Hardline Sinhala nationalist Wimal Weerawansa has accused Sri Lankan president Anura Kumara Dissanayake of failing to confront "separatism", in a speech delivered in Matara, a southern district often viewed as a bastion of Sinhala nationalist politics.
Addressing a gathering of supporters, Weerawansa argued that Buddhism stands apart from other faiths because it does not produce extremist movements.
“The religion the United States respects the most is Buddhism,” he said. “Why? Because there are no Buddhist extremists or separatists. Every religion may have such elements but does Buddhism have them? No, because the religion does not nurture such ideologies.”
Weerawansa then turned his focus to the Dissanayake's recent engagement with Tamils in the north, claiming that remarks made there could inflame rather than ease ethnic tensions.
“The country’s President goes to the north and tells the Tamil people the things he said. Even a rational and clear-headed Tamil man will think the President is being racist and trying to arouse or provoke racism,” he said.
He alleged that separatist sentiment remains active, pointing to recent Tamil protests and symbolic acts in the north.
“There is racism, there is extremism, and we also have separatism,” he said. “You can see separatists giving birth to many more, taking to the streets in protest, raising black flags. They are rebuilding Prabhakaran’s home. They are going to give gifts to his sisters. There is even a board that says ‘President of Tamil Eelam’.”
In remarks made during a television programme, Weerawansa questioned why the term “separatism” is not, in his view, being used by the current administration.
“It’s not just about saying we are going to stop racism or extremism that is what the President always says,” he said. “But he is not saying that we have stopped separatism. Separatism is a completely different subject. Why is that word not used? Is the word banned?”
He added that Dissanayake's political movement had historically invoked the term frequently. “This was the party that used the word the most, from Rohana Wijeweera onwards,” he said.
Weerawansa further claimed that the government may relocate a key security forces headquarters from Jaffna to Kilinochchi, suggesting such a move would trigger further unrest.
“Now there is none in Kilinochchi or Mullaitivu. If you remove the headquarters from Jaffna and move it to Kilinochchi, there will be protests and it will be brought further down. You watch and see,” he said.
He also accused the government of of attempting to erase historical narratives and remove Buddhist symbols.
“They are removing Buddhist statues. They are changing the history,” he said, adding that “Tamil people have this ideology and a different meaning of freedom.”
In his address, Weerawansa alleged that Tamil nationalist groups are benefiting from what he characterised as a permissive political environment under the current Sri Lankan president.
“They have the fortune of having a President who is not against what they are for,” he said. “They have the guarantee that he is not against stopping them.”
