The Hon. Ramalingam Chandrasekar - Minister of Fisheries, Aquatic and Ocean Resources

¶ 01 Hon. Presiding Member, today we debate the Easter attacks. First, I thank Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith. When the nation was unsettled and at risk of spiraling into violence and vengeance, he calmed the people and helped restore peace.

¶ 02 July is a fateful month in Sri Lankan history—1953, 1963, 1970, 1981, 1983, 1987—often marked by racist incitement, especially against Tamils. In June 1981, the Jaffna Library was burned; the gravest was the July 1983 pogrom. We still carry that stigma.

¶ 03 We also carry the Easter Sunday attack in our hearts. In the Zion Church attack in Batticaloa, my granddaughter’s child died; at Kochchikade St. Anthony’s Church, all but one in a relative’s family died; that survivor now lives in London. I was in Jaffna that day and saw how Muslims faced danger and anxiety; I did my best to protect them.

¶ 04 For 76 years, racism has bled this country. Mass graves abound. Two hundred years ago, our forebears came by boats from India; many died of hunger and disease on the way to the hills. Plantation workers’ bodies were destroyed; 1971 and 1989 insurrections, and earlier uprisings, all left bones across the land. We say: turn this land of bones into a good country for our children. Thank you.