Minister Lakshman Kiriella, in a statement, refers to the displaying of ‘Sinhale flags’ at a UPFA rally in Yatinuwara as an instance which shows that Rajapaksa does not hesitate to use any tactic available in his hate-politics.

Noting that communalism is the real terrorism, he says Rajapaksa and his cohorts have raised true terrorism in the country while boasting that they had rescued the country by defeating terrorism.

The national flag is intended to make a Sri Lankan nation to represent the Sinhala, Tamil, Muslim, Burgher communities, he notes.

Citing the history of how the national flag was designed, the minister says Rajapaksa’s cohorts are destroying that symbol of national unity.

This is a grave insult to the SLFP’s founder, the late S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike, who, together of the late J.R. Jayewardene, had been instrumental in designing the national flag, he says.

This distorted flag was previously in the hands of Rajapaksa supporters who protested when Gotabhaya Rajapaksa was summoned to the bribery commission on bribery and corruption charges.

Attempts to provoke communal feelings

Falsehoods that the defeated terrorism was raising its head, the Geneva commission and the electric chair, the Tamil diaspora and Tissa Attanayake’s fake agreement are all part of attempts to provoke communal feelings to destroy the country again, minister Kiriella says.

It is evident by the detention of the journalist who took pictures of this distorted flag that the Rajapaksas are still using the repressive tactics of their regime.

The country lost friendship and recognition of the international community and branded of being tribal barbarians due to such nonsensical ideas and actions by them.

Safeguarding a nation means ensuring the multi-religious, multi-lingual society nurtured by Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam and Catholicism, and not acting with a petty communalistic approach, he says.

Mahinda Chinthana is nothing more than a communalistic policy, being promoted by persons with a similar mindset.

As president Ronald Reagan had once said, a nation can be destroyed by communalists, says the minister, noting that January 08th saw the defeat of that communalism, which all should get together and wipe out on August 17.