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Govt. must share its plan for national reconciliation with Opp. and civil society
The National Peace Council (NPC) has urged the government to engage constructively with the Opposition and with civil society in shaping its position at the forthcoming UNHRC session.
The text of the NPC statement: “As Sri Lanka prepares to appear before the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva this September under Resolution 51/2, the government will need to show more than promises. The UN Human Rights High Commissioner’s 2025 report recognises that the new government has both a historic opportunity and a clear mandate to deliver results. The continuation of arbitrary arrests under the Prevention of Terrorism Act, custodial deaths, intimidation of civil society and the discovery of mass graves such as at Chemmani the UN report highlights shows the urgency of action.
Earlier this month the Cabinet of Ministers approved the development of a new National Policy and Action Plan on Reconciliation and Co-existence, to be spearheaded by the Office for National Unity and Reconciliation (ONUR) under the Ministry of Justice. A credible plan must include clear deadlines to replace the Prevention of Terrorism Act, complete mass grave investigations, establish an independent Truth and Reconciliation Commission with international participation, and create a prosecutorial body to pursue emblematic cases from the war and the Easter Sunday bombings. Military involvement in civilian life in the north and east must be scaled back, and land disputes resolved transparently.
Just as critical are steps that improve the daily lives of ethnic and religious minorities. People should not feel threatened by representatives of any faith. They must be free to use their language wherever they choose, yet even today many government documents are not available in Tamil. This must be corrected immediately. Provincial Council elections should not be delayed for delimitation exercises. In the east, appointments to senior government posts must reflect the Tamil-speaking majority, yet there has never been a Tamil Government Agent in Trincomalee or Ampara. The same exclusion is seen across departments, from the police to banks and forest services, where Tamil speakers remain under-represented. Courts in the east accommodate Sinhala but rarely Tamil, although Tamil speakers are often bilingual. This imbalance must end.
Development in the east lags behind the rest of the country. Batticaloa, historically the capital of the east, has lost its centrality since the establishment of the provincial council system and has not recovered. Key services such as telecoms, taxation and provincial administration are located elsewhere, leaving Batticaloa behind while towns like Polonnaruwa and Ampara have grown rapidly. Transport links are also neglected: there is no train from Batticaloa to Trincomalee or Jaffna, and no air-conditioned bus service from Batticaloa to Jaffna. These shortcomings reinforce the sense of exclusion and abandonment which is not limited to Batticaloa but other parts of the north and east.
What is needed for the forthcoming UNHRC session in Geneva is not another statement of intent but a concrete plan that delivers justice, guarantees language and religious rights, ensures fair representation in public service, and restores equality in development. Without this, reconciliation will remain out of reach. The National Peace Council urges the government to engage constructively with the opposition and with civil society in shaping its position at the forthcoming UNHRC session.”
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Heat Index at Caution Level in the Northern, North-central and North-western provinces and in Kegalle, Trincomalee and Batticaloa districts during the day time
Warm Weather Advisory
Issued by the Natural Hazards Early Warning Centre
Issued at 3.30 p.m. on 28 April 2026, valid for 29 April 2026.
The Heat index, the temperature felt on human body is likely to increase up to ‘Caution level’ at some places in the Northern, North-central and North-western provinces and in Kegalle,
Trincomalee and Batticaloa districts during the day time.
The Heat Index Forecast is calculated by using relative humidity and maximum temperature and this is the condition that is felt on your body. This is not the forecast of maximum temperature. It is generated by the Department of Meteorology for the next day period and prepared by using global numerical weather prediction model data.
Effect of the heat index on human body is mentioned in the above table and it is prepared on the advice of the Ministry of Health and Indigenous Medical Services.
ACTION REQUIRED
Job sites: Stay hydrated and takes breaks in the shade as often as possible.
Indoors: Check up on the elderly and the sick.
Vehicles: Never leave children unattended.
Outdoors: Limit strenuous outdoor activities, find shade and stay hydrated.
Dress: Wear lightweight and white or light-colored clothing.
Note:
In addition, please refer to advisories issued by the Disaster Preparedness & Response Division, Ministry of Health in this regard as well. For further clarifications please contact 011-7446491.
New controversy erupts over missing USD 2.5 mn:
Public interest activist Nagananda Kodituwakku has sought citizenship details of Finance Ministry Secretary Harshana Suriyapperuma from the Department of Home Affairs, Australia.
According to a letter dated 28 April, addressed to the relevant department, Solicitor England and Wales Kodituwakku sought the required information in terms of Section 15 of the Freedom of Information Act No 3 of 1982 of Australia. Suriyapperuma is also the Secretary to the Treasury.
The former Deputy Minister of Finance and Planning Suriyapperuma (from November 2024 to June 2025) is embroiled in a deepening controversy over the theft of USD 2.5 mn from the Treasury.
The leader of the Vinivida Foundation said that he intended to move court against Suriyapperuma for entering Parliament through the NPP National List in violation of the country’s Constitution (Article 91(1)(d)(xiiii).
Kodituwakku said: “This is clearly an accountability and integrity issue and violation of the Constitution of Sri Lanka and also this act contravenes the law of a member in the Commonwealth.”
USD 2.5 mn paid to a third party was meant to be an instalment of a loan taken from Australia. Suriyapperuma neither responded to an SMS nor answered his hand phone.
Geetha Kumarasinghe (UPFA/Galle District) and Diana Gamage (SJB National List) lost their seats in 2017 and 2024, respectively, over citizenship issues.
Meanwhile, public interest group ‘Free Lawyers’ that exposed the theft of Treasury funds questioned the failure on the part of Dr. Harsha de Silva, Chairman of Committee on Public Finance (CoPF), to pressure President Anura Kumara Dissanayake to temporarily remove Suriyapperuma to facilitate unhindered investigations.
On behalf of ‘Free Lawyers’, Rajith Keerthi Tennakoon yesterday expressed concern over the way the CoPF, under SJBer de Silva’s leadership, handled the issue at hand. Issuing an open letter, Tennakoon, urged the CoPF chief to explain his stand on a spate of vital issues which needed to be addressed without any further delay.
By Shamindra Ferdinando
News
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Heat Index at Caution Level in the Northern, North-central and North-western provinces and in Kegalle, Trincomalee and Batticaloa districts during the day time
Showers or thundershowers will occur in most parts of the island after 1.00 pm
Treasury chief’s citizenship details sought from Australia
President Anura Kumara Dissanayake handing over a sapling of the Sri Maha Bodhiya in Anuradhapura to Ven Bhikku Pannakara
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