News
MP Rasamanickam paints Chinese as bogeymen
By Saman Indrajith
Batticaloa District TNA MP Shanakiyan Rajaputhiran Rasamanickam told Parliament on Saturday that it was the Chinese the Sinhalese, we should be afraid of and not the Tamils or the Muslims.
“Since the government is working hard to create bogeymen out of Tamils and Muslims, the Sinhalese are not able to see the real picture,” MP Rasamanickam said, participating in the third reading debate on Budget 2021.
“On 29th of the last month, we had a festival of lights. Police went and disrupted it. Why? Because the government wants to create a non-existing problem and get the majority to think that they are busy working for the Sinhalese’ cause. The government does so because it cannot deliver its promises on development. They create unnecessary problems and get behind the cover of those problems. I feel sorry for the plight of the Sinhalese people who have been made into a gullible lot by their own politicians. This is the Sinhala country and its majority of people are Sinhala. They are made to hate other communities. That attitude has been created by their political leaders. For example, yesterday MP Ponnambalam spoke and Sinhala ministers spoke against him and, therefore, the people today talk only of those debates and arguments on the racial lines. You are creating an issue because you cannot run the country properly.”
The MP said that the issue in Sri Lanka was not about Tamils or Muslims, but about the Chinese and the Sinhalese community must understand it. “You have to worry about Chinese investments. China is investing heavily in ports. Do you want to be another Pakistan? Do you want to be another Laos? We are getting into a Chinese debt trap. Go and tell the people that truth. If you are so strong and gutsy tell the people the truth. The Chinese are investing here, but tell me the number of jobs the Chinese have created in this country? None, because the Chinese invest here and bring their countrymen to work on the projects they invest in and so they take the money they gave and take it back. Do you think that they build port cities out of their love toward us? It is being built because they want a base in South Asia in the Indian Ocean, not because they love this country.”
A discussion with the Catholic Council was held on Thursday (21) afternoon at the Presidential Secretariat under the co-chairmanship of Minister of Science and Technology, Chrishantha Abeysena and Secretary to the President Dr. Nandika Sanath Kumanayake.
Discussions focused on administrative issues relating to Catholic schools taken over by the Government, the formulation of a structured teacher cadre system for Catholic religious education, the need to recruit Catholic nuns and priests into the teaching profession and the establishment of a mechanism to obtain the support of the Ministry of Education for the administration of Government-acquired Catholic schools.
It was also decided that discussions with the Catholic Council would be held three times annually, while Senior Additional Secretary to the President Roshan Gamage would serve as Secretary to the forum.
Expressing appreciation on behalf of the Catholic Council, His Eminence Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith thanked President Anura Kumara Dissanayake and the Government for facilitating the discussion.
His Eminence further stated that the expectation was to ensure every student, without discrimination, is given the opportunity to learn his or her own religion and stressed the importance of resolving the prevailing issues within the education sector.
Also present at the occasion were Most Rev. Bishop Harold Anthony Perera, Most Rev. Bishop Christy Noel Emmanuel, Most Rev. Bishop Anton Ranjith, Most Rev. Bishop Wimal Siri Jayasuriya, other clergy representing the Catholic Council, Secretary to the Ministry of Education, Nalaka Kaluwewa and senior officials of the Ministry of Education.
(PMD)
The International Cricket Council (ICC) has decided to broaden the Women’s Emerging Nations Trophy, which was launched last year. Unlike the inaugural edition held in November 2025 that featured eight Associate teams, the second edition will comprise 10 teams, including five Test-playing nations. The tournament is scheduled to be held in November this year.
Italian Navy’s ITS GIOVANNI DELLE BANDE NERE, which arrived in Colombo (21 May 2026) on a replenishment visit, departed the island today (22 May).
The Sri Lanka Navy bade a customary farewell to the departing ship in compliance with naval traditions at the port of Colombo.
During her brief stay in Colombo, the Commanding Officer of the ship, Commander Antonio BUFIS called on the Commander Western Naval Area at the Western Naval Command Headquarters.
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Landslide early warnings issued to the Districts of Colombo, Gampaha, Kalutara, Kegalle, Nuwara Eliya and Ratnapura
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