I count myself fortunate enough to be one among many millions of Ma’s devotees. Your benevolence and magnanimity is universal, which transcends all geographical and man-made barriers, serving entire humanity with all-embracing compassion. Hence, may I, most respectfully, request your divine intervention and merciful blessings to cleanse my motherland of this horrendous scourge of violence, thereby ushering an era of everlasting peace and prosperity.
Mahinda Rajapaksa, The President of Sri Lanka, 23 December 2008
