Peace Secretariat for what?

by Ananda Seneviratne

(March 05, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) I take my hat off to the Free Media Movement's statement condemning the CID for taking the computer of Dr. Rama Mani into custody. According to a report the order for the removal of the computer had been initiated on a complaint made by the Head of the National Peace Secretariat Prof. Rajiva Wijesinghe alleging that Dr. Rama Mani had attempted to create conflicts and disharmony among the different ethnic groups in Sri Lanka by propagating false statements and information about Sri Lanka, nationally and internationally. Who is this officer? What are his duties? What have they found? Has he the power to order the Courts to issue warrants to search international institutions? Please let us know.

The government is trying its best to bring peace to this country. Here, an officer holding a position as Secretary-General of the Peace Secretariat, brings hatred and disharmony to the country. The government spends millions and millions of rupees for rent, staff and maintenance of this Secretariat. For what purpose? Is it to use official letter-heads to issue statement after statement accusing foreign orgnizations, NGOs, threatening diplomats and individuals? I haven't seen a single statements like this issued by his predecessors Bernard Goonetilleke, Jayantha Dhanapala, John Gooneratne, and Palitha Kohana during their stay at the Secretariat.

The government should act immediately and take appropriate action.