Sri Lanka’s Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa said he would like to meet non-governmental organisations openly critical of the government, reported the Daily Mirror.
Rajapaksa was speaking to representatives from 11 NGOs, who were involved in the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting and the Commonwealth People’s Forum, when he expressed an interest in meeting those groups.
The defence secretary urged the NGO community to discuss their issues with the NGO Secretariat, instead of “internationalising” them, and spoke about the “unwillingness” of NGOs to engage in dialogue with the government.
National Peace Council Executive Director Jehan Perera, who was one of those present at the meeting said, “It was a very cordial discussion but because it was the first meeting of its kind we did not go into details of the various suggestions that were made to improve the situation. But most importantly, the Defence Secretary himself requested and expressed an interest in meeting other NGOs including those that have been very critical of the Government.”