Government is Engaging in Racist Actions — MP Gajendrakumar
18-Nov-2025.
Tamil National People’s Front MP Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam said the government must ensure proper implementation of the law and prevent the Trincomalee Buddha statue incident from being turned into an ethnic issue.
He argued that the Ministry of Justice bears full responsibility and that historically entrenched racist actions must be stopped, adding that the recent developments suggest a re-emergence of such tendencies.
Speaking during the committee-stage debate of the 2026 Budget allocations for the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Employment, Tourism, Justice, and National Unity, he drew attention to the demographic changes in Trincomalee.
He pointed out that during the first census in 1871, Tamils constituted 74.52%, Muslims 24.72%, and Sinhalese just 0.53% of the district’s population. By 1946, Tamils accounted for 48.74%, Muslims 39.6%, and Sinhalese 9.87%. Today, Sinhalese make up 26.97%.
He alleged that state-backed demographic engineering had gradually reduced the Tamil population, leaving Tamils as minorities in their own traditional lands. He accused the state of creating conditions that force Tamil families to leave due to insecurity, while parallel efforts are made to settle people of other ethnic groups, including through the construction of Viharas with government support.
Ponnambalam further said the controversial Trincomalee Vihara, originally a small building destroyed during the 2004 tsunami, had been relocated with government assistance.
Additional state land was granted again in 2014, and issues seemed resolved until last week, when new construction activities sparked legal disputes. Amid pending court proceedings, the recent incidents have now taken on an ethnic dimension.
He insisted that the government must enforce the law impartially and prevent racist practices, reminding the Justice Minister of his duty to ensure justice. He stressed that even sections of the Sinhalese community disapproved of the developments and accused certain groups of bringing in outsiders to provoke unrest. He urged the government to act fairly and prevent injustice to the people of Trincomalee.
