Mangala lashes out at Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith over 'Human Rights' statements ; Cardinal clarifies intentions

Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera took to his twitter account and lashed out at Archbishop Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith over the statements made by the latter on 'Human Rights'.

Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith, on Saturday, was quoted by media as saying “Human rights was found recently. If we can live in a correct manner there is no need for human rights. Those who do not practice religion are the ones who hang on human rights. We should not deceive by these charms. We should act wisely”.

He further stated that Sri Lanka has a multireligious society that practices human rights through religion for centuries. 

In response to these statements, Min. Samaraweera tweeted as follows,

"'The need for #HumanRights was an outcome of the marauding religious zealots of the Inquisition & the Crusades, where non believers were massacred "En-Bloc". Pity, the Cardinal always seems to get things wrong in trying to be a populist"

Following the tweet, Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith issuing a clarification stated he intended to say that replacing religion with human rights is not what is to be done but human rights should be further strengthened through the good practice of faith.