NEW DELHI: Following the communal unrest in Kandy, former Sri Lanka cricketers
Kumara Sangakkara
and
Mahela Jayawardene, along with many others, condemned the recent acts of violence against the minority community that claimed two lives.
Assembly Election Results
Sri Lanka had on Tuesday declared a nationwide state of emergency to quell anti-Muslim riots that have killed at least two people and damaged dozens of mosques and homes in the central district of Kandy. Here's what led the Maithripala Sirisena government to take the extreme measure.
ALSO READ: Sri Lanka imposes emergency to quell communal riots: Key pointsSangakkara took to twitter and said that "it is unfair to target anyone on the basis of ethnicity or religion.
"No one in Sri Lanka can be marginalized or threatened or harmed due to their ethnicity or religion. We are One Country and One people. Love, trust and acceptance should be our common mantra. No place for racism and violence. STOP. Stand together and stand strong," Sangakkara tweeted.
Sangakkara also shared a video talking about the issue on Facebook.
<iframe src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FOfficial.Kumar.Sangakkara%2Fvideos%2F10156315062490962%2F&show_text=0&width=269" width="269" height="476" style="border:none;overflow:hidden" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowTransparency="true" allowFullScreen="true"></iframe>
His former teammate Jayawardene also expressed concern and tweeted: "I strongly condemn the recent acts of violence & everyone involved must be brought to justice regardless of race/ religion or ethnicity. I grew up in a civil war which lasted 25 years and don’t want the next generation to go through that."
Echoing their thoughts were allrounder Angelo Mathews and former captain Sanath Jayasuriya. While Jayasuriya termed the act 'sick', Mathews urged people to protect the nation and not stand with people spreading violence.