Author: Karu

Gota maama’s media outfit had an entirely different take on this, however. The statement they issued said that you had taken responsibility for the ‘events’ at Welikada and Anuradhapura and had resigned from your ministerial post related to the prisons. They didn’t seem too embarrassed about it, did they? Then it gets even more interesting. That is because you have resigned from your ministry related to the prisons but not resigned from your other ministry related to gems and jewellery. Is it because you are alleged to have threatened some prisoners…

Sep 20 (Island) No sooner had Hambantota Mayor Eraj Fernando (SLFP) been arrested yesterday for trespassing on a land in Bambalapitiya recently and assaulting two security personnel guarding the property than he was given police bail. It looks as if the police had been eagerly waiting for his arrival to grant him bail! He is sure to come out with a tall tale in bid to justify his unlawful action. This is not the first time he has allegedly committed trespass. In Nov 2020, a video circulated on social media…

Sep 20 (ST) Are we a nation of savage beasts that a drunk State Minister, ironically tasked to oversee prisons reforms, can allegedly (a caveat that we are duty bound to enter) lurch into the Welikada and Anuradhapura prisons on sight-seeing expeditions to show the gallows to his acolytes in one instance and threaten prisoners of Tamil ethnicity in another? Let us be clear. It is not prisoners who are facing the gallows but the State of Sri Lanka. more..

Sep 20 (ST) On Monday morn, while UN Human Rights Commissioner Michelle Bachelet in Geneva was firing another scathing salvo on the Lankan Govt for repeatedly failing to honour its commitments to human rights, details were emerging in Colombo claiming that the Lankan Minister of Prisons had been busy the night before, working overtime to provide more ammunition to her booming cannons and to prove her tirade was justified. Foreign Minister G.L. Peiris’ laboured attempts to deny Bachelet’s allegations and more………………………….

Lohan Ratwatte: What will be will be Sep 20 (Island) State Minister Lohan Ratwatte’s wild behaviour at the A’pura prison last week has triggered universal condemnation and rightly so. He has tendered his resignation from one of his ministries, Prison Management and Prisoner Rehabilitation, but not from his position at the Ministry of Gems and Jewellery related industries prompting The Island to editorially describe him as a gem of a minister! But chuckles apart, the public continues to be kept in the dark about much of this horrific incident. more……………………………….

Sep 20 (PMD) President Gotabaya Rajapaksa arrived in New York to attend the 76th United Nations’ General Assembly (UNGA) Session. The delegation headed by the President arrived at the John F. Kennedy Airport in New York at 2.30 p.m., New York time, on Sept 18. The President and the delegation were warmly welcomed by Mr. Mohan Peiris, Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the United Nations. The 76th Session of the UNGA begins on Tuesday, 21 September under the theme more..

Sep 20 (DM) There is a sharp decrease in COVID-19 cases being reported daily and also the number of hospitalization has also vastly gone down, Health officials pointed out today. According to Senior Consultant Physician at IDH, Dr. Ananda Wijewickrama, the recent travel restrictions and preventive measures had contributed to the drop. “It is imperative to maintain the momentum in the future too,” he said. Dr. Wijewickrama also stressed the importance of getting immunized in order to reduce the number of deaths, more………………………………………………..

By Lucien Rajakarunanayake What a gem of a minister he is! Who? Who else, State Minister Lohan Ratwatte, the gem and jewel of today. Why? He resigned from his Prison Portfolio, not having done anything wrong, as he says it. He has gone beyond the stuff of any politician. He truly deserves to be given the highest regard by the Saubhagya Strategists. Just think of any politician of today, especially from the Pohottuva Team, who will resign from a portfolio for not having done anything wrong, when those who have…

By D.B.S.Jeyaraj Lohan Evindra Ratwatte is a Sri Lankan politician who is often under the media spotlight for the wrong reasons. The 53 year old Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna(SLPP) Kandy district MP- known generally as Lohan – received a great deal of negative publicity last week over an incident in which he reportedly humiliated and terrified a group of Tamil youths incarcerated at the Anuradhapura jail. The Gotabaya Rajapaksa Government’s State Minister for Gem & Jewellery related Industries and State Minister of Prison Management & Prisoners’ Rehabilitation brandishing a pistol…

Sep 16 (CT) It was evident since the death of D.S. Senanayake, rituals of democracy in Sri Lanka have been one of the biggest scams on earth. The result of this hideous act carried out by the present and past politicians is evident through the two major violent uprisings carried-out by Sinhalese and Tamil youths of the country. The deceptive politicians of every colour survived the wrath of these young people due to the intervention of the impartial heroic armed forces of the country. more..

Sep 16 (DM) As the SL Govt contends with urgent economic and public health crises, the specter of the 48th session of the UNHRC hangs over it. Recent sessions have emphasized SL’s short-comings in the context of previous commitments. A Jan 2021 UN report “warns that the failure of SL to address past violations has significantly heightened the risk of human rights violations being repeated. It highlights worrying trends over the past year, such as deepening impunity, militarization more..

Sep 16 (AI) Responding to reports that SL’s State Minister Lohan Ratwatte, forcibly entered a state prison in Anuradhapura on 12 Sept and held Tamil prison inmates incarcerated under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) at gunpoint and threatened to kill them, Yamini Mishra, Amnesty International’s Asia-Pacific Director said: “These dumbfounding reports go to show that our ongoing concerns regarding SL’s treatment more..

Sep 16 (Island) Lohan Ratwatte is reported to have resigned as the State Minister of Prison Management & Prisoners’ Rehabilitation over two separate incidents where he and a group of persons, described as his friends, forced themselves into two prisons and threatened some inmates and made a nuisance of themselves to the prison officers. He, however, will continue to function as the Sate Minister of Gem, Jewellery related Industries. (A gem of a minister!) It is a criminal offence more..

Sep 16 (Island) State Minister of Prison Reform and Rehabilitation Lohan Ratwatte said that he had informed Prez Rajapaksa that he would step down immediately from his post as the State Minister of Prisons. However, he will continue to be the State Minister of Gem and Jewellery Industries. Minister Ratwatte said that had decided to step down after taking responsibility for the incidents that took place at the Welikada and Anuradhapura Prisons. more..

Sep 16 (CT) The SJB said it would be a disgrace to Sri Lanka if UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, has to intervene to ensure the existence of democracy in the country. SJB MP Imthiaz Bakeer Markar said the Sri Lankans in Italy are pushing the international community to protest because of the loss of democracy and the loss of human rights of people in Sri Lanka. “Yesterday (15) was an important day, as the United Nations declared it as the Day of Democracy in 2007. more..

Sep 16 (Island) The United Nations (UN) office in Sri Lanka says it condemns any ill-treatment of prisoners. The UN Resident Coordinator in Sri Lanka, Hanaa Singer-Hamdy said that it is the duty of the State, as per the Mandela Rules, to protect the rights of prisoners. “In our work on prison reform and drug rehabilitation UN Sri Lanka works to strengthen capacities to uphold the rights of all those in custody and condemns any ill treatment of prisoners,” Hanaa Singer-Hamdy tweeted. more..

A suspect remanded in connection to the Easter Sunday attacks has revealed that he had supplied explosives to the brother of the ringleader of the attacks, Zahran Hashim. Police Spokesman, Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Ajith Rohana said Rasik Raza has been transferred to the Terrorism Investigation Division (TID) after new evidence had been uncovered. https://colombogazette.com/2021/04/30/probe-reveals-suspect-in-custody-supplied-explosives-to-hashims-brother/ Zahran was on Govt. payroll: Kiriella | Daily FTwww.ft.lk/front-page/Zahran-was-on-Govt–payroll…05/06/2019 · Leader of the House and Public Enterprise Minister Lakshman Kiriella yesterday told Parliament the Easter Sunday bomber Zahran Hashim was on the Government’s payroll during the Government of Opposition Leader Mahinda Rajapaksa. Raising…

Apr 30 (CP) Colombo- The Commercial Bank of Ceylon has won three prestigious awards — the ‘Best Private Bank’ in Sri Lanka in 2021,’ the ‘Best Digital Transformation in Banking’ and ‘Best Mobile Banking Application’ –from Business Tabloid Magazine, a leading business magazine of the UK.  http://www.colombopage.com/archive_21A/Apr30_1619804027CH.php http://www.colombopage.com/archive_21A/Apr30_1619804027CH.php

BBC A Kenyan doctor who became a vociferous opponent of the Covid-19 vaccine has succumbed to the virus, weeks after saying the jab was “totally unnecessary”. Dr Stephen Karanja, chairman of the Kenya Catholic Doctors Association, advocated steam inhalation and hydroxychloroquine tablets. He clashed with the Catholic church over the safety of the Covid jabs. Health authorities and the World Health Organization (WHO) rejected his claims. “[The vaccine] being distributed in Kenya, has been reviewed and found safe not only by the WHO rigorous process but also by several stringent…

By P.K.Balachandran A video conference of the Foreign Ministers of South Asian countries and China on the containment of the raging COVID-19 pandemic in the region was held on Tuesday. However, India and its allies, Bhutan and the Maldives, were conspicuously absent, perhaps due to the participation of China. New Delhi envisages no role for China in South Asia. Those who participated in the conference were the State Councilor Wang Yi (China), Dinesh Gunawardena (Si Lanka), Mirwais Nab (Afghanistan), A.K Abdul Memon (Bangladesh), Pradeep Kumar Gyawali (Nepal) and Makhdoom Shah…