Upcountry parties call for Minister's resignation over racial slur

[TamilNet, Saturday, 06 August 2005, 02:04 GMT]
In a press briefing held in Colombo Friday parliamentarians from Upcountry Peoples Front (UPF), Ceylon Workers Congress (CWC) and United National Party (UNP) called for the resignation of Deputy Minister Mervyn Silva over his racial slurs directed at the Tamils of Indian Origin and urged businesses in Colombo to lend support to the peoples protest on Monday 8th August by closing their business establishments on that day, sources in Colombo said.

P Chandrasekaran, leader of UPF, P Radhakrishnan (UNP), R Yogarajan (CWC), T Maheswaran (UNP) and Prabaganesahan Western Province Peoples Front, participated in the press briefing.

Expressing dismay at the silence of Senior Ministers and Senior paraliamentarians of the ruling alliance United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA) in not condemning Mr Silva for denegrating a community that helps maintain Sri Lanka's economic prosperity, the participants called for solid show of support from all minority communities to make the protest a success.