Proportion of Tamil youth in public institutions, tri-forces must be increased: AKD

• Says it is vital to defeat the  racial political culture on behalf of the future  generation

By Ajith Siriwardana  

Claiming that both Sinhala and Tamil people have a right to  interact with the State in their own languages, NPP leader Anura Kumara  Dissanayake said that the proportion of the Tamil youth in public  institutions, tri-forces and important sectors should be increased.   

Speaking at the Northern Provincial Conference of Ceylon  Teachers Service Union on Thursday, he said it was vital to defeat the  racial political culture in the country on behalf of the future  generation.   

“Our main political stream has adopted rival politics so  far. Sinhala people in the South were organised against the North. Tamil  people in the North were organised against Sinhala people in the South.  We need to put a stop to this racial political culture. That is for our  future generation,” he said.   

Dissanayake appealed to Tamil politicians in the North,  saying that if they were really concerned about the issues faced by the  Tamil people, they need to unite.   

“We invite political leaders in the North to get together  and form a government. Let’s think afresh. We have two main languages in  our country. Both languages have equal rights. They have a right to  deal with the state in their respective languages. If a Tamil person  writes a letter to the government, he or she must get a reply in Tamil.  Therefore, I think, we need to increase the proportion of the Tamil youth  representation in public institutions, tri-forces and important  sectors,” he said.   

He said Sri Lanka needed a new society where racism and  extremism were rejected and the identity of each community is respected.