Dispatched: The post office boss who insisted his customers speak English
By Tom Harper
Last updated at 6:44 PM on 22nd March 2009
The postmaster who refused to serve customers who could not speak English has been transferred to another branch following complaints from local Muslims.
Sri Lankan-born Deva Kumarasiri introduced a ban on non-English speakers last week after claiming they frustrated other customers and made his job more difficult.
Mr Kumarasiri, who moved to Britain 18 years ago, said he believed that new immigrants should learn the language and take pride in their new culture.
But he turned up to work yesterday to find his managers at the agency which runs the Sneinton Boulevard post office in Carlton, Nottingham, for the Post Office had decided to transfer him to another branch.
Deva Kumarasiri
Defiant: Deva Kumarasiri has been transferred to another branch after he refused to serve customers who had trouble speaking English
Last night, Mr Kumarasiri claimed that Riswan Raja, the 27-year-old owner of the shop in which the post office is situated, threatened to make his life a ‘living hell’.
He said: ‘Mr Raja is a Muslim and he is very, very angry. He told me he wouldn’t let me walk through his shop to access the post office and he and other local Muslims have started a petition to get rid of me.
‘Because of that, I decided I could no longer work in this area. I told my bosses and they have transferred me to another post office.’
With tensions running high, his bosses have banned the father of two from revealing his new location for fear of reprisals.
But last night Mr Kumarasiri pledged to stick with his controversial ban on non-English speakers at the new branch.
He said: ‘I will continue with my policy and try to do what is best for the people of Nottingham.
‘I’m not backing down. It’s only a few people who have forced me out. It’s the owner of the shop and some of the Muslim community. It’s not the people out there – they support me. Mr Raja didn’t like my policy and said I lost him a lot of trade, but I only banned five people.
‘If I could I would be out campaigning about this every day, but I have a mortgage to pay so I have to work.
‘I didn’t impose a complete ban. I told people to learn some English or come back with an interpreter. They come back with the right attitude now. It is just common sense.
‘If these people are coming into our country they should practise our language and culture. As far as I am concerned, if you can’t be British you should go home.
‘This is our country – let’s work together to save it because the Government doesn’t have the backbone to solve the problem.’
Mr Raja said: ‘I never threatened him or said I would make his life a living hell. I just called the agency and told them I don’t want him working there. I was hugely upset about it. He upset a lot of customers – even English people are upset.
‘Anyway, post offices are known for being bilingual in order to help people out who can’t speak English.’
Because of his controversial stance, Mr Kumarasiri has also been ejected from the Liberal Democrats, which he represented as a local councillor.
The party’s HQ in London used the fact that he was 18 months behind on his party membership subscription to eject him without fuss or appeal. The local Liberal Democrat leader, Tony Gillam, said: ‘The party investigated the situation because of the comments and publicity around what he is reported to have said, and the party did not agree with what he said. The views expressed go well beyond what we can accommodate.’
Mr Kumarasiri, who has been inundated with cards and messages of support from across the UK, said: ‘I don’t expect everyone to agree with me. But this proves that there are elements out there who have no intention of ever being integrated.’
A Post Office spokesman said last night: ‘We are continuing to monitor the situation.’
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1163765/Dispatched-The-post-office-boss-...[
Im sure muslims everywhere are *shocked* just *shocked* that there would be threats of violence against the post office because it did something they did not like.]
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