Protesters handed over a petition to the prime minister

Thousands of protesters said deputy minister Mervyn Silva’s verbal attacks against Tamils of Indian origin amounts to racism.

The protest in Colombo on Monday was organised by Upcountry Peoples Front (UPF) and attended by leaders of Ceylon Workers Congress (CWC) and Tamil National Alliance (TNA).

UPF parliamentarian Radha Krishnan urged the president to take immediate action and sack the minister from the parliament.

Protesters who blocked the capital Colombo handed a petition over to Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse.

Thousands of protesters blocked capital Colombo

PM Rajapkse later met the representatives of the protesters but the meeting was not open to the journalists.

In a recent speech, Labour and Vocational Training deputy minister Dr. Silva has strongly criticised some Tamil owners of private media institutions.

The minister was angry that the media extensively covered a raid on a Colombo night club by Police Narcotics Bureau in which his son, Malaka Silva, and two others were arrested on charges of assaulting police officers.

Although they were later released without producing before courts, the Attorney General (AG) is investigating whether the police action amounts to contempt of court.

Inspector General of Police (IGP), Chandra Fernando, said there was no evidence to charge the minister’s son on attempting to obstruct police carry out duty.

But the AG department believes otherwise.