Saturday, 28 June 2014 00:08
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UNP Leadership Council Chairman Karu Jayasuriya yesterday urged the Government to heed the warnings of Mahanayakes on the conduct of Night Races in Kandy.
Following is the full text of the statement of Jayasuriya:
The Rajapaksa regime, that has been governing through a constant flow of ‘media carnivals’, is poised to stage another spectacle in the coming weekend in Maha Nuwara, the ancient citadel of Ceylon.
A massive and obscene exhibition of racing cars and motorbikes is being planned, with their notorious efficiency, which is woefully manifest in such wasteful tamashas but not in the day-to-day administration of the country’s burning issues.
Objections and protests have already been raised by the Kandy citizens, including religious dignitaries in the hill capital. In a joint communiqué, a protest against the holding of the nightly car races scheduled for 27 and 28 June in the historic town of Kandy, issued by the Mahanayakes of the three Nikayas is already on record.
Laying emphasis on the narrowness of the roads in the city, in addition to the tremendous disturbance caused by car racing at night to the serenity of the city, where the Temple of the Tooth is located, are among salient reasons pointed out by the high prelates of the Sasana. And they asked the Government not to hold the races.
It is a well-known fact that this car-racing tamasha was organised by the three sons of the Executive President of this country and some organisation called Carlton Sports Club. The rulers, in this instance, should have paid more than cursory heed to the request made by the Mahanayakes. All indications are that scant respect and attention have been paid to the request of the Maha Sangha. Their sole aim has been to go ahead with the unholy act for which they had already made massive preparatory work.
The most unfortunate feature of all this is the fact that there accrues no economic benefits to the country, nor any advantage in the field of sports by holding these nightly car races in a serene city such as Maha Nuwara. Their personal glory and stupid arrogance have overtaken sane thinking and prudent decision-making.
No lover of the country could justify the enormous amount of country’s resources squandered on events such as this. The United National Party most steadfastly requests the Government to do away with these nightly carnivals and heed the request made by the Mahanayakes.
If the rulers are what they profess to be, Sinhalese Buddhist patriots and guardians of our cultural values, then they should not hesitate to cancel this maddening exhibition of obscenity and arrogance.
There are ample examples in the international arena where stubborn rulers had to go home almost stripped to their bones once the people realised that their ‘acts’ were just a gimmick played upon a gullible people. And, time and time again it was proven that such arrogant and stubborn rule has no lasting power before truth and honesty. The day that fate would befall our set of dictatorial rulers is not too far.
