National Freedom Front leader Wimal Weerawansa says that President Anura Dissanayake’s statement in Jaffna that there is not virtue but hatred when passing by the Anuradhapura Sri Maha Bodhi Thera on the Poya days is an ascription of authority that he has no right to make.
He further said that the President of the country has no right to decide on the temples where Buddhists should go for pilgrimage. Wimal Weerawansa said that the President is trying to attract the people of the North and the diaspora through the statements he makes in Jaffna, and that he is forgetting the rights of other communities.
There is a legend that Elara, a South Indian invader, said at the time of his death that he would ‘take revenge on this nation by becoming a Sinhalese’, and he stated that when looking at the current President’s actions, he can see that Elara’s spirit has been hidden.