Convener of the National People’s Council Chameera Perera says that several carrying out presidential election propaganda from the Gotabaya Rajapaksa camp spreads racism.

A press conference of the National People’s Council was held in Hatton today (21), where Perera expressed these views.

He says that speakers at the Gotabaya Rajapaksa camp such as parliamentarians Wimal Weerawansa and Udaya Gammanpila act in a manner that instigates racism and religionism in the country.

Perera says that creating problems and division within a country over an election is a grave issue.

Further speaking, he said:

“Wimal Weerawansa, the main person who speaks to instigate racism and religionism, had recently made statements that would provoke racism by pointing out that the name board of the Jaffna International Airport (JIA) was written in Tamil first, instead of in Sinhala.

This is ‘dumb racism’. Mahinda Rajapaksa, as a person who had been in politics for over 40 years, should be able to understand how these ‘dumb racists’ instigate racism in the country. This is a huge issue for their political careers.

If Wimal Weerawansa knows the Constitution, he should know that both Sinhala and Tamil are state languages and priority should be given to the culture and the language of the people who are the majority in an area.

Weerawansa says that posting the name in Tamil is racist. The name board of the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) Jaffna office is posted in Tamil first. The language the majority speaks.

This indicates the direction Gotabaya Rajapaksa is taking. They are going towards racism. This is what we saw during the past Mahinda Rajapaksa regime.”