He said that we had to face a nearly three decade long, brutal war as a result of not providing solutions for the issues in the country in a timely and appropriate manner. President Sirisena requested all the Sri Lankans, as true human beings who loves the country, to join with him to build peace and reconciliation among all the communities.

He made these remarks addressing the Deepavali Festival 2017 organized by the Presidential Secretariat to mark the Festival of Light at the President’s House in Colombo on 19th October.

“When the current government is re-building the friendship and mutual understanding which were lost due to thirty year long war, some extremists are trying to destroy this process”, he said.

The President explained the importance of recognizing the identities of all cultures in the country.

“We haven’t drafted any constitution so far. What was submitted to Parliament was only a report based on drafting a constitution. We only want to take ideas and proposals on that regard”, he stated.

The ceremony included many cultural events of Hindu tradition.

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, Speaker Karu Jayasuriya, Opposition Leader R. Sambandan, Minister D. M. Swaminadan, State Minister V. Radhakrishnan, Central Bank Governor Dr. Indrajit Coomaraswamy and the Secretary to the President Austin Fernando were among those participated in this occasion.