A government minister urged Sri Lankans on Tuesday to boycott American products saying the United States' support for a UN human rights resolution would encourage separatism on the island nation.
Government troops defeated the Tamil Tiger rebels to end a civil war that stretched for a quarter-century in 2009, and housing minister Wimal Weerawansa told a protest meeting that the resolution amounts to calling for the revival of the rebel group.
Weerawansa said the resolution would be destructive to post-war rebuilding. "Instead of promoting ethnic reconciliation, it will hamper that process and would increase acrimony and rancour among the communities," he said. "If we submit to this resolution, Tiger terrorists will raise their head again."
He called on people to boycott American brands. "We must show our protest even in a small manner to US for the ill-treatment they are throwing at us."
