Category: Featured Headlines

Cabinet approves exploration of four petroleum and gas blocks in Mannar Basin

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In a renewed push to attract foreign investment into the energy sector, the Cabinet of Ministers at their meeting on Wednesday approved the exploration and potential production of petroleum and natural gas in four offshore plots within the Mannar Basin.

To support this initiative, the Cabinet of Ministers also approved the engagement of a qualified marketing consultant to develop and implement a targeted promotion strategy.

Addressing the weekly post-Cabinet meeting media briefing yesterday, Cabinet Spokesman and Minister Dr. Nalinda Jayatissa said the aim is to woo credible investors with the technical and financial capacity to explore and develop the identified blocks.

The move follows earlier discoveries made by Cairn Lanka Ltd., in 2011, which confirmed two viable natural gas deposits in the M2 exploration block.

These findings validated the existence of a functioning hydrocarbon system in the region, raising the Basin’s profile as a prospective area for offshore energy development.

In accordance with the provisions of the Petroleum Resources Act, No. 21 of 2021, the Sri Lanka Petroleum Development Authority (SLPDA) has been vested the powers to call for investment proposals for the offshore petroleum and natural gas exploration plots in terms of the prescribed procedures of the regulations approved by the Cabinet of Ministers.

In 2021, a Government Gazette notification published a map of blocks for joint exploration for oil and gas in the Mannar Basin (https://www.ft.lk/front-page/Oil-and-gas-exploration-in-Mannar-Basin-mapped/44-721329).

Responding to questions about the outcomes of earlier exploration efforts, Dr. Jayatissa said the fresh push for investors is to secure new partnerships and commercialise the untapped resources, based on those studies conducted under previous administrations.

“It has been identified that two natural gas deposits are in the Basin. Now, we want to attract possible investors for these,” he added.

Japan a victim of corruption in Sri Lanka : Ambassador

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Japanese Ambassador Akio Isomata said that Japan was a victim of corruption in Sri Lanka , and expressed optimism that the government would tackle the issue.

The Ambassador made these remarks in response to a query raised during a round table discussion organised by Pathfinder Foundation last week in Colombo.

Earlier, there were reports about some Japanese companies facing issues in Sri Lanka in securing investments. Japanese companies are strictly observe compliance obligations and therefore never offer bribes or kickbacks. Former Japanese Ambassador Mizukoshi Hideaki said in an interview with Daily Mirror last year that Sri Lanka has a very high potential of growth considering the strategic location in the Indian Ocean, but Sri Lanka needs improvement in creating a fair, credible, transparent business environment.

Ambassador Isomata , meanwhile said at last week’s round table discussion, he also attended the function to mark the launch of the National Anti -corruption Action Plan and listened to President Anura Kumara Dissanayake speaking of efforts to address the issue. The ambassador emphasized the need to implement the plan.

Responding to the President’s remarks that politicians belonging to his National People’s Power (NPP) are not involved in any form of corruption, he said it is equally important to address the same involving bureaucrats.

Commenting on Japan- Sri Lanka bilateral relations , he said Sri Lanka is a very important partner for Japan in many ways.” As Sri Lanka’s economy is getting back on track with the IMF( International Monetary Fund) agreement, with debt restructuring agreement, I don’t think Japanese companies will come immediately to make new investments at this stage. But as Sri Lankan economy goes back on track in a stable manner, I think we can cultivate interest of Japanese investors to take a closer look at opportunities in Sri Lanka for further investment. We need cooperation with Sri Lankan people,” he said.

“We are seeing increasing numbers of young Sri Lankans going to Japan for employment in Japanese companies. There are two kind of programmes for inviting young foreign workers in Japan right now. One is called the TITP -Technical Intern Training Programme . The second one, a newly started one several years ago, is SSW -Specified Skilled Worker Programme. Under these two programmes, an increasing number of Sri Lankan youngsters are going to Japan right now. We have opened up eight industrial sectors for Sri Lankan workers, starting with caregiving, hotel accommodation, food industry, agriculture, construction, and most recently, transportation sector like bus driver, truck driver. This will strengthen Japan’s labour market. We need young labour force because Japan is facing a problem of ageing society,” he said.

Asked whether Japan is ready to undertake fresh loan projects since the country has completed debt restructuring, he said Japan is ready to consider if there is a request from the Sri Lankan end. However, he said that it depends on Sri Lanka’s debt servicing ability

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LG Polls And After By N. Sathiya Moorthy

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Ruling JVP-NPP strategists would be tearing their hair to make head or tail out of Tuesday’s nationwide Local Government (LG) Election results. Independent of their unconvincing cover-ups, of which there are many already, they should be wondering as to why they lost a substantial 18 per cent vote share that they had added in the parliamentary elections over the presidential polls, but vanished again this time round.

For the ruling combine, President Anura Kumara Dissanayake polled 42.31 per cent votes. This went up to a heady 61.56 per cent in the parliamentary elections but is back to 43.26 per cent now. In the magic called ‘second-preference vote-count’, the addition of just 100,000-plus votes could skyrocket this figure to a surprisingly high 55.89 per cent is what now stands exposed, so to speak.

Against this, the runner-up Sajith Premadasa’s (SJB) tally went up from a moderate 32.76 per cent to a substantial 44.11 per cent, by the addition of 167,000-plus votes between the two rounds is what added mystery to the JVP-NPP myth. The additional 18 per cent that the Dissanayake leadership added to the pool in the parliamentary elections, giving them a convincing 159 members in the 225 Parliament, is what political magic is made of in this country.

Simply put, this 18 per cent add-on voters between the presidential and parliamentary elections have deserted the JVP-NPP combine. Or, that is what the vote count in the Local Council Polls. True, the issues are different among all three elections, and they are very complex in the LG Polls, where personalities and personal relations at the grassroots level, too, play a substantial part.

All told, yet, there are reasons to conclude that this 18 per cent were mostly the votes of the traditional pool of ‘non-committed voters’, whose actual figures are much more. When voting in the Presidential Election, they were possibly wary about the JVP, going by their unforgettable and at times unforgivable track record.

Yet, when it came to the question of ‘political stability’, this 18 per cent ensured that President Dissanayake had the right numbers in Parliament, to give him a full five-year term without threat from his political adversaries. Recall how UNP campaigners were telling the nation that past President Ranil Wickremesinghe would be back in power in six months and how SJB leaders, starting with Sajith Premadasa, were parroting that the Government would not last more than two months, and they made the decision for the undecided voters.

There was no such threat to the stability of the Government or the President’s command over Parliament when it came to the LG Polls, so the undecided voters decided to go their way. Or, so it seems. Did they necessarily want to desert the JVP-SJB out of sheer habit, or did the latter fail to retain them? The latter seems to be the case.

Figure of speech

The ‘figure of speech’, if that is one, over the poll percentages does not stop there. Interestingly, the Rajapaksas’ SLPP, which polled a measly 2.57 and 3.14 per cent vote shares in the past two outings, has trebled the figure to nine-plus per cent this time. Already, you have Namal Rajapaksa shouting from rooftops how it was the first step towards the SLPP (and the Rajapaksas) reclaiming power in the next Presidential Election.

Against this, incumbent Ranil Wickremesinghe, who was pushed to a distant third place in the presidential poll with a 17 per cent vote share and a low 4.49 per cent in the parliamentary election, has just managed to retain 4.69 per cent in the LG Polls. By itself, the UNP-led combine’s vote share in the parliamentary polls and the local government elections should hold the electoral logic in place.

If Wickremesinghe got more votes than what the UNP combine’s core entailed, it owed to the belief that he had managed the economy well in the post-Aragalaya era, and needed to be thanked and even allowed a full elected term. Today, after the LG Polls, the Wickremesinghe camp may not have it in them to talk about an early return of the ageing leader. Former Minister and camp-crosser Rajitha Senaratne, too, would have to think many times more before coming up with such wild claims hereafter.

For now, for the UNP combine, Wickremesinghe has promised to support SJB in local bodies, starting with the prestigious Colombo Municipal Council, if that would help keep the JVP-NPP wolf away. Figures for the Colombo Council will require more than the UNP seats and votes to make it happen, given the distance that the SJB has to cover to catch up with the ruling combine – which, however, has not crossed the halfway mark this time, either.

The Colombo Council has 117 seats, of which the NPP has obtained only 48. They are followed by the SJB (29) and the UNP (13). The SLPP has five, and the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC), ordinarily an ally of the SJB, has four.

Even granting that all of them stay together, both the NPP and the NPP-rivals would require more support to make the numbers to be able to run the city council. The worst part is that either camp that gets to have its major is going to face defection threats at every turn, and could well begin wondering if it was at all worth the risks to their national image, after a point.

For the record, the UNP is losing the capital’s cosmopolitan council for the first time in 50-plus years. For the same reason, the centre

-left JVP-NPP would want to have their mayor hoisted on the city council, in a now-or-never battle of minds rather than of wits. For the very same reason, the other, centre-right camp would not want to have it.

Grassroots presence

Where does it all lead to? The JVP-NPP needed to win as many local councils, or at least as many local council seats as possible, for more reasons than one. To begin with, they needed control over downstream elected bodies to smooth out the governmental processes, where they are still in the long and unending learning curve.

Two, and more importantly, the NPP / JVP strategists should acknowledge at least now that their previous performances were ‘accidental’ after a point, and that they needed to have a greater grassroots-level presence if they could hope to retain it. The Local Government Election results have helped them do just that. It has, however, not given them the dominance at the grassroots, as they had wished and hoped for.

More importantly, the JVP-NPP needs this grassroots-level support, which they did not have, at least as much, in the past. They will need to stabilise it and expand it, if they have to win the Provincial Council Elections that are now due for years, if not ages, followed by the next round of presidential and parliamentary polls.

The question now is whether the PC Polls will be held, as indicated later this year, or if the Government will want to delay it further, based on the visible outcomes of the LG Elections. If so, what if someone moves the Supreme Court as they did in the case of the LG Polls and the Honourable Judges set a deadline for the Election Commission (EC), and also the Government, in the matter.

After all, the JVP, while in the Opposition, was crying loud over the delayed LG and PC polls, and rightfully argued that there was no justification for either – barring the Covid period. It is another matter that the Covid hit the nation and the world long after the legitimate deadlines for the two elections had long since passed – and more so in the case of the Provincial Council Elections.

The fact remains that the Government combine has to prove itself between now and the PC Polls if it has to make the grade. Then, it will have to win most, if not all, PCs if it has to be seen as the front-runner in the Presidential Election, whose fate would also be decided by the constitutional reforms that President Dissanayake has put off until his third year in office.

It is here that the LG Poll results in the Tamil North and East will stand out. After snubbing their own Tamil polity and leaders of long, relatively in favour of the JVP-NPP, if only to make a point, the Tamil voters of the North, especially, have gone the ITAK way in particular.

Even then, they have not trusted the ITAK entirely. For ITAK to make sense of the outcome, they will have to (learn to) work with other Tamil groups, especially Gajan Ponnambalam, who is steadfast in his politics and personal ambitions. But ‘Tamil demands’, starting with a common federal platform, is going to haunt the NPP, which has been taunting them all through the past months, since the Parliamentary Poll victories, especially in the northernmost Jaffna District.

All of it together says more than what is visible, and all of it hides more than what is visible!

(The writer is a Chennai-based Policy Analyst and Political Commentator. Email: sathiyam54@nsathiyamoorthy.com)

French Navy Ship ‘Beautemps-Beaupré’ arrives in Colombo

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The French Navy Ship ‘Beautemps-Beaupré’ arrived at the Port of Colombo on a goodwill visit today (09 May 25).

The Sri Lanka Navy welcomed the visiting ship in compliance with time-honoured naval traditions, it said in a statement.

The 80.65m long ‘Beautemps-Beaupré’ is a Hydrographic Vessel commanded by Commander Bertheau Dimitri and she is manned by 58 crew members, the SLN added.

Meanwhile, the Commanding Officer and a group of crew members of the ship are scheduled to call on senior officers of the Sri Lanka National Hydrographic Office (SLNHO) to discuss key hydrographic matters of bilateral importance.

During the stay in the island, crew members of the ship will explore some tourist attractions within the country and the ship is scheduled to set sail from Colombo on 13 May, according to Sri Lanka Navy.

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Pope Leo XIV celebrates first Mass after historic election as Pope Francis’ successor

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Pope Leo XIV, history’s first North American pope, celebrated his first Mass as pontiff on Friday, presiding in the Sistine Chapel with the cardinals who elected him to succeed Pope Francis and follow in his social justice-minded footsteps.

Wearing white vestments, Leo processed into the Sistine Chapel and blessed the cardinals as he approached the altar and Michelangelo’s “The Last Judgment” behind it.

It was in the same frescoed chapel that Leo, the Chicago-born missionary Robert Prevost, was elected Thursday afternoon as the 267th pope and the first from the United States.

Leo, the Chicago-born Augustinian missionary Robert Prevost, surprised the world Thursday when he emerged on the loggia of St. Peter’s Basilica as the 267th pontiff, overcoming the traditional prohibition against a pope from the United States.

The 69-year-old wore the traditional red cape — which Francis had eschewed on his election in 2013 — and trappings of the papacy, suggesting a return to some degree of rule-following after Francis’ unorthodox pontificate.

But in naming himself Leo and referring to some of Francis’ more social justice-minded priorities, the new pope could also have wanted to signal a strong line of continuity: Brother Leo was the 13th century friar who was a great companion to St. Francis of Assisi, the late pope’s namesake.

“Together, we must try to find out how to be a missionary church, a church that builds bridges, establishes dialogue, that’s always open to receive — like on this piazza with open arms — to be able to receive everybody that needs our charity, our presence, dialogue and love,” Leo said in near-perfect Italian in his first comments to the world.

Francis, the first Latin American pope, clearly had his eye on Prevost and in many ways saw him as his heir apparent. He sent Prevost, who had spent years as a missionary in Peru, to take over a complicated diocese there in 2014. Francis then brought Prevost to the Vatican in 2023 to head of the Vatican’s powerful Dicastery for Bishops, which vets bishop nominations around the world and is one of the most important jobs in church governance.

Earlier this year, Francis elevated Prevost into the senior ranks of cardinals, giving him prominence going into the conclave that few other cardinals had.

There had long been a taboo on a U.S. pope, given America’s superpower status in the secular world. But Prevost prevailed, perhaps because he’s also a Peruvian citizen and had lived for two decades in Peru, first as a missionary and then as bishop.

As if to drive that home, Leo spoke in Italian and Spanish from the loggia, but not English.

Since arriving in Rome, Prevost had kept a low public profile but was well-known to the men who count, and respected by those who worked with him. Significantly, he presided over one of the most revolutionary reforms Francis made, when he added three women to the voting bloc that decides which bishop nominations to forward to the pope.

In a 2023 interview with Vatican News, the then-cardinal said the women had enriched the process and reaffirmed the need for the laity to have a greater role in the church.

“Even the bishops of Peru called him the saint, the Saint of the North, and he had time for everyone,” said the Rev. Alexander Lam, an Augustinian friar from Peru who knows the new pope.

The crowd in St. Peter’s Square erupted in cheers Thursday when white smoke poured out of the Sistine Chapel shortly after 6 p.m. on the second day of the conclave. Waving flags from around the world, tens of thousands of people were surprised an hour later when the senior cardinal deacon announced the winner was Prevost.

U.S. President Donald Trump said it was “such an honor for our country” for the new pope to be American. The president added that “we’re a little bit surprised and we’re happy.”

Prevost has shared criticism of the Trump administration ‘s migration policies: In past social media posts, Prevost shared articles criticizing Vice President JD Vance’s justification of the administration’s mass deportation plans.

An Augustinian pope
The last pope to take the name Leo was Leo XIII, an Italian who led the church from 1878 to 1903. That Leo softened the church’s confrontational stance toward modernity, especially science and politics, and laid the foundation for modern Catholic social thought. His most famous encyclical, Rerum Novarum of 1891, addressed workers’ rights and capitalism at the beginning of the industrial revolution and was highlighted by the Vatican in explaining the new pope’s choice of name.

That Leo also had close ties to the Augustinian order: He rebuilt an ancient Augustinian church and convent near his hometown of Carpineto, outside Rome, which is still in use by the new pope’s order today.

Vatican watchers said Prevost’s decision to name himself Leo was particularly significant given the previous Leo’s legacy of social justice and reform, suggesting continuity with some of Francis’ chief concerns. Specifically, Leo cited one of Francis’ key priorities of making the Catholic Church more attentive to lay people and inclusive, a process known as synodality.

“He is continuing a lot of Francis’ ministry,’’ said Natalia Imperatori-Lee, the chair of religious studies at Manhattan University in the Bronx. But she also said his election could send a message to the U.S. church, which has been badly divided between conservatives and progressives, with much of the right-wing opposition to Francis coming from there.

“I think it is going to be exciting to see a different kind of American Catholicism in Rome,’’ Imperatori-Lee said.

Leo said in a 2023 interview with Vatican News that the polarization in the church was a wound that needed to be healed.

“Divisions and polemics in the church do not help anything. We bishops especially must accelerate this movement towards unity, towards communion in the church,” he said.

Archbishop Bernard Hebda, of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, told reporters he never thought he would see an American pope, given the questions of how he would navigate dealing with a U.S. president, especially someone like Trump.

“And so I just never imagined that we would have an American pope, and I have great confidence that Pope Leo will do a wonderful job of navigating that,” he said.

Leo’s brother, John Prevost, was so shocked that his brother had been elected pope that he missed several phone calls from Leo during an interview Thursday with The Associated Press. He called the pope back and Leo told him he wasn’t interested in being part of the interview.

John Prevost described his brother, a fan of Wordle, as being very concerned for the poor and those who don’t have a voice. He said he expects him to be a “second Pope Francis.”

“He’s not going to be real far left and he’s not going to be real far right,” he added. “Kind of right down the middle.”

Looking ahead
In his first hours as pope, Leo went back to his old apartment in the Sant’Uffizio Palace to see colleagues, according to selfies posted to social media. Vatican Media also showed him in the moments after his election praying at a kneeler in the Pauline Chapel before emerging on the loggia.

Leo was expected to celebrate Mass with cardinals in the Sistine Chapel on Friday, deliver his first Sunday noon blessing from the loggia of St. Peter’s and attend an audience with the media on Monday in the Vatican auditorium, Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said.

Beyond that, he has a possible first foreign trip at the end of May: Francis had been invited to travel to Turkey to commemorate the 1,700th anniversary of the First Council of Nicaea, a landmark event in Christian history and an important moment in Catholic-Orthodox relations.

The new pope was formerly the prior general, or leader, of the Order of St. Augustine, which was formed in the 13th century as a community of “mendicant” friars — dedicated to poverty, service and evangelization. Vatican News said Leo is the first Augustinian pope.

In Peru, he is known as the saintly missionary who waded through mud after torrential rains flooded the region, bringing help to needy people, and as the bishop who spearheaded the lifesaving purchase of oxygen production plants during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“He has no problem fixing a broken-down truck until it runs,” said Janinna Sesa, who met Prevost while she worked for the church’s Caritas charity.

Source: AP

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Helicopter crash: Death toll climbs to six

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Five of the 12 individuals who were onboard the Bell 212 helicopter which crashed into the Maduru Oya Reservoir and were hospitalized in critical condition, have been pronounced dead following admission to the hospital.

The Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) confirmed that all deceased persons are armed forces personnel, and includes three Special Forces (SF) personnel and two Sri Lanka Air Force Helicopter Gunmen.

Meanwhile, the remaining seven individuals, also tri-forces personnel, who sustained injuries during the incident, are currently receiving treatment at hospital, the SLAF said.

A Bell 212 Helicopter belonging to the Sri Lanka Air Force crashed into the Maduru Oya Reservoir this morning (09). The SLAF spokesperson stated that the accident occurred during a demonstration at a passing-out ceremony of the Sri Lanka Air Force.

UPDATE: Another Special Forces (SF) soldier who was onboard the Bell 212 Helicopter belonging to the Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) that crashed into the Maduru Oya Reservoir this morning, has succumbed to his injuries while receiving treatment at the hospital, according to SLAF.

This brings the death toll from the fatal accident to six, while 6 other armed forces personnel, who sustained injuries in the incident, are currently receiving treatment at the hospital.

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Why Azad Maulana fled from Sri Lanka to Switzerland via India BY D.B.S.Jeyaraj

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This article is the third and final of a trilogy about the coordinated attacks by suicide bombers on the Easter Sunday of 21 April 2019. Young men with explosives targeted three churches and three luxury hotels in what has come to be known as Sri Lanka’s Easter bombings. The explosive attacks in Colombo, Negombo and Batticaloa resulted in 269 persons including 45 foreign nationals being killed and over 500 sustaining injuries.

Various conspiracy theories have been in circulation for many years about the Easter bombings. Chief among these is the one which alleges that an official or officials of Sri Lanka’s intelligence services had manipulated the misguided Muslim youths into launching the attacks with the ulterior objective of facilitating the return to power of former defence secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa as President.

This conspiracy theory received a tremendous boost in 2023 when Britain’s Channel 4 TV aired the documentary “Sri Lanka’s Easter bombings” in its “Dispatches” program on Tuesday 5 September 2023. Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Puligal (TMVP) leader Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan alias Pillaiyaan’s former secretary and ex-TMVP spokesperson Mohammed Milhilar Mohammed Hanzeer alias Azad Maulana was the whistleblower who made the controversial disclosures about his erstwhile boss.

Whistleblower Azad Maulana (spelled as Mowlana and Moulana also) hailing from Maruthamunai in the Eastern Province had reportedly fled to Europe and sought political asylum in Switzerland.

Appearing on TV in 2023, Azad Maulana made some startling disclosures against former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, State Intelligence Service head Maj-Gen Suresh Sallay and Rural Road Development State Minister Chanthrakanthan known widely as Pillaiyaan. Several allegations were levelled in the documentary concerning the April 2019 Easter bombings and the murders allegedly committed by the Government sanctioned killer squad “Tripoly Platoon”. Gotabaya, Suresh and Pillaiyaan have all denied the allegations. Furthermore Maulana has been accused of concocting a false story to help him gain political asylum abroad.

In recent times there has been a lot of interest in the man known as Azad Maulana. There is much speculation in the media that Azad Maulana is being interviewed by Sri Lankan officials regarding the Easter bombings. It is also being suggested that he would soon give evidence in Sri Lanka regarding the Easter bombings.

It is against this backdrop that this column – with the aid of earlier writings – has been focusing on Azad Maulana in this trilogy. The first article was published on 18 April 2025 under the heading “TMVP leader Pillaiyaan’s arrest, 2019 Easter bombings and Azad Maulana’s revelations”. The second article was published under the heading “Easter bombings conspiracy theories and importance of Azad Maulana’s testimony”. In this third article the focus would be on how and why Azad Maulana allegedly left Sri Lanka and became a refugee in the West.

Trilogy of articles

I have not been able to converse directly with Azad Maulana so far but have been communicating with several informed sources ranging from residents of his village Maruthamunai to activists from International non-governmental organisations familiar with all aspects of his case. The three articles in this series have been pieced together on the basis of information gathered from these informed sources.

At the outset, it must be emphasised that all allegations made by Azad Maulana on Channel 4 TV are yet to be verified and authenticated. Moreover, they have been denied as falsehoods by those whom the allegations were levelled against especially Maj-Gen Sallay.

The charge made against Sallay by Maulana hinges around an alleged meeting at Karadippooval in Puttalam between the intelligence chief and Zahran Hashim the National Thowheeth Jamaath (NTJ) leader and livewire behind the Easter bombings.

Maulana’s allegation as stated in the documentary is essentially conjecture and inference based on that meeting.

However, it must be said in fairness to Suresh Sallay that he has denied being in Sri Lanka at the time of the meeting

Chandrakanthan alias Pillaiyaan

As stated earlier, Mohammed Hanzeer alias Azad Maulana had bourgeoned into being an indispensable aide to Chandrakanthan alias Pillaiyaan. He was Pillaiyaan’s personal secretary as well as spokesperson of the TMVP. Maulana being reasonably proficient in Tamil, English and Sinhala was the interpreter cum translator on whom the monolingual Pillaiyaan relied upon when dealing with certain political leaders, senior Government officers, and security and intelligence officials.

When Pillaiyaan was incarcerated for five years over the killing of Batticaloa MP Joseph Pararajasingham, it was Azad who visited Pillaiyan regularly with Court permission. When in Batticaloa, Maulana would visit Pillaiyaan on a daily basis. Maulana conveyed what was happening within TMVP circles to Pillaiyan and also passed on Pillaiyaan’s instructions to party members. Maulana also coordinated all legal work regarding Pillaiyaan’s case.

Everything was hunky-dory for Hanzeer until the fateful Easter Sunday bombings of April 2019. According to Maulana, he was remorseful when it became known that Zahran and other NTJ operatives were responsible for the heinous attacks on churches and tourist hotels.

As Hanzeer claimed in the Channel 4 documentary, he had purportedly arranged a first meeting between Sallay and Zahran. He also claimed that Suresh Sallay had telephoned him on the day of the bombing and asked him to transport someone from the Taj Samudra Hotel.

Hanzeer could not do so as he was in Batticaloa then. It was learnt later that the person at Taj Samudra was the bomber who died in the Dehiwela hotel explosion.

When he met Pillaiyaan in jail after the bombings, the TMVP leader had supposedly told him to keep quiet about all this and to speak to no one about it.

In 2019 November Gotabaya Rajapaksa was elected President. In the aftermath of the bombings, the electorate yearned for a strong man to keep the country safe.

Bombers-officials nexus

Months after the April 2019 Easter bombings, the political grapevine had been buzzing about suspected links between the National Thowheed Jamath bombers and high officials in Sri Lanka’s intelligence services. Popular gossip was about a possible nexus between Government officials and the Islamic bombers. It was rumoured that the Easter attacks were a conspiracy to bring Gota to power. Conspiracy theories are galore in Sri Lanka and there were few takers for this then.

In March 2021 during a debate in Parliament, then opposition MPs Anura Kumara Dissanayake (JVP) and Manusha Nanayakkara (SJB) made several allusions about top intelligence officials being implicated in the Easter bombing conspiracy. In April 2021 the then SJB Parliamentarian Harin Fernando made several sensational disclosures in Parliament about the alleged involvement of a high intelligence officer in the April 2019 attacks.

Harin Fernando was careful not to mention names explicitly, but it was inferred that the references were to Major-General Suresh Sallay the head of the State Intelligence Service (SIS). Sallay had been earlier the chief of Military Intelligence. He served as Minister Counsellor in Sri Lanka’s High Commission in Malaysia after the Sirisena-Wickremesinghe Government gained power in 2015. In 2019 Suresh Sallay went to India for a course in defence studies and was in New Delhi when the Easter bombings took place.

International webinar

In October 2021 there was an international webinar held over Zoom about the Easter Sunday attacks. The Catholic Archbishop of Colombo Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith and the well-known catholic Clergyman Fr. Cyril Gamini participated in the discussions. Some of the comments made alluded to the alleged involvement of Maj-Gen Suresh Sallay in the bombings. Subsequently, Gen. Sallay filed a defamation lawsuit against Fr. Cyril Gamini alleging that some of the remarks made by the clergyman had tarnished his (Sallay’s) reputation.

Gen. Suresh Sallay

A few days after the webinar, Gen. Suresh Sallay telephoned Hanzeer Azad Maulana and wanted to meet him. Azad Maulana met Sallay on 15 October 2021. According to Maulana, Sallay had played video clips of the Parliamentary speeches by Harin Fernando and other opposition MPs to Hanzeer. He had also shown clips of the webinar comments by Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith and Fr. Cyril Gamini.

The SIS director had then allegedly told Hanzeer, “Only you, I and Pillaiyaan know about my meeting Zahran and other NTJ members. Did you reveal this to others? Why are the MPs and Catholic priests making these accusations linking me with the bombers?”

According to Hanzeer, he had denied telling anyone else about the Puttalam meeting. Sallay had then checked Hanzeer’s cell phone. After about three hours of verbal interrogation, Sallay allowed Hanzeer to leave.

Azad Maulana says he was deeply disturbed and distressed by this ordeal. He had never seen Suresh Sallay being so angry and tough. Hanzeer telephoned Pillaiyaan in Batticaloa and told him of what had happened. The TMVP leader had told him not to worry and that he was coming to Colombo the following day and would meet Sallay and sort it out. Pillaiyaan arrived in Colombo the next day 16 October 2021.

It had been the usual practice for Hanzeer to accompany Pillaiyan when he went to meet Sallay. But on this occasion, Pillaiyaan met Sallay without Hanzeer. It was through Pillaiyaan’s driver Amalan that Hanzeer got to know Pillaiyaan had met Sallay. Pillaiyaan later told Hanzeer that Suresh Sallay was suspicious of him (Hanzeer) for leaking information about the purported Zahran meeting.

“Bogus” accident

Pillaiyan asked Azad Maulana to come to Batticaloa for a meeting on 17 October 2021. Before his departure, Hanzeer says he got a call from a Muslim friend in an intelligence unit. He had warned Maulana that there was a plot to kill him through a bogus “accident” in Batticaloa and advised him not to go. Maulana had then told Pillaiyaan that he had fallen sick suddenly and could not come to Batticaloa.

Azad Maulana was now worried about his life being in danger from the TMVP and/or intelligence. He decided to escape from Sri Lanka. Realising that delaying his departure from Sri Lanka could endanger his life, Azad Maulana went to India first. He reportedly left Sri Lanka for India on 19 October 2021.

Switzerland visa

Hanzeer Azad Maulana’s intention was to seek a humanitarian visa from Switzerland. Switzerland grants humanitarian visas to individuals on the following grounds.

The individual’s life and physical integrity are directly, seriously and tangibly endangered in their home country or country of origin.
The individual is clearly in direct danger and not merely at risk because they belong to a potentially endangered group.
The individual no longer has any other options and their situation requires the urgent intervention of the Swiss authorities.
Subsequently Mohammed Hanzeer alias Azad Maulana flew to Europe and sought political asylum. It is learnt that an international human rights organisation based in Geneva was of great assistance to Azad Maulana in relocating to Europe.

Statement to OHCHR

After moving to Europe, Azad Maulana went to the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and made a detailed statement to a panel from the OHCHR Sri Lanka Accountability project. He took five days to testify. The Project mandate is “to collect, consolidate, analyse and preserve information and evidence and to develop possible strategies for future accountability processes for gross violations of human rights or serious violations of international humanitarian law in Sri Lanka, to advocate for victims and survivors, and to support relevant judicial and other proceedings, including in Member States, with competent jurisdiction”.

Apart from the OHCHR, Maulana has also made statements to several other human rights organisations and international NGOs. It is learnt that though Maulana fled from Lanka in a hurry he took along with him much “material evidence” relating to several war crimes, crimes against humanity and human rights violations. Apparently what was revealed in the Channel 4 film was only the tip of the iceberg.

Testimony

It could be seen therefore that Azad Maulana has the capacity and potential to provide much information regarding the 21 April 2019 attacks. The importance of Azad Maulana’s testimony – to prove or disprove the “Easter bombings for Gota victory” conspiracy theory – is being increasingly recognised.

At the same time there is growing realisation that the allegations made by Azad Maulana would be worthless in practical terms in a court of law until and unless Azad Maulana himself backs it up by testifying himself in a Sri Lankan tribunal and being cross examined by lawyers. He could even do this from afar by electronic methods too. Hence many people especially some representatives of the Catholic Church are now demanding that Azad Maulana should be questioned or probed on what he has told the UK Channel 4 TV.

The problem here is that Azad Maulana is not willing to cooperate with the Sri Lankan judicial system alone. He is willing to testify only before an independent international investigation. The 25 April 2025 article by this writer in the “Political Pulse” column related in detail, the statements made by Azad Maulana on Channel 4 and at a public meeting in Geneva.

In those, Azad Maulana clarified his viewpoint explicitly. This is what he said: “As a witness to the planning of several terrorist attacks, political assassinations and kidnappings in Sri Lanka, I am willing to testify in investigations into these crimes. I do not believe, however, that the authorities in Sri Lanka have an interest in revealing the truth. I will therefore only bear witness before an international independent investigation.”

Ganemulla Sanjeewa’s fate

It appears therefore that Mohammed Hanzeer alias Azad Maulana is likely to testify about the Easter bombings in an international investigation only. Under such circumstances the chances of Azad Maulana returning to Sri Lanka and cooperating with the Sri Lankan legal system seems a very remote possibility. Given the fate of Sanjeewa Kumara Samararathne alias ‘Ganemulla Sanjeewa’, can Azad Maulana be faulted for his stance?

(The writer can be reached at dbsjeyaraj@yahoo.com.)

Sri Lanka Gets $1 Billion Support Package From World Bank

Posted on | by TELO Admin

The World Bank Group announced a $1 billion financing package aimed at creating jobs and unlocking private sector growth over the next three years, for Sri Lanka.

The initiative targets high-potential sectors including energy, agriculture, tourism, and regional development.

The announcement followed a high-level meeting in Colombo between Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake and World Bank Group President Ajay Banga—marking the first visit by a World Bank President to the country in two decades.

“This support from the World Bank Group is an investment in the people of Sri Lanka,” said President Dissanayake, according to a statement from the World Bank. “It will help create jobs, support small businesses, and open up new opportunities across the country. We are committed to ensuring this partnership delivers real change for our communities.”

President Banga emphasized the urgency of leveraging this moment to accelerate reforms and attract private capital.

“This is a moment of opportunity for Sri Lanka,” Banga said. “With progress underway to stabilize the economy and restart growth, core elements for job creation are in place. Now is the time to create the conditions for private enterprise to thrive—particularly in sectors that can create jobs at scale.”

The World Bank estimates that nearly one million young people will enter Sri Lanka’s workforce over the next decade, yet only 300,000 jobs are projected to be created under current trends. The new initiative aims to close this gap by mobilizing both public and private investment.

Key components of the package include:

Energy ($185 million): Supporting 1 GW of new solar and wind capacity to reduce electricity costs and attract over $800 million in private investment. Includes $40 million in guarantees.

Agriculture ($100 million): Enabling 380,000+ farmers and agribusinesses to adopt modern technologies and access markets, with $17 million in expected private financing.

Tourism ($200 million): Enhancing natural and cultural assets to boost tourism and create community-based jobs.

Regional Development ($200 million): Investing in infrastructure and industries in underserved areas, including the Northern and Eastern Provinces.

This integrated approach combines financing, technical expertise, and private sector tools to drive inclusive growth and resilience.

The World Bank Group has been a development partner to Sri Lanka for over 70 years, with current investments exceeding $2.2 billion.

This new initiative deepens that partnership, focusing on job creation, private sector expansion, and inclusive economic transformation.

EC to request parties to name new chairpersons to LG bodies

Posted on | by TELO Admin

The National Election Commission says it will notify all political parties and independent groups that have secured a majority in local government bodies to name chairpersons for those institutions.

Chairman of the Election Commission R.M.A.L. Rathnayake stated that notifications will be sent to Secretaries of parties and independent groups that have won local government bodies with a majority of more than 50% of the vote.

The results of the 2025 Local Government (LG) election were released yesterday (07), during which the National People’s Power (NPP) succeeded in gaining control of several local government institutions.

The Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB), the Ilankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi (ITAK), several regional parties and independent groups also gained control of a number of local government bodies.

However, many of these parties have failed to secure more than 50% of the vote or seats in a majority of the local government institutions.

Meanwhile, the Election Commission has announced that the members elected to local government institutions at ward level will be officially gazetted in the coming days.

The Commission also pointed out that relevant political parties and independent groups will be informed in the coming days about the female representatives who should be appointed to local government bodies.

After reviewing the women members elected at ward level, the Commission is expected to provide details on the women representatives who need to be appointed to local government bodies.