“The Police and Armed Forces have been suitably empowered to deal with criminal elements in the society and urgently restore normalcy,” the PMD said.
During the special Cabinet meeting held today (6), the Government decided to declare a State of Emergency in the country for a period of 10 days.
Speaking to reporters after discussion, Minister S.B. Dissanayake stated that in the wake of the unrest in the Digana and Teldeniya areas in Kandy yesterday (5), certain accusations have been made that the law was not properly implemented and therefore the President decided to declare a state of emergency.
He stated that while the President has the authority to declare a state of emergency for a period of 10 days, the approval of the Parliament is necessary if that period is to be extended further.
Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, speaking in Parliament today (6), said that the government is taking all possible measures to protect the people especially the Muslims.
He stated that they are also inquiring into where there has been ‘lapses’.
Police fired tear gas on Monday and later imposed a curfew in the evening in the Kandy district in a bid to quell mob attacks in the Digana area following a tense situation that erupted in the general area of Teldeniya Police Division.
Reports said that a clash between two groups that caused death to one of them had sparked off this tense situation on the day of the funeral of the victim.
Meanwhile, a Police curfew has been imposed in the Pallekele and Teldeniya police divisions until further notice.
PM urges public to not ‘fall prey to traitors’
Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe today urged all the people in the country to act with patience, intelligence and sensibly without falling prey to the traitorous individuals who are aiming to fulfill their objectives through racism.
He made this request while briefing the Parliament today (6) regarding the recent tense situation in Digana and the acts of violence in Ampara before that.
“As a government we strongly condemn all these acts of racism and violence. As a responsible government we cannot condone these unlawful and violent acts. As a country which has suffered from 30 years of war, we all know the value of peace, unity and freedom.”
He said it is apparent that certain sections that are greedy for power are attempting various methods and various acts of sabotage to disrupt normal life. “Espousing racism is there only trump. Their only objective is to capture power at least by creating terror within the country and disrupting the day-to-day life of the people.”
He said that it is clearly visible that organized attempts are being made to spread false and misleading information promoting hate among races, especially spreading distorted facts through social media.
Expressing the government’s regret with regard to the damages caused to Muslim places of worship, the PM stressed that the government will not hesitate to take strict legal action against these “organized and disrupting acts.”
The Prime Minister also said that the government is taking all possible measures to protect the people especially the Muslims. He stated that they are also inquiring into where there has been ‘lapses’.
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