Kin of Lankan minister Namal Rajapaksa leave country: Report
Posted on April 3rd, 2022
Courtesy The Week
Amid continuing disenchantment with the Gotabaya Rajapaksa government in Sri Lanka, a media outlet reported on Sunday that relatives of a prominent minister had left the country.
Sri Lanka has been under curfew since Saturday as part of attempts by the Gotabaya Rajapaksa dispensation to prevent protests over the ongoing economic crisis.
The Daily Mirror reported on Sunday that the wife of minister Namal Rajapaksa, Limini, and her parents left Sri Lanka on Sunday morning. Namal Rajapaksa is the son of Sri Lankan Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, who is the older brother of Gotabaya.
Namal is the current Sri Lankan minister for youth and sports.
The Daily Mirror reported Limini Rajapaksa and her parents left the island for an undisclosed location, sources confirmed. It is unclear if the other two daughters in law of Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa have also left the country.”
Over the past week, there has been speculation that the Rajapaksa clan could flee Sri Lanka amid rising public anger over the economic crisis.
Interestingly, Namal Rajapaksa had criticised the government’s decision to block social media services. He told reporters on Sunday that the social media blockade was useless as many people would use VPNs to access social media sites. The government lifted the ban on social media by Sunday afternoon following criticism in other countries.
Meanwhile, over 6oo people were arrested in Western Province on Sunday for violating the 36-hour nationwide curfew and trying to stage an anti-government rally to protest against the country’s worst economic crisis.
Opposition lawmakers, led by their leader Sajith Premadasa, had set off on a march towards the iconic Independence Square in Colombo.
Colombo Gazette reported police fired teargas and water cannons on protesters near the Peradeniya University, about 110km from Colombo, on Sunday.
Air India flights
Air India on Sunday said it will reduce its India-Sri Lanka services from 16 flights per week currently to 13 flights per week from April 9 due to poor demand.
Currently AI is operating 16 flights a week—daily flights from Delhi and nine flights a week from Chennai,” an Air India spokesperson told PTI.
In the new schedule, AI will be operating a total of 13 flights per week, the spokesperson noted.
In the new schedule, while the frequency from Chennai will remain untouched, flights from Delhi will reduce from seven to four per week, the spokesperson said.
Four flights from Delhi instead of seven effective April 9 due to poor loads,” the spokesperson noted.
AI 283 on the Delhi-Colombo sector will now operate on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays from April 8 to May 30.
AI 284 on the Colombo-Delhi sector will operate on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays from April 9 to May 31.
(With PTI inputs)