The Hon. Bimal Rathnayake - Minister of Transport, Highways and Urban Development and the Leader of the House of Parliament
Bimal Rathnayake responded to claims that no Tamil or Muslim experts had been appointed to the Archaeology Advisory Committee, stating that scholars from Sinhala, Tamil and Muslim communities are represented. He named Prof. V. Maheshwaran, Prof. B.A. Hussenmia and Mr. Ratna Chelupillai Mayuranandan among the appointees, and said the relevant Minister had indicated that two additional special expert committees are expected to be appointed.
Verbatim record (translated)
Machine-translated from Sinhala / Tamil / English¶ 01 Hon. Presiding Member, it was stated several times today that no Tamil or Muslim experts were appointed to the Archaeology Advisory Committee. Since they ask whether a member is Tamil or Muslim, let me clarify: these are all scholars. Eminent persons such as Prof. V. Maheshwaran, Prof. B.A. Hussenmia, and Mr. Ratna Chelupillai Mayuranandan have been appointed. I inquired from the Minister of Buddhasasana, Religious and Cultural Affairs, and he said that, additionally, two more special expert committees are expected to be appointed. In truth, only after much effort did some scholars agree to serve; some are reluctant to join. Therefore, as a matter of fact, members from Sinhala, Tamil and Muslim communities are on this committee.
Provenance
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- Hansard, Saturday, 15 November 2025 ·No. 22870 ·English daily/uncorrected Hansard
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Cite as: The Hon. Bimal Rathnayake - Minister of Transport, Highways and Urban Development and the Leader of the House of Parliament. 10th Parliament, Parliament of Sri Lanka. Hansard, 15 November 2025. No. 22870. Politick, https://staging.politick.io/lk/speeches/29079