News
HRCSL urged to stop eviction of people from Divulpothana in EP
By Shamindra Ferdinando
Alleging that attempts were being made to evict people from the Divulpothana village in the Batticaloa District, Ven. Ampitiye Sumanaratne thera, Chief Incumbent of Mangalaramaya, Batticaloa, has called for the immediate intervention of the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL) to protect the rights of the victims.
In a four-page letter dated Oct. 23, 2023 handed over to the HRC on Monday, Ven. Sumanaratne Thera has claimed that the Wickremesinghe-Rajapaksa government has allowed the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) to intimidate the people living in Divulpothana and adjoining villages following an understanding the grouping reached with the incumbent administration regarding its support for President Ranil Wickremesinghe at the next presidential election.
The thera has alleged that relevant Mahaweli authorities and police at the behest of political leadership fully cooperated with the TNA and others interested in forcing the Sinhala families out of the Eastern Province.
The monk named TNA Batticaloa District MP Shanakiyan Rasamanickam and Eastern Province Governor Senthil Thondaman of the Ceylon Workers Congress (CWC) as the two main politicians involved in the sordid operation.
Dr. Gunadasa Amarasekera, convenor of the Federation of National Organizations told The Island that the situation was bad, and the law enforcement authorities had prevented Ven. Sumanaratne thera from entering his own temple.
Dr. Amarasekera said that nearly 15 years after the eradication of separatist terrorism brazen attempts were being made to force Sinhalese out of their villages. Referring to the simmering issue over Kurundi temple, Dr. Amarasekera insisted that intimidation of Divulpothana villagers was not an isolated development. “It was all part of a sinister strategy,” he said.
In his letter to the HRC, Ven. Sumanaratne Thera has highlighted what he calls a systematic campaign to deprive the Sinhala community of basic rights afforded to other communities.
Insisting that Divulpothana area has been inhabited by Sinhalese for a long time and there are 86 archaeological sites, the Ven. Thera has recalled how the LTTE carried out massacres to force the Sinhalese and Muslims out of the region. The evicted people hadn’t been able to return to their land until the government brought the war against the LTTE to a successful conclusion in May 2009, the Thera said, pointing out Mangalaramaya temple had intervened on their behalf and built 25 houses and a temple and facilitated efforts to restore normalcy.
The monk has alleged that the yahapalana administration succumbed to pressure from some Tamil and Muslim politicians and forced the people out of their homes after 2016 and allocated the entire area for grazing. Despite repeated appeals, the yahapalana government had turned a blind eye until the change of government following the last presidential election in Nov., 2019 paved the way for the return of the displaced families to Divulpothana and adjacent areas.
Sumanaratne Thera has said that since President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s ouster, the government had succumbed to TNA pressure and was in the process of forcing the Sinhalese out of Divulpothana.
Ven. Sumanaratne has said that Mahaweli authorities moved Eravur Magistrate’s Court against a group of 13 families, alleging that they were forcibly occupying state land. The monk alleged that those who lived there regardless of immense difficulties and threats to their lives were being relentlessly harassed by state officials.
It has been claimed that land is required for grazing of around 700,000 cattle but the number of cattle was 150,000, the Thera’s petition says.
The monk has alleged that following a meeting MP Rasamanickam and EP Governor Thondaman had at the Presidential Secretariat on 15 Oct., a lie had been propagated in and outside parliament via social media that the police deployed in the Eastern Province didn’t carry out instructions issued by President Wickremesinghe.
The monk claimed that subsequently, Karadiyanaru police had prevented him from proceeding towards his own temple in Divulpothana thereby violating his rights.
The monk has alleged that a Buddha statue placed by him at Weheragodalla temple in Divulpothana had disappeared. The monk has urged the HRC to inquire into his complaint and take necessary action.
The Secretary to the President, Dr. Nandika Sanath Kumanayake stated that the government has taken a policy decision to continue, without interruption, “School Nutrition Programme’’ aimed at reducing anemia among schoolchildren, which is being implemented with the assistance of the World Food Programme.
He made these remarks on Wednesday (23), during a discussion held at the Presidential Secretariat with representatives from relevant Ministries and government institutions involved in the programme, along with officials from the World Food Programme, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Pathfinder Foundation.
The school meal programme, aligned with the government’s initiative to provide nutritious lunch to primary school students in districts identified as having high levels of malnutrition, specifically targets the reduction of iron deficiency among schoolchildren. The initiative is jointly coordinated by the Ministry of Education, Higher Education and Vocational Education, the Ministry of Health and Mass Media, Provincial Councils, the Food Promotion Board and the Partnership Secretariat for the World Food Programme Cooperation. The government has allocated Rs. 32 billion for this programme for the current year.
A pilot project is currently being implemented in four selected districts. Based on a formal health and nutrition study assessing the outcomes of this pilot project, there are plans to expand the programme island-wide. The study aims to determine the extent to which iron deficiency among schoolchildren can be reduced through this initiative.
As part of the programme, fortified rice enriched with iron and folic acid will be included in the school meals to specifically address anemia among students.
The World Food Programme, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Gateway Foundation and the Pathfinder Foundation have pledged their continued support for this effort.
Present at the occasion were Secretary to the Prime Minister Pradeep Saputhanthri, Senior Additional Secretary to the President Kapila Janaka Bandara, Secretary to the Ministry of Education Nalaka Kaluwewa, Secretary to the Ministry of Health and Mass Media Dr. Anil Jasinghe, and Secretary to the Ministry of Rural Development, Social Security and Community Empowerment Malarmathy Gangatharan, along with other government officials and representatives from partner organizations.
[PMD]
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Heat index at ‘Caution level’ at some places in Northern, North-central and Eastern provinces and Monaragala, Hambantota districts
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Retired SSP Shani Abeysekera, serving the Police Department again, has been appointed to the committee headed by Senior DIG Asanka Karawita, tasked with studying the Presidential Commission of Inquiry (PCoI) report on the 2019 Easter Sunday carnage.
The other members of the team are DIG, CID, Director, CID and Director Terrorism Investigation Division (TID)
Pivithuru Hela Urumaya (PHU) leader Udaya Gammanpila yesterday said that Abeysekera had been one of the law enforcement officers whose conduct raised eyebrows over the years as regards the failure on the part of the CID to thwart the Easter Sunday attacks.
The National Police Commission approved the reappointment of SSP Abeysekera on contractual basis for one year, with effect from 10 Oct., 2024.
Abeysekera backed Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s presidential election campaign as a member of the retired police collective.
“School Nutrition Programme’’to continue, without interruption
Heat index at ‘Caution level’ at some places in Northern, North-central and Eastern provinces and Monaragala, Hambantota districts
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