Assassination of Minister
Dassanayaka is a further call for unity against terror - President Rajapaksa
The assassination of Minister D. M. Dassanayaka deserves the most vehement
and unequivocal condemnation by all those who respect democracy, desire
peace and value human life.
His assassination in a claymore mine attack by the LTTE is yet another
example of its continued commitment to terror and violence to achieve
its separatist goals, and absolute contempt and disregard for human
values and the policies and practices of democracy.
This sad event is a further reminder of the need to redouble our efforts
to rid our country of terrorism and the use of violence to achieve political
ends. It also draws attention to the constant threats faced by all those
who stand for the democratic way of life, from the forces of terror
that have been strengthened for too long through the politics of appeasement.
It is no accident that Minister Dasanayaka who was targeted in this
cowardly attack was spearheading the work of rehabilitation and reconstruction
in the Eastern Province, since its liberation from the clutches of the
LTTE by the armed forces of our country. As State Minister for Nation
Building, he made it his mission to restore normalcy to the lives of
all of our people in the Eastern Province, irrespective of ethnicity
or religion, who had been living under the oppressive yoke of the terrorist
LTTE for nearly two decades. His assassination shows that such work
on behalf of the people invites the hatred of the forces of violence
and terror, and gives the lie to the LTTE's claim that it is the liberator
of the Tamil people of Sri Lanka.
Minister Dassanayaka was also an exceptional representative of the
people of Wayamba - the North Western Province - who was always in the
forefront of activity on behalf of the rights of the people, especially
in his electorate of Anamaduwa and adjacent areas. He was one who saw
much development take place in the area and was respected by the people
for his work as a political activist and Member of Parliament of the
Sri Lanka Freedom Party.
The large community of Muslim people driven out of Jaffna by the LTTE
in 1990 in one of its worst acts of ethnic cleansing, who are now settled
in camps in the Puttalam District, found in Minister Dasanayaka a close
friend and indefatigable worker on their behalf, and his work among
them showed his ability to rise above divisions of community and faith.
His assassination should be a further call for unity by all who stand
for freedom and democracy to come together, shedding petty political
or other differences, to decidedly defeat terrorism in our country.
I extend my heartfelt condolences to his wife Indrani and daughter
in their hour of immeasurable grief, and my sympathies to the people
of Anamaduwa of at the tragic loss of a worthy representative.
May he attain the Bliss of Nirvana!
Mahinda Rajapaksa
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