sri lanka news – Artifex.News https://artifexnews.net Stay Connected. Stay Informed. Tue, 23 Jul 2024 18:04:25 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.6.2 https://artifexnews.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/cropped-Artifex-Round-32x32.png sri lanka news – Artifex.News https://artifexnews.net 32 32 Sri Lankan Government Apologises For “Forced” Cremation Of Muslim Covid Victims https://artifexnews.net/sri-lankan-government-apologises-for-forced-cremation-of-muslim-covid-victims-6173606/ Tue, 23 Jul 2024 18:04:25 +0000 https://artifexnews.net/sri-lankan-government-apologises-for-forced-cremation-of-muslim-covid-victims-6173606/ Read More “Sri Lankan Government Apologises For “Forced” Cremation Of Muslim Covid Victims” »

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Traditionally, Muslims bury their dead facing Mecca. (Representational)

Colombo:

Sri Lanka’s government Tuesday formally apologised to the island’s Muslim minority for forcing cremations on Covid victims, disregarding WHO assurances that burials in line with Islamic rites were safe.

The cabinet issued an “apology regarding the compulsory cremation policy during the Covid-19 pandemic”, the government said in a statement.

It said a new law would guarantee the right to burial or cremation to ensure the funeral customs of Muslims or any other community were not violated in future.

Traditionally, Muslims bury their dead facing Mecca. Sri Lanka’s majority Buddhists are typically cremated, as are Hindus.

Muslim representatives in Sri Lanka welcomed the apology, but said their entire community, accounting for about 10 percent of the island’s 22 million population, was still traumatised.

“We will now sue two academics — Meththika Vithanage and Channa Jayasumana — who were behind the forced cremation policy of the government,” Hilmy Ahamed, spokesman for the Muslim Council of Sri Lanka, told AFP.

“We will also seek compensation.”

Ahamed said a young Muslim couple suffered untold anguish when their 40-day-old infant was cremated by the state against their wishes.

Then president Gotabaya Rajapaksa banned burials despite his administration facing international condemnation at the UN Human Rights Council and other forums for violating Muslim funeral norms.

In a book published earlier this month, he defended his action saying he was only carrying out “expert advice” from Vithanage, a professor of natural resources, not to let Covid victims be interred.

She has no medical background.

Rajapaksa halted his forced cremations policy in February 2021 following an appeal from then Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan during a visit to Sri Lanka.

The government then allowed burials at the remote Oddamavadi area in the island’s east under strict military supervision — but without the participation of the bereaved family.

Rajapaksa was forced out of office two years ago following months of protests over an unprecedented economic crisis, which had led to shortages of food, fuel and medicines.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

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Sri Lanka to hold presidential election between September 17 and October 16: Election Commission https://artifexnews.net/article68156936-ece/ Thu, 09 May 2024 10:09:46 +0000 https://artifexnews.net/article68156936-ece/ Read More “Sri Lanka to hold presidential election between September 17 and October 16: Election Commission” »

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File picture of Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe
| Photo Credit: AP

Sri Lanka will hold presidential election between September 17 and October 16, the country’s top electoral body announced on Thursday.

In a notice signed by its chairman R.M.A.L. Ratnayake, the Election Commission said it will call for nominations to hold the Presidential election within the specified timeframe in terms of the provisions of the Constitution, according to local media reports.

It said that the presidential election will be held on a day between September 17 and October 16.

President Ranil Wickremesinghe is expected to contest the presidential election under a new symbol, his top aide said last month.

In May 2022, Mr. Wickremesinghe replaced Mahinda Rajapaksa as prime minister following anti-government protests over the unprecedented economic crisis in the island nation. Two months later, he replaced Gotabaya Rajapaksa as the President to serve the balance term until the end of 2024.

Mr. Wickremesinghe, 75, will represent several parties as a national candidate, Senior Presidential Advisor and UNP senior leader Ashu Marasinghe said last month.

The veteran politician has led the United National Party (UNP) since 1994. He has served as prime minister on five occasions, leading six governments.

President Wickremesinghe may have a face-up with his cabinet colleague Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe, who is currently serving as the Minister of Justice.

Former president Maithripala Sirisena, the chairman of Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), recently said that Rajapakshe, 65, would be his party’s candidate in the presidential election.



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Chinese vessel begins research off Sri Lankan coast today https://artifexnews.net/article67475724-ece/ Mon, 30 Oct 2023 07:13:37 +0000 https://artifexnews.net/article67475724-ece/ Read More “Chinese vessel begins research off Sri Lankan coast today” »

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Chinese research ship Shiyan 6 is seen berthed at Colombo harbor, Sri Lanka, on October 26, 2023.
| Photo Credit: AP

Chinese research vessel Shiyan 6, which arrived in Colombo last week amid concerns raised by India and the United States, is set to begin its two-day research off the Sri Lankan coast today, Sri Lankan authorities said.

The research will be pursued off Sri Lanka’s western coast, and in collaboration with Sri Lanka’s National Aquatic Resources Research and Development Agency (NARA) and the University of Ruhuna, according to a spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Colombo. Asked about the nature of research, the spokesperson told The Hindu: “It is marine scientific research.” The Ministry had earlier said the vessel was at the Colombo port for “replenishment”.

Research ship Shiyan 6 was added to China’s fleet of marine research vessels in December 2020. Said to be the country’s first scientific research vessel focusing on geophysical exploration, it is scheduled to operate at sea for about 80 days, with 13 research teams onboard pursuing 28 scientific research projects across 12,000 nautical miles, the state-run China Global Television Network reported in September.

Both, India and the US raised concern over the vessel’s visit, as the two countries had done in the past, around earlier visits of Chinese vessels. Sri Lankan media reported that the issue also came up in talks held by President Ranil Wickremesinghe in Beijing earlier this month.  

In September this year, ‘INS Delhi’, India’s first indigenously built destroyer undertook a goodwill visit to Sri Lanka. Last week, ‘ROKS Gwanggaeto the Great’ of the Korean Navy and more recently, Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) destroyer AKEBONO (DD 108) arrived at the Trincomalee harbour, located on Sri Lanka’s north-eastern coast, on an official visit.



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Escalating tensions in Gaza under sharp focus in civil war-scarred Sri Lanka  https://artifexnews.net/article67434095-ece/ Wed, 18 Oct 2023 19:48:04 +0000 https://artifexnews.net/article67434095-ece/ Read More “Escalating tensions in Gaza under sharp focus in civil war-scarred Sri Lanka ” »

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Sri Lanka’s President Ranil Wickremesinghe.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

The escalating tensions in Gaza have come under sharp focus in Sri Lanka, an island nation that is struggling to get out of its own devastating civil war, nearly 15 years after it ended.

While President Ranil Wickremesinghe recently called for a “four-state” solution involving Israel, Gaza, Palestine, and Lebanon, to resolve the crisis, he also shared his concerns with caretaker Prime Minister of Pakistan Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar on Tuesday. The regional leaders are currently in China to attend the third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation.

According to an update posted by the Pakistani Prime Minister’s office on social media platform X, the two leaders expressed “deep concern at the grave humanitarian situation in Gaza caused by the ongoing Israeli attacks. They called for “immediate cessation of hostilities by Israel; establishment of a humanitarian corridor to provide aid to the besieged people of Gaza; and a two-state solution, resulting in the establishment of a viable and contiguous Palestinian State with pre-1967 borders and Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital”, the post said.

Expressing solidarity

Meanwhile, key political actors from different parties in Sri Lanka have voiced concern on the ongoing violence.

Leader of Opposition Sajith Premadasa has called for an urgent parliamentary debate on the issue, while observing that “state terrorism” was leading to “hundreds of deaths”. On Wednesday, Mr. Premadasa presented a motion urging the House to call upon the United Nations to convene its Security Council to end the ongoing conflict. Terming the hospital bombing in Gaza a “massacre”, he urged the permanent members of the UN to take necessary measures to stop the “ongoing terrorism and state terrorism”.

The Gaza hospital bombing comes days before Sri Lanka’s Tamils, who bore the brunt of island’s long civil war, commemorate the brutal attack on the Jaffna teaching hospital in 1987 by members of the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF). Some 70 civilians, including 21 medical personnel, were killed on October 21 and 22, 1987.

Prominent leaders have also visited the Palestinian Embassy in Colombo to express solidarity. Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa emphasised the urgency of peace in his recent meeting with the Palestinian Ambassador, Mr. Rajapaksa’s office said. “I have consistently supported the Palestinian cause as the Founder and President of the Sri Lanka Society for Solidarity with Palestine. War is never a solution,” said Mr. Rajapaksa, whose government is accused of committing grave human rights violations during the final phase of Sri Lanka’s civil war — fought between the armed forces and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam — which claimed at least 40,000 civilian lives. He has consistently denied the allegations, contending that his forces’ actions were part of a “humanitarian operation”.

On Wednesday, Anura Kumara Dissanayake, Member of Parliament and leader of the leftist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) met the Palestinian Ambassador in Colombo to express solidarity. He sought the UN’s “fair intervention” and implementation of the two-state solution. Civic activists and rights defenders in Sri Lanka have also been organising protests in solidarity with Palestine over the last few days.



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Citing ‘inadequate progress’ on rights front, India urges Sri Lanka to keep its promises  https://artifexnews.net/article67298994-ece/ Tue, 12 Sep 2023 20:47:11 +0000 https://artifexnews.net/article67298994-ece/ Read More “Citing ‘inadequate progress’ on rights front, India urges Sri Lanka to keep its promises ” »

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Sri Lanka is far from reconciling the ethnic conflict even after 14 years since the end of the country’s civil war.
| Photo Credit: AFP

India on Tuesday said the progress made by Sri Lanka, on its commitment to fulfill the Tamils’ aspirations, was “inadequate” and urged the island nation to “work meaningfully” to keep its promises.

“We have taken note of reaffirmation by the Government of Sri Lanka on implementation of its commitments. However, progress on the same is inadequate and we urge the Government of Sri Lanka to work meaningfully towards early implementation of its commitments to ensure that the fundamental freedoms and human rights of all its citizens are fully protected,” India’s representative told the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva at its ongoing 54th session.  The position was consistent with New Delhi’s remarks last year, that voiced concern over the “lack of measurable progress”.


Also Read | Sri Lanka’s northern Tamils sceptical ahead of ‘another Geneva session’

Unresolved conflict

India’s intervention at the ‘Interactive Dialogue’, comes in the wake of the latest report of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) on ‘Promoting reconciliation, accountability, and human rights in Sri Lanka’. Fourteen years after the civil war ended, Sri Lanka is far from reconciling the ethnic conflict that triggered it.

If the country’s past is troubled, its present is marred by last year’s devastating financial meltdown that has left over half its population vulnerable. The High Commissioner’s office sought to highlight both the challenges. Addressing the Council on Monday, Nada Al-Nashif, the UN Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights said one year after the “remarkable protest movement” — the Janatha Aragalaya that ousted the Rajapaksas as the island’s economy crashed dramatically — demanding deep political and democratic reforms, the transformation “has still not materialised”.  Pointing to soaring poverty levels and the enduring impact of the crisis, she said an estimated 37% of households faced acute food insecurity.


Also Read | Top U.N. official flags ‘accountability deficit’ in Sri Lanka 

Further, the top UN official underscored the limits placed on citizen’s political participation and free expression, owing to the delays in holding local government elections, and in reconstituting Provincial Councils under the 13th amendment to the Sri Lankan Constitution.  

India, too, reiterated its position on power devolution, citing its “two guiding principles” of support to the aspirations of Tamils for equality, justice, dignity, and peace; and to the unity, territorial integrity, and sovereignty of Sri Lanka. “We hope that the Government of Sri Lanka will fulfill the aspirations of Tamils for equality, justice and peace and its commitment to implement the Thirteenth Amendment and conduct Provincial Council Elections to ensure a life of respect and dignity for Tamils in Sri Lanka,” the Indian diplomat said.   

The UN official also highlighted escalating tensions in the island’s north and east, due to land acquisition “for expansion of military installations, Buddhist heritage conservation at Hindu or Muslim sites, and forestry protection.


Also Read Ground Zero: The slippery slope to the Kurunthurmalai hilltop

At the ongoing session, the Council will not vote on a Sri Lanka resolution, but is reviewing the island’s own commitments. While the High Commissioner’s report said it “recognises” the Sri Lankan government’s initiatives in regard to truth-seeking and reconciliation, it stressed that “urgent confidence building steps” are needed for “genuine reconciliation and transitional justice process” to succeed. The Sri Lankan government rejected the report, and termed earlier resolutions of the Council “intrusive and polarising”.



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