National Policies and Economic Affairs Deputy Minister Harsha de Silva has called on the government to appoint a Presidential Commission to investigate the racial riots in Kandy and find ‘long standing answers’ to the issue.

de Silva made his proposal in Parliament today, as the country slowly returns to normalcy following nearly a week of sectarian unrest after Sinhalese mobs descended on Kandy and set fire to Muslim establishments and homes.

The riots were sparked when a Sinhalese truck driver was beaten to death in Kandy on Saturday. Pro Sinhala-Buddhist organizations rallied together on social media sites live Facebook, converged in Kandy to avenge the death.

The incident caused the government to announce a temporary ban on Facebook, WhatsApp, Viber, Instagram and other social media sites in an attempt to stem the violence conflagrating on the Internet.

The situation is now gradually returning to normal, after several arrests were made of those inciting violence against Muslims. Together, 81 persons have been arrested in Kandy over the incident that flared up on Saturday.