Courtesy The Daily News

Respect, recognition must be accorded to leaders who put national aspirations first

Truth will triumph in the end

The confidence placed in the Sri Lankan government by the entire Asian region today is such that no Asian country is likely to permit members of the panel going through the motions of an investigation against Sri Lanka to enter their territory for this purpose. External Affairs Minister Professor G.L. Peiris said.

Does anyone believe that this is a result arrived at by chance or accident,” he asked during a meting in the Kurunegale district over the week-end.

On the contrary, this is directly due to the government’s success in convincing these countries, and a considerable swathe of the globe, of the gross injustice done to Sri Lanka by this so-called investigation, which is merely a political exercise designed to serve vested interests,” the minister said addressing a series of rallies in Dambadeniya and Katugampola areas.

Irrigation and Water Resources Management Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva presided.

Truth will triumph in the end, despite all the financial resources and political muscle being made use of in their campaigns by those who are determined to harm our country,” he said. The minister cited as reflecting strong support for Sri Lanka the public remarks by a recent visitor, the Foreign Minister of Tanzania, who is also Chairman of the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group, that the false picture of Sri Lanka, maliciously painted by these elements overseas, stands in stark contrast with the reality he observed on the ground.

The visiting dignitary had added that our country’s achievements during the last five years exceeded by far what had been accomplished in post-conflict situations in other parts of the world even during the span of several decades,” Prof. Peiris said.

Prof. Peiris asked the public to be on their guard against political leaders who claim, as a qualification, their alleged closeness to foreign powers.

Respect and recognition must be accorded, on the other hand, to leaders who put national aspirations at the forefront of their agenda and use foreign relations to promote national objectives. The nation must beware of those who are only too willing to be used as instruments of interests abroad to further their own ends, he said.

The people of Wayamba Province have reaped rich dividends from the government’s massive investment in education, health and irrigation projects, in particular, he said. It is now for the public to demonstrate, by their steadfast support, that, in politics as in nature, rivers do not flow backwards, Minister Peiris said.