CHATURANGA PRADEEP SAMARAWICKRAMA 
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Video: Ranil awaits Pillay’s reply over DS statue
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Opposition leader Ranil Wickremesinghe said today he was awaiting a reply from UNHRC High Commisioner Navi Pillay to clear the air over allegations made by some government officials that she wanted the D.S. Senanayake statue and the Buddhist flag removed at Independence Square.“We are awaiting a clarification regarding the news that she had requested the government to remove the D.S. Senanayake statue and the Buddhist flag located at the Independence Square. We hope she would respond to our letter even after the next Geneva session.
Mr. Wickremesinghe said there were two reasons which prompted him to write to Ms. Pillay.
“We had two reasons to write to Ms. Pillay. One was that the government attempted to remove the S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike’s statue to build the Shangrila Hotel. We doubted that the government was trying to remove the D.S. Senanayake statue also in the same manner. And the other was that Defense Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa had made a comment regarding this issue 10 days after Navi Pillay left the country”, he said.
Mr. Wickremesinghe said the government was also trying to clear pillay from the charge.
“The president had said in a speech made at a rally in Naththandiya recently that someone who came to Sri Lanka recently requested to remove the Buddhist flag without mentioning any name. He was trying to clear her name. This is a big problem. When the president was trying to clear her name, we also find it difficult to correspond with her regarding the issue. The president has a responsibility to reveal who said this”, he said.
Mr. Wickremesinghe said that the use of Kumaran Pathmanadan alias KP, who was wanted by India on the charges of killing Rajiv Gandhi, in government’s election campaign, would damage the international ties with India.
“The government was using KP who attacked the Temple of the Tooth for its election campaign with special security. These things should not happen in a democratic society. These are not good signs. We will have to face problems when we seek assistance from a terrorist leader. I will never use KP in my political campaign. I would rather go home than doing such a thing. India had asked for KP on charges of killing Rajiv Gandhi. When we take such a person into our political stage, we would not be surprised that it would damage the ties with India. This is a serious issue”, Mr. Wickremesinghe said at a meeting held at Sedawatta Weheragodalla temple yesterday.
Referring to the statement made by Navy Pillay after her visit to Sri Lanka that the country was heading to an authoritarian state he said it was a valid statement as the democratic rights were being abolished. (Ajith Siriwardana)
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