SL govt accuses opposition of inciting communal passions

Sri Lankan govt accused opposition parties and one of its own allies of trying to whip up communal passions .

Colombo: The Sri Lankan government on Wednesday accused opposition parties and one of its own allies of trying to whip up communal passions during election campaign in the Tamil and Muslim dominated eastern province.

Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC), the government`s ally at the Centre, is contesting the eastern province polls, independent of the ruling UPFA coalition. The ruling party of President Mahinda Rajapaksa has accused it of running a communal campaign. "Sorry to state the naked attempt to raise communal passions by the SLMC (Sri Lankan Muslim League) to win votes in the east," senior minister Dullas Alahapperuma told reporters. He charged that the main opposition party UNP and the main Tamil party, TNA (Tamil National Alliance), were whipping up communal feelings in the respective Sinhala and Tamil dominated areas in the multi-ethnic province. Alahapperuma`s comments came as Rajapaksa charged SLMC leader Rauff Hakeem of being communal-minded. The SLMC decided to contest independently of the ruling coalition after an incident over a mosque in the north central town of Dambulla. In April, a powerful Buddhist monk staged a march to the mosque calling for its closure. The issue remains unresolved. PTI