‘Stay at home for the country’

India sends emergency medical supplies to Sri Lanka

India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi (R) shakes hands with Sri Lanka's Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa prior to a meeting in New Delhi on February 8, 2020. - Sri Lanka's Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa is on his four-day state visit to India from February 7. (Photo by Prakash SINGH / AFP)

For people who have braved a war for 30 years, living in camps and amid fear, staying at home in the wake of pandemic cannot be difficult, Sri Lankan Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa said, urging citizens to stay at home for the country’s sake.

Speaking at a televised address on Tuesday night, Mr. Rajapaksa outlined the initiatives being taken by the government led by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, his younger brother, to combat

COVID-19 that has so far affected 185 persons, of whom six have died.

Underscoring the pandemic’s impact on the global economy, and on Sri Lanka’s garment exports and revenue from foreign remittances, PM Rajapaksa sought the country’s cooperation to take on the “enemy” [virus], in order to put the country back on track.

Even as calls from the political opposition to reconvene Parliament grow louder, Mr. Rajapaksa said: “When we tried to pass an interim budget before dissolution of Parliament [on March 2], the Parliament did not support us,” asking “what use” reconvening Parliament could be now. The opposition has maintained that reconvening Parliament would be in democratic spirit, and allow for grievances from all parts of the country to be heard better.

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Apparently responding to requests from former Muslim parliamentarians and civil society members, seeking burial rights for Muslim victims — authorities cremated the body of a Muslim victim sparking concern — Mr. Rajapaksa said: “This is not the time to fulfil special religious or ritual rights... this is the time to think about the country.”

Leaders thank India

Earlier, Both Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Mahinda Rajapaksa tweeted thanking India for a special consignment of essential medicines that arrived in Sri Lanka via a special Air India charter flight. The 10-tonne consignment of “life-saving” medicines were requested by the Government of Sri Lanka, a press release from the Indian High Commission in Colombo said.

“This is yet another manifestation of India’s unwavering commitment to stand with Sri Lanka, in rain and in shine,” the statement said.