Opposition Leader and Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) leader Sajith Premadasa has congratulated actor-turned-politician Vijay on beginning a “new chapter” for the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, hours after Vijay was sworn in as the state’s Chief Minister at Chennai’s Nehru Stadium.
In a message shared on social media in the early hours of May 11, Premadasa said Vijay had spoken of “a new era rooted in social justice and secularism,” and stressed the importance of coexistence, fairness and stability in society.
“History has shown us that societies built only on anger and old wounds eventually stand alone, while those built on fairness and coexistence create futures people genuinely want to belong to,” Premadasa stated.
The opposition leader added that people across the region aspire for “social mobility, justice, and stability, regardless of language, faith, or identity,” and said there was “far more common ground between our peoples than what separates us.”
Premadasa expressed hope that the new political chapter in Tamil Nadu would bring “progress, compassion, and the wisdom to create understanding where others once created distance.”
His message extends the pattern of cross-party Sri Lankan engagement with Vijay’s ascendance, after President Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s congratulations on Sunday, former President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga’s letter describing the victory as a “remarkable achievement,” and CWC MP Jeevan Thondaman’s parliamentary appeal urging Vijay to take up Sri Lankan diaspora and Palk Strait issues.
