Sri Lankan president calls for unity on national New Year

In his message to mark the traditional Sinhala and Tamil New Year, Sirisena said that by giving prominence to religious and cultural traditions and the best social values in the New Year celebrations, Sri Lankans show their recognition of the age-old humane values that have enriched their lives to this day.

He noted that what stood out was the coming together in unity and peace, amidst the spirit of sharing and goodwill to all, Xinhua news agency reported.

"What is special in this New Year celebration is the spread of festivity amidst the commitment to good governance that transcends differences of ethnicity, caste and community, with important strides being taken to realise the need for unity among all our people," he said

"This is a time to realise that throughout history our strength as a nation has come from the mutual understanding and co-existence that made us rise together to defend our motherland. Similarly, the unity that prevails without communal divisions in the celebration of this New Year, participating in traditions such as the coming together of families and visiting of relatives helps strengthen peace and unity among all," he said.

The president said that at a time well-directed action was being taken with singular mind and purpose by all to take Sri Lanka towards prosperity, the national cultural festival provided a great opportunity to reach that goal.

Sri Lanka is still recovering from a more than 25-year-long civil war that pitted the Tamil minority in the north and east of the island nation against the Sinhala majority ruling elite. The intermittent insurgency, which began in July 1983, was successfully quelled by the Sri Lankan military in May 2009.