Courtesy Adaderana

Sri Lanka has registered 266 more positive cases of Covid-19 today (February 24), the Ministry of Health confirmed.

Thereby, Sri Lanka has detected 458 new positive cases of COVID-19 within the day.

As per statistics, the total number of Covid-19 infections confirmed so far in the country now stands at 81,467.

Recoveries from the virus meanwhile climbed to 76,514 earlier today, as 672 more patients regained health.

However, 4,496 active cases are still under medical care at selected hospitals and treatment centers located across the island.

The total number of lives claimed by the pandemic outbreak sits at 457 at present.

Courtesy Adaderana

Minister of Foreign Affairs Dinesh Gunawardena has appealed to all member states of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) to reject any resolutions against Sri Lanka.

He also said it is regrettable that despite the spirit of cooperation with the HRC and its mechanism, elements working against Sri Lanka intend to table another country-specific resolution based on the OHCHR report.

Foreign Affairs Minister’s remarks came during the 46th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) a short while ago. He delivered his speech through video technology.

The 46th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) commenced yesterday (February 22) in Geneva, Switzerland, and is scheduled to continue until March 23.

Core Group on Sri Lanka – consisting of UK, Canada, Germany, North Macedonia, Malawi, and Montenegro – plans to put forward a further resolution at the UNHRC session to promote reconciliation, accountability and human rights in the island nation.

The new resolution comes in line with a recent report published by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) on human rights, reconciliation and accountability in Sri Lanka.

UN Human Rights Commissioner Michelle Bachelet is due to present the relevant report during the session.

Full statement delivered by the Foreign Affairs Minister is produced below:

Madam President,
Madam High Commissioner,
Distinguished Ambassadors,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

As I address you today, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) has published a report on Sri Lanka accompanied by an unprecedented propaganda campaign on that report.

Sri Lankan heroic armed forces militarily neutralized the LTTE in 2009 after three-decades of conflict. The Sri Lanka Government acted in self-defense to safeguard the unitary state, sovereignty & territorial integrity from the world’s most ruthless separatist terrorist organization.

The LTTE is the only terrorist organization in the world which has killed two world leaders: a serving President of Sri Lanka and a former Prime Minister of India extending its terror beyond the borders of Sri Lanka.

End of terrorism guaranteed the most cherished of all human rights – right to life of all Sri Lankans – Sinhala, Tamil, and Muslims.

Nonetheless hegemonic forces colluded against Sri Lanka in bringing an unsubstantiated resolution against Sri Lanka which was defeated by the support of friendly nations who remain by Sri Lanka’s side even today. Further resolutions were presented to this Council on purely political motives. In each instance Sri Lanka presented the procedural improprieties, and how such processes could set a dangerous precedent affecting all member states of the United Nations.

The Government which assumed office in Sri Lanka in 2015, in a manner unprecedented in human rights fora, joined as co-sponsors of Resolution 30/1 which was against our own country. It carried a host of commitments that were not deliverable and were not in conformity with the Constitution of Sri Lanka. This led to the compromising of national security to a point of reviving terrorist acts on Easter Sunday 2019 causing the deaths of hundreds.

The rejection of this resolution by the peoples of Sri Lanka was clearly manifested in the mandate received by His Excellency President Gotabaya Rajapaksa in November 2019.  Based on this mandate I announced at the 43rd session of this Council that Sri Lanka would withdraw from co-sponsorship of the resolution. I also stated that Sri Lanka would remain engaged with the UN system including this Council.

We have provided detailed updates to the OHCHR in December 2020 as well as in January 2021 on the progress of implementation of commitments that Sri Lanka had undertaken such as continuity of the existing mechanisms, appointment of a special commission of inquiry headed by a Supreme Court Judge, achieving the SDGs, progress made in returning lands, demining and creating new avenues of livelihoods.

These steps have been taken even as Sri Lanka was battling the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic for the past one year. In spite of these challenges, we held a free and fair general election in August 2020 and elected a new Government with a two-thirds majority in one of Asia’s oldest Parliamentary democracies.

It is regrettable that despite the spirit of cooperation with the HRC and its mechanisms, elements working against Sri Lanka intend to table another country-specific resolution based on this OHCHR Report. This rejected report by Sri Lanka has unjustifiably broadened its scope and mandate further, incorporating many issues of governance and matters that are essentially domestic in any self-respecting, sovereign country.

I leave it to the members and observers of this Council to make their own judgment on whether Sri Lanka represents a situation that warrants the urgent attention of this Council, or if this campaign is essentially a political move that contravenes the very values and principles on which this Council has been established. Particularly at a time when legislation is enacted by some countries to protect their soldiers from prosecution in military operations carried out overseas, only points to duplicity and the hypocritical nature of their motives. This cannot but result in a significant loss of morale among countries engaged in the struggle against terrorism.

The Council must hold the scales even. Not going by hearsay, unilateral action or one-angled doubtful sources but adhere to its guiding principles. Insistence on such ever-expanding externally driven prescriptions notwithstanding our continuous cooperation and engagement with this Council can pose numerous challenges.

As the Council is aware this is a critical time to the entire world in the last hundred years where we need to be united in our efforts to overcome the Covid19 pandemic and to revive battered economies. I appeal to the members of this Council to take note of our continued engagement and cooperation on its merit and support us by rejecting any resolution against Sri Lanka. We believe that the extent to which the resources and time of this Council has been utilized on Sri Lanka is unwarranted, and carries a discouraging message to the sovereign states of the global South.

The need of the hour, in the face of an unprecedented pandemic, is solidarity rather than rancor and acrimony arising from divisions within this council. In view of the circumstances set out above, we urge that this resolution be rejected by the Council and be brought to closure.

May I conclude quoting the words of Lord Buddha,
Siyalu sathwayo niduk wethwa, nirogee wethwa, suwapath wethwa”.

May all beings be safe,
May all beings be free from suffering.
May all beings be well and happy.

Thank you.

Lt. Col. Lawrence Smith was the US Defense Attache to the US embassy in Colombo during the conflict. Lt. Col. Anthony Gash was the UK Defense Attache to the UK High Commission in Colombo during the conflict. Both were privy to top level information which they passed on to their respective governments. Their info and their observations are to be taken far more seriously than the 3^rd& 4^thparty LTTE linked data that UNHRC is using against Sri Lanka. The defense attache’s of both governments have effectively quelled 2 of the most serious allegations against Sri Lanka – alleged killing of surrendered and bogus figures of dead. It is the allegation of killing that constitutes the allegation of war crimes against the Sri Lanka Armed Forces fast forwarding resolutions and punitive actions. However, if such crimes were not committed, what is the UNHRC up to? This is what Sri Lanka’s defense team via the foreign ministry must be presenting. Prove your case with facts and not fairytales.

Lt. Col. Lawrence Smith’s comments made at the Sri Lanka Defense Seminar in May 2011 (whether it is his own opinion or that of the US Govt) is irrelevant, as the statement is generated by the documents in his hands while holding the portfolio as US Defense Attache to the US Embassy in Colombo. Thus, his comments clearly negates the white flag surrender fairy tales.

How silly of the US to downplay comments made by its own military attache who is obviously quoting from the same report that he sends to his Govt!

Lt. Col. Anthony Gash (Feb2007-Jun2009)

The UK defense attache Lt. Colonel Anthony Gash’sdespatches from January to May 2009 also demolishes a key allegation of killing 40,000 civilians which is the single basis to declare Sri Lanka’s Armed Forces as war criminals.

His reports were classified by UK Govt as ‘secret’

Sri Lanka must also be grateful to Lord Naseby who is taking a principled stand to fight the truth on facts.

Lord Naseby met Lt. Col. Gash in Colombo in early 2009.

Lord Naseby challenged the classification of Gash’s reports as ‘secret’ via the UK Freedom of Information Act 2000 and spent 3 years doing so.

Lord Naseby was given 39 pages of heavily blackened report.

What was readable clearly proved 40,000 deaths did not take place.

Lord Naseby has been doing what Sri Lanka’s Foreign Minister/Secretary and all those tasked to represent and defend Sri Lanka have been too lethargic to do. Digging for ways to prove the false allegations against Sri Lanka was what mattered and Lord Naseby stood to the defense of Truth.

Sri Lanka foolishly co-sponsored the UNHRC Resolution in 2015.

Lord Naseby declared the contents of the despatches to the House of Lords on 12 October 2017.

Had the Government of Sri Lanka tabled Lord Naseby’s painstakingly sought facts, the UNHRC lies would have fallen flat. Then Foreign Minister Marapana admitted in 2019 that the GoSL did not use Lord Naseby’s revelation appropriately. What stops successive Foreign Ministers from doing so?

Lt. Col. Gash’s reports to the UK reveal facts too true to chew.

• LTTE was keeping civilians as hostage/human shields
• LTTE was controlling NFZ
• LTTE was confiscating food and medicines sent for civilians using them for their combatants and families only
• SL Armed Forces were carrying out the humanitarian operation with compassion at great security risk

26 April 2009 – Gash dispatch to UK Assessment”

Civilians killed Feb 1-Apr 26 – 6432”

(Gash Despatch quoting UN Country Team)

What is clear is that both the defense attache’s of the US and UK foreign missions in Colombo were pretty certain that no foul play took place.

Thus, it is pathetic for UNHRC to claim so an demand war crimes tribunals and hybrid courts.

So far its been 12years and even with a Missing Persons mechanism set up – the UNHRC cannot produce 40,000 names of the dead or even missing. This showcases what a farce the allegation is.

The sealing of witnesses for 20 years is a super ploy to ensure lies and liars are kept hidden for 20 years after which the damage is done. We can recall how Milosevic was exonerated from war crimes charges 14 years after his death having been put to prison on bogus charges. We do not wish to see the same happening to our war heroes by the same warped minds handling these kangaroo courts in the UN. How many tribunals an Truth Commissions have they held and what is the gain they have secured from these except providing themselves employment!

We have a clear case of bias and hypocrisy at play in Sri Lanka’s conflict. The very nations that supported LTTE are attempting to put Sri Lanka on trial completely ignoring their role in helping terror. They continue to do so by allowing LTTE diaspora to operate in their countries.

When the Tamils living in Sri Lanka wish to move on with  life, the LTTE Diaspora and their Western stooges together with India want the opposite.

When even LTTE combatants who have lost their childhood, lost parts of their bodies, lost opportunity to become somebody in life, the LTTE diaspora and their Western stooges together with India want to create more troubles.

It is time the people of Sri Lanka realize the larger picture.

Shenail D Waduge

Laksiri Warnakula 

She has been there for many years, living peacefully in the forest.

And one day the earth beneath and around her began to shake and tremble, making her very nervous. Then she saw: the man and his machine, the harbingers of her ruin.

And there she stood helplessly immersed in thoughts that were of extreme bewilderment, which quickly turned to great sadness: how could he? Doesn’t he or those who command him know that I am amongst the rarest, with only a very few of my relatives living in some other locations in the country?

May be he and those, who are above him don’t know or even if they do, would they care? So the great tree,  with such mournful thoughts was getting ready for the inevitable that would come soon. 

Then she heard the commotion. The roar of the machine abruptly fell silent. And came the voice ‘No. The tree stays’!

We all know what followed next, don’t we? 

And that particular ‘Crudia zeylanica’ tree was saved by the intervention of a valiant lady forest conservator, who was not afraid to face the political wherewithal, which was made even more lethal by copious amounts  of ignorance and stupidity of some others, who seemed to have no compunction in removing it to accomodate for an ‘express way’. And I wonder, in spite of the efforts of all concerned how long the tree can survive before the axe comes down, which I sincerely hope will never happen, a hope against hope.

Some say that changing the already completed design and the current work already in progress of the express way, in order to save the tree, might incur few billions. I am not a civil engineer, yet isn’t it a bit too high? And then how about the cost of building towers or the size of expenditure spent on building and maintaining numerous non-revenue-earning white elephants standing all around the country: products of whims and fancies of both past and present governors?

Now we know this wasn’t the first instance, when in a previous occasion too, the said officer stood her ground, while taking on the political might of another politician, who in the course of his argument with the officer also threw a phenomenally absurd and stupid question, (which by the way is not unusual anyway as far as this nincompoop lot is concerned), at her: ‘what is Oxygen for, eating?’ And then another from the same ‘Illuminati’ lamented: ‘why talk to media, all the time?’ Well leaving aside the questionable traits of some of our media channels, it is still the media or how else he proposes to get the message across to the public? Is he talking about going back to olden days, when an old van or a tractor doing rounds in the town or the village, with a loudspeaker tied to them blaring out music and whatnot?

And it is also quite disappointing to hear that some people are trying to belittle what the forest officer has done. 

I wonder whether this attitude/habit has now become a national trait: belittling and fault-finding instead of admiration and praise, when they are due? Remember the disparaging remarks made by some belonging to our political elite itself during the war: ‘Alimankada/Pamankada, Kilinochchiya/Madawachiya and Thoppigala/Gana kalawak’. So the lesser mortals taking a negative, unappreciative stance in situations like the one being discussed here, is not surprising.

Lastly, and in my opinion, the brave lady forest officer is a ‘David’ fighting the ‘Goliyaths’, who wouldn’t give a tinker’s cuss about the colossal damage, often irrereparable, is done to the environment in the name of development.

Laksiri Warnakula 

ජාතික ජන බලවේගය

මේ වන විට අප රට තුළකෝවිඩ් 19 රෝගය පැතිරීම වැළැක්වීමේ පියවරක් වශයෙන්  මහජනතාව එන්නත් කිරීම අරඹා තිබීම සතුටට කරුණකි. නමුත් සැලකිල්ලෙන් බැලූ විට පැහැදිලිව පෙනෙන්නේ මේ වන විට අනුගමනය කරමින් පවතින එන්නත් කිරීමේ ව්‍යාපාරය විද්‍යාත්මක ක්‍රමවේදයෙන් බැහැරව සිදුකරන  බවය. විශේෂයෙන් ලෝක සෞඛ්‍ය සංවිධානය විසින් කෝවිඩ් 19 රෝගය පැතිරීම වැළැක්වීම සඳහා එන්නත් කළ යුතු ආකාරය පිළිබඳ විද්‍යාත්මකව කරුණු ඉදිරිපත් කර ඇති නමුදු එම කරුණු අපේ රටේවර්තමානයේදී ක්‍රියාත්මක වන එන්නත් කිරීමේ ක්‍රියාවලියේදී අනුගමනය කරන බව පෙනෙන්නට නැත.මෙම වසංගත තත්වය පාලනය කර ගැනීමේ පැත්තෙන් බැලූ විට මෙය නොසලකා හැරීමට බැරි කරුණකි.

මෙම එන්නත් කිරීමේ ක්‍රියාවලියේ ප්‍රධානතම අරමුණ වන්නේ දැඩි සංකූලතා සහිත කෝවිඩ් 19රෝගීන් වැළැක්වීම හා කෝවිඩ්-19 රෝගය නිසා සිදුවන මරණ සංඛ්‍යාව වැළැක්වීමයි.එමෙන්ම දැනට පවතින එන්නත් ප්‍රමාණය සීමා සහිත වීම හා රටට අවශ්‍ය කරන එන්නත් ප්‍රමාණය ලැබෙන දිනය අවිනිශ්චිත වීම යන කාරණා නිසා එන්නත් කිරීමේදී එන්නත් කළ යුතු ප්‍රමුඛතා අනුපිළිවෙළ හඳුනාගැනීම ඉතා වැදගත් වේ. මේ වන විට ඉන්දියාවෙන් පරිත්‍යාගයක් ලෙස ලැබී ඇති සීමාසහිත එන්නත් ප්‍රමාණයක් පමණක් අප සතුව පවතින බැවින්  වඩා හොඳ ප්‍රතිඵලයක් ලැබෙන පරිදි එම එන්නත් අප රට විසින් භාවිත කළ යුතුව ඇත.

ලෝක සෞඛ්‍ය සංවිධානය විසින් එන්නත්කරණයේදී සැලකිය යුතු ප්‍රධාන කරුණු හතරක් දක්වා ඇත. එනම් යම් රටක් තුළ වසංගතයේ පැතිරීම, පවතින එන්නත් ප්‍රමාණය හා නැවත ලබා ගත හැකි ආකාරය, එන්නතෙහි පවතින විශේෂ ලක්ෂණ හා ඒ ඒ ජනගහනයන් සඳහා එන්නත් කිරීමෙන් ඇතිවන විශේෂ වාසි සහ අවාසි යනු ඒ කරුණු වේ. අප රට සඳහා මහජනතාව එන්නත් කිරීමේ ක්‍රියාවලියේදී එම කරුණු විද්‍යාත්මකව අදාළ කරගත යුතුය. අප රටට එන්නතක් හඳුන්වා දීම සඳහා තාක්ෂණික කමිටුවක් පවතින අතර ඒ සඳහා බෝවන රෝග පිළිබඳ ජාතික උපදේශන කමිටුව, එම තාක්ෂණික කමිටුව ලෙස ක්‍රියාත්මක වේ. එම කමිටුව විසින් මේ වනවිට කෝවිඩ් 19 රෝගය වැළැක්වීම සඳහා ජාතික එන්නත් කරන වැඩපිළිවෙළ අනුමත කර ඇති අතර ලෝක සෞඛ්‍ය සංවිධානය ඇතුළු ඒ සම්බන්ධ සියලුම පාර්ශවයන්ට දැනුවත් කිරීම් සිදු කර ඇත.

මෙසේ අනුමත කර ඇති කෝවිඩ් 19 රෝග වැළැක්වීම සඳහා ජාතික එන්නත් කරන වැඩපිළිවෙළ අනුව සෞඛ්‍ය සේවා හා රෝගීන් සමග ගැටිය හැකි පොදු සේවාවලට අමතරව වයස අවුරුදු 60ට වැඩි පුද්ගලයින් හා බෝනොවන රෝග සහිත පුද්ගලයින් (වකුගඩු රෝග, දියවැඩියාව, අධික රුධිර පීඩනය, හදවත් රෝග, ස්වසන රෝග වැනි) එන්නත් කිරීම සඳහා ප්‍රමුඛ කාණ්ඩයම් ලෙස හඳුනාගෙන ඇත. මේ වන විට 430ක් පමණ වන කෝවිඩ් මරණ සංඛ්‍යාවෙහි වැඩි මරණ ප්‍රමාණයක් සිදු වී ඇති වයස කාණ්ඩය වන්නේද වයස අවුරුදු 60ට ඉහළ වයස් කණ්ඩායමයි.

නමුත් මේ වන විට එන්නත ලබාදීම ප්‍රමුඛතා වයස් කාණ්ඩයන් වෙනස් වී ඇති අතර වයස අවුරුදු 30 සහ 60 අතර පිරිස මෙම එන්නත් කරන ක්‍රියාවලිය සඳහා ප්‍රමුඛ කණ්ඩායම ලෙස හඳුනාගෙන ඇති බව පෙනී යයි. එමෙන්ම මෙම පිරිසද විද්‍යාත්මක පදනමකින් තොරව තැනින් තැන තෝරා ගෙන ඇති බව පෙනී යයි. මෙය එන්නත ලබාදීම දේශපාලනීකරණය කිරීමක් ලෙසද පෙනෙන්නට තිබේ. මෙසේ සිදු කිරීමෙන් එන්නත් කිරීමේ ක්‍රියාවලියෙහි මුඛ්‍ය පරමාර්ථයන් ඉටු නොවන අතර කෝවිඩ් 19 රෝගය මර්දනය කිරීමේ මහජන සෞඛ්‍යමය උත්සාහයන්හි ප්‍රතිඵලයන් හීන කිරීමට හේතු වේ.

එම නිසා ඉතා ඉක්මනින් එන්නත් ක්‍රියාවලියේ ප්‍රමුඛතාවය හඳුනාගෙන ඒ අනුව ක්‍රියා කරන ලෙසත් වර්ධනය වෙමින් පවතින වසංගතය හා වැඩිවෙමින් පවතින මරණ සංඛ්‍යාව පාලනය කිරීම සඳහා නිවැරදි ක්‍රියාමාර්ග ඉක්මනින් ගෙන ජන ජීවිත සුරක්ෂිත කරන ලෙසත් අපි ආණ්ඩුවේ බලධාරීන්ගෙන් ඉල්ලා සිටිමු.

ජාතික ජන බලවේගය

ජනමාධ්‍ය නිවේදනයයි.සමස්ත ලංකා රජයේ ආයුර්වේද වෛද්‍ය නිළධාරී සංගමය.

දේශපාලන බලහත්කාරයෙන් වෛද්‍යවරුන්ගේ ස්ථාන මාරු අවලංගු කිරීම.

මධ්‍යම රජය, පළාත් සභා, පළාත් පාලන ආයතන හා ප්‍රාදේශීය ලේකම් කොට්ඨාශ වලට අනුයුක්තව තම මාසික ජීවන වියදම පිරිමසා ගැනීමටවත් නොසරිලන මූලික වැටුපකට පමණක් හිමිකම් කියමින් අවම පහසුකම් යටතේ තම සේවාව ඉටු කරන 300 කට ආසන්න රජයේ ආයුර්වේද වෛද්‍යවරුන් සාධාරණ පදනමකින් තොරව දේශපාළන බලහත්කාරය යොදවා කිසිදු සාධාරණ හේතුවකින් තොරව අත්තනෝමතික ලෙස ස්ථානමාරු අවලංගු කර ඇත.

විධිමත් ස්ථානමාරු පටිපාටිය පවා නොසලකා හරිමින් වාර්ෂික ස්ථාන මාරු මණ්ඩලයේ තීන්දු අත්හිටුවමින් සිය ගෝල බාලයන්ගේ මඟ පෙන්වීම මත හිතුවක්කාර ලෙස සිදුකරන මෙම ස්ථාන මාරු හේතුවෙන් සමස්ත වෛද්‍ය සේවාවම අවුල් සහගත තත්ත්වයකට ලක් කර ඇත.

එක් අතකින් 20 වන ව්‍යවස්ථා සංශෝධනය හරහා ස්වාධීන රාජ්‍ය සේවා කොමිෂන් සභාව අකර්මණ්‍ය කිරීම තුළ මෙම බලහත්කාරයට මඟ පාදා ඇති අතර, නව ලිබරල් ආර්ථික ප‍්‍රතිපත්තියට අනුව උපාය මාර්ග තෝරමින් සුබසාධන සේවාවක් ලෙස පවතින සෞඛ්‍ය සේවයේ කොටසක් වන ආයුර්වේද සෞඛ්‍ය සේවය පවත්වාගෙන යාමේ වග වීමෙන් නිදහස් වීමට පවතින බාධා අවම කර ගැනීමට ද රජය මේ හරහා උත්සාහ දරා ඇත.

* #කොරෝනා ගෝලීය වසංගතය තුල පවා රජය, දේශීය වෛද්‍ය අමාත්‍යංශයෙන් #කොරෝනා මර්දන කමිටු වාර්ථා පවා හමස් පෙට්ටියට යොදමින් රටේ ජනතාවට මිථ්‍යාව පතුරවමින් රාජ්‍ය ආයුර්වේද සේවාව දියකර හැරීමේ වැඩ පිළිවෙලකට එරෙහිව කටයුතු කළ වෘත්තීය සමිති දුර්වල කිරීමට ගත් උත්සාහයන් ද මේ මගින් සැළසුම් කර ඇත.

* 2019 සැප්තැම්බර් මස 2020 වර්ෂය සඳහා පටන් ගත් මෙම ස්ථාන මාරු මණ්ඩල ක්‍රියාවලිය 2021. 02. 12 දින නිකුත් කරනු ලැබීමෙන් පසු සමස්ත වෛද්‍ය කාර්ය මණ්ඩලය බලවත් නොසන්සුන්තාවයකට පත් වී ඇති අතර සේවාවේ ගරුත්වයට, සමරූපී බවට බරපතල ලෙස හානි සිදුවී ඇති බව පෙන්වා දෙන අතර මෙවැනි අක්‍රමිකතා සිදුවීම පිළිබඳව රාජ්‍ය සේවා කොමිෂන් සභාව ඇතුළු සියළු නිළධාරීන් වගකිව යුතු බවද පෙන්වා දෙමි.

* සමස්ථ වෛද්‍ය කාර්ය මණ්ඩල මෙම බලහත්කාරයට එරෙහිව ඒකාබද්ධ වෘත්තීය ක්‍රියාමාර්ග වෙත හා අධිකරණ ක්‍රියාමාර්ග වෙත යොමුවීමට සැළසුම් කර ඇති බව දන්වා සිටින අතර මෙම වාතාවරණය මත ඉදිරියේදී ආයුර්වේද සෞඛ්‍ය සේවාව අකර්මණ්‍යවීමේ අවදානමේ වගකීම රජය භාරගත යුතු බවද වැඩි දුරටත් දන්වා සිට්මු.

ස්තුතියි.

මෙයට,
වෛද්‍ය කේ. පී. ආර්. එස්. ගුණරත්න.
(ප්‍රධාන ලේකම්),
සමස්ත ලංකා රජයේ ආයුර්වේද වෛද්‍ය නිළධාරී සංගමය.

ලංකා ගුරුසේවා සංගමය.

ගරු අධ්‍යාපන අමාත්‍ය,
ජී.එල්. පිරීස් මහතා,
අධ්‍යාපන අමාත්‍යංශය,
බත්තරමුල්ල

අමාත්‍යතුමනි,

අ.පො.ස.(සා පෙළ) විභාග රාජකාරිවල නිරත වන 46000 ක් පමණ වන ගුරුවරුන්, විදුහල්පතිවරුන් හා අනෙකුත් කාර්යය මණ්ඩල එන්නත් කිරීම ප්‍රමුඛ කාර්යයක් ලෙස නොසැලකීම සම්බන්ධවයි.

ක‍දඩසා-19 වසංගත අවදානම හමුවේ දිවයිනේ මධ්‍යස්ථාන 4513 කදී මාර්තු 01 වන දින ආරම්භ වන 2020, අ.පො.ස. සාමාන්‍ය පෙළ විභාගයේ රාජකාරි සදහා කැදවීමට නියමිතව ඇති 46000 ක් පමණ වන ගුරුවරුන්, විදුහල්පතිවරුන් සහ අනෙකුත් කාර්යය මණ්ඩල එදිනට පෙර ප්‍රමුඛ කාර්යයක් සේ සලකා එන්නත් කිරීමේ කඩිනම් වැඩපිළිවෙලක් සකස් කිරීමට මැදිහත්වන ලෙස ලංකා ගුරු සේවා සංගමය ඉතා ඕනෑකමින් හා වගකීමෙන් යුතුව ඉල්ලා සිටිමු.

02ග රට තුළ ක‍දඩසා-19 වසංගතය ආරම්භයත් සමග අධ්‍යාපන අමාත්‍යංශය, 43 ලක‍ෂයක් පමණ වන සිසු දරුවන් හා 3 ලක‍ෂයකට ආසන්න ගුරුවරුන්, විදුහල්පතිවරුන් හා අනෙකුත් කාර්යය මණ්ඩලවල ආරක‍ෂාව හා අවදානම පිළිබදව දැඩි අවධානයක් යොමු කරමින් පාසල් වසා දැමීමට කටයුතු කරන ලදි. නමුත් දිනපතා රෝගීන් සියගණන් හා මරණ කීපයක් වාර්තා වන තත්ත්වයක් තුළ සිසුන් 6 62352 ක් එකවර පෙනී සිටින අ.පො.ස. සාමාන්‍ය පෙළ විභාගයේදී ඔවුන්ගේ සෞඛ්‍ය ආරක‍ෂාව සම්බන්ධව අධ්‍යාපන අමාත්‍යංශය මෙවර විධිමත් අවධානයක් මෙතෙක් යොමු නොකිරීම කනගාටුවට කරුණකි.

03ග එමෙන්ම විභාග දෙපාර්තමේන්තුව විසින් පවත්වන ලද අ.පො.ස. උසස් පෙළ, 5 ශ්‍රේණිය ශිෂ්‍යත්ව යන විභාගවලදී ගුරුවරුන් දැඩි අවදානම් තත්ත්වයක මහත් වු කැපවීමකින් කටයුතු කළ බව ඔබ හොදින් දන්නා කරුණකි. එහිදී ඔවුන්ගේ මෙන්ම සිසුන්ගේද ආරක‍ෂාව ඔවුනොවුන් විසින්ම සලසා ගැනීමට සිදු වුයේ මෙවැනි එන්නතක් ලොව හදුන්වා දී නොමැති තත්ත්වයක වුවද මෙම අවස්ථාවේ එවැනි ගැටඵවක් නොවන හෙයින් ඒ සදහා සෞඛ්‍ය අංශ සම`ග සාකච්ඡා කර එන්නත් කිරීමේ කඩිනම් වැඩපිළිවෙලක් සැකසීම අධ්‍යාපන අමාත්‍යංශයට අත්හල නොහැකි වගකීමකි.

එහෙයින් තවදුරටත් රට තුළ ක‍දඩසා වසංගත ව්‍යාප්තිය හමුවේ ජාතික එන්නත් වැඩපිළිවෙලක අවශ්‍යතාව ද දැඩිව අවධාරණය කරන අප සංගමය, මේ මොහොතේ ප්‍රමුඛ හා කඩිනම් වැඩපිළිවෙලක් ලෙස විභාග රාජකාරිවල නිරත වීමට නියමිතව සිටින ගුරුවරුන්, විදුහල්පතිවරුන් ඇතු`ඵ අනෙකුත් කාර්යය මණ්ඩල එන්නත් කිරීමට කඩිනම් වැඩපිළිවෙලක් සකස් කරන ලෙස නැවතත් ලංකා ගුරු සේවා සංගමය ඉතා ඕනෑකමින් යුතුව ඉල්ලා සිටිමු.

මෙයට,
විධායක සභාව වෙනුවෙන්,

මහින්ද ජයසිංහ,
ප්‍රධාන ලේකම්,
ලංකා ගුරුසේවා සංගමය.
සම්බන්ධීකරණය – 0718297022/0777685038
පිටපත් – 01. ලේකම් – අධ්‍යාපන අමාත්‍යංශය

1. ලේකම් – සෞඛ්‍ය අමාත්‍යංශය
2. විභාග කොමසාරිස් ජනරාල් – විභාග දෙපාර්තමේන්තුව
3. හමුදාපති ශවේන්ද්‍ර සිල්වා – කොවිඩ් මර්ධන ජනාධිපති කාර්යසාධන බලකාය

ප්‍රවෘත්තී නිවේදනය -නිපුණතා සංවර්ධන, වෘත්තීය අධ්‍යාපන, පර්යේෂණ හා නව නිපැයුම් රාජ්‍ය අමාත්‍යාංශය

            මෙරට විදුලි කාර්මික ක්ෂේත්‍රයේ ආරක්ෂාව වැඩිදියුණු කිරීමේ අරමුණින් විදුලි කාර්මිකයින්ට ජාතික හා ජාත්‍යන්තර පිළිගත් වෘත්තීය සුදුසුකම නොමිලේ ලබාදීම සඳහා තෘතීයික හා වෘත්තීය අධ්‍යාපන කොමිෂන් සභාව, වෘත්තීය පුහුණු අධිකාරිය හා ශ්‍රී ලංකා මහජන උපයෝගීතා කොමිෂන් සභාව යන රාජ්‍ය ආයතන ත්‍රිත්වය අද ( 23 ) දින නිපුණතා සංවර්ධන අමාත්‍යංශයේදී අවබෝධතා ගිවිසුමකට අත්සන් තැබීය.

නිපුණතා සංවර්ධන වෘත්තීය අධ්‍යාපන පර්යේෂණ හා නව නිපැයුම් ගරු රාජ්‍ය අමාත්‍ය විශේෂඥ වෛද්‍ය සීතා අරඹේපොල මැතිනියගේ ප්‍රධානත්වයෙන් තෘතීය හා වෘත්තීය අධ්‍යාපන කොමිෂන් සභාවේ සභාපති ඉංජිනේරු උදේනි වික්‍රමසිංහ මහතා, වෘත්තීය පුහුණු අධිකාරියේ සභාපති දමිත වික්‍රමසිංහ මහතා සහ මහජන උපයෝගීතා කොමිසමේ අධ්‍යක්ෂ ජනරාල් දමිත කුමාරසිංහ මහතා  විසින් මෙම අත්සන් තැබීම සිදුකරන ලදි.

මෙරට ඉදිකිරීම් ක්ෂේත්‍රයේ නිපුණ ශිල්පීන් ලෙස වෘත්තීන් 11ක් හඳුනාගෙන ඇති අතර එයින් එක් අංශයක් වන්නෙ විදුලි කාර්මික ශිල්පයයි. මෙරට විදුලි කාර්මිකයින් 45,000ක පමණ පිරිසක් මේ වන විට වෘත්තීයෙහි නියැලෙන බවට ඇස්තමේන්තු කර තිබේ. නමුත් ඔවුන්ගෙන් 85% කට සිය වෘත්තිය සම්බන්ධයෙන් පිළිගත් අධ්‍යාපන හෝ වෘත්තීය සුදුසුකමක් නොමැති බවද අනාවරණය වී තිබේ. පලපුරුද්දෙන් වෘත්තීයෙහි නියැලෙන විදුලි කාර්මිකයින් විශාල සංඛ්‍යාවක් අවශ්‍ය වෘත්තීය දැනුම ලබාගත්තද විදුලි කාර්මිකයින් හට ජාතික වෘත්තීය පුහුණු සුදුසුකම ලබාගැනීමට ප්‍රධාන බාධාවක් වී ඇත්තේ පාඨමාලා කාලය සහ ඒ සඳහා වැයවෙන ගාස්තු ආදියයි.

මෙම ගැටළුවට පිළියමක් වශයෙන් නොමිලේ ජාතික වෘත්තීය සුදුසුකම NVQ Level 3  ලබා දීමට මෙම රාජ්‍ය ආයතන ත්‍රිත්වය කටයුතු කර තිබේ. ඒ අනුව මෙම අවබෝධතා ගිවිසුම මගින් විදුලි කාර්මික ශිල්පී පාඨමාලා සඳහා වැයවෙන පාඨමාලා ගාස්තු හා පරීක්ෂණ ගාස්තු ජාතික වෘත්තීය පුහුණු අධිකාරිය හා ශ්‍රී ලංකා මහජන උපයෝගීතා කොමිෂන් සභාව විසින් දරනු ලැබේ.

මෙම වැඩසටහනේ මුල් අදියරේදී දිස්ත්‍රික්කයකට විදුලි කාර්මිකයින් සිය දෙනෙකුට විශේෂ සිව්දින වැඩසටහන යටතේ පුහුණුව ලබාගෙන NVQ 3 මට්ටම ලබාගැනීමට පහසුකම් සැලසෙන අතර මුල් අදියරේදී විදුලි කාර්මිකයින් 2400කට NVQ 3 පිරිනැමීමට සැලසුම් කර ඇත.

විදුලි කාර්මික බලපත්‍ර ක්‍රමය අනුව ශ්‍රේණි 6ක් යටතේ විදුලි කාර්මිකයා වර්ග කර බලපත්‍ර පිරිනමනු ලැබේ. රැහැන්කරු, ආධුනික විදුලි කාර්මික ශිල්පි, කණිෂ්ඨ විදුලි කාර්මික ශිල්පී, ජ්‍යෙෂ්ඨ විදුලි කාර්මික ශිල්පී, ප්‍රධාන විදුලි කාර්මික ශිල්පී සහ විශේෂඥ විදුලි කාර්මික ශිල්පී යන ශ්‍රේණි 6 ඔස්සේ විදුලි කාර්මිකයාට උසස්වීම් ලබාගැනීමට හැකි වේ.

            මෙම ශ්‍රේණි ක්‍රමය ජාතික වෘත්තීය සුදුසුකම ( NVQ ) සේවා පළපුරුද්ද පදනම් කරගෙන ක්‍රියාත්මක වෙයි. කණිෂ්ඨ විදුලි කාර්මික ශිල්පී තනතුර ලබාගැනීම සඳහා NVQ 3 හෙවත් ජාතික වෘත්තීය සුදුසුකම 3වැනි මට්ටම හා සේවා පලපුරුද්ද අවශ්‍ය වේ. විදුලි කාර්මිකයෙකු ජාතික වෘත්තීය සුදුසුකම 4 වන මට්ටම හා අදාළ සේවා පලපුරුද්ද ලබාගත් විට ජ්‍යෙෂ්ඨ විදුලි කාර්මික බලපත්‍රය ලබාගත හැකිය. ජාතික වෘත්තීය සුදුසුකම 5 වන මට්ටම ලබාගත් පසු ප්‍රධාන විදුලි කාර්මික තනතුර හා විශේෂඥ විදුලිකාර්මික ශිල්පී බලපත්‍රයද පිරිනැමේ.

            ඒ අනුව අද දින අත්සන් කරන ලද අවබෝධතා ගිවිසුම මගින් විදුලිකාර්මිකයාට සිය වෘත්තීය බලපත්‍රය ලබාගැනීම සඳහා අවශ්‍ය වන ජාතික වෘත්තීය සුදුසුකම 3 මට්ටම කඩිනම් ක්‍රමයක් යටතේ නොමිලේ ලබා ගැනීමට හැකියාව ලැබෙන අතරම ඉදිරියේදී නිවෙස් වල විදුලි පද්ධති ස්ථාපනය, ඒවා පරීක්ෂා කිරීම හා සහතික කිරීමේ හැකියාවද ලැබෙනු ඇත. එමෙන්ම විදුලිකාර්මිකයාට ජාතික හා ජාත්‍යන්තර පිළිගැනීමක් ලබාදී ඔහුගේ වෘත්තීය ප්‍රගමනයට බාධාවක්ව පවතින අධ්‍යාපන සුදුසුකම් පිළිබඳ අඩුවද මෙම අවබෝධතා ගිවිසුම මගින් පුරවනු ලැබේ.

අවබෝධතා ගිවිසුම අත්සන් කිරීමේ අවස්ථාවට නිපුණතා අමාත්‍යාංශයේ ලේකම් පද්මා රාජපක්ෂ මහත්මිය ඇතුලු රාජ්‍ය  නිලධාරීන් පිරිසක් සහභාගී විය.

මාධ්‍ය ඒකකය

නිපුණතා සංවර්ධන, වෘත්තීය අධ්‍යාපන, පර්යේෂණ හා නව නිපැයුම් රාජ්‍ය අමාත්‍යාංශය

Senaka Weeraratna

1) German Dharmaduta Society – 50th Anniversary (1952 – 2002) Souvenir

Please find the attachment with download link below

https://we.tl/t-0ze3Lt748r

2) “The Prospects for the Growth of Buddhism in Germany and other Western Countries”, by Agganyani (Christa Bentenrieder)

The Keynote address was delivered by Agganyani, Secretary General, Deutsche Buddhistische Union at the public meeting held on September 21, 2002 at Savsiripaye, Colombo to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of the founding of the German Dharmaduta Society (1952 -2002).

” We German Buddhists will never forget what you have done for us. We all appreciate your contribution to the spread of Buddhism in Germany, and to the Berlin Buddhist Vihara, and we thank you out of the deepest gratitude of our hearts.

May all of you attain Nibbana soon as a reward for your generosity and promotion of Theravada Buddhism in Germany.

Let Sri Lankans and Germans follow the path of the Buddha together, hand-in-hand.

May we attain Nibbana together and soon!”

  Agganyani  

http://www.buddhanet.net/growth.htm

3) When the World boycotted the Germans, Sri Lanka opened its doors to the Germans

Prime Minister’s Media Unit

Ayubowan!

I had the great privilege to welcome His Excellency Imran Khan, the Prime Minister of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, and his high-level delegation this evening.

Prime Minister, you are not a stranger to the people of Sri Lanka. There are millions in this country who have admired your leadership on the cricket field as the Captain of the Pakistan National Team.

Your country continues to be a valuable bilateral partner, and Sri Lanka considers Pakistan a close and genuine friend. Our People hold Pakistan in very high esteem. Pakistan was a friend who stood by and helped Sri Lanka in times of great need. We are grateful for the steadfast support, particularly during my Presidency, when we had to fight a dangerous terrorist organization that was fully neutralized in May 2009.

During our bilateral discussions earlier this evening, Prime Minister Imran Khan and I agreed to work closely towards enhancing our bilateral cooperation in the economic sector and a number of other areas including trade, investment, science, technology, defense and education. We also agreed to pursue the opportunities presented within the framework of the Pakistan-Sri Lanka Free Trade Agreement. Our talks also focused on important regional and international issues as well as the impact of the Coronavirus pandemic.

We further agreed to work towards increasing activities in the tourism and aviation sectors. Sri Lanka is grateful to Pakistan for agreeing to open the pilgrimage corridors for Sri Lankans to  visit ancient Buddhist heritage sites in Pakistan.

Another important decision we made is to restart Parliamentary interaction through the Pakistan

– Sri Lanka Parliamentary Friendship Groups.

Sri Lanka believes that political stability and regional peace will be the key to achieve sustainable development, economic growth and prosperity in South Asia. I admire Prime Minister Khan for his efforts in alleviating poverty and socio-economic disparity which play an important part of our development agenda. We continue to work together to fight terrorism, religious fundamentalism and extremism.

In our talks, we agreed to continue with the current mechanism to curb illegal drug trafficking, arms smuggling and other illegal activities by sharing information through the relevant agencies.

We are also thankful to Pakistan for the partnership in the field of sports and assistance to enhance sports training facilities in the country.

Tomorrow, Prime Minister Imran Khan will preside over a business and investment forum with a strong multi-sector business delegation from Pakistan. Through direct interactions with their Sri

Lankan counterparts, we expect to see a considerable increase in investments and business activities between our two countries.

While thanking Prime Minister Imran Khan and the delegation for undertaking this official visit to Sri Lanka, I am deeply grateful to you for honoring Sri Lanka with your visit here.

Thank you.

අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය මාධ්‍ය අංශය

ආයුබෝවන්!

පාකිස්තාන ඉස්ලාමීය ජනරජයේ අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය අතිගරු ඉම්රාන් ඛාන් මහතා සහ එතුමාගේ ඉහළ පෙළේ නියෝජිත පිරිස අද 2021.02.23 දින පිළිගැනීමට ලැබීම පිළිබඳව මම මහත් සතුටට පත් වෙනවා.

අගමැතිතුමනි, ඔබ ශ්‍රී ලංකා ජනතාවට අමුත්තෙකු නොවේ. පාකිස්තාන ජාතික ක්‍රිකට් කණ්ඩායමේ නායකයා ලෙස ක්‍රිකට් පිටියේ ඔබගේ නායකත්වය අගය කළ මිලියන සංඛ්‍යාත පිරිසක් මේ රටේ සිටිති.

ඔබගේ රට දිගුකාලීන ද්විපාර්ශ්වික හවුල්කරුවෙකු වන අතර ශ්‍රී ලංකාව හැමවිටම පාකිස්තානය සමීප හා අව්‍යාජ මිතුරෙකු ලෙස සලකයි. අපේ ජනතාව ද පාකිස්තානය ඉතා ඉහළින් අගය කරති.

පාකිස්තානය අත්‍යවශ්‍ය අවස්ථාවේ දී ශ්‍රී ලංකාවට සහය දැක්වූ සමීප මිතුරෙකි. මගේ ජනාධිපතිධූර කාලය තුළ දී භයානක ත්‍රස්තවාදී සංවිධානයක් සමඟ සටන් වැදීමට අපට සිදුවිය. 2009 මැයි මාසයේ දී එම ත්‍රස්තවාදී සංවිධානය සම්පූර්ණයෙන්ම පරාජය කිරීමට පාකිස්තානයෙන් ලද සහයෝගයට අපි කෘතඥ වෙමු.

අද සවස පැවැති අපගේ ද්විපාර්ශ්වික සාකච්ඡා අතරතුර, අගමැති ඉම්රාන් ඛාන් මහතා සහ මම දෙරට අතර ආර්ථික, වෙළඳ, ආයෝජන, විද්‍යා හා තාක්‍ෂණ, ආරක්ෂක සහ අධ්‍යාපනය ක්ෂේත්‍රවල ඉතා සමීප සහයෝගීතාවයෙන්  කටයුතු කිරීමට ගිවිස ගතිමු.

පකිස්තාන-ශ්‍රී ලංකා නිදහස් වෙළඳ ගිවිසුම් රාමුව තුළ ඉදිරිපත්ව ඇති අවස්ථාවන් හඹා යාමට ද අපි එකඟ වූයෙමු.

අපගේ සාකච්ඡාවේ දී කොවිඩ් වසංගතය ඇතුළු කලාපීය හා ජාත්‍යන්තර ගැටලු පිළිබඳව ද අවධානය යොමු විය. දෙරට අතර සංචාරක හා ගුවන් සේවා අංශවල ක්‍රියාකාරකම් ඉහළ  දැමීමට ද අපි එකඟ වූයෙමු. 

පාකිස්තානයේ පුරාණ බෞද්ධ උරුමයන් නැරඹීම වන්දනා මාන කිරීමට ශ්‍රී ලාංකේයන් සඳහා මඟවිවර කරදීම පිළිබඳව පාකිස්තාන රජයට අපගේ කෘතඥතාව හිමිවෙයි.

අප ගත් තවත් වැදගත් තීරණයක් නම් පාකිස්තාන ශ්‍රී ලංකා පාර්ලිමේන්තු මිත්‍රත්ව කණ්ඩායම් ඔස්සේ  පාර්ලිමේන්තු අන්තර්ක්‍රියාවලිය නැවත ආරම්භ කිරීමයි.

දකුණු ආසියාවේ තිරසාර සංවර්ධනය, ආර්ථික වර්ධනය සහ සමෘද්ධිය ළඟා කර ගැනීම උදෙසා දේශපාලන ස්ථාවරත්වය සහ කලාපීය සාමය ප්‍රධාන වශයෙන් වැදගත්වන බව ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ විශ්වාසයයි.

අපගේ සංවර්ධන න්‍යාය පත්‍රයේ වැදගත් කොටසක් වන දරිද්‍රතාවය සහ සමාජ ආර්ථික විෂමතාවය සමනය කිරීම සඳහා අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය ඉම්රාන් ඛාන් මහතා දරණ උත්සාහය මම ඉතා අගය කොට සළකමි.

ත්‍රස්තවාදය, ආගමික මූලධර්මවාදය සහ අන්තවාදයට එරෙහිව සටන් කිරීම සඳහා අපි අඛණ්ඩව එක්ව කටයුතු කරමු.

නීතිවිරෝධී මත්ද්‍රව්‍ය ජාවාරම, ආයුධ ජාවාරම සහ වෙනත් නීති විරෝධී ක්‍රියාකාරකම් මැඩපැවැත්වීම සඳහා අදාළ නියෝජිත ආයතන ඔස්සේ තොරතුරු හුවමාරු කර ගැනීම සඳහා වර්තමාන යාන්ත්‍රණය සමඟ ඉදිරියට යාමට අපගේ සාකච්ඡාවල දී අපි එකඟ වූයෙමු.

ක්‍රීඩා ක්‍ෂේත්‍රයේ සහයෝගීතාව සහ රටේ ක්‍රීඩා පුහුණු පහසුකම් වැඩි දියුණු කිරීම සඳහා සහාය වීම පිළිබඳව අපි පාකිස්තානයට ස්තූතිවන්ත වෙමු.

පාකිස්තානයේ ඉහළ පෙළේ බහු-විධ ව්‍යාපාරික දූත පිරිසක් සමඟ හෙට දිනයේ අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය ඉම්රාන් ඛාන් මැතිතුමා ව්‍යාපාර හා ආයෝජන සමුළුවක මුල සුන හොබවනු ඇත.

ශ්‍රී ලංකාව සමඟ ඇතිකරගන්නා මෙම සෘජු වෙළඳ සබඳතාවය ඔස්සේ දෙරට අතර ආයෝජන අවස්ථා සහ වෙළඳාම් කටයුතුවල සැලකිය යුතු වර්ධනයක් ඇතිවන ඇතැයි අපි අපේක්ෂා කරමු.

ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ නිල සංචාරයක යෙදීම පිළිබඳව අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය ඉම්රාන් ඛාන් මහතාට සහ පකිස්තාන දූත පිරිසට ස්තූතිවන්ත වන අතරම, ඔබගේ පැමිණීම ශ්‍රී ලංකාවට ගෞරවයක් බව සඳහන් කරමි.

ඔබට ස්තුතියි !

අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය මාධ්‍ය අංශය

පාකිස්තාන අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය ඉම්රාන් ඛාන් මහතාගේ දෙදින නිල සංචාරයට සමඟාමීව ශ්‍රී ලංකාව සහ පාකිස්තානය අතර ආර්ථික වශයෙන් වැදගත් ගිවිසුම් පහකට අද 2021.02.23 දින පස්වරුවේ අරලියගහ මන්දිරයේ දී අත්සන් තැබිණි.

ගරු අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ මහතා සහ පාකිස්තාන අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය ඉම්රාන් ඛාන් මහතා ප්‍රමුඛ දෙරටේ නියෝජිතයෝ මෙම අවස්ථාවට එක්ව සිටියහ.

ශ්‍රී ලංකාවෙන් සහ පාකිස්තානය අතර අත්සන් කළ ද්විපාර්ශවික ගිවිසුම් පහතින් දැක්වෙයි.

1. සංචාරක සහයෝගීතාව පිළිබඳව පාකිස්තාන ඉස්ලාමීය ජනරජය හා ශ්‍රී ලංකා ප්‍රජාතන්ත්‍රවාදී සමාජවාදී ජනරජය අතර අවබෝධතා ගිවිසුම

• ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ ප්‍රජාතන්ත්‍රවාදී සමාජවාදී ජනරජයේ ආයෝජන මණ්ඩලය සහ පාකිස්තාන ඉස්ලාමීය ජනරජයේ ආයෝජන මණ්ඩලය අතර සහයෝගිතාව පිළිබඳ අවබෝධතා ගිවිසුම

• ශ්‍රී ලංකා ප්‍රජාතන්ත්‍රවාදී සමාජවාදී ජනරජය කාර්මික තාක්‍ෂණ ආයතනය (ITI) සහ පාකිස්තාන ඉස්ලාමීය ජනරජයේ කරච්චි විශ්වවිද්‍යාලය අතර අවබෝධතා ගිවිසුම

• කොළඹ කාර්මික තාක්ෂණ ආයතනය සහ ඉස්ලාමාබාද් හි කොම්සැට්ස් (COMSATS) විශ්වවිද්‍යාලය අතර සහයෝගීතාව

• කොළඹ විශ්වවිද්‍යාලය සහ පාකිස්තානයේ ලාහෝර් ආර්ථික විද්‍යාලය අතර අවබෝධතා ගිවිසුම

Prime Minister’s Media Unit

Your Excellency, Prime Minister Imran Khan, let me extend a warm and cordial welcome to you and your delegation.

In fact, Your Excellency, you are the first foreign Head of Government to visit Sri Lanka after I assumed office as the the Prime Minster of Sri Lanka after the General Elections last year.

On my invitation, you have chosen to visit Sri Lanka with great friendship, despite great challenges, including COVID-19 risks.

Your visit symbolizes the deep affinity you and your government so dearly cherish towards the people of my country.

I admire your courage and the great leadership that is evident in crucial decisions you have taken at times of crises.

Even this visit is a clear demonstration of the leadership quality that I have seen decades ago when you led the Pakistan’s National Cricket Team against strong opponents.

Your Excellency,

I have observed your rise to the high office through the common people’s power and years of activism. That demonstrates your true love for the oppressed and the needy. Your people centric governance agenda goes hand in hand with my own government’s approach towards empowering the grassroots level communities and underprivileged.

Let me take this opportunity to wish you and your government all success at the forthcoming Senate election in Pakistan.

The ties between our two countries are closely linked by history, culture, religion, and our deep bilateral cooperation has become an all-weather friendship which has withstood the test of time.

Relations between our two nations have now expanded to many sectors. But we have great potential before us to further strengthen our bilateral cooperation.

I must thank Your Excellency for accompanying a strong business delegation with promising signs of investments and commercial partnerships. At a time of economic uncertainty, such private sector investments will greatly benefit both our economies.

I recall with much pleasure my most recent visit to Pakistan in 2017 and previously as President. Both visits were very productive and memorable for me. I was indeed touched by the hospitality and the warm reception given to me and my delegation by the friendly people of Pakistan.

Your Excellency, allow me to introduce my delegation:

On my right are:

Hon. Dinesh Gunawardena — Foreign Minister Hon. Bandula Gunawardena — Minister of Trade Hon. Prasanna Ranatunga — Minister of Tourism Hon. Ali Sabry — Minister of Justice

Hon. Tharaka Balasuriya — State Minister of Regional Cooperation Admiral Prof. Jayanath Colombage — Foreign Secretary

Mr. S.R. Attygalle — Secretary to the Treasury, Ministry of Finance

On my left are:

Hon. Prof. G.L.Peiris — Minister of Education

Hon. Mahindananda Aluthgamage — Minister of Agriculture Hon. Namal Rajapakse — Minister of Youth and Sports

Hon. Lohan Ratwatte — State Minister of Prison Management and Prisoners’ Rehabilitation; and State Minister of Gem & Jewelry Related Industries

Hon. Ajith Nivard Cabraal — State Minister of Money & Capital Market and State Enterprise Reforms

Mr. Gamini S. Senarath — Secretary to the Prime Minister General Kamal Gunaratne — Secretary, Ministry of Defense

අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය මාධ්‍ය අංශය

පාකිස්තානය සහ ශ්‍රී ලංකාව අතර සංස්කෘතික හා ආගමික වශයෙන් බැඳුණු ඉතා ගැඹුරු ද්විපාර්ශ්වික සහයෝගීතාවය සර්ව කාලීන මිත්‍රත්වයකට මග පාදා ඇතැයි ගරු අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ මහතා අද 2021.02.23 දින පස්වරුවේ පැවසීය.

පාකිස්තාන අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය ඉම්රාන් ඛාන් මහතාගේ දෙදින නිල සංචාරය අතරතුර අරලියගහ මන්දිරයේ පැවති ද්විපාර්ශ්වික නියෝජිත හමුවට එක්වෙමින් අග්‍රාමාත්‍යතුමා මේ බව සඳහන් කළේය.

පකිස්තාන අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය ඉම්රාන් ඛාන් මහතා සමඟ ද්විපාර්ශ්වික සාකච්ඡාවේ දී ගරු අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ මහතා පළකළ සම්පූර්ණ අදහස් දැක්වීම මෙසේය. 

ඉම්රාන් ඛාන් අග්‍රාමාත්‍යතුමනි, ඔබ හා ඔබගේ දූත පිරිස සුහඳ හා උණුසුම් ලෙස මම පිළිගනිමි.

අග්‍රාමාත්‍යතුමනි, පසුගිය වසරේ මහ මැතිවරණයෙන් පසු මම ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය ධූරයට පත්වීමෙන් පසු ශ්‍රී ලංකාවට පැමිණි පළමු විදේශ රාජ්‍ය නායකයා ඔබයි.

මගේ ආරාධනය පිළිගනිමින් කොවිඩ්-19 අවදානම ඇතුළු විශාල අභියෝග මධ්‍යයේ වුවද, ඔබ ඉතා මිත්‍රශීලීව ශ්‍රී ලංකාවට පැමිණියා.

ඔබගේ සංචාරය සංකේතවත් කරන්නේ ඔබ සහ ඔබේ රජය මගේ රටේ ජනතාව කෙරෙහි දක්වන දැඩි ආදරයයි.

අර්බුදකාරී අවස්ථාවන්හිදී ඔබ ගත් තීරණාත්මක තීරණවලින් පැහැදිලි වන ඔබගේ ධෛර්යය සහ ශ්‍රේෂ්ඨ නායකත්වය මම අගය කරමි.

මෙම සංචාරය පවා දශක දෙකකට පෙර ඔබ අභියෝග හමුවේ පාකිස්තානයේ ජාතික ක්‍රිකට් කණ්ඩායමට නායකත්වය දුන් ආකාරයේ නායකත්ව ගුණාංග පිළිඹිඹු කරවයි.

අතිගරු අග්‍රාමාත්‍යතුමනි,

වසර ගණනාවක දේශපාලන ක්‍රියාකාරිත්වය තුළින් පොදු ජනතාව බලය ලබා දී ඔබව ඉහළට ඔසවා තැබූ ආකාරය මම නිරීක්ෂණය කළෙමි. පීඩිතයන් සහ අගහිඟකම් ඇති අය කෙරෙහි ඔබ තුළ ඇති සැබෑ ආදරය එමගින් පෙන්නුම් කරයි. 

බිම් මට්ටමේ සහ අඩු වරප්‍රසාද සහිත ජනතාව සවිබල ගැන්වීම උදෙසා වූ ඔබේ ජනතා කේන්ද්‍රීය පාලනය අපගේ ආණ්ඩුවේ ප්‍රතිපත්ති හා එකිනෙක බැඳී පවතියි.

එළැඹෙන මැතිවරණය සාර්ථකත්වය වෙනුවෙන් ඔබටත් ඔබේ ආණ්ඩුවටත් මාගේ සුභාශිංසනය පිරිනමමි.

අපගේ රටවල් දෙක අතර පවතින්නේ ඓතිහාසික සබඳතාවකි.  සංස්කෘතික හා ආගමික වශයෙන් බැඳුණු ඉතා ගැඹුරු ද්විපාර්ශ්වික සහයෝගීතාවය සර්ව කාලීන මිත්‍රත්වයකට මග පාදා ඇත.

අපගේ රටවල් දෙක අතර පවතින සබඳතාව මේ වනවිට බොහෝ ක්ෂ්ත්‍ර දක්වා ව්‍යාප්ත වී තිබේ. නමුත් අපගේ ද්විපාර්ශ්වික සහයෝගීතාව තවදුරටත් ශක්තිමත් කිරීම සඳහා අප විශාල පරිශ්‍රමයක් දැරිය යුතුය.

ආයෝජන සහ වාණිජ හවුල්කාරිත්වය සහිත ශක්තිමත් ව්‍යාපාරික දූත පිරිසක් සමඟ මෙහි පැමිණීම ගැන මම අග්‍රාමාත්‍යතුමාට ස්තූතිවන්ත වෙනවා. ආර්ථික අවිනිශ්චිතතාවයකදී පෞද්ගලික අංශයේ ආයෝජන අපගේ ආර්ථිකයන්ට බොහෝ ප්‍රයෝජනවත් වනු ඇත.

2017 දී මෙන්ම ඊට පෙර ජනාධිපතිවරයා ලෙස පාකිස්තානයේ මා කළ නිල සංචාරය මේ අවස්ථාවේදීත් සතුටින් සිහිපත් කරමි.එම සංචාර දෙකම ඉතා ඵලදායී හා අමතක නොවන සංචාරයන්ය. 

පාකිස්තානයේ මිත්‍රශීලී ජනතාව විසින් මට සහ මගේ දූත පිරිසට දුන් ආගන්තුක සත්කාරය සහ උණුසුම් පිළිගැනීම මගේ සිතට තදින්ම කාවැදුණා යැයි අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ මහතා පැවසීය.

මෙම අවස්ථාවට විදේශ අමාත්‍ය  දිනේෂ් ගුණවර්ධන, වෙළඳ අමාත්‍ය බන්දුල ගුණවර්ධන, සංචාරක අමාත්‍ය ප්‍රසන්න රණතුංග, අධිකරණ අමාත්‍ය අලි සබ්රි, ප්‍රාදේශීය සහයෝගිතා රාජ්‍ය අමාත්‍ය තාරක බාලසුරිය, අධ්‍යාපන අමාත්‍ය මහාචාර්ය ජී. එල්. පීරිස්, කෘෂිකර්ම අමාත්‍ය මහින්දනන්ද අළුත්ගමගේ, තරුණ හා ක්‍රීඩා අමාත්‍ය නාමල් රාජපක්ෂ, බන්ධනාගාර කළමනාකරණ හා සිරකරුවන්ගේ පුනරුත්ථාපන රාජ්‍ය අමාත්‍ය; සහ මැණික් හා ස්වර්ණාභරණ ආශ්‍රිත කර්මාන්ත රාජ්‍ය අමාත්‍ය ලොහාන් රත්වත්තේ, මුදල් හා ප්‍රාග්ධන වෙළඳපොළ සහ රාජ්‍ය ව්‍යවසාය ප්‍රතිසංස්කරණ අමාත්‍ය අජිත් නිවාඩ් කබ්රාල්, අගමැති ලේකම් ගාමිණි සෙනරත්, විදේශ ලේකම් අද්මිරාල් (විශ්‍රාමික) මහාචාර්ය ජයනාත් කොළඹගේ, භාණ්ඩාගාර ලේකම් එස්.ආර්. ආටිගල,  ආරක්ෂක අමාත්‍යාංශයේ ලේකම් ජෙනරාල් කමල් ගුණරත්න මහත්වරු මෙම අවස්ථාවට එක්ව සිටියහ.

අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය මාධ්‍ය අංශය

පාකිස්තාන අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය ඉම්රාන් ඛාන් මහතා ඇතුළු එරට දූත පිරිස ගරු අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ මැතිතුමා විසින් කටුනායන බණ්ඩාරනායක අන්තර්ජාතික ගුවන් තොටුපළ පරිශ්‍රයේ දී අද 2021.02.23 දින පස්වරුවේ ඉමහත් හරසරින් පිළිගනු ලැබුවේය.

අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ මහතාගේ ආරාධනාවකට අනුව දෙදින නිල සංචාරයක් සඳහා පාකිස්තාන අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය ඉම්රාන් ඛාන් මහතා ඇතුළු දූත පිරිස මෙරටට පැමිණියහ.

පාකිස්තානයට ක්‍රිකට් ලෝක කුසලානය දිනා දීමට සමත් වූ ඉම්රාන් ඛාන් මහතා එරට 22වැනි අග්‍රාමාත්‍යවරයාය. අග්‍රාමාත්‍යධූරයට පත්වීමෙන් පසු ඉම්රාන් ඛාන් මහතා ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ සංචාරයේ යෙදෙන පළමු අවස්ථාව මෙන්ම 2021 වසරේ එතුමාගේ පළමු විදෙස් නිල සංචාරය ද මෙය වේ.

කටුනායක අන්තර්ජාතික ගුවන්තොටුපළට පැමිණි පාකිස්තානු අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය ඉම්රාන් ඛාන් මහතා වෙනුවෙන් හමුදා වෙඩිමුර 19ක්  සහ හමුදා සම්මාන ආචාර පෙළපාලියක් ද පැවැත්විණි. ආරක්ෂක මාණ්ඩලික ප්‍රධානි සහ යුද හමුදාපති ජෙනරාල් ශවේන්ද්‍ර සිල්වා ඇතුළු ජ්‍යෙෂ්ඨ හමුදා නිලධාරින් ඊට එක්වූහ. 

අනතුරුව පාකිස්තානු අග්‍රාමාත්‍යවරයා ගුවන්තොටුපළෙහි වූ සුවිශේෂී අමුත්තන්ගේ සමරු සටහන් පොතෙහි (Golden Book) සටහනක් තැබුවේය.

මෙරටට පැමිණි පාකිස්තාන අග්‍රාමාත්‍යවරයා සහ ගරු අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ මහතා අතර මුහුණට මුහුණලා පැවත්වෙන ද්විපාර්ශවික සාකච්ඡා අද සවස අරලියගහ මන්දිරයේ දී පැවැත්වෙයි.

ඉන් අනතුරුව අග්‍රාමාත්‍යවරුන් දෙදෙනාගේ සහභාගිත්වය ඇතිව දෙරට අතර ආර්ථික හා වෙළඳ, ආයෝජන, කාර්මික තාක්ෂණ, අධ්‍යාපන ඇතුළු ක්ෂේත්‍ර කිහිපයක ගිවිසුම් 5 ක් අත්සන් තැබීමට නියමිතය. 

පාකිස්තානු විදේශ හා වාණිජ අමාත්‍යවරුන් ඇතුළු විශාල වෙළඳ දූත පිරිසක් පාකිස්තානු අග්‍රාමාත්‍යවරයා සමඟ මෙරටට පැමිණ තිබේ.

පාකිස්තාන අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය ඉම්රාන් ඛාන් මහතා හෙට (24) දිනයේ දී අතිගරු ජනාධිපති ගෝඨාභය රාජපක්ෂ මහතා හමුවීමට නියමිතය. අනතුරුව කොළඹ දී පැවැත්වෙන වෙළඳ හා අයෝජන සමුළුවට එක්වන අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය ඉම්රාන් ඛාන් මහතා නැවත සිය රට යාමට පෙර  ශ්‍රී ලාංකේය ක්‍රීඩකයන් හමුවනු ඇත.

මෙම අවස්ථාවට ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ විදේශ අමාත්‍ය දිනේෂ් ගුණවර්ධන මහතා ඇතුළු කැබිනට් අමාත්‍යවරුන්, රාජ්‍ය අමාත්‍යවරුන්, මන්ත්‍රීවරුන් හා අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය කාර්යය මණ්ඩල ප්‍රධානී යෝෂිත රාජපක්ෂ මහතා හා ජ්‍යෙෂ්ඨ රාජ්‍ය නිලධාරීන් විශාල පිරිසක් එක්ව සිටියහ.

Courtesy Adaderana

හිටපු ජනපති , රිෂාඩ් බදියුදින් ඇතුළු පිරිසකට අපරාධ නඩු පවරන්නැයි නිර්දේශ..

Courtesy Adaderana

Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan on Tuesday (February 23) said he looks forward to expand trade relations with Sri Lanka through China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) flagship program.

CPEC, which connects Gwadar Port in Balochistan with China’s Xinjiang Province, is the flagship project of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

In a joint statement issued with his Sri Lankan counterpart PM Mahinda Rajapaksa, the Pakistani Premier said this visit is to strengthen our bilateral relations between Pakistan and Sri Lanka, especially trading ties.

The focus of the bilateral discussion has also fell on enhancing trade ties between the two countries in order for Sri Lanka to benefit from Pakistan’s connectivity up to Central Asia.

Our trading ties will also mean that the two countries will come closer together,” PM Khan said further.

We shared a common problem of terrorism,” he stated, speaking of decade-long terrorism that Pakistan suffered as well as Sri Lanka’s 30-year-long civil war. He said tourism in Pakistan dried up during the terrorism-hit period and that the country hardly received any investment.

Now we have faced another problem – the coronavirus,” he continued. Sri Lanka has like all other countries that depend on tourism has suffered due to the pandemic.

The two prime ministers have discussed how developed countries can help the developing world at present.

Pakistani Premier said the developed world right now should not be insular. Coronavirus has exposed the inequality in the world.”

He said world organizations like the United Nations should step in to look after the countries that have taken a real beating from the pandemic.

PM Khan meanwhile extended an invitation to PM Rajapaksa to visit Pakistan.

Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, delivering the joint statement, said the two leaders agreed to work closely towards enhancing bilateral cooperation in the economic sector and a number of other areas including trade, investment, science, technology, defence and education.

We also agreed to pursue the opportunities presented within the framework of the Pakistan-Sri Lanka Free Trade Agreement. Our talks also focused on important regional and international issues as well as the impact of the Coronavirus pandemic.”

Speaking further, PM Rajapaksa said Sri Lanka and Pakistan have agreed to work towards increasing activities in the tourism and aviation sectors. He expressed gratitude to his counterpart for agreeing to open the pilgrimage corridors for Sri Lankans to visit ancient Buddhist heritage sites in Pakistan.

Another important decision that was made during the discussion is to restart Parliamentary interaction through the Pakistan-Sri Lanka Parliamentary Friendship Groups, PM Rajapaksa said further.

Sri Lanka believes that political stability and regional peace will be the key to achieve sustainable development, economic growth and prosperity in South Asia,” he continued, while admiring PM Khan for his efforts in alleviating poverty and socio-economic disparity which play an important part of the development agenda.

We continue to work together to fight terrorism, religious fundamentalism and extremism.”

PM Rajapaksa said Pakistan was a friend who stood by and helped Sri Lanka in times of great need. We are grateful for the steadfast support, particularly during my Presidency, when we had to fight a dangerous terrorist organization that was fully neutralized in May 2009.”

They have further agreed to continue with the current mechanism to curb illegal drug trafficking, arms smuggling and other illegal activities by sharing information through the relevant agencies.

We are also thankful to Pakistan for the partnership in the field of sports and assistance to enhance sports training facilities in the country,” PM Rajapaksa said.

Pakistani Premier is expected to preside over a business and investment forum with a strong multi-sector business delegation from Pakistan tomorrow.

PM Rajapaksa noted that Sri Lanka expects to see a considerable increase in investments and business activities between the two countries through direct interactions with their Sri Lankan counterparts.

In the meantime, Sri Lanka and Pakistan have signed five economically important Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) today (February 23) in line with PM Imran Khan’s two day visit to the island nation.

Signing of the MoUs took place at the Temple Trees this evening in presence of Prime Ministers Mahinda Rajapaksa and Imran Khan.

Five MoUs signed by the two countries are as follows:

1. Memorandum of Understanding between the Islamic Republic of Pakistan and the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka on Tourism Cooperation

2. Memorandum of Understanding between the Board of Investment of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka and the Board of Investment of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan

3. Memorandum of Understanding between the Institute of Industrial Technology (ITI) of Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka and the University of Karachi of Islamic Republic of Pakistan

4. Collaboration between the Institute of Industrial Technology, Colombo and the University of COMSATS in Islamabad

5. Memorandum of Understanding between the University of Colombo and the Lahore Economic College in Pakistan.

Courtesy Adaderana

Sri Lanka has confirmed three more COVID-19 related fatalities, Director-General of Health Services confirmed today (February 23).

Accordingly, death toll from the pandemic outbreak now stands at 453, Department of Government Information said.

A 75-year-old man from Wattala area died yesterday (February 22) while receiving treatment at the Anuradhapura Teaching Hospital. He had been transferred from Colombo National Hospital after testing positive for the virus. COVID pneumonia was recorded as the cause of death.

The second victim is a 76-year-old man from Nuwara-Eliya. He died on February 20 while he was under medical are at Nuwara-Eliya District General Hospital. COVID-19 infection was mentioned as the cause of death.

An 83-year-old man from Walapane area meanwhile died of COVID pneumonia and shock due to blood poisoning. He had been under medical care at the Nuwara-Eliya District General Hospital at the time of his passing.

Courtesy Adaderana

Covid-19 infections registered in Sri Lanka crossed 81,000 as 270 more persons were tested positive today (February 23).

Thereby, the country has confirmed 492 infections in total within the day.

Department of Government Information said 15 of them were detected from the prison cluster. The remaining 477 are close contacts of earlier cases linked to the Peliyagoda cluster.

As per statistics, the total number of Covid-19 infections confirmed in the country to date now stands at 81,009.

Recoveries from the virus meanwhile climbed to 75,842 earlier today, with 732 more patients returning to health.

However, 4,717 active cases are still under medical care at selected hospitals and treatment centres located across the island.

Courtesy Adaderana

Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan on Tuesday arrived in Sri Lanka for a two-day official visit to island.

The Pakistani premier, who was invited by his Sri Lankan counterpart Mahinda Rajapaksa, is accompanied by a high-level delegation, including members of the Federal Cabinet and senior officials.

PM Imran Khan was given a guard of honour upon his arrival at the airport after being welcomed by Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa.

During his visit, Prime Minister Imran Khan will attend bilateral meetings with President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, while several other high-level engagements are planned, including a Business and Investment Forum, as well as a sports diplomacy initiative. 

Both Sri Lanka and Pakistan Prime Ministers will together preside over an event to sign several mutually beneficial bilateral Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) on 23 February following their official talks at the Temple Trees.

He will also participate in a joint ‘Trade and Investment Conference’ aimed at promoting trade and investment between the two countries.

Prime Minister Imran Khan in his maiden official visit this year outside the country is accompanied by a high-powered business and investment delegation that will consist of business leaders in Pakistan, mainly from the sectors of textile and apparel, pharmaceuticals, agro-food commodities, sports goods, gems and jewellery, auto parts, ICT, construction material and surgical equipment.

Prime Minister Imran Khan is accompanied by Minister of Foreign Affairs Makhdoom Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Adviser to the Prime Minister on Commerce Abdul Razak Dawood, Secretary Foreign Affairs Sohail Mehmood and senior officials of the Pakistan Government.

Courtesy Adaderana

The Presidential Secretariat has handed over the report of Presidential Commission of Inquiry (PCoI) on the Easter Sunday terror attacks to Speaker of Parliament Mahinda Yapa Abeywardene.

On the directive of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, the Director General (Legal) of the Presidential Secretariat, Mr. Hariguptha Rohanadheera handed over the Presidential Commission report on Easter Sunday attacks to the Speaker today.

The Secretary General of Parliament was also in attendance, the Communications Department said.

Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena then announced in Parliament that he has received the final report of the PCoI on Easter Sunday attacks and he will table it in Parliament as soon as he receives the copies.

The Speaker further said that he has sent the report to the Library of Parliament for the reference of Members.

The English version of the report and a translated copy in Sinhala were tabled at the meeting of Cabinet of Ministers yesterday.

The report is scheduled to be submitted to the Parliament today (February 23).

Reportedly, former high-ranking politicians and officials including ex-President Maithripala Sirisena, ex-Defence Secretary Hemasiri Fernando, ex-IGP Pujith Jayasundara, ex-SIS chief Nilantha Jayawardena, ex-Minister Rishad Bathiudeen and many others have been charged in the report. 

The Presidential Commission of Inquiry appointed to investigate the 2019 Easter Sunday terror attacks handed over its final report to President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on February 01.

Hearings and other procedures of the Presidential Commission officially came to a conclusion on January 27, 2021.

The Commission was appointed by former President Maithripala Sirisena on September 22nd, 2019 to investigate the series of attacks that took place on Easter Sunday same year and to recommend necessary actions.

The commission had recorded evidence from a total of 440 individuals during its term.

The commission was chaired by Court of Appeal Judge, Janak de Silva and included Court of Appeal Judge, Nishshanka Bandula Karunarathna, Retired High Court Judges Nihal Sunil Rajapaksa and A.L. Bandula Kumara Atapattu, former Secretary of the Ministry of Justice, W.M.M.R. Adikari.

Noor Nizam.Convener “The Muslim Voice”.

Sri Lanka’s Human Rights situation will come under the microscope at UNHRC.

Why has United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet “NOT” called for an International Criminal Court investigation to come under the microscope at the UNHRC into Rights violations of the Sri Lankan Muslim Community of the North and Eastern Provinces during the separatist war perpetrated by the LTTE, LTTE supportive Tamil government Officials, and Tamil politicians who aided and abetted and supported the killings of hundreds of Muslims in the Eastern province while they were performing their prayers in mosques, to ensure justice for those civilians killed? 

Noor Nizam.Convener “The Muslim Voice”.

February 22nd., 2021.

By P.K.Balachandran/Daily Mirror Courtesy NewsIn.Asia

Colombo, February 23: In its observations on the report of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) communicated to the 46 th.,session of the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC), the Sri Lankan government has drawn attention to the progress made in addressing issues related to human rights and ethnic reconciliation and emphatically refuted the charges and contentions in the OHCHR’s report.

In the point-by-point refutation, the government’s overall thrust is that the OHCHR’s contentions are baseless, biased and unsubstantiated.  Some comments and prescriptions amount to violation of Sri Lanka’s sovereignty and meddling in Sri Lanka’s internal affairs which is outside the UNHRC’s mandate.

The government’s 30-page reply published in full by www.counterpoint.lk says that the OHCHR should have focused on deliverable” reconciliation mechanisms rather than trying to put in place mechanisms which do not have popular sanction or are constitutionally barred.

Achievements

Refuting the repeated contention that Sri Lanka has been hoodwinking the UNHRC, the government points out that the Office of Missing Persons (OMP) is functioning under judicial oversight and is headed by a former Supreme Court judge. Government is waiting for the OMP to submit its financial requirements. The Office of Reparations, (OR), which has been allotted Rs.910 million (US$ 4.65 million), has so far received 16,275 applications of which 4358 have been processed and Rs.142 million (US$ 725.776) disbursed as reparations. The Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL) was allotted Rs.290 million (US$ 1.48 million).

As regards lands taken by the military during the war, 82.26% of State lands and 92.22% of Private lands were returned to their civilian owners by end December 2019. When the war ended, 1311 sq.km in the Northern and Eastern provinces were bristling with land mines. 98.7% of the affected area has now been cleared. The government’s bid to replace the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) failed because of opposition in parliament and religious leaders, but government is intent on revisiting” the PTA.    

Deliverable Mechanisms

Apparently alluding to the UNHRC’s requirement for an international or domestic judicial mechanism to investigate war crimes charges, the government says that the OHCHR should focus on deliverable measures for reconciliation in line with the interests of Sri Lanka and its people instead of imposing unfeasible commitments for the sake of exemplifying theoretical notions of transitional justice.” The co-sponsorship of an earlier resolution by an erstwhile Sri Lankan government was constitutionally undeliverable” and had no public endorsement,” the government points out justifying it’s withdrawal from the co-sponsored resolution.

The government says that it has been unfailingly complying with requirements of the UN system on human rights issues. The US sub-committee on torture visited Sri Lanka in 2019. As in the case of other such investigating UN teams, it was given full access. The chairperson of the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka had told an earlier UN team that the commission had not received any information on abduction, unlawful detection or sexual violence. The OHCHR had alleged that the National Investigation Bureau” is trailing people but the government points that such a bureau ceased to exist in 2009 following the end of the war.

On the charge that International and Domestic NGOs are being harassed, the government said: In the backdrop of past experience where NGOs had been abetting terrorism in this country, it is essential that the government initiates a mechanism to ensure their accountability and transparency, as such organization could engage in terrorist financing and money laundering causing a threat to national security.”

In the context of the Easter Sunday (April 21, 2019) bombings, there is suspicion and fear that NGOs were engaged in those activities with funds received from overseas through formal and informal systems,” the report said and added that recently there were attempts to assassinate Tamil MPs from the Northern and Eastern provinces. The government is responsible for ensuring the security of these VIPs”.

Militarization

Referring to the charge of the militarization of the administration under President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, the government says that appointing any person to any office is the prerogative of the government and is, at any rate, outside the mandate of the OHCHR. The appointments made had been done on the basis of qualifications and competence. The government also points out that Sri Lanka is not militarized State as it neither has compulsory military service nor conscription. The UN has itself certified Sri Lanka as not having child soldiers (only the LTTE had them as UN official Olara Otunnu pointed out after a visit in 1998).

On the charge that Sri Lanka is deploying the army in civilian duties, the government says that it has the sovereign right to move its army units anywhere and assign any task to it. Even advanced countries use the armed forces to help civil authorities during emergencies. Government then points out the dangers in lowering vigil as it was lowering of vigil which had enabled suicide bombers to kill 277 and injure 592 on Easter Sunday, April 21, 2019.

The OHCHR had alleged that in the aftermath of the Eastern Sunday bombings there were widespread anti-Muslim riots and there was prolonged emergency with extra deployment of the military. In reply the government says that after the most horrific” incident government had to impose an emergency and use every available resource to tackle the situation.

On the allegation that the government’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic had showed up structural inequalities,” the government points out that structural inequalities have shown up even in advanced countries.  The ban on burials rests on scientific considerations and the public good, it adds.

Indiscriminate Shelling

On the charge of indiscriminate shelling” in the last phase of the 2006-2009 war, the government case is that the Advisory Council to the Paranagama Commission  comprising lawyers Sir Desmond de Silva, Sir Geoffrey Nice QC. (UK) and   David M. Crane (USA) assisted by Rodney Dixon,  Michael Newton (USA) and Major General J Holmes had said excessive force was not used. UNICEF Executive Director James Grant had said that food was not denied to the people trapped in the war zone. Supply was uniquely humanitarian in a conflict situation,” Grant said. It was also agreed that the LTTE was using civilians as a shield. Lord Michael Naseby had said that the government had not broken any provisions of international Humanitarian Law.

Punitive Measures

On the punitive measures the OHCHR suggested, the government says that dragging Sri Lanka to the International Criminal Court on war crimes charges is disproportionate and unwarranted” and warns that it will be deemed an unwarranted interference in the internal affairs of a sovereign State and a contravention of the UN Charter.”

On the recommendation of targeted sanctions against individuals, it says that sanctioning someone in the absence of credible findings by a competent court or body, indicates a political agenda to destabilize a country, violate individual rights and contravene the principles of natural justice.”

Collateral Victim  

The government’s contention is that the OHCHR has been oblivious to the genuine and feasible commitments undertaken by Sri Lanka and the progress being achieved in their implementation, and has instead chosen to come to sweeping, impetuous conclusions.”

According to the government, it can only be concluded that Sri Lanka has been selected and targeted by the OHCHR for purposes other than promotion of human rights. Sri Lanka has been a victim of a collateral exercise.” The hint is that Sri Lanka is an innocent victim of Big Power rivalry.

By P. K. Balachandran Courtesy Eurasia Review

Colombo says there is progress in reconciliation efforts and accuses OHCHR of motivated misrepresentation   

In its observations on the report of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) communicated to the 46 th.,session of the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC), the Sri Lankan government has drawn attention to the progress made in addressing issues related to human rights and ethnic reconciliation and emphatically refuted the charges and contentions in the OHCHR’s report.

In the point-by-point refutation, the government’s overall thrust is that the OHCHR’s contentions are baseless, biased and unsubstantiated.  Some comments and prescriptions amount to violation of Sri Lanka’s sovereignty and meddling in Sri Lanka’s internal affairs which is outside the UNHRC’s mandate.

The government’s 30-page reply published in full by www.counterpoint.lk says that the OHCHR should have focused on deliverable” reconciliation mechanisms rather than trying to put in place mechanisms which do not have popular sanction or are constitutionally barred.

Achievements

Refuting the repeated contention that Sri Lanka has been hoodwinking the UNHRC, the government points out that the Office of Missing Persons (OMP) is functioning under judicial oversight and is headed by a former Supreme Court judge. Government is waiting for the OMP to submit its financial requirements. The Office of Reparations, (OR), which has been allotted Rs.910 million (US$ 4.65 million), has so far received 16,275 applications of which 4358 have been processed and Rs.142 million (US$ 725.776) disbursed as reparations. The Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL) was allotted Rs.290 million (US$ 1.48 million).

As regards lands taken by the military during the war, 82.26% of State lands and 92.22% of Private lands were returned to their civilian owners by end December 2019. When the war ended, 1311 sq.km in the Northern and Eastern provinces were bristling with land mines. 98.7% of the affected area has now been cleared. The government’s bid to replace the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) failed because of opposition in parliament and religious leaders, but government is intent on revisiting” the PTA.    

Deliverable Mechanisms

Apparently alluding to the UNHRC’s requirement for an international or domestic judicial mechanism to investigate war crimes charges, the government says that the OHCHR should focus on deliverable measures for reconciliation in line with the interests of Sri Lanka and its people instead of imposing unfeasible commitments for the sake of exemplifying theoretical notions of transitional justice.” The co-sponsorship of an earlier resolution by an erstwhile Sri Lankan government was constitutionally undeliverable” and had no public endorsement,” the government points out justifying it’s withdrawal from the co-sponsored resolution.

The government says that it has been unfailingly complying with requirements of the UN system on human rights issues. The US sub-committee on torture visited Sri Lanka in 2019. As in the case of other such investigating UN teams, it was given full access. The chairperson of the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka had told an earlier UN team that the commission had not received any information on abduction, unlawful detection or sexual violence. The OHCHR had alleged that the National Investigation Bureau” is trailing people but the government points that such a bureau ceased to exist in 2009 following the end of the war.

On the charge that International and Domestic NGOs are being harassed, the government said: In the backdrop of past experience where NGOs had been abetting terrorism in this country, it is essential that the government initiates a mechanism to ensure their accountability and transparency, as such organization could engage in terrorist financing and money laundering causing a threat to national security.”

In the context of the Easter Sunday (April 21, 2019) bombings, there is suspicion and fear that NGOs were engaged in those activities with funds received from overseas through formal and informal systems,” the report said and added that recently there were attempts to assassinate Tamil MPs from the Northern and Eastern provinces. The government is responsible for ensuring the security of these VIPs”.

Militarization

Referring to the charge of the militarization of the administration under President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, the government says that appointing any person to any office is the prerogative of the government and is, at any rate, outside the mandate of the OHCHR. The appointments made had been done on the basis of qualifications and competence. The government also points out that Sri Lanka is not militarized State as it neither has compulsory military service nor conscription. The UN has itself certified Sri Lanka as not having child soldiers (only the LTTE had them as UN official Olara Otunnu pointed out after a visit in 1998).

On the charge that Sri Lanka is deploying the army in civilian duties, the government says that it has the sovereign right to move its army units anywhere and assign any task to it. Even advanced countries use the armed forces to help civil authorities during emergencies. Government then points out the dangers in lowering vigil as it was lowering of vigil which had enabled suicide bombers to kill 277 and injure 592 on Easter Sunday, April 21, 2019.

The OHCHR had alleged that in the aftermath of the Eastern Sunday bombings there were widespread anti-Muslim riots and there was prolonged emergency with extra deployment of the military. In reply the government says that after the most horrific” incident government had to impose an emergency and use every available resource to tackle the situation.

On the allegation that the government’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic had showed up structural inequalities,” the government points out that structural inequalities have shown up even in advanced countries.  The ban on burials rests on scientific considerations and the public good, it adds.

Indiscriminate Shelling

On the charge of indiscriminate shelling” in the last phase of the 2006-2009 war, the government case is that the Advisory Council to the Paranagama Commission  comprising lawyers Sir Desmond de Silva, Sir Geoffrey Nice QC. (UK) and   David M. Crane (USA) assisted by Rodney Dixon,  Michael Newton (USA) and Major General J Holmes had said excessive force was not used. UNICEF Executive Director James Grant had said that food was not denied to the people trapped in the war zone. Supply was uniquely humanitarian in a conflict situation,” Grant said. It was also agreed that the LTTE was using civilians as a shield. Lord Michael Naseby had said that the government had not broken any provisions of international Humanitarian Law.

Punitive Measures

On the punitive measures the OHCHR suggested, the government says that dragging Sri Lanka to the International Criminal Court on war crimes charges is disproportionate and unwarranted” and warns that it will be deemed an unwarranted interference in the internal affairs of a sovereign State and a contravention of the UN Charter.”

On the recommendation of targeted sanctions against individuals, it says that sanctioning someone in the absence of credible findings by a competent court or body, indicates a political agenda to destabilize a country, violate individual rights and contravene the principles of natural justice.”

Collateral Victim  

The government’s contention is that the OHCHR has been oblivious to the genuine and feasible commitments undertaken by Sri Lanka and the progress being achieved in their implementation, and has instead chosen to come to sweeping, impetuous conclusions.”

According to the government, it can only be concluded that Sri Lanka has been selected and targeted by the OHCHR for purposes other than promotion of human rights. Sri Lanka has been a victim of a collateral exercise.” The hint is that Sri Lanka is an innocent victim of Big Power rivalry.

Courtesy News18

India is the main supplier of COVID-19 vaccines and has recently gifted 5 lakh doses of Covishield to Sri Lanka.

ri Lanka has cancelled Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan’s planned speech in Parliament in an apparent bid to avoid clash with India. The Colombo government cannot risk its relations with India as it faces the Chinese debt-trap. India is also the main supplier of COVID-19 vaccines and has recently gifted 5 lakh doses of Covishield to Sri Lanka.

According to a report titled ‘Sri Lanka avoids clash with India by cancelling Khan’s Parliament speech’ by Dar Javed published in Colombo Gazette, the speech was cancelled to prevent souring of relations with India.

Sergeant-at-Arms of Parliament, Narendra Fernando said he has informed Parliament that the Pakistan Prime Minister’s visit to Sri Lanka will go ahead as scheduled, the Colombo Gazette website reported on last Wednesday.

However, the Foreign Ministry had informed Parliament officials that his proposed visit to the Parliament complex will not take place. Pakistan Prime Minister Khan will arrive in Sri Lanka on February 22 on a two-day official state visit.

Khan, who will be the first head of state to visit the country since the COVID-19 pandemic, is to hold talks with President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa and Foreign Minister Dinesh Gunawardena during the visit. It is said that the speech to Parliament had been included in Khan’s itinerary at the Pakistan government’s request. However, it was later cancelled and Sri Lankan media gave various reasons for the cancellation of Khan’s address, Pakistan’s Dawn newspaper reported on Thursday.

The address was scheduled for February 24. According to Sri Lanka’s daily Express, Foreign Secretary Jayanath Colombage said that Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena had requested for the cancellation of Khan’s address, citing COVID-19.

Dawn newspaper quoting Sri Lankan media reports that there were elements within the Sri Lankan government, who did not want the speech to take place as they feared that doing so could further harm ties with India, which have already been strained after the cancellation of a deal over the East Container Terminal in Colombo port, Dawn newspaper said.

It was expected that Khan would raise the Kashmir issue during his speech, which could have upset Delhi, it said. Tensions between India and Pakistan spiked after New Delhi abrogated provisions of Article 370 of the Constitution to withdraw Jammu and Kashmir”s special status and bifurcated it into two Union Territories in 2019.

Pakistan has been trying to internationalise the Kashmir issue but India has asserted that the abrogation of Article 370 was its “internal matter”.

Another speculation doing the rounds is that the Sri Lankan government was concerned about Khan speaking about the rights of Muslims in Sri Lanka, who have faced abuses at the hands of Buddhist majority, rising anti-Muslim sentiments, and biased government actions.

The Sri Lankan government had made compulsory cremation rule for those dying from COVID-19, enraging the Muslim community in the country. The government, however, earlier this month exempted the Muslims from cremation and allowed them to bury their dead after a global outcry over the issue.

Khan had welcomed the Sri Lankan government’s decision. The Pakistan Prime Minister’s visit, scheduled a month after Indian External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar’s three-day visit to Colombo, will coincide with the 46th UN Human Rights Council session in Geneva, where a new resolution on Sri Lanka is likely to be adopted. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had addressed Sri Lanka’s Parliament in 2015.

(With PTI inputs)

By Shamindra Ferdinando Courtesy The Island

UK hindered war crimes investigation – Naseby tells Bachelet

Leader of Sri Lanka Core Group, the UK, has suppressed official documents that could have helped the Geneva-based United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) to establish the truth pertaining to war crimes allegations, including the number of deaths on the Vanni east front in 2009, Lord Naseby has said in a letter addressed to Michelle Bachelet, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Lord Naseby has raised the issue in his capacity as the President of the All Party British-Sri Lanka Parliamentary Group. The Conservative politician was responding to the controversial ‘Report of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on Sri Lanka’ that recommended punitive measures against Sri Lanka, ahead of the 46th sessions of the UNHRC due to commence today  (22).

Foreign Minister Dinesh Gunawardena is scheduled to address Geneva on Tuesday (23).

Lord Naseby, in his Feb 13, 2021, dated letter to Bachelet, has dealt with how the UK, a current member of the UNHRC, in addition to being member of the Sri Lanka Core Group, withheld from the UN body vital wartime dispatches sent to London by the British High Commission in Colombo in 2009.

Other Core Group members are Canada, Germany, North Macedonia, Malawi and Montenegro. The shocking suppression of High Commission dispatches came to light on Feb 16, 2021 when Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, told Parliament that the UK Government had not received any request from the UN Human Rights Council for copies of dispatches written by the former defence attaché at the British High Commission in Sri Lanka, Lieutenant Colonel Gash about events in Sri Lanka related to the civil war, and had not provided any.

Lord Ahmad was responding to Lord Naseby’s query whether the UK government provided to UNHRC any (1) censored, and (2) uncensored, copies of dispatches from Lieutenant Colonel Gash, the former defence attaché of the British High Commission in Sri Lanka about events in that country between 1 January and 18 May 2009 relating to the civil war.

Lord Naseby has tabled the question on Feb 4, 2021.

Lord Naseby told The Island that he had to invoke the Freedom of Information Act 2000 to secure ‘Gash reports’ to secure documents though the UK held back some while even the released documents were censored. Gash reports disputed UN Panel of Experts (PoE) primary claim that the Vanni offensive claimed the lives of 40,000 civilians. Gash reports estimated the number of dead, both civilians and LTTE combatants at 7,000.

The UNHRC consists of 47 countries divided into five categories : African States( 13 seats),Asia-Pacific States( 13 seats), Latin American and Caribbean States( 8 seats), Western European and other States( 7 seats) and Eastern European States( 6 seats).

The following is the relevant section from Lord Naseby’s assessment of Bachelet’s report: The UK government has the evidence of the UK Defence Attaché Lt. Col. Gash during his period of service in Sri Lanka. Following a Freedom of Information Request from me which took nearly 3 years, Col. Gash’s dispatches from the war front are now, in heavily redacted copies, in the public domain. There is ample evidence in these dispatches that Sri Lanka’s government at the time and its armed forces did not have a policy to kill Tamil civilians, indeed they went out of their way to rescue them with considerable success despite danger and losses to themselves. Removal of the redactions might well make it even clearer. By not providing these dispatches in un-redacted form, the British Government is hindering the process of establishing the truth of what really happened at the end of the Sri Lanka conflict.”

Lord Naseby’s Office told The Island that Lord Naseby prepared his own independent analysis of Bachelet’s report and sent it directly to the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights at the UNHRC in Geneva. In addition, as the UK was the lead member of the core group on UNHRC Resolution 30/1, 34/1 and 40/1 on Sri Lanka, copies had also been sent to Foreign Secretary, Dominic Raab MP and Lord Tariq Ahmad, Minister of State at the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office.

Lord Naseby’s Office said that the Lord had personally written to the UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, to give due consideration for the long-standing friendship between Sri Lanka and the UK, especially as both countries were founding members of the Commonwealth. Lord Naseby had mentioned that it was more important than ever, especially in the midst of a pandemic that the UK continued to engage positively with Sri Lanka at every level and to support and strengthen peace and reconciliation amongst all communities.

Lord Naseby disclosed Gash’s reports on Oct 12, 2017. Sources said that Sri Lanka, too, refrained from requesting the UK to submit Gash reports though a section of the media repeatedly underscored the importance of them.

The suppression of vital documents came to light in the wake of Sri Lanka Core Group declaring its intention to present a unilateral resolution to promote ‘reconciliation, accountability and human rights’ in Sri Lanka.

The following is the text of the statement issued by the British HC in Colombo over the weekend: The Core Group pays tribute to the people of Sri Lanka and wishes to highlight our ongoing commitment to accountability, reconciliation, and inclusive peace in Sri Lanka.

We recognize and welcome the progress made by the Government of Sri Lanka in rebuilding infrastructure, demining, land return and resettling internally displaced persons. However, it is clear that more needs to be done to address the harmful legacies of war and build a sustainable peace in the country.

This month, the United Nations Human Rights Council will consider an important report recently published by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), on human rights, reconciliation and accountability in Sri Lanka.

It has been important for the Core Group to work collaboratively and constructively with the Government of Sri Lanka over the last five years. Consequently, we have engaged with the Government of Sri Lanka in preparation for the Council.

The Core Group restates the ongoing importance of addressing Sri Lanka in the Human Rights Council. Informed by the report, the Core Group intends to present a resolution to promote reconciliation, accountability and human rights in Sri Lanka.”

Adaderana

Courtesy Adaderana

The six-member committee appointed by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to study the Report of the Presidential Commission of Inquiry (PCoI) into the 2019 Easter Sunday attacks has been entrusted with a wide ranging mandate, the President’s Media Division stated today (22).

Identifying the overall process including the measures that need to be taken by various agencies and authorities such as the Parliament, judiciary, Attorney General’s Department, security forces, state Intelligence services  and implementing recommendations as stipulated by the PCoI to avert recurrence of a national catastrophe of such magnitude is the prime responsibility of the said Committee, PMD pointed out. These recommendations cannot be successfully implemented by any entity single handedly, PMD added.

The Presidential Commission of Inquiry (PCoI) into the Easter Sunday attacks was appointed in 2019 by the previous government.

The government in power is of the view that the Easter Sunday attacks had a devastating impact on the national security and stability, the economy, religious harmony and the social fabric of the country, PMD said. The background to these events also opens the door to external interference that is detrimental to the country’s sovereignty and stability. In order to ensure peace and security as well as economic prosperity within the territory of the State of Sri Lanka, all avenues leading to recurrence of such extremist violence must entirely be closed. This requires a complete cessation of religious extremism and associated terrorist violence, hate speech aiming different ethnic communities and foreign funding for such groups.

The PCoI has identified what each state institution and authority should do and the level of priority to be given to each task to achieve these broad objectives. If the existing administrative machinery is not adequate to follow the recommended course of action, necessary amendments need to be made in the administrative mechanism, PMD pointed out. The responsibility entrusted with the Parliamentary Committee appointed by the President is to study in depth the content of the Report of the PCoI on Easter Sunday attacks and to report on how action should be taken to prevent such a tragedy from happening again and to ensure the long lasting peace, security and stability in Sri Lanka, the PMD further said.

Prosecution and trial of the accused as per the recommendations of the PCoI on Easter Sunday attacks will take place in accordance with the standard judicial procedures.  The Parliamentary Committee is not expected to intervene in the said process. Adding recommendations to the Commission of Inquiry Report is also not within the scope of the Committee.  However, certain groups with vested interests are trying to socialize misconceptions about the role of the Parliamentary Committee, PMD stated.

The six-member Committee was selected considering factors such as their political maturity, experience and high level of knowledge in various fields.

Courtesy Adaderana

Sri Lanka has reported 05 more coronavirus-related deaths, the Director-General of Health Services confirmed today (February 22).

As per the Department of Government Information, two male patients and three female patients are among the victims.

The new deaths bring the number of COVID-19 related deaths witnessed in Sri Lanka to 450 in total.

01. The deceased is a 33-year-old female from Dunagaha. She died on 20.02.2021 while undergoing treatments at Teaching Hospital Kurunegala. The cause of death is mentioned as acute diabetes and acute kidney disease with Covid-19 infection.

02. The deceased is an 82-year-old female from Nugegoda. She died on 19.02.2021 at her residence. The Cause of death is mentioned as Covid-19 pneumonia.
 
03. The deceased is a 69-year-old male from Colombo 12. He died on 20.02.2021 while on admission to General Hospital Colombo. The cause of death is mentioned as blood poisoning and acute urinary tract infection with Covid-19 infection.

04. The deceased is an 83-year-old female from Minuwangoda. She was transferred from  District Hospital Gampaha to Base Hospital Mulleriyawa where she died on 22.02.2021. The cause of death is mentioned as Covid-19 pneumonia and acute kidney damage.

05. The deceased is a 77-year-old male from Colombo 13. He died on 20.02.2021 at his residence. The cause of death is mentioned as Covid-19 pneumonia, acute diabetes, and high blood pressure.

Courtesy Adaderana

Sri Lanka has registered 267 more positive cases of Covid-19 today (February 22), the Ministry of Health confirmed.

Thereby, Sri Lanka has detected 490 new positive cases of COVID-19 within the day.

As per statistics, the total number of Covid-19 infections confirmed so far in the country now stands at 80,489.

Recoveries from the virus meanwhile climbed to 75,110 earlier today, as 811more patients regained health.

However, 4,934 active cases are still under medical care at selected hospitals and treatment centers located across the island.

Total lives claimed by the pandemic outbreak sits at 445 at present.