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Colombo’s Archbishop Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith’s controversial statement on human rights set off a political storm this week, with both Government and Opposition figures weighing in.

The Cardinal, who has made several controversial statements about various subjects in the recent past, said during the morning service at St. Matthew’s Roman Catholic Church in Ekala last Sunday that human rights had become the latest ‘religion’ of Western nations. He said there was no need to teach human rights to a country like Sri Lanka as it was a multi-religious country that has practised human rights through religion for centuries.

The comments drew a Twitter response from Finance and Media Minister Mangala Samaraweera. He said the Cardinal was “trying to be a populist.” The full tweet read: “The need for #HumanRights was an outcome of the marauding religious zealots of the Inquisition & the Crusades, where non-believers were massacred “En-Bloc”. Pity, the Cardinal always seems to get things wrong in trying to be a populist.”

The Cardinal’s comments drew support from the Joint Opposition (JO). Parliamentarian Namal Rajapaksa tweeted in response to Minister Samaraweera saying: “#LK has always been a nation of religious upbringing. Our leaders and politicians have heeded the message & advice they provide. His Eminence has made known his opinion on the matter, & as a senior & a prominent representative of the Govt. @MangalaLK should learn to respect it.”

The JO even held a news conference on the matter, with former President Mahinda Rajapaksa demanding to know whether Minister Samaraweera’s response to the Cardinal reflected the Government’s opinion. UNP MP Hector Appuhamy later told journalists that Minister Samaraweera’s comments reflected his personal opinion and not those of the Government or the UNP.

The Cardinal, meanwhile, has clarified his comments, stating, “What I basically intended to say on this matter was that if religion is truly practised it could take us to achieve levels of justice, going even beyond the expectations of human rights and thus need not be such an issue for our Catholic community and so I encouraged the flock gathered at that particular religious ceremony to, therefore, practise their faith truthfully avoiding turning religious values into something that is ephemeral. But I do accept that with regard to the essentially non-religious nature of the State, human rights as a common platform has its own role to play. Replacing religion with human rights is not what is to be done but human rights should be further strengthened through the good practice of faith.”

Rosy probes sexual harassment at CMC
Colombo’s Mayor Rosy Senanayake has decided to appoint a committee to look into allegations of sexual harassment of female employees of the Colombo Municipal Council (CMC) after the issue was raised at a Council meeting this week.

The issue was raised by Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) member Shamila Gonawela who said that at least ten CMC women workers had complained they had been subjected to harassment by senior male employees and that urgent action was needed. Mayor Senanayake said the matter had been brought to her attention and she had written to Western Province Governor Hemakumar Nanayakkara and also decided to appoint a committee to look into the allegations. She vowed that disciplinary action would be taken against those who were found guilty of harassing the woman employees.

JVP leader on tour of Europe
Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna leader Anura Kumara Dissanayaka will visit several European countries next month.
One of the countries he will be visiting is Austria. The JVPs Europe Committee has invited Sri Lankans living there for an interaction with the JVP leader and use the opportunity to ask him questions.

Contracts and purchases: Strict code of conduct for public officials
Public sector employees and public representatives will be compelled to disclose conflict of interest before engaging in official duties involving awarding of contracts and procurement.

This was announced by Sarath Jayamanna, Director General of the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption. He said the decision would be made effective through an amendment to the laws on Declaration of Assets and Liabilities.
He said there would be clearer demarcation on what constituted a conflict of interest, penalties for non-compliance and a monitoring mechanism.

The measure is being taken as it has been found that some of the public sector employees serve as advisors and hold positions in private companies. They take decisions favourable to companies while in public service and subsequently gain employment in the same company after retirement, he said.

Along with this, steps are also being taken to revise the Establishments Code. It will be updated, taking into account international good practices. There will be measures and guidelines to enable public officials to report corruption, with confidentiality being assured.

Bogus Customs officers sell imported liquor
There are often reports of the ingenious methods used by rogues who want to make an extra buck. Once such case that came to light this week involves four young men who had posed as Customs officers selling imported liquor at concessionary rates. The modus operandi was for one of them to call up the marketing divisions of different companies and pretend to be a Customs officer and inform that imported liquor that has been seized by the Customs is on sale at a low rate. Usually this entices people and arrangements are then made to meet at a random location.

At the meet up place the caller as well as a vehicle and a driver are present. After taking possession of the money for the liquor, the man instructs the driver to pick up the products from his home and inevitably the vehicle gets delayed. Then this man leaves saying he is going to check the reason for the delay and is never to be seen again. In this way the gang had defrauded gullible persons to the tune of Rs. 28 million over two years.

Ragama and Kadawatha police had received eight complaints in this regard from different persons. This week on a tip off, Police arrested four members of the gang and produced them before court. They were remanded till October 3.

Bandula gives new reason why Rajapaksa held early polls

The exact reason for former President Mahinda Rajapaksa to hold early presidential election in 2015, two years before his term ended, has never been explained properly, although almost four years have gone by since the decision was made. The theories were many, with the most popular of them being that the decision was made on the advice of the former president’s astrologer. Another was that the deteriorating economic position prompted the former President to hold early elections.

But, the latest reason came from former Minister Bandula Gunawardena. He told a meeting of Sri Lankans during a visit to Japan: “The former President was in a strong position by the end of 2014. This was the time there was pressure on Sri Lanka over human rights issues. The former President wanted to get a strong mandate from the people and give a message to the international community to prove he had the backing of the people and tell other countries that they should not interfere in Sri Lanka’s internal matters”.