Govt. should be ashamed of sabotaging war victory celebration: MR

By Chamodi Gunawardana

Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa said that the Government should be ashamed of sabotaging the Victory Day celebration, while speaking yesterday at the Nidahase Pahan Wata war heroes’ memorial ceremony, held at the Viharamaha Devi Open Air Theatre in Colombo.

“The day we defeated terrorism is the day of victory. However, this day should be celebrated as the Victory Day not as Remembrance Day,” Rajapaksa stressed.

The previous governments failed to defeat the LTTE because they were always prepared to kneel before the terrorists, Rajapaksa said.  

“The foreign elements also attempted to convince me that it is an ‘impossible’ task to defeat the LTTE. But I took the crucial decision to fight against them (LTTE) for the sake of our country,” he added.

“If anybody wants to take revenge against me then just punish me. They can put me in jail. I am not afraid of that. But they should not destroy the happiness of war heroes,” Rajapaksa stated.

The former President said that the previous Government obliterated the LTTE and delivered freedom and peace to the country.

“We celebrated the victory as one nation and everybody gathered around the Government. We never undermined our country. We never betrayed the independence of our nation too. The country is more important to me more than anything,” asserted Rajapaksa, who has been implicated in ongoing investigations of corruption, alleged to have occurred during his rule.   During the Rajapaksa regime, 19 May was celebrated as ‘Victory Day’ with an extravagant military parade. The present Government’s ‘Remembrance Day’, which will be held today in Matara today, is set to be a more sombre affair at which President Maithripala Sirisena will pay tribute to all those who lost their lives on the battlefield. The former President has not been invited for tomorrow’s Remembrance Day ceremonies, organised by the Ministry of Defence, Ranaviru Seva Authority Chairperson Anoma Fonseka said.