Category: News

India’s message couched in Misri’s diplomatese Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri, during his brief Colombo visit, has urged the Sri Lankan government to hold the long-delayed Provincial Council (PC) elections “at the earliest”, which is a courteous, professional stand-in for “soon” in diplomatese, if you like. Thus, India has begun to crank up pressure on the Dissanayake government to hold the PC elections. India has given a fillip to a campaign by some Tamil-speaking political parties to pressure the government to hold PC elections held soon. Misri has also asked President Dissanayake to “fully implement” constitutional provisions (read the 13th Amendment to the Constitution) to meet the aspirations of the Tamil people.

The irony of an Indian Foreign Secretary asking a JVP-led government to hold the PC elections expeditiously may not have been lost on keen political observers. The JVP killed thousands of people and destroyed public property worth billions of rupees in the late 1980s during its terror campaign against “Indian expansionism”, the 13th Amendment and the establishment of the PCs. It even murdered traders who sold Indian products, such as onions. Damage caused by recent riots to Negombo and Mahara prisons pales into insignificance in comparison to the widespread destruction of state assets by the JVP during its second uprising. Today, India has the JVP leaders eating out of its hand. It is India that enabled the JVP-led NPP to gain international legitimacy by extending a landmark official invitation to JVP leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake in early 2024.

The 13th Amendment is akin to a shrapnel fragment lodged close to Sri Lanka’s heart. It has been left embedded, given the complications an attempt to remove it could cause. Sri Lanka has chosen to live with it. This made-in-India constitutional amendment which provides for devolution at the provincial level, can also be described as a child born of rape; it came into being as a result of India’s rape of Sri Lanka’s sovereignty in 1987. Now that it is part of Sri Lanka’s Constitution, it has to be implemented and action taken to ensure that the PC system functions under elected representatives.

No less a person than former Chairman of the Election Commission Mahinda Deshapriya has stated that it amounts to a grave violation of the Constitution for bureaucrats to run the PCs without elected representatives. In an interview with Hiru TV recently, he stressed that all political parties had to be held accountable for the serious violation of the Constitution; there was no graver sin than postponing elections, and the PC polls had to be held fast. Some election monitoring outfits have also urged the government to conduct the PC elections soon.

All self-righteous, cantankerous politicians in both the government and the Opposition should be ashamed of themselves. They teamed up to postpone the PC polls indefinitely by amending the Provincial Council Elections Act during the UNP-led Yahapalana government in 2017. All the parties represented in Parliament at that time, including the UNP, the SLFP, the JVP, the SLMC and the ITAK/TNA, and the current SLPP leaders who were in the “Joint Opposition”, unashamedly sank their political differences and colluded to postpone the PC elections through a Christmas tree Bill, consisting of more sections incorporated thereinto at the committee stage than the original text under the pretext of increasing female representation in the PCs.

There have been five Presidents—Mahinda Rajapaksa, Maithripala Sirisena, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Ranil Wickremesinghe and Anura Kumara Dissanayake—and four governments, led by the SLFP, the UNP, the SLPP and the NPP, respectively, since the last PC election was held in the Uva Province in 2014. Some provinces last went to the polls in 2012.

The government ought to overcome its fear of facing elections and hold the PC polls soon under the proportional representation system by amending the Provincial Council Elections Act to clear the legal barriers. After all, the NPP made a solemn pledge in its election manifesto, A Thriving Nation: A Beautiful Life, that it would hold the PC polls within one year of forming a government. It should fulfil that promise without delay. A nation cannot “thrive” and life is not “beautiful” when elections are postponed on one pretext or another

Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya has met with the Foreign Secretary of the Government of India, Vikram Misri, and the accompanying delegation today (5) at Temple Trees.

According to the Prime Minister’s Media Division, the discussions focused on enhancing bilateral cooperation in the field of education, with particular attention given to Sri Lanka’s ongoing education reforms.

The Prime Minister briefed the delegation on the Government’s priorities in transforming the education sector, including initiatives to advance digital education and improve access to quality learning opportunities.

The meeting also explored opportunities to strengthen collaboration between higher education institutions in the two countries. Both sides exchanged views on expanding student exchange programmes, promoting joint research initiatives, and fostering greater academic cooperation, the statement said.

The discussions also highlighted on bilateral trade relations and opportunities to further enhance economic cooperation between Sri Lanka and India. Both sides reaffirmed the importance of deepening economic engagement for the mutual benefit of the two countries while also focusing on avenues to promote tourism and strengthen people-to-people ties between Sri Lanka and India, it added.

The meeting was attended by Santosh Jha, High Commissioner of India to Sri Lanka, Prasanna Shrivastava, Joint Secretary, Maitrey Kulkarni, Deputy High Commissioner, Pradeep Saputhanthri, Secretary to the Prime Minister, Sagarika Bogahawatta, Additional Secretary to the Prime Minister and officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Employment and Tourism.

Wimal Weerawansa, Udaya Gammanpila, Sugeeshwara Bandara, Dilith Jayaweera, Asanka Navaratne and Senior Lecturer Mahinda Pathirana were today ordered by the Fort Magistrate’s Court to be reported to the Court of Appeal over allegations of contempt of court.

The order relates to statements allegedly made in public between July 7 and July 15 during a Satyagraha campaign protesting against the arrest of former Director of State Intelligence Suresh Salley in connection with investigations into the Easter Sunday attacks.

The allegations concern comments said to have been made in a manner critical of ongoing judicial proceedings.

The Criminal Investigation Department today reported facts relating to its investigation into the matter before Fort Magistrate Pasan Amarasena.

Following the submissions, the Magistrate’s Court observed that, at first glance, the statements made by the individuals appeared to contain criticism of the judicial process.

Accordingly, the court decided to seek the institution of proceedings before the Court of Appeal against the individuals concerned on allegations of contempt of court.

The Indian High Commissioner to Sri Lanka, Santosh Jha has met representatives of six Tamil-speaking political parties following a request from the parties.

In a post on X, the High Commissioner said the group briefed him on matters of concern to them and their various engagements, including meetings held with Sri Lankan leadership.

He said discussions also covered ongoing India-Sri Lanka projects and other areas of bilateral cooperation between the two countries.

The meeting was held as part of engagements between the Indian High Commission and political representatives in Sri Lanka.

India has provided Sri Lanka with 500 litres of Technical Malathion to help the country tackle its ongoing dengue outbreak.

The consignment was handed over by the High Commissioner of India to Sri Lanka, Santosh Jha, to Minister of Health and Mass Media, Dr. Nalinda Jayatissa.

The consignment has been provided as a gift from the Indian government following a request from Sri Lanka.

It was supplied by Indian company UPL Limited and arrived in the country within just two weeks of the request being made, underlining India’s position as a first responder during times of crisis.

Sri Lanka has recorded close to 86,000 dengue cases so far this year, with the Western Province among the hardest hit.

The Technical Malathion will be used to support large scale fogging and spraying operations being carried out by health authorities across the country to help contain the spread of the disease.