The Hon. (Dr.) Ramanathan Archchuna

¶ 01 Hon. Presiding Member, I had seven minutes; now it’s six—no issue.

¶ 02 As children we read, “Tam Muru. I am from Africa.” Today I must say, “I am Dr. Ramanathan Archchuna. I am from ‘Hundu’.” I am ashamed to say “Sri Lanka” because of our President’s words. In Tamil we say “Sundu”—in Sinhala, perhaps “Hundu” or “Kundu.” After 70 years of a curse, those in power now are making us a country that is not accepted as a country. Yet as Tamils we love this land; we even fought for a separate State, but still love this country. For a President to call our country “hundu” is deeply saddening.

¶ 03 For so long we thought there was a “Clean Sri Lanka” programme; we saw nothing. Then “Rebuilding Sri Lanka”—nothing built; except using Police or CID, I saw nothing operationalized.

¶ 04 This morning I heard the Prime Minister ask whether anyone can name a person affected by emergency. I will not name. But recently I saw on Facebook a youngster called “Seda Bro”; he makes Sinhala-learning content. I saw he was taken to the CID. In the past, Presidents used emergency to catch terrorists like us. Now I fear whether next they will arrest content creators like “Seda Bro” or “Gadget Girl,” who makes radar with pens and pencils.

¶ 05 On coal: there is talk of issues in Trincomalee and elsewhere; coal is in chaos. From the 323 containers case to coal scams, no one has been caught. There are no protests—because all those who protest are now seated here; hence no one is on the streets.

¶ 06 I must also speak in Tamil on some matters.

¶ 07 Hon. Presiding Member, after the death of a 23-year-old woman from Hatton, while her body was in the mortuary, I heard the family allege that three staff members engaged in sexual misconduct and abuse. About a year and four months ago, when I raised such issues, action was attempted against me; post-mortems are being delayed; bodies sent from Chavakachcheri to Jaffna are being delayed intentionally; even without conscience they keep working with corpses. When I spoke these truths, I was targeted, accused of maligning the entire medical community, and hindered from becoming an MP. Now similar incidents recur. In hospitals such small mafia-like matters—whether about GMOA or mortuary practices—persist, yet inquiries cannot be concluded and culprits punished; this Government seems unable. I tell Hon. Minister Dr. Nalinda Jayatissa this with concern.

¶ 08 At the same time, I truly like President Anura Kumara Dissanayake. But I worry that our Hon. Minister Nalinda Jayatissa has changed into a great liar. Under Standing Order 27(2), when I asked about the Akkaraipattu MS, the Hon. Minister—my friend—said there was no fault, no inquiry, and he would not be removed. Soon after, he was removed and inquiries have continued for two months; yet the Minister cannot reappoint him as the Akkaraipattu Base Hospital Director. You are the biggest movement for protests, yet today there are no protests on any road because you are all here. But on these mafia-like small matters—GMOA issues or mortuary issues—the Government cannot complete inquiries and punish.

¶ 09 Hon. Presiding Member, you have two more minutes.

¶ 10 I will conclude, Sir.

¶ 11 Recently, two fishermen from Vadamarachchi sought refuge in India; yet our Minister of Fisheries, Hon. Ramalingam Chandraseker, was not seen in this House on the matter. Today, a boat heading from Gurunagar Jetty to the feast at St. Anthony’s Church, Palaithivu, capsized, causing three deaths. Please look into this matter in depth. Thank you.