When the footsteps of an oppressor with dictatorial tendencies are heard in the vicinity, the first people who will rally round to counter him are the intellectuals, said President Mahinda Rajapaksa at a meeting held at President's House, Kandy on Thursday.

Doctors, engineers, lawyers, university dons, artistes and all other intellectuals have now come forward to perform their duty by the nation by correctly identifying this threat, he said. President Rajapaksa who said that the strength and intellect of the country's youth could never be suppressed or destroyed, added that youth strength should be utilised for the country's development and progress.

"This country is our own Motherland where we were born and where we have to breathe our last and it is the duty of every citizen to treasure it more than ones own life," the President said.

President Rajapaksa said that no one had the right to betray the hard won freedom by making false statements derogatory of the heroic forces and such politics of hate had very short shrift in this country.

Courtesy: Dily News