Glow of Deepavali will spread message of joy

Victory of good over evil, the shedding of light over darkness and the triumph of knowledge over ignorance are the eternal quest of humankind, President Mahinda Rajapaksa said in a Deepavali message.

The message: “Deepavali, known as the Festival of Light is the expression of the spiritual richness of people as it marks the progress made in the constant struggle for a better life with all the above achievements, in keeping with the great spiritual values of Hindus.

“The Hindus of Sri Lanka join their fellow believers the world over in celebrating this great festival.

In Sri Lanka today Deepavali and its light of hope provide the opportunity for greater understanding among communities, increased harmony among people and the shedding of differences that have kept people apart for a long period.

“The glow of Deepavali will spread a message of joy among people who cherish the values of Hinduism and will spread the spirit of sharing in festivity in the comfort and tranquillity of peace.

“May the abiding light of goodwill and the message of peace of Deepavali lead our people to the joy of a memorable festival of enlightened harmony.

“I wish all Hindu devotees happy and peaceful Deepavali.”

Our children are born in an historic era – President

Dear sons and daughters....

‘Please remember that this era in which you have been born is a historic era, when you read history you will have entertained a cherished dream to have been born during the era of Kings Dutugemunu, Vijayabahu, Kashyapa Rajasinghe or imaladharmasooriya.

We will also think that if we were born then we could have served in King Dutugemunu’s army or the construction sites of Maha Seya, Kala Wewa, Sigiriya or Jaya-ela and dedicated

ourselves for such mobile service as proud citizens, states President Mahinda Rajapaksa in a message to mark International Children’s Day.

The message adds:

Dear sons and daughters, ‘What has dawned today is such an era. You have witnessed the manner in which our motherland was united. Although you could not sacrifice your lives towards it you would have contributed towards that historic deed by at least donating a bottle of water’

‘Similarly a majority of our country’s children have been fortunate enough to trample the bed of a sea port after several thousand years. You have seen now a large number of mega construction activities which will stand as monuments for thousands of years hence are coming up in the country. It is a good future to see the manner in which this is steering the country to an important position in the world map.

You are living in a period which will be commemorated with great desire by the world in future. You too should also strive to achieve excellence which will help record you and your name in history. I sincerely hope that you will use your childhood meaningfully towards achieving that end’.

President opened Temple Trees to the ordinary citizen

President Mahinda Rajapaksa opened Temple Trees to the public in 2004 and since then he invited people from all walks of life and offered them meals.

Public funds have never been used to offer meals for the people who visit Temple Trees, acting Cabinet spokesman and acting Media Minister Lakshman Yapa Abeywardena said.

Addressing the weekly Cabinet press briefing at the Government Information Department yesterday, the acting minister said that the family of President Mahinda Rajapaksa always offered meals to people and he cannot stop his daily routine because of elections.

Various elections were held in the past from time to time. The President invites Cabinet Ministers, three wheel drivers, public servants, ordinary citizens, artistes, professionals and others for discussions for relevant events such as preparing the budget proposals, drafting policies etc and offer them meals but not a single meal had been offered using public funds.

According to the Acting Minister before 2004 the public was prohibited from entering Temple Trees. But now the Opposition accuses the President for offering meals to the public. This is purely finding reasons for the upcoming defeat at the LG polls. The UNP is now in pieces and the pieces too have been divided to other pieces. Without solving internal conflicts now the Opposition is searching reasons to present for their certain defeat of the LG polls. The Opposition had won many previous elections in the past where there were strong Governments. There are many examples for this. Now there is real UNP and duplicate UNP. So first of all the party should be united.

A full detailed report on all land dealings of the Government will be presented to Parliament on September 22. No violation of rules and regulations have been done by the government while dealing with State lands. Everything has been done according to government valuation rates. A website stated that President Mahinda Rajapaksa offered lands at Ahungalla to his friends but no land has been given to anybody by the President. The JVP accused the government for offering State lands to the private sector but all those allegations are baseless and fabricated.

It is same with the road now being constructed close to Sinharaja forest. The 20 foot road was officially allocated by the government 20 years ago and used by people since then. It is now being constructed to cut down the distance of travelling from 39 kilometers to 12 kilometers. Now innocent poor people have to travel 39 kilometers but after constructing this road this will be reduced to only 10 or 12 kilometers to reach their destination. The road is not located in the Sinharaja forest.