Sri Lanka’s Fisheries Minister R. Chandrasekar launched a blistering attack on former Sri Lankan presidents Ranil Wickremesinghe and Mahinda Rajapaksa, branding them the island’s “number one thieves” and accusing them of looting state resources and protecting criminals.
Speaking at the reopening ceremony of the Jaffna Special Economic Centre, Chandrasekar accused Wickremesinghe of having “looted the Central Bank” and Rajapaksa of shielding drug traffickers. He warned that “the demons who incite communal hatred have risen again, scheming and plotting for power, engaging in conspiracies and intrigues within ministerial councils.”
“The old thieves have regrouped, plotting conspiracies and schemes for power, and attempting to test whether they can sustain themselves by inciting communal hatred,” he told the gathering. “Ranil and Mahinda are conducting such ministerial consultations from their homes. They are the number one thieves.”
The minister urged communities across Sri Lanka to unite against what he described as the resurgence of corruption and communalism. “The demon of communalism must be permanently defeated in the country,” he said. “Safeguarding the nation from these individuals is essential to securing the future of the country’s children.”
Chandrasekar also sought to portray the government as making progress on governance and economic recovery. “Sri Lanka is advancing rapidly in economic terms, with bribery and corruption being eradicated, and measures being taken to end communalism and religious extremism,” he claimed, adding that “unity would naturally lead to progress — a principle that the Sri Lankan President emphasizes consistently.”
The event, held under Chandrasekar’s leadership, was attended by Minister of Trade, Commerce, Food Security, and Cooperative Development Vasantha Samarasinghe, Northern Province Governor N. Vethanayagan, and MPs K. Ilangkumaran, S. Sripavanandarasa, and J. Rajeevan.
