Those who cause violence in the name of human rights cannot be protected

COLOMBO (News 1st) - President Ranil Wickremesinghe emphasized that he will never allow violence and anarchy to prevail under the guise of human rights, adding that if any party engages in such an attempt, the security forces will be used to suppress it completely.

Under such circumstances, the President emphasized that everyone from the lower officer of the army to the rank of field marshal is obligated to fulfil their responsibility.   

President Ranil Wickremesinghe said this, delivering a special statement in Parliament. (24). 

'Our Opposition Leader also said today that I asked for this presidency. I didn't ask for this. I accepted this because of the situation in the country. The Mahanayake Theros also requested me. I didn't go and ask them. I didn't write letters. Today, the Leader of the Opposition has forgotten the letter he sent to President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on May 12. "Mr President, I declare that I have not decided to accept the post of Prime Minister as the leader of the Samagi Jana Bala Sandanaya to form a short-term government under the leadership of the SJB alliance as the main party of the opposition.” After my speech, I request that this entire letter be included in the Hansard,' said the President.

He added that  Gotabhaya Rajapaksa went and took the advice of the Leader of the Opposition. "If you want, you can see it in the party constitution. A disciplinary investigation can be held. Don't blame me. He is the one who agreed to resign from the presidency within a specific, period. So he left after 02 months after I took the oath. It was not you who told him to leave. So what do I do?"

"When it comes to overthrowing governments, the army cannot stand aside. We cannot sit idly by when our Mahanayake Theros are being threatened. According to Article 09 of the Constitution, the army has the power to stop them. Such acts of violence cannot be tolerated. We should stop creating chaos by employing clerics," said the President.

He also said that not a single university student is in custody. "Wasantha Mudalige was a university student for 8-9 years. This is very important. I left university at 21. Although Mudalige is 31 years old, he is still a university student. A student can only be given one extra year. After that, they should have to leave the university."

President Ranil Wickremesinghe also commented on Human Rights and noted that he wants to protect human rights. 

"Anarchy and violence cannot be allowed to encroach on human rights. Human rights cannot be used to create violence and anarchy. Those who cause violence in the name of human rights cannot be protected. Article 14 of the Constitution outlines our fundamental rights. They can be implemented especially to ensure state security, within the limits prescribed by law, for public safety, including clauses on the protection of the Constitution. All these are in articles 15/1, and 15/2. These limits cannot be exceeded.  Some claim today that they are the ones who protect human rights. What have they done? These people claim to protect human rights but live off the money sent from abroad. That is the reality. Can anybody stand up and tell me they didn't? I know about these people. I have worked with them. I protected them. They are shouting at me today. We cannot allow chaos in the country in this way," he added.

"They are trying to corner the police in the name of Human Rights. Police may have violated human rights. Sometimes, they might beat a person for theft or other crimes. Cases have been filed and verdicts have been delivered. However, what is happening here is emergency situations are created, and when the police tries to stop it, cases are filed against them. This is not done for human rights, but to stop the police from working. I have told the Attorney General to look into this. This game cannot continue. They tried to remove my Chief of Security citing human rights reasons. After setting my house on fire, they also wanted my Chief of Security removed. My house is not a big deal. The media Sirasa. I should take action against them. They told the Human Rights Commission that my Director of MSD must be removed. What wrong did he do? Sirasa wanted to have my Chief of Security removed. He was not connected to the incident. Names were requested. The Attorney General said that he said nothing. The Human Right Commission should also understand not to poke their fingers into these matters. This happened because I did not mention names yesterday. After this was mentioned, Sirasa has assigned seven people to attack me. They are taking comments from Duminda Nagamuwa, Vidarshana Kannangara, and Dr. Nirmal Ranjith Devasiri. Before schooling me, tell your students to be protected from ragging," he commented about the media.

"Everyone from a Corporal to Field Marshal should work together to protect these institutions. I would like to express my thanks to the three armed forces and the police who are committed to this service,"he added.