Terrorist attacks on the US 'a wake-up call to the world' says President Kumaratunga
[September 18, 2001 - 12:45 GMT]

President Chandrika Bandarnaike Kumaratunga, referring to the terrorist attack in the United States as a “wake-up call to the world”, stressed the need to understand the deep-rooted causes that lead to terrorism. She said, “It might not be sufficient to say that we will hunt down the perpetrators of terror and their allies.”

She said that the effects of colonialism and the need of a nation to build its identity gives rise to national movements with various aspirations. “An effective vision [is needed] to weld together the separate sets of aspirations into one collective national dream composed of the multifaceted aspirations of each community living freely and proudly with its own separate identity which could coexist symbiotically to compose a harmonious and united entity – the nation state – a strong and stable one,” President Kumaratunga said.

Citing a number of terrorist situations around the world, the President stressed the need to understand modern-day terrorism and the need to join hands in eliminating the problem. She said, “It is the right time to understand the deep-rooted cause of this most dehumanising phenomenon of the 21^st century.”

The President who was delivering a memorial speech Sunday, to mark the first death anniversary of the late Minister and Sri Lanka Muslim Congress Leader M.H.M Ashraff, gave credit to the late Minister for having stopped a “possible Muslim terrorist movement from the east of Sri Lanka.” 

Praising his courage, the President said, “He had the greatness to rise above hatred and anger and join us for peace through a negotiated political settlement even with those terrorists who caused him, his family and his people so much pain and suffering.” 

President Kumaratunga who narrowly survived a terrorist assassination attempt in December 1999 made a passionate plea and said, “Let us join hands at least now more honestly and with more dedication to fight the wave of terrorist politics that is sweeping across the globe.”

Kumaratunga lost her sight in one eye in the LTTE suicide attack on her life. 

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Last Updated Date: September 18, 2001  - 12.45 GMT.