News

May 9 violence: Inquiry panel calls for action against then Army commander

Published

2 years ago

February 26, 2023

editor

The conduct of Acting Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) and then Army Commander Shavendra Silva during the events of March 31 and May 9 last year should be further investigated by a specialised investigating unit such as the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), a Board of Inquiry (BOI) appointed to look into lapses by the armed forces and state intelligence services during this period has recommended.

The three-member BOI comprising Admiral of the Fleet Wasantha Karannagoda, Marshal of the Air Force Roshan Goonetileke and General Daya Ratnayake has concluded that orders and instructions given by then President Gotabaya Rajapaksa as Commander in Chief and subsequent supporting orders given by Defence Secretary Kamal Gunaratne had not been conveyed by General Shavendra Silva to the Field Commanders on time.

Furthermore, no clear instructions had been issued with regard to action to be taken to quell mob violence, which the BOI says amounts to wilful neglect of duty. As a result, the troops on the ground were not able to prevent damage to public property and harm to persons. The report was filed before the Court of Appeal on Thursday. President’s Counsel Uditha Igalahewa, appearing for the three-member BOI, filed the report in the court when a writ petition filed by 22 government MPs representing Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) was taken up before a two-judge bench comprising Justices Nishshanka Bandula Karunaratne and M.A.R. Marikkar.

The BOI report concludes that violence that took place on the afternoon of May 9 along Galle Road and Galle Face could have been mitigated, if not prevented, if the Secretary of Defence had acted upon an intelligence report which had been hand-delivered to his residence on Sunday, May 8 by the State Intelligence Service (SIS) and the WhatsApp message on the same intelligence on the following morning by the Director SIS with regard to possible clashes/violence at Galle Face on May 9.

The Inspector General of Police (IGP) had acted on the same intelligence report that had been copied to him and deployed the police. However, due to miscommunication and poor assessment of the evolving ground situation, the number of policemen deployed was not sufficient to deal with the situation effectively, the report has noted.

The BOI has observed that the failure to stop protesters (from inside Temple Trees) from reaching the protest site at the Galle Road entrance to Temple Trees and at Galle Face, resulting in violent clashes, was the main reason for the countrywide mayhem that followed.

The Army Commander had informed Field Commanders not to deploy troops until he personally gave the order to do so. By doing so, he had taken the initiative away from ground commanders to take appropriate action to quell mob violence as and when the ground situation demanded, the report states.

The BOI has also concluded that a lack of legal protection afforded to operational troops for lawful actions had resulted in a reluctance to act decisively at a time of necessity. It has recommended that indemnity for lawful actions of servicemen and police whilst performing their duties should be introduced as a matter of priority.

The general belief of widespread corruption and misusing of public funds was the root cause to mobilise people for violent protests, the BOI says.

(sundaytimes.lk)

News

President AKD lays wreath at Monument to People’s Heroes (Video)

Published

20 minutes ago

January 16, 2025

editor

Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, who is currently on state visit to China, laid a wreath at the Monument to the People’s Heroes at Tian’anmen Square in Beijing today (Jan. 16).

(Video : CCTV +)

News

India – SL signd MoU to establish 60 smart classrooms

Published

54 minutes ago

January 16, 2025

editor

A Memorandum of Understanding on ‘Establishment of 60 Smart Classrooms in Selected Schools’ in the plantation regions of Sri Lanka, with grant assistance of LKR 508 million from Government of India, was signed and exchanged by the High Commissioner of India to Sri Lanka – Mr. Santosh Jha and Secretary, Ministry of Plantation and Community Infrastructure Mr B.K. Prabhath Chandrakeerthi today (Jan. 16).

The project envisages establishment of 60 smart classrooms for students in 48 schools in Nuwara Eliya and 6 schools each in Kandy and Badulla Districts identified by the Government of Sri Lanka.

The initiative will enhance knowledge-impartment at the schools, bring learning benefits to the students and also promote information and communications technology integration in these schools.

A statement issued by the Indian High Commission in Colombo further states :

With a development cooperation portfolio with Sri Lanka of over USD 5 billion, India’s people-centric development assistance initiatives in virtually all major sectors are bringing a positive impact in the day-to-day lives of the people of Sri Lanka across all the 25 districts of the country.

The project of establishment of smart classrooms would be yet another initiative in line with the numerous past and ongoing development partnership projects of India in Sri Lanka in the education sector. A selection of a few instances would include setting up of English language laboratories in all provinces of the country; establishment and renovation of auditoriums at numerous institutions across the country, including the Rabindranath Tagore Memorial Auditorium at Ruhuna University; construction of a multi-ethnic tri-lingual school at Polonnaruwa in the North Central Province; renovation works at over 100 schools in the Northern Province; supply of 110 buses to educational institutions across the island; support to vocational training institutions; establishment of smart classrooms and computer labs in 200 schools in the Southern Province; financial assistance to students at University of Jaffna and Eastern University Batticaloa from economically weaker sections of society; among many others. Diplomatic Letters were recently exchanged by the Governments of India and Sri Lanka for doubling the grant support of Government of India to a project of up-gradation of 9 plantation schools. A 3-month teacher-training program in STEM subjects for plantation schools was also conducted recently under the multi-sectoral grant assistance of INR 750 million announced last year to mark 200 years of arrival of Indian-origin Tamil community to Sri Lanka. Over 2000 teachers in plantation schools of Sri Lanka benefitted from the program.

News

Agreement signed with Sinopec to construct oil refinery in H’tota (Video)

Published

3 hours ago

January 16, 2025

editor

During President Anura Kumara Disanayake’s four-day state visit to China, Sri Lanka marked a significant milestone by securing the largest foreign direct investment to date. This significant achievement was formalized this morning (16) with the signing of an agreement between Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Energy and Sinopec, a leading Chinese international petroleum corporation.

Under this $3.7 billion investment, a state-of-the-art oil refinery with a capacity of 200,000 barrels will be constructed in the Hambantota region. A substantial portion of the refinery’s output is planned for export, further enhancing the nation’s foreign exchange earnings.

This major investment from China is expected to bolster Sri Lanka’s economic growth while uplifting the livelihoods of low-income communities in the Hambantota area. Moreover, the benefits of this project are anticipated to positively impact the overall Sri Lankan population in the near future.

The signing ceremony was attended by Minister of Foreign Affairs, Labour and Tourism Vijitha Herath, Minister of Transport, Highways, Ports and Civil Aviation Bimal Rathnayake and Director General of Government Information H. S. K. J. Bandara, alongside other dignitaries.

(President’s Media Division)