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The recent disclosure that those with political connections have been granted government scholarships has resulted in denials and counter-allegations.

Dr. Karunasena Kodituwakku, who was a former Minister of Education and Cultural Affairs, Vice Chancellor of Sri Jayewardenepura University and Ambassador to China, has issued a statement in response to allegations that his daughter I.N. Kodithuwakku received money for her scholarship from the President’s Fund in 2006.

He says his daughter received her President’s Fund disbursement to attend Columbia University, the prestigious Ivy League university in New York, established in 1754 and considered a world top-ten university. She was offered a place at Columbia in January 2005 while she was still completing her undergraduate studies.

However, since Columbia offered her only a partial scholarship and she did not have funds to cover the balance, she deferred her place at Columbia and applied for various scholarships. Her applications to the American Association of University Women, the PEO International Peace Scholarship Fund, and International House New York, as well as the President’s Fund, were successful, enabling her to take up her place at Columbia the following year, in September 2006. The scholarship she received from the President’s Fund covered about one-fifth of her tuition and fees.

She followed the standard procedure expected of any Sri Lankan citizen to apply to the President’s Fund. She submitted an application in answer to an annual newspaper advertisement and was called in front of an interview board that included Professor Sunil Ariyaratne (current Chancellor of the Aesthetic University of Sri Lanka), which recommended her name for a scholarship.

“I was not even a member of Parliament at the time she applied for and received the President’s Fund scholarship. The government was headed by President Mahinda Rajapaksa, and the UNP was in the opposition. In fact, I myself was politically victimised during this time period by the University of Sri Jayewardenepura, but that is a story for another time,” Dr. Kodituwakku said.

The President’s Fund was established in 1978 during President J. R. Jayewardene’s tenure, with the advancement of education and knowledge as one of its four main objectives.

“The fund has historically been used to provide funding to many talented Sri Lankan students who qualified for prestigious universities abroad but could not afford the astronomical costs. The first name that comes to my mind is famed pianist Rohan De Silva, who received funding to attend the world’s best school of music, the Juilliard School in New York, and has since been invited by multiple US presidents to perform at the White House, including when President George Bush hosted Queen Elisabeth II. I myself have attended his concerts in Beijing, Tokyo, and Seoul, where he performed for countless distinguished guests, giving tremendous recognition to Sri Lankan talent,” the statement adds.

President marks World Indigenous People’s Day

To mark the World’s Indigenous Peoples Day, which fell yesterday, President Anura Kumara Dissanayake called on the leader of Sri Lanka’s indigenous community, Uruwarige Wanniyalaththo, at Dambana.

The President mingled with members of the community and inquired about their well-being during the visit.

A cleaner Colombo evokes Indian filmmaker’s lament for Mumbai

While Sri Lankans often complain about what a mess the city of Colombo is, it often wins praise from Indians who visit the city.

This week, Indian filmmaker Hansal Mehta, who had been in Colombo on work, posted a comparison
between Colombo and his hometown, Mumbai.

“A country grappling with economic crisis and fairly recent political turmoil, and yet its capital (Colombo) is cleaner, more organised, and more dignified than the so-called financial capital of a rising superpower. Every time I come back to Mumbai, I am appalled—not just by the filth, the chaos, the broken infrastructure, but by our collective indifference to it,” he wrote on his X handle.

Despite the downside, Mr. Mehta also wrote about his love for Mumbai. “I still believe I love this city. It has given me everything. But it’s strangled by those in power—people who never let it breathe, who won’t allow it to care for us. They profit from its decay and dress it up
as resilience.”

Harshana’s swipe at Wijeweera backfires

Meanwhile, Samagi Jana Balawegaya Parliamentarian Harshana Rajakaruna was in the eye of a storm last week when it was revealed in Parliament he had received a government scholarship of Rs.500,000 for postgraduate studies.

Defending his position a day after it became public that he had received the money, the opposition MP said there was nothing illegal about it. “I applied for assistance and was selected based on merit after an interview. My father was in the Opposition at the time. This is clearly an attempt to discredit me and other Opposition MPs,” he charged.

His comments may have passed off without much of an uproar if he had not referred to the founder of the JVP, Rohana Wijeweera, who he said was also a recipient of a scholarship to study abroad. This led to a strong response from House Leader Bimal Rathnayake, who said that Comrade Wijeweera had received a scholarship from the Soviet Communist Party, not from the Sri Lankan government, and any attempt to make a comparison between the two was an abomination.

Ex-LTTE member in the centre of health sector dispute

In healthcare circles in Mannar, a recent letter sent by the Regional Director of Health Services (RDHS) to a Family Health Officer (FHO) has become the talking point for mentioning ‘LTTE terrorist’.

In his letter, the director called for an explanation from the FHO for not being on duty during the time of the supervision visit.

According to the letter seen by ‘Jamis Banda’, Dr D. Venodan, RDHS, said he had received a complaint alleging that the particular officer was neither in her office nor present at the field house stipulated in the schedule.

The letter says that the FHO’s husband, who happens to be a former member of the now defunct Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), had threatened a medical officer of health through a phone call.

The RDHS called for an explanation, asking why she should not be sent on compulsory leave and legal action be taken over the alleged misconduct.

 Police Commission member quits, following social media jabs

Following a spate of orchestrated social media posts, a member of the National Police Commission has thrown in the towel and sent in a resignation letter.

The government has been locked in several disagreements with the Commission, which is responsible for approving police promotions and transfers to ensure the independence of the service.

The member has been seen by the government as being an obstructionist to having its way in these promotions and transfers. A wave of stinging social media trolls cyberbullying the member followed.

The resignation opens the door for the government to have its own nominee fill the vacant seat.

Reddit blow for LTTE sympathisers

The Tamil diaspora community, particularly youngsters who are on pro-LTTE lines, were taken aback when they realised one of the popular communities on the social media platform Reddit (r/Eelam) was taken down earlier this week.

The reason: “violating community standards, rule 1″, which focused on ensuring the forums are “free of harassment, bullying, and threats of violence”. Pro-LTTE supporters who were active in these communities took the matter to other social media platforms to lament about the banning.

US imposes visa dollar bonds to curb overstays

Those applying for US visas effective August 20 could face new snags after it was announced this week that the US could require bonds of up to US$15,000 for some tourist and business visas under a pilot programme.

This is in an effort that aims at cracking down on visitors who overstay their visas.

The programme gives US consular officers the discretion to impose bonds on visitors from countries with high rates of visa overstays, according to a Federal Register notice. Bonds could also be applied to people coming from countries where screening and vetting information is deemed insufficient, the notice said. It is not clear if Sri Lankans too will be among those having required a bond.

Effective August 20, the new visa programme will last for about a year. Consular officers will have three options for visa applicants subjected to the bonds: US$5,000, US$10,000 or US$15,000, but will generally be expected to require at least US$10,000, it said.