Hon. Imran Maharoof
Hon. Imran Maharoof questioned the justification for extending the emergency in the absence of war or communal tensions, asking whether it is intended for disaster management or to suppress rising public protests by groups such as teachers, graduates and doctors. He raised security concerns in Kinniya, noting the reduction of police personnel from 120 to 47 despite serving over 100,000 people, and requested adequate deployment, progress on a stalled Gazette proposal for a new police station at Nadutheru, and action on a proper site and building for the existing Kinniya station. He also urged the Government to address restrictions affecting access to Karumalaiyootru Mosque and restore the community’s ability to use it.
Verbatim record (translated)
Machine-translated from Sinhala / Tamil / English¶ 01 Thank you, Hon. Presiding Member.
¶ 02 Government speakers mostly attack the Opposition and talk of a “76-year curse,” but very few actually explain why the emergency needs extension. Is it for genuine disaster management, or to curb public protests—by teachers, 005-recruited graduates working in schools over regularization, and doctors—now rising against the Government?
¶ 03 If the country is peaceful, with no war and no communal tensions, why prolong emergency? When we ask, we get no clear answer.
¶ 04 From my Trincomalee District: the Kinniya Police Station served over 100,000 people with 120 officers in 2024; today it has only 47. How can they ensure security? Please deploy adequate personnel. In 2023, a Gazette was issued to establish an additional police station at Nadutheru/Kinniya area; it remains stalled. Also, the existing Kinniya station lacks a proper site and building; a new location has been identified—please proceed. Similarly, a station at Nadutheru would help resolve local issues.
¶ 05 On Karumalaiyootru Mosque: this longstanding matter has been repeatedly raised. Even basic access for worship and visits is now curtailed. We have conveyed full details to the Minister. Please take steps to restore the community’s ability to use the mosque. Thank you.
Provenance
- Source
- Hansard, Friday, 6 February 2026 ·No. 23270 ·English daily/uncorrected Hansard
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- not yet extracted — page/column anchors are not in the current dataset; the source PDF is the citable location.
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/lk/speeches/4726
Cite as: Hon. Imran Maharoof. 10th Parliament, Parliament of Sri Lanka. Hansard, 6 February 2026. No. 23270. Politick, https://staging.politick.io/lk/speeches/4726