Politicking for Colombo VC post

The process to appoint a Vice Chancellor to the University of Colombo has run into a storm with the university academics writing to President Mahinda Rajapaksa, conveying concern over the apparent politicization of the appointment process.

This has come in the wake of media reports that the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) University Teachers' Union has approached powerful Defence Secretary, Gotabhaya Rajapaska, to seek his blessing for the candidacy of Dr. Prathiba Mahanamahewa for the post of Vice Chancellor of the University of Colombo.
Dr. Mahanamahewa is presently the Dean of the Faculty of Law, General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University and is also a Commissioner of the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL).

He is known for his strong defence of the Mahinda Rajapaksa administration on its human rights record. Earlier, the former President of the SLFP University Teachers' Union and a close confidant of Minister of Higher Education, S.B. Dissanayake, was appointed as the Vice Chancellor of the Open University of Sri Lanka.

Among the three candidates nominated by the University Council of the Colombo University for the post of Vice Chancellor are, Dr. Kumara Hirimburegama, husband of the current Chairperson of the University Grants Commission (UGC), Prof. Kshanika Hirimburegama, Dr. Prathibha Mahanamahewa and Prof. Lakshman Dissanayake, former Head of the Department of Demography and Dean of the Faculty of Graduate Studies.

Dr. Nirmal Ranjith Dewasiri, President of the Federation of University Teachers' Associations (FUTA) told Ceylon Today the Colombo University academics in their letter to the President have raised 'strong concerns' about the developments related to the appointment of the Vice Chancellor of the University of Colombo.

"In fact, most senior professors don't apply for those posts as it is useless to do so without political backing. It has become a norm that political appointees are favoured when it comes to these appointments," he charged.

Dr. Dewasiri said, FUTA would decide its course of action only after the appointment is finalized. "We do not want to rush into action. We have made our concerns known to the President. And we hope he will listen to our concerns." He said there is a conflict of interest involving the candidacy of Dr. Hirimburegama, while his spouse continues to serve as the Chairperson of the UGC, the authority that should recommend the most qualified candidate to the President, according to the Universities Act.

"In theory, the President should appoint the Vice Chancellor of a given university based on the recommendations made by the UGC, though, the President could reject all three nominations and send the names back to the Council, asking for fresh nominations," Dr. Dewasiri said.

Golden Key depositors claim AG not issuing extradition order

The Golden Key Depositors Union (GKDU) yesterday claimed that the Attorney General had failed to issue an extradition order on the second suspect Sicille Kotelawala despite a court ruling.

President, GKDU, Dushyanthi Hapugoda, speaking to ‘The Nation’ said, “No extradition order has been issued by the Attorney General’s Department despite a High Court order dating back to one and a half years ago. This is I believe because the Attorney General, Palitha Fernando’s wife happened to work at Golden Key at one time. This factor has influenced the non extradition in such a long drawn time.”

She said that Mrs. Kotelawala was presently living in England which had granted her citizenship as had been confirmed by the British High Commissioner in Sri Lanka, Robbie Bulloch. Hapugoda further claimed that she had written as many as three letters addressed to the Attorney General regarding the extradition of Mrs. Kotelawala, but had not received any response.

The Golden Key scandal since 2009 involving a sum of over Rs.26 billion in deposits is the worst of its kind to hit Sri Lanka culminating in the loss of 28 human lives through suicides of hard pressed depositors who were left in the lurch. An approximate 6254 of a total number of 9127 depositors are yet to be repaid with Rupees1477 million already settled.

Wimal calls for probe on human skeletons in Matale

Construction, Engineering Services, Housing and Common Amenities Minister Wimal Weerawansa said that a full-scale investigation should be conducted on the human skeletons found in a mass grave at Matale which have been identified as those disappeared during the 1988-1989 insurrection.
The UN says that the Government should conduct credible investigations on the alleged human rights violations. Why can't the UNHRC conduct a similar credible investigation on the mass grave at Matale, the Minister told the Sunday Observer.
He questioned as to why UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navaneetham Pillay and US President Obama cannot treat this as a grave human rights violation?
Is this not a human rights violation for the UN or USA though it took place during the UNP regime. They don't view these as brutal killings or human rights violations as they were allegedly committed by a pro-American government.
If any anti-American leader had waged a war against terrorists and restored peace, various allegations of human rights violations would have been made against such leader to impede the forward march of that country, he said. Minister Weerawansa said that he also endorsed the JVP's call to conduct an immediate investigation on this incident.
The Government should, however, conduct an impartial inquiry to highlight the massacres and atrocities committed during the UNP regime.
"We should ask the Western world, whether these are not grave human rights violations.
When human skeletons were found at the mass grave at Matale, the Al Jazeera television even attempted to portray them as those of LTTE cadres who died during the war against terrorism," the Minister said

Will SLMC leave the govt?

The Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) on Friday denied reports of internal party rifts, but said members have called on the party high command to take a firm stand on the recent spate of anti-Muslim campaign and push the government to address the issue.
SLMC General Secretary Hassan Ali said members have called the high command to advance their next meeting which is scheduled to be held on April 27, before the Sinhala and Tamil New Year.
“Our next meeting is scheduled to be held on the 27th of this month, however, we feel as a party that we’ve waited too long and might need to come to a decision,” said Hassan Ali, General Secretary of the SLMC. “Our last meeting was not decisive as some felt we need to take a wait-and-watch approach while others thought that we needed to take stand.”
Reports which surfaced in the media following the meeting alleged that there was friction among members since some were absent from the meeting whilst others were not content with the decision reached.
“There isn’t a rift among the issue that was discussed but merely over the fact that we could not come to a conclusion during the last meeting,” he said. “However, that will change since we feel that as a party we’ve waited too long for the government to respond and it might be fair to Muslims if we come to a decision.”
He cited that although the SLMC is part of the government, it can and will come to an independent decision. “The fact that the government has not even condemned Bodu Bala Sena as a religious extremist outfit is still a bone of contention among Muslims,” he said.
According to him, the SLMC was awaiting the report by the Parliamentary sub-committee which was tasked with resolving the Halaal issue. “The former Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickremanayake who heads the committee suggested that the government come up with a draft proposal on how to go forth with the issue at hand. We, however, feel that the committee is dragging its feet over the issue.”
“Only when the draft proposal is put forth, all members would be able to come back to negotiations, we however feel that it has taken longer than necessary.” The SLMC high command which was held last Saturday said that the future of the SLMC in the government was at risk since it had failed to take appropriate action with regards to the threats faced by the Muslims in recent times.
SLMC high command was of the opinion the government had not directly responded to the threats faced by the Muslims in the country.

UNP May Day rally in three places

The United National Party will hold three separate May-Day rallies this year.Party General Secretary Tissa Attanayake said the three rallies will be held in Badulla, Kurunegala and outside the party headquarters in Pita-Kotte.The main rally in Colombo will be held in Pita Kotte at 9 a.m., where we will be supported by four trade unions along with our supporters” Mr. Attanayake told the Sunday Times.
He said the rally in Kurunegala will be a coalition meting with the “Vipakshaye Virodhaya” which will be supporting the rally through its representatives.The rally to be staged in Badulla will be with the support of the National Youth Front as well as the National Estate Workers Union. It is to be known as the Youth and Estate Workers May-Day rally.
“We have made this May-Day rally a youth rally in to grab the attention of our country’s youth and bring them closer to our party,” he said.Mr. Attanayake added that the women and the youth of the nation are two major movements in society. He said the party is targeting a 60% representation for thm in all electoral divisions.
Regarding the upcoming Provincial Council elections, Mr. Attanayake said that preparations are underway.The Government has not confirmed whether elections would be held in the Northern Province. Before such elections can be held independent commissions such as the Police Commission as well as the Elections Commission must be established”
He said that although the Government will try to exploit its power to gain advantages in elections the UNP is prepared to contest it, adding that arrangements are already underway in appointing three committees to oversee the upcoming Provincial Council elections.
He also said the UNP has started a door-to-door campaign with the target of recruiting two million members to the Party.
He said the campaign started in Galle District and then moved on to Kandy District where the party was successful in reaching its target of 100,000 members each in both districts.Similar campaigns in Matale and Kelaniya have taken place.
Mr. Attanayake told the Sunday Times that the membership campaign will shift to Negombo on April 11 and Anamaduwa on the 18th of this month. He said the party is hoping to recruit two million members by the end of June

AMILA ABEYSEKERA RUMOURS

After a certain news item about tele-actor Amila Abeysekera was published last Friday (22) in 'Today' newspaper, a copy of the news item appearing in websites too, various news about him had begun to circulate.
According to the initial news item, Amila Abeysekera had insulted a certain businesswoman and the incident had been conveyed to Minister Welgama and on the instructions of the latter, she had lodged an entry at the Mirihana Police. Subsequently, Amila had gone to the Police Station and had obtained pardon by apologising to her for his behaviour.
However, Min.Welgama as well as Amila Abeysekera's lawyers had informed 'Today' newspaper that this news item was maliciously created and published. Statements from both parties were publicised once again on 28th Wednesday in the same newspaper asking for pardon if any inconvenience had been caused to Amila Abeysekera.
The news report relating to the incident could be seen below.

First report 22 March 2013

AMILA ABEYSEKERA ASKS FOR PARDON FOR HAVING INSULTED A BUSINESSWOMAN
Over an incident where popular artiste Amila Abeysekera had insulted a businesswoman, a complaint had been lodged by her at the DIG Office, Mirihana. After an inquiry was conducted by DIG Mr.Sumith Edirisinghe, Amila had expressed his regret in relation to the incident and had pleaded for an apology from the businesswoman.
Minister Kumar Welgama had come to know of a defamatory statement circulating in respect of this businesswoman and had notified her of it. Subsequently she had lodged her complaint at DIG's Office at Mirihana.

Second report 27 March 2013

IT IS CONFIRMED THAT AMILA ABEYSEKERA HAD NOT INSULTED A BUSINESSWOMAN OR HAD ASKED FOR PARDON
The lawyer of Mr.Amila Abeysekera has sent us a letter through fax explaining the facts in relation to the news item published on 22 March 2013 in 'Today' newspaper under the heading "Amila Abeysekera asks for pardon for having insulted a businesswoman". His lawyer says, that, accordingly certain news clips in the said news item are incorrect and that no insult has been made and also, no pleading for pardon has occured in any manner. Amila Abeysekera has mentioned to the police that he does not know the businesswoman under reference who is connected to the incident and that he does not have any reason to make any such comment in relation to the said businesswoman. Amila Abeysekera further says that in the above circumstances the inquiry had come to a close and that he did not plead guilty to a defamatory statement or fall down on knees in the presence of the DIG and ask pardon.
On an inquiry made from the media division of the police in relating to this, they informed us saying that the information conveyed to us is true. If Mr.Amila Abeysekera had been inconvenienced in some way as a result of certain news clips published in the relevant news item, we express our regret deeply in that respect.

THERE IS NO CONNECTION OF THE MINISTER IN RELATION TO AN INCIDENT OF INSULTING OR ASKING PARDON
In a letter sent to us by the Media Secretary of Minister Kumar Welgama, he has informed us that the Minister is in no way connected to the incident which appeared as a news item under the heading "Amila Abeysekera asks for pardon for an incident of having insulted a businesswoman". The Media Secretary further states that the Minister completely rejects that the businessswoman under reference has made a complaint to the police on the instructions of the Minister.

A SENSITIVE MOMENT OF ATHULA-SAMITHA

The Most Popular music video of the year was awarded for the song "Iwasaida Manda" which won the Gold Award at the Derana 2013 Music Video Award ceremony held yesterday.
Athula - Samitha who had been together for sometime broke off, later entering into another marriage. The manner in which they came to receive the award given for that song sung by the two of them was a sensitive moment.
Amaya was beside Athula in the auditorium and Samitha was seated next to Amaya. After Samitha was seen the daughter of Athula and Samitha.
After collecting the Award, addressing the audience, Athula also spoke of the two of them:
"Personal problems between the two of us is different ..... this is our profession," he said. Samitha spoke later with tears in her eyes and in a very touching mood. In the process, she had been looking down with embarassment, which then was a special feature. What she said was:
"Actually we didn't receive an award when we were together ..... this is our first award after we broke up. I am so happy that fans of both of us still love us upto this day". During her address it was heard that she went into sobs.
Athula said that, in the future too they would be singing together.