Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe's 'apology' for the destruction of the Jaffna Library in 1981 has been criticised, after it was initially praised by many as a step towards reconciliation.
Speaking in parliament on Tuesday, Mr Wickremesinghe said in Sinhala: "“The public library in Jaffna was burnt during a United National Party (UNP) Government in 1981. We know it was wrong and tender an apology for it,” he said.
“You too should tender an apology for the wrong things which your Government did," he said to the joint opposition.
However on social media many were quick to dismiss his 'apology', with one use dismissing it as a "snarky retort" and saying that an apology should have gone beyond just saying the destruction happened during a UNP government as the party itself was culpable.
The Centre for Policy Alternatives said the "off-hand remark" was "undeserving" of an apology.
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See more tweets on the prime minister's remarks:
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