News

Lanka forced to walk tight rope

Published

4 years ago

2022/08/6

Thilina Walpola

Chinese research vessel saga

By Rathindra Kuruwita

There would be constant pressure on Sri Lanka to distance itself from China in the future, Ramindu Perera, lecturer at the Open University Law faculty said, commenting on the controversy surrounding the Chinese research vessel, Yuan Wang 5.Sri Lanka, thus, must figure out how to benefit from the emerging multi-polar world, while not antagonizing its powerful neighbour, Perera said.

Sri Lanka should also recognise that India and China reacted differently to perceived changes in the country’s political landscape, Perera added.

“China and India deal with things differently. The official policy of China is not to intervene in the internal affairs of other countries. It will more or less work with any government that comes into power. But India is different, it takes a much more political

stance. Let’s look at the controversy over the proposed arrival of the Chinese scientific research vessel Yuan Wang 5. Foreign ships, even naval vessels, arrive in Sri Lanka each year but India is making an issue over Yuan Wang 5. They feel it’s a challenge and this kind of thing will keep on happening. In the future things will be more complex,” he said.Perera said that there is no solution in international law to address the problems faced by Sri Lanka due to the emerging cold war between China and the US. All countries are members of the United Nations and had agreed to respect the sovereignty of other nations and not to intervene in the domestic affairs of others, he said.

“However, this is not what happens. This is a political problem, and the solution is political, too,” he said.

China has risen rapidly in the last four decades and is a serious challenge to the world order, dominated by the United States. After the fall of the Soviet Union, the United States had about two decades to do whatever it wanted in the world. However, with the rise of China and the reemergence of Russia, the world order is in a flux, he said.

“The unipolar moment is over, and the West is trying to undermine China and to slow down its economic rise. They also want to isolate China and thus a lot of pressure is applied on countries like Sri Lanka. For example, when former US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, visited Sri Lanka, a few years ago, he openly said Sri Lanka has to take a side. US has initiated a number of groupings to contain China, and India is a member of one of the groups, the QUAD,” Perera said.

The West has also launched a concerted anti-China propaganda campaign and the best option before us is to adhere to Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike’s stance when she successfully declared the Indian Ocean a zone of peace in the 1970s, he said.

“This is not an easy road to take because unlike in the 70s, India is now with the West. But as a small nation, we need to figure out what our strategy is. We need to find a way to benefit from the emerging multipolar world while not making India angry. The conflict between China and the west already affects us. We see this with our debt restructuring process. The controversy over Yuan Wang 5 is not only about a ship, it’s about the way the world will be run,” he said.

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News

Geneva takes up Sallay’s case and govt. ignores opportunity to answer accusations

Published

22 hours ago

2026/10/5

Thilina Walpola

Suresh Sallay

The government has chosen not to respond to questions raised by the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) regarding the detention of retired Maj. Gen. Suresh Sallay in connection with the ongoing investigations into the 2019 Easter Sunday attacks.

The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) arrested the ex-official in late February this year. The Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism, the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, the Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health and the Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers have jointly raised the issue on 20 July, 2026.

Drawing attention of President Anura Kumara Dissanayake to what they called alleged arbitrary detention of Sallay, former Director General of the State Intelligence Service (SIS) and former Director of Military Intelligence (DMI), under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA), as well as allegations of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment while in custody, resulting in the grave deterioration of his health, and imminent risks of retaliation through further torture and ill-treatment resulting in irreparable harm, should he be released from hospital and returned to custody, the UN sought the government explanation with a 60-day period.

The UN has stated: “This communication, and any response received from your Excellency’s Government, will be made public via the communications reporting website at the 60 days mark. Should your Excellency’s Government respond within 60 days, both the communication and the response, may be published before the 60 days mark. The communications and responses

will also be made available in the subsequent periodic report to be presented to the Human Rights Council.”

In the absence of the government’s response, the UN posted the letter, dated 20 July, 2026, addressed to President Dissanayake. The full letter can be accessed https://spcommreports.ohchr.org/TMResultsBase/DownLoadPublicCommunicationFile?gId=31125

News

Section of wartime KKS High Security Zone vacated to facilitate economic development in the area

Published

22 hours ago

2026/10/5

Thilina Walpola

The Army, last week, vacated an area, within the wartime high security zone in the Jaffna peninsula. The Defence Ministry said that an extent of 187.56 acres of land, belonging to the Cement Corporation in Kankesanthurai, Jaffna, has been released by the military. The released land, located in Grama Niladhari Division J/233, Kankesanthurai West, within the Valikamam North (Tellippalai) Divisional Secretariat Division, had been utilised by the Sri Lanka Army since the middle of 1997.

The release of the 187.56-acre extent forms part of the initiative to make State land available for the proposed investment zone in Kankesanthurai, thereby facilitating future investment and economic development in the area.

News

Lawyer lodges complaint against Govt. Printer, Media Ministry Secy.

Published

22 hours ago

2026/10/5

Thilina Walpola

A complaint has been lodged with the Colombo Fraud Investigation Bureau against the Government Printer and the Secretary to the Ministry of Media regarding the online release of falsified documents bearing a forged Speaker’s certificate.

Attorney-at-Law Aruna Laksiri has lodged a complaint with the Colombo Fraud Investigation Bureau requesting legal action against the Government Printer of the Department of Government Printing (No. 118, Dr. Danister de Silva Mawatha, Colombo 08), Prasanna Jayaratne, and the Secretary to the Ministry of Mass Media (Asidisi Medura, 163, Kirulapone Mawatha, Polhengoda, Colombo 05), Dr. Anil Jasinghe.

The complaint alleges the commission of offences by forging and uploading falsified documents online using a forged Speaker’s certification, failure to perform statutory duties, and misappropriation of public property.

The complaint states that a copy of the English translation of the 22nd Amendment to the Constitution was downloaded and printed from the official website of the Government Printing Department (www.documents.gov.lk), which operates under the Ministry of Mass Media. On its outer cover and on page 1, the text “certified on 25th of September, 2026” is inscribed inside brackets.

The complaint pointed out that the Speaker has certified an English translation. Under Articles 23, 79, 83, and 80 of the Constitution, Parliament enacts laws and the Speaker certifies bills strictly in the Sinhala and Tamil languages; under the Constitution, therefore the Speaker cannot apply such certification to an English translation.