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The Hindu demon Asuran came wearing a facemask to fight Lord Murugan – Photo by N. Lohathayalan

At least two of the world’s pharmaceutical giants – Pfizer and Moderna – have come up with good news  over the COVID–19 global pandemic.

They have both produced vaccines and after approval by the US Food and Drugs Agency people in the United States will receive the vaccines by next month. That no doubt is a giant leap in the battle against the global curse.

Small Sri Lanka is waiting for the day when such vaccines reach the country’s shores. So much so, the Government has registered with China to obtain its vaccine which is said to be months away.

In response to a call by Opposition leader Sajith Premadasa for Sri Lanka to register with the WHO for the prospective vaccines, Youth and Sports Minister Namal Rajapaksa has responded by cautioning against Sri Lankans being made the experimental “guinea pigs” for the new vaccine.

Vaccines apart, the Government has also resorted to rituals and spiritual methods to drive the deadly coronavirus away. Health Minister Pavithra Wanniarachchi was one among of those who stood on a bridge and dropped a clay pot into a river. It was on the advice of spiritual healer Dr Eliyantha White. After so many pots sank in the water, Covid-19 has not shown any sign of receding. It is now on the increase.

The latest in this series comes from the northern capital of Jaffna. Last Friday, Hindus observed Soorasamharam or Soora Pur, a ritual that recreates the killing of Asuran by Lord Murugan. The event was the culmination of six days of fasting. The rituals were observed in many Hindu temples though in line with health guidelines they were held on low key.

Interesting enough, the demon or Asuran was wheeled in wearing a mask to meet his adversary Murugan. The ritual ended with Murugan killing the mask wearing Asuran.

Eran denies giving money to Easter Sunday bomber’s widow

Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) Parliamentarian Eran Wickramaratne turned up at the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) on Monday and had to spend hours over a statement he made the previous week at a media briefing.

The statement was over the security concerns of Easter Sunday attacks mastermind Zahran Hashim’s widow Abdul Cader Fathima Hadiya following her closed testimony at the Presidential Commission of Inquiry and her health condition after she tested positive for COVID-19.

The source of that story was a controversial news website operated from overseas. The CID investigation turned towards the contents of that report.

Hours after Mr Wickramaratne left the CID premises, there were the usual fake news on websites and social media posts suggesting that he had admitted to the CID that he had given her Rs 5 million. This drew an angry response from the Nominated MP who not only denied having ever set eyes on the lady concerned, or funded her, but that he never said such a thing to the CID. He called the social media posts a “despicable attempt” to deter him from fulfilling his social responsibilities.

Vavuniya UC meeting row: Official tells media not to report it

The Vavuniya Urban Council Chairman summoned on Thursday the monthly meeting where transfers and salary discrepancies of some of the staff attached to the council were taken up.

The council’s secretary summoned some eight staff to the council meeting and began an open inquiry on them. At the public hearing, he warned them they would be transferred if they failed to obey council decisions.

Then the official turned towards the media personnel to ask them not to report about the incident.

Jaffna court hots up over pittu-pizza battle

The Jaffna Magistrate Court was tense on Friday when Jaffna’s Headquarters Inspector explained to the court why the Police were seeking an order to ban commemorative events to remember the ‘war’ dead.

During his submission, Inspector Prasath Fernando said that “we (government) made it possible for those who ate pittu and vadai those days to eat pizza now,” referring to the change in the peninsula’s social fabric following the end of the ‘war’ eleven years ago.

His statement drew angry remarks from TNA Parliamentarian M.A. Sumanthiran who appeared for the respondents. He said the inspector was disrespecting the people of Jaffna as a whole under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) to which Sri Lanka is also a signatory.

“As a person who has represented the people in Parliament for the past 10 years, I am asking who is he to make such deragatory claims against the people of the North?” he asked taking the statement of the HQI to a new level.

Inspector Fernando also submitted a photograph of slain LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran taking part in a commemorative event as evidence to support the petition.

Mr. Sumanthiran asked, “If that’s the case, the HQI should be filing a case against the LTTE leader since he is in the picture. Why are they filing petitions against us?” he asked.

Ban on journalists coming to Parliament: Big blow to media and people

While it is correct that five Parliamentary correspondents (including the correspondent of the Sunday Times) who covered the debate on the 20th Amendment in Parliament, subsequently tested positive for COVID-19, there was a lengthy period between infections and there has been no evidence through contact tracing to support claims that the journalists were infected when they came to Parliament or that they had contracted the virus while in Parliament. Dozens of other journalists and Parliamentary officials who were present during the 20th Amendment debate have also tested negative for the virus.

It is also curious as to why only journalists have been barred from Parliament, where hundreds of employees are present on a daily basis while strict health guidelines are being imposed. The only exception is seemingly inside the Parliament Chamber itself, where some MPs continue to flout those guidelines by not wearing masks.

With journalists barred from Parliament, they are forced to report remotely by watching proceedings on television, or Facebook. Parliamentary officials are also issuing media statements and copies of speeches made by MPs during the debate. While they may view this as adequate, the fact remains that a lot more goes on inside the Chamber than someone making a speech.

The recent debate on the 20th Amendment is a perfect example, where some Opposition MPs protested carrying placards and wearing armbands inscribed with the words, ‘No to 20A.’ Some of these same MPs ultimately switched sides at the last moment to vote for the amendment, amidst furious protests by their colleagues. All this was witnessed by journalists who were present in the media gallery during the debate.

These details may not have come to light in their entirety if journalists had not been present at the media gallery during the debate, as television cameras inside the Chamber only capture a small part of what is happening. The gallery, and Parliament itself, are now closed to journalists, seemingly for the entire duration of the 21-day debate on the 2021 Budget.

With the Government stating that the public will have to “learn to live with COVID-19” for the foreseeable future, the question arises whether this means that the ban on journalists coming to Parliament will extend even beyond the Budget.