CHATURANGA PRADEEP SAMARAWICKRAMA 
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I did what I did for the people: Thewarapperuma
United National Party (UNP) MP PalithaThewarapperuma in an interview with Daily Mirror said the people and the media should view his offer to resign as an indictment on the present system and not attempt to portray him in bad light.“I promised to resign on behalf of all the people of this country, against what the Police and the STF did when the riots were taking place. I didn’t offer to resign because I had got caught cheating or because I had robbed or murdered. I saw with my own eyes how the Police and the STF officers turning a blind eye to these criminal acts and that’s why I wanted the IGP to take responsibility,” he said.
Speaking on his resignation which was not accepted by the UNP parliamentary group and party Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe, Mr. Thewarapperuma said he was aware of how to resign.
“A lot of people have asked me why I went and handed over my resignation to the Party leader, when I could have done so by handing over a letter to the Speaker. The reason is because I was not resigning on personal grounds, but against the actions of this deaf and blind police force. So I needed the party also to back me, I wanted the party to also be held responsible for this and that is why I handed it over to the party leader,” he said.
Referring to the riots which took place on June 15 and 16 in Aluthgama and surrounding areas Mr. Thewarapperuma said the mob had torched, looted and assaulted people in the presence of of police officers and STF personnel.
“I was there; I saw how the Police and the STF watched while this drunken mob went mad. One lady told me that the mob had taken her out of her house and handed her to STF personnel who were standing there and thereafter had gone in and burnt the house. All this happened while the STF were watching,” he said.
When asked whether his offer to resign and his previous agitation against the riots was an attempt to gain sympathy of Muslim voters, Mr. Thewarapperuma said it was not so.
“It’s sad to be asked a question like this. If it is about votes I wouldn’t have gone all alone and put my life at risk. I wouldn’t have been alive to tell the tale if I didn’t drive through that mob that attacked me. That’s not how I do politics; I don’t do politics for votes. In a situation such as this, who will think of votes or politics. The only thing on my mind was to help the people,” he said. (HafeelFarisz)
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