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| Photograph Sunday Times |
The leader of the opposition party UNP, Ranil Wickremesinghe, marked the 18th anniversary of the death of his predecessor, J. R. Jayawardene.
At an anniversary event held at the J. R. Jayawardene Centre on Saturday, the Ranil Wickremesinghe served food for Buddhist monks. He was joined by Chamal Rajapaksa, the Speaker of the House, the Sunday Times reported.
Jayawardene, who was Sri Lanka's president from 1978 to 1989, oversaw the anti-riots of 1977 as well as the pogrom of over 3000 Tamils during the Black July riots of 1983.
Speaking to the UK's Daily Telegraph days before the pogram began on July 23, Jayawardene said: "Really if I starve the Tamils out, the Sinhala people will be happy."