MR warns over Facebook politics

By Pushpakumara Jayaratne
President Mahinda Rajapaksa on Saturday warned the parents on a move by certain quarters to drag the school children into politics using social networking websites such as Facebook.
He said that the government had received information about such attempts, which matter was raised in the Parliament as well recently and that he had ordered the authorities to initiate an investigation into it.

 Addressing a function at the Panduwasnuwara National School the President also requested the political parties in the country not to use the students for political purposes and destroy their future.
Mr. Rajapaksa told the parents that the Facebook had been very popular among students and called on the parents to be watchful of the activities of their children.
He reminded the period in the past when students had been mobilised by political groups to engage in political activities which ended up in them being killed on roadsides.  
“There were about sixty thousand names of those killed in a list I had compiled. Even Prabhakaran used the schoolchildren for his terrorist activities, the result of which we witnessed during the war,” the President stated.
He assured that he would not allow anybody to use school children for political purposes.