• Keheliya promises probe if complaint made 

Legal action should be taken against the officials in the Ministry of Health and the members of the expert committee appointed by the then Health Minister and incumbent Minister attorney Pavithra Wanniarachchi, who advised the former Government to cremate the dead bodies of the Muslims who died from Covid-19, said Samagi Jana Balawegaya Opposition Parliamentarian and Sri Lanka Muslim Congress Leader MP Attorney Rauff Hakeem.

Speaking in the Parliament yesterday (18), Hakeem questioned Health Minister Keheliya Rambukwella as to whether the Ministry is going to take any action against those officials and the expert committee members who misled the health authorities by providing false advice. He also said that those officials had put Islam in disgrace by persuading the authorities to cremate the dead bodies of Muslims, which is never accepted in their religion. He noted that no other country had taken such a decision. However, he said that those officials should be prosecuted under the laws against hateful conduct since they had indirectly defamed a recognised religion in Sri Lanka, adding that that decision had caused social unrest at that time.

Meanwhile, in response to a question raised by him (Hakeem) as to whether any probe will be conducted by the Ministry against those officials in this regard, Rambukwella said that if anyone files a complaint with the Ministry regarding the matter, a probe will be conducted.

Speaking during the argument between Hakeem and Rambukwella, State Minister of Indigenous Medicines Sisira Jayakody claimed that a certain female professor, an expert in natural resources, who was also a frontline member of the aragalaya (people’s protest movement to overthrow the previous Government under then President Gotabaya Rajapaksa), was the one who made a strong argument that all the dead bodies must be cremated despite their religion.

However, responding to Jayakody, Hakeem said that actions should be taken not only against the said professor but also against the Judicial Medical Officers (JMOs) who were in service at the Ministry at that time.

The said committee was headed by Consultant JMO Dr. Channa Perera, while its other members were Consultant Physician Dr. Ananda Wijewickrama, Consultant JMO Dr. Rohan Ruwanpura, Consultant JMO Dr. P.B. Dasanayake, Consultant Microbiologist Dr. Shirani Chandrasiri, Consultant Microbiologist Dr. Maalika Karunarathne, Consultant Virologist Dr. Dulmini Kumarasinghe, Consultant JMO Dr. Prabath Senasinghe, JMO Dr. Sriyantha Amararatne, Prof. Meththika Vithanage (in natural resources) and Consultant Epidemiologist Dr. Hasitha Tissera.