News

US Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo will travel to Sri Lanka during his Indo-Pacific region visit planned from June 24-30, US State Department Spokesperson Morgan Ortagus announced at a press briefing on Monday.

She said the US Secretary’s visit is to express America’s solidarity with the people of Sri Lanka after Easter Sunday terrorist attacks. She added that the US Secretary would discuss with Sri Lankan authorities on “promising opportunities for US-Sri Lanka cooperation based on shared commitments to a free and open Indo-Pacific region”.

Secretary Pompeo is also scheduled to visit India, Japan and the Republic of Korea during his Indo-Pacific region visit.

The Ambassadors and the High Commissioners of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in Sri Lanka have called on the Sri Lankan government to ensure the safety and protection of the Sri Lankan Muslim community.

In a joint statement on Tuesday, the OIC said that the developing situation over the past few days has been 'extremely worrying' with regards to the safety and protection of the Sri Lankan Muslim community, including some foreign Muslim refugees.

"The lives and livelihoods of Muslims, including their local stores and large business establishments, are threatened by the prevailing conditions with unforeseen, dangerous consequences.

The Muslim community across Sri Lanka is deeply worried about the politically motivated intimidation and provocations, which President Maithripala Sirisena pointed out in his Iftar reception statement last evening," they said.

The OIC envoys further stated that the smallest incident in an isolated Sri Lankan village can be recorded and shared online for mass viewership, stoking widespread violence and counter-violence and the ongoing divisive, hate speech that demonizes and excludes the other hardly helps remedy this grave situation but worsens it, which should be a cause for our shared concern.

"As longstanding friends of Sri Lanka, the diplomatic representatives of OIC countries promote peace, stability, and harmony among the people of Sri Lanka and we encourage them to seek unity in diversity, which underpins the attractiveness of Sri Lanka as a tolerant and peace-loving nation with a heritage that fosters doing no harm to others," the OIC statement said.

"Therefore, we, the representatives of the OIC countries, urge the friendly government of Sri Lanka to take every measure necessary to prevent communal violence and to take swift, stern judicial action against the perpetrators, regardless of their religious and political influence in the Sri Lankan society."

The Chief Prelates have requested the Muslim parliamentarians who recently resigned from their ministerial portfolios to resume their duties and responsibilities again.

This decision was taken at a Sangha Council meeting that was held yesterday (Jun 5) in Kandy, the Chief Prelates said.

The discussion was held under the patronage of Asgiriya Chapter Mahanayake the Most Venerable Warakagoda Sri Gnanarathana Thera at the Asgiri Maha Viharaya. The Lekakadhikari Theras (Registrars) of the three Nikayas and Anunayake Theras of the Malwathu and Asgiri Chapters also took part in the discussions.

Muslim ministers who resigned without any allegations against them will be considered as a part of the group against whom such accusations have been levelled, the Chief Prelate of the Asgiri Chapter said.

Also echoing similar sentiments was the Chief Prelate of the Malwathu Chapter Ven. Niyangoda Vijithasiri Thera. "There is no need for other ministers to resign except for those against whom allegations have been raised," he said.

Australian pilots have helped save dozens of asylum seekers from drowning at sea.

The 41 asylum seekers were sailing from Sri Lanka to Australia 10 days ago when their vessel started to sink in the Indian Ocean.

An Australian surveillance aircraft assisted members of the Sri Lankan Navy to rescue those on board.

Operation Sovereign Borders boss Craig Furini, who is in Sri Lanka with Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton, praised the country's navy for pulling off the rescue.

"This highlights the very real danger of attempting these journeys," Major General Furini told The Australian.

"Before (Operation Sovereign Borders) started in 2013 more than 1200 drowned at sea attempting such journeys at sea. Since Operation Sovereign Borders began, there has been none."

It is the second vessel to attempt to reach Australia in the past month, and the third since March.

Several other boats are believed to have been detected in recent weeks.

Sri Lanka will introduce five-year jail terms for those caught spreading fake news and hate speech on social media, the government said Wednesday, following a surge in online vitriol and disinformation after the Easter suicide attacks.

The Cabinet of Ministers approved a proposal by the acting justice minister, which will also see offenders fined Rs. 1 million, the government said in a statement.

It did not immediately release a definition of the two offences, but said the penal code will be amended to introduce the new penalties.

The move follows repeated government allegations that platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and Whatsapp have been used to spread online hate, in a country where ethnic divisions still linger after decades of war.

Sri Lanka shut down internet access in March last year to prevent further violence when anti-Muslim mobs went on the rampage in the island nation's central region, killing three people and destroying hundreds of homes, shops, vehicles and mosques.

During the violence, mobs used social media platforms to organise attacks against minority groups.

Sri Lankan social networks also saw a surge in fake news after the Easter suicide bombings that left 258 people dead and nearly 500 wounded.

A nine-day ban on platforms including Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram and WhatsApp was introduced following the Islamic State-claimed attacks on three churches and three hotels on April 21.

Last month Singapore's parliament passed laws to combat fake news that will allow authorities to order the removal of content and could see those convicted of violations imprisoned for up to 10 years.

A J M Muzammil was sworn in as the Governor of the Western Province a short while ago, the President's Media Division said.

The post of Governor fell vacant following the resignation of Azath Salley yesterday (Jun 04).

Muzammil was most recently the Chairman of the Central Environment Authority (CEA) and prior to that served as Sri Lanka’s High Commissioner to Malaysia.

He also previously served as the Mayor of the Colombo.

At the Parliamentary party leaders meeting held yesterday, it was decided to withdraw the No-Confidence Motion (NCM) against Minister Rishad Bathiudeen from the order paper following the latter’s resignation from his Cabinet ministerial post.

The NCM debate against Bathiudeen was scheduled to be taken up on June 18 and 19.

The Joint Opposition (JO) handed over the NCM against Bathiudeen on May 16, based on allegations that he had supported the extremists who carried out the Easter Sunday terror attack.

Sri Lanka has launched a "Culinary Tourism" campaign to attract travellers and food enthusiasts from around the world, including Thailand, to visit a country which has been dubbed the Pearl of the Indian Ocean.

The new campaign is a government effort to restore confidence in its tourism sector following the deadly terrorist bombings on the island in April.

The Sri Lankan embassy in Thailand recently held a press conference to launch its "Culinary Tourism" website. It said Sri Lanka is not only a paradise for its wildlife and nature biodiversity but also its food which has been influenced by a variety of cultures, including traders from West Asia in ancient ties and its colonists, particularly the Portuguese and the Dutch.

Minister of Tourism John Amaratunga said the tourism industry is a key aspect of the country's economy and has been badly impacted by the attacks, with hotel bookings having fallen dramatically.

"Please be assured that the country is now safe for tourists who we are welcoming with our food and culture promotion campaigns," Amaratunga said.

The Minister said that China, Germany, India, Sweden and Switzerland have already downgraded their travel advisories from 'do not travel' to be cautious when travelling', while Thailand hadn't issued a travel advisory, only contact details for those affected by the attacks.

Sri Lanka's Tourism Bureau found that the number of tourists has dropped by half since the Easter Sunday bombings. It is estimated that the loss of tourism revenue was around USD 1.5 billion. About 2.5 million tourists visit the country each year on average of which 10,000 are from Thailand.

Sri Lanka's ambassador to Thailand Kshenuka Seneviratne said the two countries have developed relations for over eight centuries and shared many religious and culinary similarities.

Considering this aspect, Seneviratne said that there is no doubt that Thai travellers would enjoy eating Sri Lankan food.

In addition to this, diplomatic ties between the two nations remain as strong as ever after Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha's visit to Sri Lanka last July.

"I am confident that we can actively pursue together the further strengthening of thew tourism industry of Sri Lanka while forging people to people contact. Let us move forward in earnest, to be one family in two countries," the ambassador added.

Sri Lanka is now offering a 24-hour online visa application service, and an official trip under the stewardship of the Tourism Development Authority of Thailand will be arranged in the near future.

The United States government has raised concerns over the demonizing of Muslims in the country.

The US House Committee on Foreign Affairs in a tweet yesterday said that the "demonizing of Muslims by certain religious and political forces in Sri Lanka is a concerning development for the country."

Furthermore, the US called on the Sri Lankan government to calm communal tensions and ensure the safety for people of all faiths in the country.

The resignation of all Muslim MPs from their portfolios due to pressure exerted by 'racists' is a 'most unfortunate' incident, spokesperson for the Tamil National Alliance Parliamentarian MA Sumanthiran said.

"Yesterday us, today you, tomorrow a new ‘other’," Parliamentarian Sumanthiran was quoted as saying on the TNA's official twitter handle.

Sumanthiran said that they continue to stand in solidarity with the Muslim people and called on all right thinking Sri Lankans to do the same.

Leader of the House and Minister of Public Enterprise and Kandy Development Lakshman Kiriella yesterday informed the Parliament that the leader of the Easter Sunday attacks, Zahran Hashim, was on the government’s payroll during the Mahinda Rajapaksa administration.

"The former government paid salaries from State accounts to 30 members of the Thowheed Jama'ath," Kiriella said

"There is enough evidence to suggest that these terrorists were paid wages by the former regime. We must find out how much they were paid and we will prove this before the Parliamentary Select Committee," he added

It is reported that Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera had objected to the decision taken by Muslim MPs representing the United National Front to resign from their portfolios in the wake of the fast unto death of Athuruliye Rathana Thero.

Following Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe's discussion with Opposition Leader Mahinda Rajapaksa at Temple Trees this morning (03), all Muslim Ministers, State Ministers, Non- Cabinet Ministers and Deputy Ministers had come to Temple Trees and met with PM Wickremesinghe.

 All Muslims Govt. Ministers at Fowzie's House!

Before coming to Temple Trees, all Muslims Ministers had met at the Colombo residence of AHM Fowzie and decided together to resign from their respective portfolios.

A senior Muslim Minister in the Government had informed the Prime Minister and other Cabinet Ministers present at Temple Trees that the resignation of Eastern Province Governor Hizbullah was made under duress as there were threats of nationalist driven ethnic unrest island-wide if Hizbullah failed to resign.

The Minister pointed out that the Government would also be subjected to the same threats if they decided to continue in office and as such, arrived at a collective decision to resign from all of their positions.

 Decision taken to avoid a bloodbath!

The senior Minister added that the decision to resign was only a temporary measure to stop political opportunists gaining an undue advantage from the current political context as well as to stop things from spiraling out of control that could ultimately lead to a bloodbath.

He also said they believe that Muslim MPs will be vindicated once the Parliamentary Select Committee winds up its proceedings and the no-confidence motion debate is concluded.

Don't repeat the same mistake done by SWRD!

Minister Mangala Samaraweera had pointed out that the resignation of Muslim Ministers is a mistake similar to that of the removal of the Bandaranaike-Chelvanayagam Pact in April 09, 1958.

Samaraweera had said that Mr. Bandaranaike did not have a backbone to stand for what would have been the right decision back then and stressed that he was strongly opposed to allowing the Muslim MPs to make the same mistake again.

A deliberate decision!

Minister Samaraweera had stressed that instead of resigning, they should work to explain the true situation to the people.

However, the Muslim MPs had not agreed to it with their stance being that it was appropriate to resign from their ministerial portfolios until Minister Rishad Bathiudeen is proven innocent in Parliament.

At that time, Minister Harsha de Silva however had stated that the MPs had taken the right decision.

Let us resign together with the Muslim Ministers: Mangala

Minister Mangala Samaraweera had said that he was ready to resign along with the Muslim Ministers. If needed, more Ministers should resign from their positions in solidarity with the Muslim Ministers, Samaraweera had said.

He had further noted that they could swing public opinion by highlighting the tribal communalism that is spearheaded by Rathana Thero and others.

Samaraweera had said that they should not bow down in the face of radical racist trends and that the Muslim community should not feel threatened by the lack of democracy and due process in the country.

Don't resign Mangala, let's fight for national unity: PM

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe had intervened and stated that the decision taken by the Muslim MPs was sufficient at this moment.

The Prime Minister had also proposed to work together to ensure that racism and communalism are defeated.

The Muslim Ministers had also urged Minister Mangala Samaraweera to remain in his position and intervene to ensure that justice prevails at the end.