The Hon. (Ms.) Lakmali Hemachandra

¶ 01 Madam Deputy Chairperson, I first thank the NPP Government and the people — Sinhalese, Tamils, Muslims, Burghers, Malays — across North, South, West and East, for voting to constitute this historic Parliament.

¶ 02 On 19 October 1955, Dr. N. M. Perera, a distinguished leftist, presented a proposal that both Sinhala and Tamil be State languages. Hansard Column 626 of that date records his words: “Surely, all Hon. Members in this House are interested in having this country as one united nation, all unitedly working for the welfare of the people of this country. We may have our differences on economic grounds and on other political grounds, but surely on questions of religion, race and language we must have one united policy that will harmonize the various diverse factors and bring them together as one nation.”

¶ 03 On 21 November, in presenting the Government’s Policy Statement, the President made a similar pledge: Though we may fight on economic or democratic issues, he will not allow the building of racist or religious slogans to regain political power.

¶ 04 Seventy years on, we have another chance to realize the dream of national unity. We all know what followed the “Sinhala Only” policy of 1956 — a political discourse ruled by nationalism that inflicted generational wounds on our people. The Parliament of 1955 failed to heed Dr. N. M. Perera’s warning. Today, after seventy years, our people have seen the devastation wrought by racist politics — a 30-year war that left countless women-headed households, disabled persons, and the loss of many Sinhala, Tamil and Muslim youth, and bankrupted our nation.

¶ 05 Some in the Opposition allege the Government is acting against “social media activists.” Who are these so-called activists? Many of them, a few years ago, peddled lies like “sterilization food” and “womb war” against Muslims, fueling hunts and tension, even when a Government elected by Sinhalese and Tamils was in office. They spread falsehoods to sow discord across North and South. That is the past — not what this Government is doing. The Minister of Public Security, Hon. Ananda Wijepala, has clearly addressed this. Those now circulating foreign events and past incidents as if they are current here are issuing hate speech. Freedom of expression is not a shield for hate speech. Hate speech harms minorities, women and sexual minorities. We need not protect such speech under the banner of free expression, nor label such persons as “social media activists.” The President’s denunciation of racism was welcomed by minority MPs here; we too value it. We regret attempts to recast hate-mongers as activists.

¶ 06 We have an exceedingly rare second chance: the Tamil, Sinhala and Muslim people together have given a great mandate to change our destiny. We must not miss it. We must ensure equality and the right of all to live free of violence and discrimination. In 1956, the Sinhala-only policy triumphed and set in motion forces even Dr. N. M. Perera could not later halt. Now we have a second chance. The Government bears a heavy responsibility to honour this mandate and act against racism, ensuring equality and dignity to all, especially the poor and marginalized who suffered most from racist war. I appeal to Members on both Government and Opposition benches: respect the people’s mandate, create a political space where all can live with equality and dignity in Sri Lanka. Thank you for the time.