesterday’s news briefing at his office last afternoon, Minister Amaraweera who is also the General Secretary of the UPFA, not only condemned the recent remarks made by Muralitharan that he had killed between 2000 – 3,000 soldiers while fighting the separatist war as the commander of the LTTE in the Eastern Province, said the government and the SLFP condemned his statement. ”Not only we reject him and condemn him totally, we also had already initiated an inquiry on his statement. It is true that he once held a senior position in the SLFP, but not now.

His remarks are of serious nature and after the inquiry we also take legal action against him,” Minister Amaraweera said. In reply to another journalist, the Minister also condemned the remarks made by former Minister Harin Fernando and added Catholic Archbishop Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith did a great job to pacify millions of shocked and furious populace after the Easter Sunday Attack. “Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith prevented a certain blood bath after the bomb attack on churches and hotels. He healed the minds of millions of people who were shocked and angered through his words of solace.

Not only we reject him and condemn him totally, we also had already initiated an inquiry on his statement. It is true that he once held a senior position in the SLFP, but not now

He never used politics in his endeavour. Therefore, it is very sad and distasteful to make allegations against His Eminence to suggest that he had political affiliations,” Minister Amaraweera stressed. He added that Harin Fernando has a tendency to create controversies but the ultimate result was to diminish the vote base of the party he represents and at this time, it was SJB that would get the brunt of his foolish remarks.