Columns

In the age of social media, comments by public figures made in the past can always come back to haunt them at a later date.

This has already been the case with the Deputy Defence Minister, retired Major General Aruna Jayasekara. In the aftermath of the most recent shootings, a clip that went viral on social media showed the deputy minister telling those who “do not know national security” to meet him with a desk and a chair so that he could give them “tuition” on the subject.

Yesterday, police claimed that two suspects had been killed in retaliatory police fire when they attempted to grab officers’ firearms and attack them after being taken to uncover “hidden weapons.” They were arrested over the fatal shooting of a man in Kotahena on Friday night.

No sooner had the police made the announcement than an old video clip of President Anura Kumara Dissanayake went viral. He was seen levelling scathing criticism on such claims by the police when he was in the opposition. The clip was part of a speech he made in Parliament as an opposition MP in December 2021.

In the clip, Mr. Dissanayake labels such encounters as “dramas” that repeatedly follow the same script. “It’s always the same story. Someone is arrested. They are taken to uncover hidden weapons. They try to shoot police with the same weapons and are shot in return. Who is going to believe this story? What right do the IGP or the minister have to decide if a criminal lives or dies?” Mr. Dissanayake asks in the clip. He ends his speech by insisting that police must end the “culture of killing” that has become prevalent through such incidents and take steps to bring wrongdoers before the law.

Those who have shared the clip question how Mr. Dissanayake will react as President now that such an incident has been reported under a government he heads.

When mercury hits high, bottle of soft drink becomes a bribe

Though the government’s ambitious ‘Clean Sri Lanka’ initiative saw mixed criticisms, it became evident in recent weeks that some kind of ‘cleaning’ process needs to be taken at the institutional level with reforms rather than logo-level or surface-level cleaning.

Emphasising the need for such reforms or cleaning was an incident a journalist witnessed this week near the  Grand mosque in Colombo 12 where cops stopped and questioned two youths on a motorcycle for more than one hour. The journalist was at a nearby shop observing what was going on. Finally, the rider was allowed to proceed while the pillion was detained by the cops.

Minutes later, the rider came back with a bottle of a soft drink and gave it to the cops and secured their release. As the mercury is on the rise these days, forms of bribes are also changing.

Chinese minister in Lanka to boost cultural ties

China’s Ethnic Affairs Minister Pan Yue holding talks with Buddhasasana, Religious and Cultural Affairs Minister Hiniduma Sunil Senevi

A top-level Chinese delegation led by China’s minister in charge of the National Ethnic Affairs Commission is on a visit to Sri Lanka from February 19 to 23.

The delegation, headed by Minister Pan Yue, met Buddhasasana, Religious and Cultural Affairs Minister Hiniduma Sunil Senevi on Friday. The meeting took place at the Buddha Sasana Ministry premises and focused on enhancing cultural ties between the two countries.

The two ministers also discussed the possibility of student exchanges as a means of enhancing cultural ties. Minister Pan invited Minister Sunil Senevi to undertake a cultural study visit to China.

Rs. 17 million cut in allocations for ex-presidents

The government has been outspoken about cutting salaries and perks given to former presidents in keeping with its election pledge.

Accordingly, there have been cuts in both recurrent and capital expenditure amounting to Rs. 17 million compared to 2024 from the allocations for five former presidents and one president’s widow.

In 2024, a little more than Rs. 150 million was allocated for facilities for the former presidents, while the amount was reduced to Rs. 133 million for 2025. The recurrent expenditure for former presidents for 2025 is around Rs. 71 million, while the capital expenditure is around Rs. 62 million.

There have been cuts in the capital expenditure on former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, down from Rs. 18.8 million in 2024 to Rs. 16.1 million in 2025, while the recurrent expenditure for former President Chandrika Kumaratunga too has been reduced from Rs. 7.8 million to Rs. 4.6 million.

The allocation for three former presidents—Maithripala Sirisena, Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Ranil Wickremesinghe—remains at Rs. 16.1 million, while Hema Premadasa, widow of President R. Premadasa, has been set aside an allocation of Rs. 1.68 million. In 2024, her allocation was Rs. 3 million. Capital expenditure for all former presidents has also been reduced.

It’s lonely when not at the top

Former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa seen seated alone at a table as the party to mark the birthday of Japan’s emperor continued

Former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa was at the reception for the celebration of the 65th birthday of the Emperor of Japan last Tuesday. Invitations for guests, including all previous heads of state, were sent on behalf of Japanese ambassador Akio Isomata.

Mr. Rajapaksa arrived at the event only to find he did not have much company. Even those who engaged with him formally greeted him and moved on to mingle with other guests.

Noticing the isolated ex-president, one of the guests was heard quipping to his colleagues, “It is far better to be alone than to be in bad company,” as the old proverb goes.

Calls grow to save elephants

In a tragic incident last week, six elephants lost their lives after colliding with a train in the Gal Oya area.

The impact was so severe that the train derailed. The incident sparked a wave of outrage from animal rights activists and social media warriors alike.

As expected, social media lit up with hashtags and hot takes. Some activists passionately called for the night train to be stopped entirely, while others proposed solutions such as improved monitoring systems.

Bimal says no solution to opposition’s ego problems

House Leader and Minister Bimal Ratnayake questioned if there was more than one Leader of the Opposition and one Chief Opposition Whip after repeated interruptions by SJB MP Dayasiri Jayasekera during yesterday’s sittings.

Mr. Jayasekera attempted to raise a question regarding security concerns in courts after the shooting inside the Magistrate’s Court in Colombo. He rose soon after the same question was raised by Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa, prompting the Government member to question why the same questions were being raised by the Opposition delaying proceedings of the House.

“These are ego problems, to which the government doesn’t have answers. The Opposition should settle these issues and come here, Mr. Ratnayake said.

Chinese rice not sticking with northern fisherfolk

In recent years, China has been making inroads to the North, where India has invested in infrastructure projects and funded several livelihood programmes in the post-conflict period.

Targeting particularly the Northern fisherfolk who are struggling to put food on the table, with the Indian fishermen robbing their fish, China granted Rs 1.5 billion worth of humanitarian assistance, which includes prefabricated houses, fishing equipment, and packets of rice. The programme, launched in June last year, covered both the Northern and Eastern provinces.

The generous ‘China Aid’ had a sticky problem. The sticky Chinese rice was not to the locals’ palate. As a result, thousands of kilograms of packets of rice are still in warehouses. As local rice varieties of Nadu and Samba remain popular in the two provinces, there was poor enthusiasm among fisherfolk to try out the popular Chinese rice variety.

In Mannar alone, at least 50,000 kilograms of rice remain undistributed for months, making it unsuitable for human consumption. The authorities are looking at the possibilities of utilising the rice to produce animal feed. However, local health officials instructed them otherwise and got rid of the rice consignment at the earliest.

Referendum to decide on Constitution

Foreign Affairs Minister Vijitha Herath said yesterday that the Government would keep to its pledge to enact a new constitution and would do so with the consent of the people.

“We know how constitutions were enacted in the past, be it in 1972 or 1978. They were forced on the people, but we will not do so. The new constitution will be enacted only after it is approved by the people at a referendum,” he said, speaking during the budget debate in Parliament.

Govt’s attraction to animals

After a video clip that showed Deputy Minister of Public Security Sunil Watagala calling his driver a ‘donkey’ (booruwa) in the vernacular went public, there were many who took to social media to have a laugh at his expense.

Some noted that as the NPP had pledged not to use official vehicles, maybe all MPs were allocated a donkey each for transport, and hence the deputy minister was actually calling his vehicle to come and fetch him from the Hulftsdorp court complex, while others noted that the government blamed animals for many of its problems: dogs for the rice shortage, monkeys for the coconut shortage and power failure, and now a ‘donkey.’