Saturday 25th July, 2026

The Opposition’s no-faith motion against Justice and National Integration Minister Harshana Nanayakkara was debated and defeated yesterday. Nobody expected its passage by any stretch of the imagination.

Notwithstanding the defeat of the no-faith motion, some of the points raised by the Opposition during yesterday’s debate are valid. The Negombo Prison riots which claimed 31 lives including those of 10 officers and caused extensive damage to state property could have been prevented if the warring inmates had been transferred to other prisons after their first clash. Why the two violent groups were kept together thereafter defies comprehension. As a prison officer told Minister Nanayakkara at the Prison Headquarters, the incident could have been nipped in the bud. There were serious lapses on the part of the prison authorities and the government, and they cannot absolve themselves of the blame for the loss of life.

However, it is not fair to hold the incumbent government responsible for all chronic prison ills. Overcrowding, which is one of the main causes of prison unrest and violence, is not of recent origin. It has been reported that Sri Lanka’s prison system, designed to accommodate around 11,000 inmates, is currently holding more than 42,000 prisoners, resulting in severe overcrowding and placing immense pressure on prison infrastructure and staff. Prisons are also characterised by a chronic shortage of officers. These issues would not have arisen if the previous governments had taken action to expand the prison system and recruit more personnel.

SJB MP Ajith P. Perera told Parliament during yesterday’s debate that there were about 42,000 inmates in the country’s prisons, and out of them more than 30,000 were drug offenders. In other words, the previous governments carried out anti-narcotics campaigns without increasing the prison capacity to hold more suspects and convicts. MP Perera revealed that more than 15,000 people were languishing behind bars as delays on the part of the Government Analyst’s Department (GAD) had prevented them from obtaining bail. This amounts to a blatant violation of their human rights. It is an indictment of all political parties that have been in power. As the old saying goes, when one finger is pointed at another, three fingers point back at the accuser; criticism of others should be accompanied by self-reflection.

GAD is reportedly experiencing a shortage of personnel and other resource constraints. Why didn’t the previous governments solve these problems? What action has the incumbent administration taken to resolve them? Are there reasons other than resource shortages for GAD’s failure to submit reports to courts expeditiously? It is hoped that the government and the Opposition will stop trading allegations and make a joint effort to ensure that suspects are not held on remand due to institutional delays and lapses.

Meanwhile, the defeat of a no-faith motion does not necessarily translate into the exoneration of the minister against whom it is moved. As for Minister Nanayakkara, the issue has now moved beyond Parliament into the court of public opinion. It will not go away, as evident from the fate that befell Minister Keheliya Rambukwella and those who circled their wagons around him and defeated the motion of no confidence moved against him for fraudulent procurement of drugs, etc., during the previous government. Rambukwella was arrested, remanded and prosecuted. He now has court cases to contend with. Most of those who defended Rambukwella either lost their seats at the last general election or did not have the courage to contest it. This is something the present-day rulers should bear in mind. Those who do not learn from history are said to be doomed to repeat it.

Friday 24th July, 2026

Sri Lanka has succeeded in defeating terrorism but failed to neutralise the netherworld of drugs and crime. Successive governments have launched ambitious operations against the underworld but crime syndicates are still going strong as evident from frequent incidents violence and drug detections. Now, a notorious drug dealer, Mohamed Imran aka Kanjipani Imran, has reportedly threatened to attack the Devinuwara Sri Vishnu Maha Devalaya perahera over a dispute between two kavadi dance groups.

The underworld has emerged so powerful as to pose threats to a perahera held in honour of God Vishnu, one of Sri Lanka’s four guardian deities, and therefore the vulnerability of the mere mortals vis-a-vis crime syndicates goes without saying. Underworld threats to the Devinuwara perahera remind us of the Sura-Asura war, a legendary, cosmic conflict in mythology between deities and demons.

Basnayake Nilame of the Vishnu Devalaya is reported to have lodged a complaint with the police about underworld threats. An investigation has got underway, and the police say they will intensify the security cordon during the Devinuwara festival. The police must not leave anything to chance in making security arrangements to ensure the safety of the public, the participants in the Perahera and the Devalaya officials. It may be recalled that there was a devastating attack on a religious ceremony 17 years ago in the Matara District, where the Devinuwara shrine is located.

An LTTE suicide bomber attacked a religious event at a mosque in Akuressa, in 2009, killing about 15 people and injuring another 60, including the then Minister Mahinda Wijesekera, a former Basnayake Nilame of the Devinuwara Vishnu Devalaya. Wijesekera, who suffered permanent injury and left politics, died a few months ago at the age of 83. One can only hope that nothing untoward will happen in Devinuwara.

Terrorism and other forms of violence have not spared all four major religions in this country. Mobs who carried out the 1983 anti-Tamil pogrom, looted and torched Hindu temples besides the houses and business places of their victims. The LTTE attacked Buddhist temples, massacred Buddhists including monks and Muslims inside mosques as part of its ethnic cleansing campaign. The National Thowheed Jamaath (NTJ) attacked churches, killing Christians. Now, an organised criminal gang is threatening one of Sri Lanka’s oldest shrines venerated by Buddhists and Hindus alike.

Underworld threats to the Vishnu Devalaya perahera remind us of the NTJ’s original plan to attack the Dalada Perahera in Kandy. The Presidential Commission of Inquiry, which probed the Easter Sunday terror attacks (2019), revealed that NTJ’s plan had been to attack the Dalada Perahera, but it had been changed due the detection of explosives in Wanathawilluwa and external factors such as ISIS losing ground in Syria and Iraq. Subsequently, the NTJ attacked churches and hotels.

Interestingly, while underworld kingpins are instigating prison riots, carrying out narcotic operations and killings, and threatening to attack a holy festival, Deputy Minister of Defence Maj. Gen. (Retd.) Aruna Jayasekera has elevated himself to celestial heights, as it were. He is reported to have claimed at a public event that no one in the Opposition is capable of challenging President Anura Kumara Dissanayake in a future presidential contest effectively, and only those who have descended from heaven, like him (Jayasekera), are equal to such tasks. His speech was aired on television and a video of it has gone viral in the digital realm. We thought there were only fallible earthlings in the parliament of Sri Lanka, but now the Deputy Minister of Defence would have us believe that even celestial beings have representation in the JVP-led NPP government.

It is ironic that notorious criminals, released on bail, are carrying out various underworld operations and threatening to attack religious events, while former intelligence officers who were instrumental in defeating terrorism are being detained. Imran was arrested together with another underworld leader, Makandure Madush, in Dubai and extradited in 2019. He was released on bail in December 2022 although it was obvious that he would flee the country and operate from overseas, as we pointed out in an editorial comment on 02 Jan., 2023. A probe must be conducted to find out how Imran managed to obtain bail while everything possible is done to bring him to justice.

Thursday 23rd July, 2026

US President Donald Trump seems to think the world must do as he says and he is free to do anything. He now wants FIFA President Gianni Infantino, 56, to be the next UN Secretary General, according to internal media reports. Trump could not have found a better candidate for the job to further his own interests. None of the UN Secretaries-General have had the courage to stand up to the US, or to any other world power for that matter, but Infantino would be the most pro-American UN chief, if ever elected to the top post. Trump and Infantino have not commented on the media reports at issue. It is possible that the White House has leaked Trump’s plan to test the waters.

The New York Post has quoted an unnamed top Trump aide as saying that Trump wants the FIFA President as the next UN Chief because he firmly believes that Infantino is respected by everyone around the world, and recognises that he (Infantino) has a special ability to bring people together. But the truth is apparently otherwise. All leaders are fond of sycophants. Infantino is putty in Trump’s hands. Does the international community have a high opinion of the current FIFA chief?

The world must have lost whatever respect it may have had for Infantino when FIFA unashamedly gave in to Trump, who personally called Infantino and requested a review of a red card issued to US striker Folarin Balogun; FIFA subsequently suspended the player’s one-game ban and allowed him to play against Belgium, much to the resentment of the entire Europe. There have been calls for Infantino’s ouster for doing so. Most of all, FIFA incurred much international opprobrium by awarding its inaugural peace prize to Trump despite his military aggression.

How Infantino has ruined his reputation and that of FIFA by grovelling before Trump became evident on the day of the FIFA World Cup final match between Spain and Argentina last Sunday. There were scattered boos from the crowd when Trump was shown briefly on the jumbotron. But the stadium erupted in boos when he and his candidate for the post of UN chief entered the field for the presentation ceremony. That is the stigma of association Infantino has to bear for getting close to Trump.

The claim, attributed to Trump that the incumbent FIFA chief is capable of bringing nations together through football, and therefore he can lead the UN may be based on the belief that sports unite humanity. But it should be viewed against the central argument of George Orwell’s brilliant essay, The Sporting Spirit, which shatters the myth that international sports foster global goodwill. Orwell wrote it following the Dynamo Moscow football team’s tour of Britain in 1945. The matches were marred by disputed refereeing decisions, accusations of unfair play, violent incidents and intense nationalistic passions. Orwell’s arguments are still valid, the most famous one being that modern sports are essentially “war minus the shooting” driven by intense nationalism, a desire to humiliate the opponent, and a lust for victory rather than fair play. This was borne out by the Argentinian players’ deplorable behaviour during and after the recent FIFA World Cup final. Above all, the Iranian football team faced severe logistical hurdles, visa restrictions, and mandatory same-day travel policies at the hands of the US, prompting the head coach of Iran Amir Ghalenoei to say that his squad was the most oppressed due to those restrictions. FIFA lacked the courage to stand up for the Iranian team. How FIFA chief Infantino would behave if Trump succeeded in making him the UN Secretary General is not difficult to imagine.

The possibility of Trump going ahead with his plan to make Infantino the next UN Chief and even using US tariffs to pressure other countries into supporting his candidate cannot be ruled out. It is believed that none of the other prospective candidates has the backing of the permanent members of the Security Council, and this situation is expected to help Trump have the FIFA chief elevated to the top post. However, running the UN is a whole different ballgame. Perhaps, the only striking similarity between FIFA and the UN is that the latter’s mandate receives the same treatment as a football from the Permanent Five and their close allies.

There is one main dissimilarity between FIFA and the UN. FIFA, by and large, enforces the Laws of the Game, but the veto-wielding powers of the UN are guided by Rafferty’s rules, as can be seen from the way they are attacking other countries and committing blatant human rights violations with impunity. The US even abducts and assassinates the leaders of other nations openly.

The Trump administration called the UNHRC (United Nations Human Rights Council) a ‘cesspool’ before withdrawing from it in 2018. Going by the US contention, the UN can be considered a bigger version of what the Trump government called the UNHRC, in 2018, and therefore Infantino should not consider it an honour to be considered by Trump for the post of UN Secretary-General.