"STUPID STATEMENT"........ BY ARMY CHIEF!!!

UNP condemns army chief’s alleged
claim minorities have no rights by Zacki Jabbar

The UNP yesterday condemned comments allegedly made by Army Commander Sarath Fonseka, in Canadian weekly, that minorities did not have rights.

Kegalle District UNP MP Kabir Hashim, addressing a news conference in Colombo, said that all right thinking and peace loving people were shocked by Fonseka’s statement. "One can understand a politician making such stupid statements to gain political mileage, but its unacceptable when a soldier who has seen at first hand the suffering people of all communities have undergone over the last three decades, resorts to such cheap gimmicks."

He recalled that when Sri Lanka gained independence from the British in 1948 and the Muslims were asked what special Constitutional guarantees they wanted, Dr. T. B. Jaya speaking on behalf of the community had said that since Muslims trusted the Sinhalese, all powers could be handed over to them.

"The stance taken by Dr. Jaya was applauded by Sri Lanka’s first Prime Minister D. S. Senanayake, who said that all Sinhalese were indebted to the Muslims. But what is happening today is a betrayal of that trust Muslims placed in the Sinhalese," Hashim said.

The Muslims, first fought side by side with the Sinhala Kings to protect the territorial integrity of the country and continue to do so even today, Hashim said. "A large number of Muslims died fighting foreign invaders including the Portuguese, the Dutch and the British," he said.

It was ironic that the Army Commander had chosen to make his claim regarding minority rights, at a time when all communities had contributed in no small measure to defeating the LTTE. Communalistic statements should be nipped in the bud before matters got out of hand, he added.
courtesy: www island.lk