Champika Ranawaka visits to Jaffna

[TamilNet, Monday, 21 June 2010, 17:29 GMT]
“Identified United National Party men were responsible for the burning of Jaffna Public Library that was the foremost library in South East Asia and a valuable cultural asset of Tamils and I as a Sinhalese and a Sri Lankan cannot pardon the atrocious act,” Power and Energy Minister and Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU) theoretician Patali Champika Ranawaka said Monday in an event in Jaffna Public Library where he donated a batch of books to the library. Mr. Ranawaka is a key founder of Sinhala extremist National Movement Against Terrorism (NMAT) in 1998 and Sinhala Urumaya (SU) in 2000. He was known for his Nazi shade of anti-Semitism, in his speeches comparing Tamils with Jews and Sinhalese with Aryans.

Ranawaka, a former militant JVPer from 1980's, who agitated against the Indo-Lanka accord, had split from the JVP contradicting with the militant Marxist founder of the JVP, Rohana Wijeweera.

“I was deeply grieved when Jaffna Library was burnt and I am not prepared to pardon the perpetrators as a Sinhalese,” Champika Ranawaka who is on his first official visit to Jaffna peninsula Monday said.

“It should be clearly understood that Jathika Hela Urumaya was formed to preserve Buddhist religion and not to destroy other religions. We will raise our voices for other religions too,” he said.

Mr. Ranawaka met various authorities in Jaffna and discussed the electricity production and supply in Jaffna peninsula.

He particularly spent time discussing the possibility bringing Laxapana Electricity along A9 road to Jaffna peninsula with the officials of Jaffna branch of Sri Lanka Electricity Board.

Dr. Omalpe Sobitha Thero of JHU, Minister Douglas Devananda, Jaffna Mayor, Ms. Yogeswary Patkunam and many others participated in the Jaffna Public Library event.