News
DEW issues warning over cremation of COVID-19 victims, stresses need to take public into confidence
Govt. party leaders’ meeting:
By Shamindra Ferdinando
Former Minister and Communist Party veteran D.E.W. Gunasekera has urged the SLPP government to address the simmering crisis over its policy of cremating the Muslims who die of COVID-19. He cautioned that Western powers could exploit the issue to undermine the country as in the past.
The former lawmaker issued the warning at party leaders’ meeting chaired by Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa at the Presidential Secretariat recently. President Gotabaya Rajapaksa was also present.
Political sources said that the discussion had lasted for about three hours and was the first such since November 2019 presidential election.
Gunasekera said that the government couldn’t afford to turn a blind eye to geo-political realities against the backdrop of China-US confrontation and Sri Lanka’s strategic importance.
Gunasekara underscored the importance of responding to situations swiftly and decisively. The former General Secretary of the CP said that over 6.9 mn people had voted for Gotabaya Rajapaksa because they had faith in him.
Gunasekera warned that if the dispute over the cremation of all corona victims got out of control, extremists would take advantage of the situation. He also found fault with members of parliament for failing in their responsibilities both in and outside parliament. None of those present responded to Ginasekera’s criticism.
During the lengthy discussion, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa pointed out that the SLPP MPs hadn’t at least visited areas affected by recurrent armyworm (Sena caterpillar) invasion. The President recently toured Anuradhapura, where significant crop losses had been caused by insects.
Gunasekera also took exception to a recent article written by Asanga Abeygoonesekera in his capacity as a civilian attached to the Defence Ministry, a subject coming under the purview of the President. Gunasekera said Abeygoonesekera shouldn’t have taken a hostile stand towards China, which was a friend of Sri Lanka.
Gunasekera said that such a stand would cause irreparable damage to the bonds between the two nations. He said the writer in his capacity as a Defence Ministry official had called for a common front against China.
National Freedom Front (NFF) leader Wimal Weerawansa raised the apparent government decision to go ahead with the handover of the East Container Terminal (ECT) at the Colombo harbour to India’s Adani Group.
Weerawansa alleged that the deal on ECT would be detrimental to the country. The previous yahapalana government in late May 2019 entered into an MOC (Memorandum of Cooperation) with India and Japan in respect of the ECT although the latter is no longer part of it.
The proposed deal on ECT has sharply divided the government with trade unions vowing to scuttle it.
Gunasekera said that interested parties could take advantage of the recent developments, particularly the cremation of bodies of Covid-19 victims, a sensitive issue for the Muslim community.
Gunasekera last served the Cabinet in 2011. President Maithripala Sirisena left Gunasekera out of the National List following 2015 parliamentary polls.
In a swift search and rescue (SAR) operation, the Sri Lanka Navy on 22 Jun 2026 rendered assistance to a one-day fishing trawler that had failed to return to its intended destination.
Reportedly, the fishing trawler and its 02 crew members ran into trouble due to adverse weather conditions off the north coast of the island. The rescue mission was launched
immediately following an alert from the Department of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources regarding the overdue trawler.
Responding to the distress call, the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC) Colombo, coordinated the deployment of naval craft for the SAR operation.
During the operation, naval personnel located the distressed trawler and its 02 fishermen in the seas off the Analaitivu Island and they were brought to safety.
Maintaining a round-the-clock vigil, the Sri Lanka Navy, through the coordination of MRCC Colombo, remains constantly prepared to deploy assets and extend vital lifesaving assistance to the naval and fishing communities facing perils within the Sri
Lankan Search and Rescue Region.
The NPP government has not taken a final decision regarding filling of the vacancies in the judiciary.
A group of Opposition MPs, led by SJB leader Sajith Premadasa, on 12 June, requested Speaker Dr. Jagath Wickremeratne to take up the issue of judicial vacancies with President Dissanayake. Opposition sources said that there were four vacancies, each in the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court, and the inordinate delay had adversely affected the judiciary.
Government sources indicated that there was no change in the status quo as regards filling of vacancies. Referring to the government proposal to extend the retirement age of judges, authoritative sources said that no final decision had been taken yet.
SJB lawmaker Dayasiri Jayasekera told The Island that they would raise the issue in Parliament this week.
He said that the deliberate delay in making appointments to superior courts and the move to extend the retirement age couldn’t be taken separately.
The MP noted that the Bar Association of Sri Lanka, the Lawyers’ Collective, the Colombo High Court Lawyers’ Association, Colombo Magistrate’s Court Lawyers’ Association and the Bar Association of Badulla had opposed the government move.
There hadn’t been any public statements in support of the government move, MP Jayasekera said, urging the government to end uncertainty in the judiciary.
by Shamindra Ferdinando
SJB leader Sajith Premadasa has invited the UNP and other political parties to join his party. Premadasa, who is also the leader of the Opposition, has emphasised that the UNP and the SJB could reach a consensus on policies but his party wouldn’t, under any circumstances, accept whatever formula to share positions. Premadasa said so, speaking to the media over the weekend, after meeting the Mahanayaka Thera of the Malwatta Chapter of the Siyam Nikaya Most Venerable Thibbatuwawe Sri Siddhartha Sumangala Thera.
A statement issued by the Opposition Leader’s Office quoted MP Premadasa as having extended an invitation to all political parties to give up extremist policies and join the SJB.
The SJB leader alleged that the NPP government feared facing elections and that was the reason for the inordinate delay in holding Provincial Council polls. PC polls were last held in 2012, 2013 and 2014, on a staggered basis. Premadasa said that if PC polls were held his party would definitely win the majority of PCs.Premadasa also urged the government to reduce electricity tariffs and fuel prices.
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