While delivering his Victory speech in Parliament on May 19, 2009, President Rajapaksa said in Tamil, “The war against the LTTE is not a war against the Tamil people. Our aim was to liberate our Tamil people from the clutches of the LTTE. Protecting the Tamil speaking people of this country is my responsibility. That is my duty. All the people of this country should live in safety without fear and suspicion. All should live with equal rights. That is my aim. Let us all get together and build up this nation.”
In the course of his speech, in the pretext of looking back at 2,500 years of history, he specifically addressed the Tamil Kings (Datiya, Pitiya, Palayamara, Siva and Elara) as “invaders” and said that the Buddhist kings (Dutugemunu, Valagamba, Dhatusena and Vijayabahu) defeated them and brought freedom to the Sinhalese.
