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Sarath Weerasekera denies teachers’ allegation

23 Sep 2021

  • Says teachers complained to CID against teacher, principal summoned by CID
By Buddhika Samaraweera Public Security Minister Rear Admiral (Retd.) Dr. Sarath Weerasekera has denied allegations levelled against him by the teachers’ trade unions that it was on his instructions that a teacher and a principal involved in the ongoing trade union actions were summoned to the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) for questioning. A teacher and a principal who support the ongoing teachers’ and principals’ trade union actions had been summoned before the CID to record a statement on 21 September. Weerasekera told the media that he denies the allegations, adding that the relevant complaint was lodged with the CID by a group of teachers. He also claimed that there was no political interference in the incident. “It was only some teachers who had filed the complaint with the CID. That is why the teacher and principal who made the threat were summoned to the CID for questioning. There is no political involvement in this incident,” he added. The teacher in question is Shreeni de Silva of the Independent Education Employees’ Union (IEEU) and the principal in question is Mohan Weerasinghe of the Sri Lanka National Principals’ Union (SLNPU). They had been summoned to appear before the CID to record a statement regarding a complaint which had been lodged by a group of teachers of a leading government school in Colombo, regarding an alleged incident where the latter group had been threatened by the said principal and teacher to not carry out online teaching activities. However, Ceylon Teachers’ Service Union (CTSU) General Secretary Mahinda Jayasinghe, who accompanied the said teacher and principal to the CID, claimed that a group of pro-Government teachers had met with Weerasekera and told him that they were threatened. According to Jayasinghe, the said group of teachers who have met Weerasekera represent the Sri Lanka Podujana Education Service Union (SLPESU) and the Sri Lanka Freedom Teachers’ Union (SLFTU), adding that the CID had then, based on the complaint they lodged with Weerasekera, summoned Weerasinghe and de Silva to record statements. Commenting on the ongoing trade union actions of teachers and principals, Weerasekera claimed: “Students in all schools in the north are being taught, as well as in all schools in the east, and in international schools, and other private schools. Today, only students in government schools in the south are helpless, so this is a very unfortunate situation. I call on teachers who are engaged in the trade union actions to resume teaching activities.” However, when contacted to inquire about Weerasekera’s statement that teaching activities are being carried out in the Northern and Eastern Provinces, Ceylon Teachers’ Union (CTU) President Priyantha Fernando denied the claim and said that a majority of teachers in those provinces are also engaged in the ongoing trade union actions. “As usual, Weerasekera is trying to label this trade union struggle as a racist one. He does not have any right to intervene in this issue and it is the Education Minister Dinesh Gunawardena who should make statements in this regard. So we would like to say that if someone is trying to intimidate us through non-democratic means, that will only help turn this trade union action into a major crisis,” he added. Meanwhile, Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) Parliamentarian Jagath Kumara Sumithraarachchi recently claimed that Weerasekera’s actions with regard to how the teachers’ and principals’ trade union protest actions were dealt with, had contributed to the intensification of the ongoing teachers’ and principals’ trade union strike actions. “It was Weerasekera’s actions that led to the intensification of teachers’ trade union actions to this level. Had he not been the Minister in charge of the Police, it would have come to an end by now,” stated Sumithraarachchi. He further opined that had fellow SLPP Member Weerasekera not been in the said position, the trade union actions would have come to an end by now. Speaking at a recent media briefing, he claimed that the aforesaid trade union actions had intensified after the Police forcibly took away a group including teachers during a recent protest in Colombo, after which they were directed to quarantine. “It was because the Police acted in that way during the protest that there was a great deal of sympathy in the community for the teachers’ trade union actions,” he further claimed.


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