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Whenever the Navy arrested persons or foreigners who are trying to smuggle items to the country via sea routes, they would be arrested and handed over to the relevant authority, usually the Police for further legal action.

During these unprecedented global pandemic times, even the authorities had to make adjustments.

On Friday, five Indian fishermen trying to smuggle fancy good items and pharmaceutical products into the country were taken into Naval custody in Mannar, but were released hours later without being subjected to any legal action.

The five fishermen with the trawler were taken into custody near Kudhiramalai, Mannar and the fishermen were allowed to return to Tamil Nadu on their own vessel due to COVID-19 concerns as India is recording a massive number of COVID-19 cases and deaths daily due to the spread of the virus.

All the smuggled items found in the Indian vessel will be handed over to the Customs department.

SJB wants study on King Ravana

A Private Member’s Motion calling on Parliament to approve “Conducting a systematic study about King Ravana” has been submitted by Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) Matara District MP Buddhika Pathirana. The Motion has been included as an Addendum to the Order Book of Parliament dated April 9. Accordingly, it will be placed on
the Order Paper of Parliament at a future date.

The Motion in its entirety is as follows: “That this Parliament resolves that a study should be conducted about King Ravana through a panel of experts due to the fact that a study on King Ravana enables to unveil a hidden period of time in Sri Lankan history, and use the knowledge that King Ravana possessed for the uplifting of the country and enhance the attitudes in the country about him, even though specific historical information about him are not available.”

A different kind of victimisation amidst heat over Political Victimisation

It was the second day of the debate on the Political Victimisation Commission report where government and opposition members were in a heated argument.

Samagai Jana Balawegaya Member of Parliament Chaminda Wijesiri from the Badulla district stood up to raise an issue about a different type of victimisation.

He told the Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena that the Police were not allowing his vehicle in which he arrived to Parliament to come to pick him up.

He went on to explain that he had arrived at Parliament in a three-wheeler and the Police were not allowing the three-wheeler to return to pick him up. The MP raised the question as to who had given instructions to the Police to that effect.

The Speaker assured that the Serjeant-at-arms will look into the matter.

But question remained whether the three wheeler – the small man’s vehicle had no permission to enter Parliament, and only BMWs, Land Cruisers and the like were allowed into the sacred grounds .

COVID danger blow to ‘local liquor test’

With the COVID19 outbreak the Traffic police have been faced with a tough task in detecting persons driving under the influence of liquor.

This is as usually as the policemen get into close proximity of the driver to check if the driver smells of liquor. But in most cases the policemen are reluctant to do so with the COVID19 situation.

However, last week when a motorist was stopped at night in Colombo by a policeman and was instructed to put down the shutter he was told by the policeman that he was under the influence of liquor.

The driver insisted he was not under the influence of liquor and was ready to face any test, but the policeman claimed he could get the smell of liquor.

The driver pointed out to the sanitiser bottle and said he had sanitised his hands before leaving as vehicle had been used by another person earlier in
the day.

The policeman resorted to the next ‘local test’. He wanted the driver to take off his face mask and blow into the face of the policeman and
the motorist did so without any hesitation.

The policeman cleared the driver with an apology saying “what’s to be done if we are suspicious we have to check”.

With the COVID19 cases on the rise, it is not certain if the policeman was taking the right action.

Lots of chocolates for him to eat, says Choka Malli

Ratnapura District Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) MP Premalal Jayasekara has always been better known by his alias ‘Choka Malli.’ For much of the country, the name has been associated with thuggery and violence, especially given that Mr Jayasekara is the only sitting MP to have been sentenced to death by a High Court for murder, though he is appealing his conviction in the Court of Appeal. During Friday’s adjournment debate on the report of the Commission of Inquiry into Political Victimisation, Mr Jayasekara related to the House how he came by his nickname during an exchange with Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) MP Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka.

“They nicknamed me ‘Choka Malli’ because I was fond of chocolates from my young age. But they are painting me as an underworld leader today using that nickname. We are not beggars. My father gave me Rs 200 everyday during my schooldays to buy chocolates. That is how I got my nickname, not because I indulged in thuggery. I was never into thuggish politics,” he claimed.

Some on social media pointed out that Rs 200 was a princely sum during the school days of Mr Jayasekara, who was born in 1974. Others pointed out that they got only about Rs 5 a day from their parents even in the 1990s. “How many chocolates did he eat for Rs 200?” questioned one. “He should have been nicknamed ‘Choka King”, some said.

Pictures do tell the story, but depends on who’s saying it

There has been little said from Chinese authorities on the famous picture of ‘Tank man’- a Chinese national standing in front of a column of Chinese military tanks days after protests at Tiananmen Square in 1989.

Associated Press photographer Jeff Widener took that shot from a six-storey building. The topic re-emerged this week when the Chinese Embassy in Colombo commented on the picture.

One user in the microblogging platform of Twitter asked the embassy what do they make of that iconic image as the Chinese-funded Port City is dominating the public discourse in recent weeks.

“Tanks stopped, with highest tolerance & respect to human lives. The man left freely, unharmed. Western media won’t tell you. What destroyed USSR didn’t succeed in China, fortunately. Communist Party continued leading the country for a brighter future. The rest is history.” the embassy said.

UPF’s V. Radhakrishnan unhappy with MP Shanakiyan for no show in the hills

Leader of the Upcountry Peoples’ Front (UPF) and Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) parliamentarian representing Nuwara – Eliya, V. Radhakrishnan was furious on Thursday when he accidentally met young TNA MP Shanakiyan Rasamanickam outside the parliamentary chambers.

The reason was that the young TNA MP who assured Mr Radhakrishnan of taking part in the Youth Wing Conference of his party last week in Nuwara Eliya did not turn up as scheduled. Not only him, but fellow SJB firebrand Harin Fernando was another guest who did not turn up as well.

For Radhakrishnan, it was totally embarrassing as his party announced in public that the two MPs will be the guests of honour of the event, and posters were also pasted across the upcountry region in addition to social media platforms.

MP Shanakiyan who was reportedly in Nuwara-Eliya last week decided not to take part in the event due to reasons known only to himself. Party insiders say it would be the work of other leaders of the Tamil Peoples’ Alliance (TPA) since there have been sharp differences within the alliance.