"Hitler-Like Mindset" Torch Buildings: Sri Lankan PM Reacts To Arson Attack On House

Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said that this house was the only one he had in Sri Lanka as well as abroad, and that it has now been burnt down.

Reacting publicly for the first time after his private house was set on fire by anti-government protesters on Saturday, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe on Monday said only people with a "Hitler-like mindset" torch buildings.

In a special televised statement, Wickremesinghe said he accepted the post of Prime Minister as the economy was in disarray.

Commenting on the arson attack by the protestors on his house on Saturday, he said only people with a "Hitler-like mindset" torch buildings, and said there was a "background event" that led to what transpired that night.

He said a miscommunication by way of a tweet by a Muslim party leader that he had objected to forming an all-party government and refused to resign had triggered the arson attack on his house.