The Hon. Sunil Watagala, Attorney-at-Law
Deputy Minister Sunil Watagala responded to concerns about the Dehiwala statue, stating that its removal occurred before the current Government took office and was carried out under the Samagi Jana Balawegaya. He said the Government has allowed the statue to be returned and criticized attempts to link the Dehiwala and Trincomalee issues to religious extremism.
Verbatim record (translated)
Machine-translated from Sinhala / Tamil / English¶ 01 Hon. Presiding Member, as the Deputy Minister of Public Security and Parliamentary Affairs, I must respond. Regarding the Dehiwala statue issue raised: we clarified yesterday. Moving that statue happened before we came to power; it was done by the Samagi Jana Balawegaya. We have now allowed it to be returned. Using the Trincomalee and Dehiwala matters to stoke religious extremism is a very low tactic; we do not expect it from a mature politician. This is being done to inflame matters. Where did it happen? In Dehiwala.
Provenance
- Source
- Hansard, Tuesday, 18 November 2025 ·No. 22927 ·English daily/uncorrected Hansard
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/lk/speeches/26105
Cite as: The Hon. Sunil Watagala, Attorney-at-Law. 10th Parliament, Parliament of Sri Lanka. Hansard, 18 November 2025. No. 22927. Politick, https://staging.politick.io/lk/speeches/26105