The Sri Lankan High Commission in the United Kingdom demanded an apology from the leader of the UK Labour party Ed Miliband, after he sent out a message marking Tamil New Year earlier this month.
Sri Lanka’s Acting High Commissioner Chanaka Talpahewa immediately sent a letter to the British opposition leader, accusing him of making a mistake in wishing only the Tamil community a happy new year, reports the Island. Some 70 million Tamils across the world had marked the occasion earlier this month.
The Sinhalese New Year also fell on April 14, and the Sri Lankan High Commission reportedly “showed their displeasure” that the Sinhalese community in the UK did not receive Mr Miliband’s wishes.
Mr Miliband reportedly passed on his wishes for the Sinhala New Year to the High Commission in response and said "it was a great pleasure to meet President Sirisena during his recent visit to London so soon after his election.”
“His determination to bring reconciliation among all communities in Sri Lanka is to be applauded,” added Mr Miliband. “I wish the President every success in that important endeavour."
In his message to the Tamil community in the UK earlier, the Labour party leader said,
"I want to wish everyone in the Tamil community a happy new year and I want to take this opportunity to thank the Tamil community for the incredible contribution you make to our country across every walk of life.”
“The Labour Party has always been a friend of the Tamil community and will continue to be so, and we will continue to push for the full and independent, international investigation into alleged war crimes in Sri Lanka. It’s something I raised with President Sirisena when I met him and we will continue to push this forward, we will continue to advocate for your cause.”
“We in the Labour Party know our responsibility to the Tamil community. So let me reiterate my wishes for a happy new year and I look forward to working with the Tamil community in the months and years ahead."