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Sri Lanka stokes Muslim and Christian ire with COVID burial rules

Published

6 years ago

2020/12/27

Sahan Weerasooriya

Rajapaksa’s forced cremations of minority victims worsen human rights record

MARWAAN MACAN-MARKAR, Asia regional correspondent

COLOMBO — Predominantly Buddhist Sri Lanka’s ultranationalist government is forcing families of the country’s Muslim and Christian minorities to abandon their faith-based burial rites for relatives who die of COVID-19 — consequently inviting fresh international scrutiny of the nation’s already troubled human rights record.

As the country’s death toll from the pandemic inches toward 200, the government of the hawkish President Gotabaya Rajapaksa is sticking to a policy backed by hard-line allies from the majority Sinhala-Buddhists, the political constituency that helped Rajapaksa secure two thumping electoral mandates over the past year. The official policy is for COVID-19 victims to be swiftly cremated. It has sent religious minorities already grieving for lost kin into deeper anguish.

The youngest victim was a 20-day-old Muslim baby who was forcibly cremated against the parents’ wishes. An estimated 80 Muslims have died of the coronavirus, with their surviving family members suffering the same indignity. The pandemic has infected close to 40,000 people since the first case was detected on the Indian Ocean island early this year.

The policy “has led to so much agony within the community at a time when they have to grieve for someone who has died,” said Shreen Saroor, a leading Muslim women’s rights activist. “The relatives are caught in a dilemma of having to sin and having so much guilt for being part of the sin because of the cremation.”

The anti-burial measures endorsed by Rajapaksa, who enjoys autocratic powers following a constitutional amendment, have been defended on two grounds that have made Sri Lanka an outlier in the global response to the deadly pandemic. One rationale is that burying COVID victims could result in the virus spreading in the soil and contaminating the country’s water table. The other: Muslims will use the dead bodies in graves as a “biological weapon.”

Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, left, and President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. The Rajapaksa government’s forced cremations appear to have touched off a sense of solidarity in a deeply polarized nation. © Reuters

Sri Lanka’s stance flies in the face of the international consensus among medical scientists and virologists regarding the last rites of COVID victims. The World Health Organization, the Geneva-based U.N. body, has shaped international opinion with guidelines that state the choice of cremation or burial of a COVID victim is a cultural decision. Over 180 of its members have endorsed this.

Not surprisingly, there are emerging signs that Sri Lanka will pay a diplomatic price for Rajapaksa’s efforts to weaponize COVID. Colombo-based embassies from the world’s Muslim countries “are monitoring the burial ban closely and gathering information,” said a diplomatic source from an Asian mission in the Sri Lankan capital.

The embassies have taken a cue from the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, a Saudi Arabia-based 57-member bloc that has issued three statements condemning Sri Lanka’s forced cremation policy.

Likewise, Western diplomatic missions have stood behind statements issued by U.N. officials about the Rajapaksa government hounding religious minorities in their hour of grief. “I fear that not allowing burials is having a negative effect on social cohesion and, more importantly, could also adversely impact the measures for containing the spread of the virus as it may discourage people to access medical care when they have symptoms or history of contact,” wrote Hanaa Singer, the U.N. Resident Coordinator in Sri Lanka, in a letter to the Rajapaksa government in November.

The international scrutiny Sri Lanka is now under adds to the diplomatic pressure it is expected to face in early 2021, when its postwar record will be in the spotlight at the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva. “The members of the OIC have traditionally backed Sri Lanka or abstained when there were resolutions critical of the country at the UNHRC,” said Hilmy Ahamed, vice president of the Muslim Council of Sri Lanka, a civil society network. “But Sri Lanka may not be assured of such support in Geneva next year because of the enforced cremations.”

The nearly 30-year civil war, which ended in May 2009, pitted government troops against the separatist Tamil Tigers. The conflict’s grim numbers include more than 100,000 people killed and over 23,000 missing, according to estimates.

For years, an international push for accountability — including in regard to grisly accounts of alleged war crimes committed by government troops and the separatists — has cast a shadow over Sri Lanka. Now the public backlash against the enforced cremations has laid bare a new layer of pain to the still unhealed wounds of Sri Lanka’s fragile, postwar peace.

The protests that have spread locally as well as in Western cities suggest the government’s forced cremations have kindled a sense of solidarity in a deeply polarized country. The participants come from across the country’s religious communities — Buddhists, Hindus, Catholics, other Christians and Muslims. Their banners decry the country for being a graveyard for human rights.

A family member of a soldier who died in Sri Lanka’s civil war cries. The country, still grieving from its long conflict, is now dealing with a new layer of pain inflicted in the name of caution. © Reuters

Symbols of the interreligious solidarity that has taken shape against Rajapaksa are appearing. One is a small white cloth that protesters have begun to tie to the poles that surround the main cemetery in Colombo, where the body of the 20-day-old Muslim baby was forcefully cremated. The white cloths symbolize the white shrouds that the bodies of dead Muslims are buried in. White is also the color of the clothing people wear at non-Muslim funerals.

Some demonstrators wear strips of white cloth around a wrist. The idea of the white-cloth protests was conceived by a Christian and Hindu, both in their 20s.

“This issue has grown beyond Muslim circles,” said Ruki Fernando, a prominent Catholic human rights activist. “There is more solidarity and consciousness, and this discontent will add to the fire the government may face at the U.N. in Geneva.”

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President meets with Department of Prisons Officials

Published

30 mins ago

2026/07/18

Priyan

President Anura Kumara Dissanayake met with the officers of the Department of Prisons, including Superintendents of Prisons, Jailers and other officials, on Friday (17) afternoon at the Presidential Secretariat.

Extensive discussions focused on the challenges currently faced by the prison system and the urgent measures required to address them.

Special attention was also given to the recent incident at the Negombo Prison, with lengthy discussions held on the steps needed to prevent similar incidents from occurring in the future.

The meeting also addressed the challenges faced by prison officers and matters relating to their welfare.

The officials noted that this was the first opportunity they had been given to discuss their concerns directly with the President and expressed their appreciation for the opportunity.

Minister of Justice and National Integration Harshana Nanayakkara, Minister of Labour and Deputy Minister of Finance and Planning Anil Jayantha Fernando, Senior Additional Secretary to the President Roshan Gamage, Secretary to the Ministry of Justice and National Integration Ayesha Jinasena, Commissioner General of Prisons Prasad Hemantha Kumara, Commissioner of Prisons (Rehabilitation) S.K. Pallethanna, Commissioner of Prisons (Operation/ Intelligence) A.C. Gajanayake, along with a number of other officials of the Department of Prisons, were present at the meeting.

(PMD)

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Prioritize Vocational Education in future Education Planning – President

Published

37 mins ago

2026/07/18

Priyan

President Anura Kumara Dissanayake emphasised that greater priority must be given to strengthening Sri Lanka’s vocational education sector in parallel with the country’s ongoing education reforms, stating that the Government is prepared to allocate the necessary funding through the 2027 Budget.

The President made these remarks on Friday (17) during a meeting at the Presidential Secretariat to review the progress of projects implemented under the 2026 Budget allocations for the Ministry of Education, Higher Education and Vocational Education and to discuss the Ministry’s funding requirements ahead of the 2027 Budget.

A total allocation of Rs. 303 billion has been made to the Ministry under the 2026 Budget, comprising Rs. 160 billion for general education, Rs. 122 billion for higher education and Rs. 20 billion for vocational education.

The meeting reviewed the implementation of projects funded under these allocations, future plans and the Ministry’s funding requirements for the coming year. The President stressed that budget allocations should not be spent merely because they have been provided, but should instead be utilised in line with national priorities and identified needs.

Officials noted that the largest-ever capital allocation of Rs. 8 billion had been provided this year for vocational education. They also reported that 57,959 students had been enrolled during the first two quarters of the year across 310 Government vocational training institutions.

Particular attention was given to increasing the annual intake of students into vocational education institutions. Discussions also covered the allocation of a permanent site for the Ocean University, the gradual increase in student admissions to the University of Vocational Technology from next year and measures to expand both the number and quality of University Colleges across the country, enabling students in the regions to access technical degree and diploma programmes more easily.

The meeting also focused on programmes implemented under the general education sector. The President stressed that projects financed through foreign assistance should not become an unnecessary debt burden on the country, but should instead be undertaken only where they are aligned with Sri Lanka’s education policies and genuine national requirements.

Attention was also directed towards welfare programmes for schoolchildren. The President instructed that priorities be established to ensure that benefits reach those who genuinely require them based on the effectiveness of each programme. The President further noted that the President’s Fund remains ready to support scholarship programmes and instructed officials to prepare and submit proposals outlining such funding requirements.

The meeting also held extensive discussions on increasing the monthly financial assistance provided to students with special educational needs from 2026 onwards, as well as raising the allowances paid to student teachers at the National Colleges of Education.

Officials also briefed the President on issues relating to the existing student insurance scheme.

Discussions further focused on plans to invest Rs. 382 billion in the education sector during the 2027–2031 period to support its continued development. Particular attention was given to the proposed Digital Transformation Project, which forms part of this investment programme.

It was also noted that work has commenced on the rehabilitation of 20 schools and National Colleges of Education damaged by Cyclone Ditwah, with Rs. 1.9 billion allocated for the programme.

The meeting also agreed that teacher shortages, vacancies among non-academic staff and salary anomalies within the education sector should be addressed through a coordinated approach across the public sector. It was further agreed that a special commission would be tasked with recommending permanent solutions to these issues.

Prime Minister and Minister of Education, Higher Education and Vocational Education Dr. Harini Amarasuriya; Minister of Labour and Deputy Minister of Finance and Planning Dr. Anil Jayantha Fernando; Deputy Minister of Vocational Education Nalin Hewage; Secretary to the President Dr. Nandika Sanath Kumanayake; Chief of Staff to the President Prabath Chandrakeerthi; Senior Additional Secretaries to the President Russel Aponsu and Kapila Janaka Bandara; Secretary to the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development Dr. Harshana Suriyapperuma; Secretary to the Ministry of Education, Higher Education and Vocational Education Nalaka Kaluwewa; together with officials from the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development and the Ministry of Education, Higher Education and Vocational Education, were also present at the meeting.

(PMD)

News

Navy brings fisherman in distress off Pothuvil, ashore

Published

8 hours ago

2026/07/18

Priyan

The Sri Lanka Navy rescued a fisherman from a local fishing trawler that encountered distress due to adverse weather conditions off the eastern coast of Sri Lanka.

The rescue operation took place on 17 July 2026, approximately 15 nautical miles off Pothuvil. The operation was launched following information received by the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC) Colombo.

In response, the Sri Lanka Navy deployed the Offshore Patrol Vessel SLNS Vijayabahu along with additional craft to conduct a search operation in the designated sea area, where they successfully located the distressed fisherman.

Following the rescue, the individual was brought aboard SLNS Vijayabahu, where naval personnel administered preliminary first aid. He was subsequently brought to the mainland and rushed for further medical attention.

Meanwhile, the Navy, along with the coordination of MRCC Colombo, remains constantly prepared to swiftly respond to the eventualities faced by maritime and fishing communities operating within the island’s Search and Rescue Region (SRR).