President Maithripala Sirisena yesterday, said the government will fulfil its duties and responsibilities and would not allow the eve of the lives of artistes, who entertained the hearts of thousands of fans, be left to become tragedies.
The president said this while addressing a ceremony held at the President’s House in Colombo where a donation of Rs. 25 million was made to the Insurance Trust for Sri Lankan Singers.
The President said it is necessary to bestow value and respect upon artistes who entertained a nation through their talent. He said it is essential to look after the well-being of them and the current government is taking all necessary action in this regard.
While stating that art, literature and music has no politics, the President declared that he respects all artistes of this country just as artistes, irrespective of which political stage he stands on.
The President, recalling how he took steps to make contributions to assist artistes during their illnesses or to their families during the death of an artiste, assured them he would continue to provide such services in the future too.
President Sirisena pointed out the immense service that artistes could contribute towards the future development of the country and expressed hope that they would come forward to perform that duty.
The President handed over the respective cheques to the President of the Singers’ Association of Sri Lanka, Keerthi Pasquel, Secretary Janaka Wickramasinghe and other members of the Association.
Addressing the gathering, Wickramasinghe said this is the first occasion of such a programme being conducted by a Head of State towards the well-being of singers.
Except for voluntary incidents, the President has not forced any artiste into politics, said Janaka Wickramasinghe, and expressed his gratitude to the President for the donation made on behalf of all artistes, despite political differences.
The President also enjoyed the performances of several singers.
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