Law should be equal to all: Rajitha

Co-Cabinet Spokesperson,Health and Indigenous Medicine Minister Rajitha Senaratne said that the law should apply equally to all.

The Minister was addressing the weekly Cabinet briefing yesterday.

Minister Rajitha Senaratne responding to allegations that there was a plot to wipe out the Sinhala race said these accusations were baseless.

“The complaints that doctors are trying to make the Sinhala or Muslim race barren is nothing but lies. Any gynaecologist gives advice to the mother on the number of children she could comfortably have without having any health implications, while also not affecting the economy of the family. If the parents cannot feed all their children properly, we have issues of malnutrition,”the Health Minister.

“There is a certain system followed by doctor’s when parting such advice. It is part of the government’s family planning program of ‘Punchi Pawula Raththaran’ (the small family is golden,”he added.

Senaratne further stressed that there was no chance of ethnic violence breaking out in the country as the President and Prime Minister have decreed that rigorous imprisonment without bail should be instituted for such incidents.

Meanwhile, Police Spokesperson DIG Priyantha Jayakody said arresting a Buddhist leader and politically linked monk is totally different to arresting a layman, Police Spokesperson DIG Priyantha Jayakody was explaining as to why the four teams deployed to arrest Ven. Galagodaaththe Gnanasara Thera failed to do so.

DIG Jayakody explained that even if the teams found the Bodu Bala Sena leader’s hideouts, they could not search a temple due to cultural reasons, “We can easily get a warrant to check a civilian place but it is different when it comes to checking a temple.There are cultural conflicts,”he said.

He however added that the recent surrender was due to Police pressure exerted on the monk.

As worries over ethnic tensions rise, the Police Spokesperson said they had received 21 complaints of hate speech against Ven.Gnanasara Thera, Minister Rishard Bathuideen and Northern Provincial Council member M.K. Sivajilingam and that the Organized Crimes Division was investigating into all the complaints in a methodical manner.“we are looking to find the

legal basis in all these complaints and seek the AG’s advice to ascertain whether these speeches contained any inflammatory statements that might affect ethnic harmony,” the DIG said. Apart from hate speech, the Police have also recorded 14 criminal offenses in the form of attacks on religious institutions. Thus far 15 have been arrested with 12 being Sinhalese, two Muslims and a Tamil.

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