Cardinal Ranjith calls for referendum before building bridge linking India and Sri Lanka

The Archbishop of Colombo, Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith says that if a bridge is to be constructed connecting Sri Lanka and India, a referendum should be held in order to seek the people’s consent for such a move.

Joining the Sunday Mass held at the National Basilica Church in Thewatte, Ragama today (Aug 27), Cardinal Ranjith emphasized that it is the rulers who have betrayed the country to foreigners throughout history.

Commenting further, the Cardinal stressed that, “they are selling pieces of our island to different countries and forces and taking various stupid decisions leading the country towards destruction”.

“They are going to build a bridge to India.”

“We were once forced by India to implement certain matters based on their opinion, all these are stupid stories”, he added.

“Our country has always been a free country. We have never been slaves of any state.”

“The kings of this country dealt with the economic deals between Sri Lanka and India, but we did not become slaves to anyone”, the Cardinal mentioned further.

Furthermore, Cardinal Ranjith stressed that “a referendum must be held to obtain the public opinion on building this bridge, while adding that “we are really sorry for our country today”.

“Having gained freedom, we now have to lose freedom”, he expressed.

“We now have to give thousands of acres of land to all the countries. We now have to break the country into pieces. Then we will have nothing left. This is a sickness”, the Cardinal stressed.