Mr. Manusha Nanayakkara, Minister of Labor and Foreign Employment, says that political parties based on race and religion, which gain narrow political advantages by sowing racism, should be banned.
He said that since the day Sinhala became the official language in 1956, political parties have been using racism for their political purposes.
The minister also alleged that some political groups are trying to highlight racism again for their own benefit as the elections are scheduled to be held next year.
The minister who commented further said:
“Political parties bearing the names of races should be removed from the politics of this country. The political parties that have been formed based on ethnicity or religion, calling that national party and this national party, should disappear in this country. That’s how racism can be eradicated in the first place.
When there were conflicts between Israel and Palestine, when the Hamas organization came and killed and attacked the Israeli civilians, we unanimously condemned it. Now we condemn the attacks on Gaza by Israel. We go ahead and condemn it internationally. As a country, we are neither on the side of Israel nor on the side of Palestine. We operate on a no-obligation policy.
In spite of that, some people have started talking to increase their number of votes inside and outside the parliament. There is a service agreement between Sri Lanka and Israel that sends employees for a period of time. According to that agreement, we send employees.
But some people talk about sending employees to Israel in a racist manner. It is an attempt to re-sow racism in this country. It is unnecessary.
If we are asked to send employees from Palestine tomorrow, if there is security for the employees, we will send employees to Palestine. Even if workers are requested from Russia or Ukraine, if there is security, the employees will be sent. We are looking at employees’ safety. Without that, we will not be able to draw lines dividing the countries. We are a non-binding country.
Some people sow racism for narrow political purpose. Again they are trying to take advantage of racism. We are trying to eradicate racism. We also see cases where they try to block that peaceful path,” the minister further commented.
