Selective Scrutiny or State Complicity?

12 June 2025 12:09 am Views - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}} 3 Bookmark

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The recent arrest of five Jewish Rabbis—three of them Israeli—for violating visa conditions while conducting Kosher certification at a poultry plant in Mirigama has raised serious questions about the enforcement of Sri Lankan immigration law.

Even more troubling was the police action to disperse Free Palestine Movement (FPM) protestors holding a peaceful candlelight vigil outside the Chabad House on Ananda Coomaraswamy Mawatha (formerly known as Greenpath). The irony is glaring: Israeli-linked entities are offered state protection, while Sri Lankan citizens exercising their democratic rights are pressured to vacate public space.

I earnestly request President Anura Kumara Dissanayake to authorise an urgent multi-agency investigation—by the Department of Immigration and Emigration (DIE), the Terrorist Investigation Division (TID), Financial Crimes Investigation Division (FCID), and Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU)—into the operations of Chabad House and similar Israel-run institutions across Sri Lanka. This must include verifying visa validity, investigating potential foreign exchange violations, and scrutinising possible breaches of Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) laws.

Sri Lanka’s sovereignty, cultural integrity, and national security must not be compromised by selective law enforcement. Transparency, not silence, must guide state policy.

Mohamed Zahran

Colombo

Comments - 3

Jeeves Thursday, 12 June 2025 12:47 AM

Well said! Thank you for committing to paper what many of us are wondering. Also concerning, is that the threats associated with Zionism, an extreme political ideology, will plant itself here via the several chabad houses dotted around our country. Difficult to know whether the government has evaluated the real consequences of what has been happening. Only swift, assertive action by the government will tackle this.

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M Fernando Thursday, 12 June 2025 06:20 PM

When SL has sent probably thousands of workers to this so called "bulwark of democracy" how can any government take action against them ? Added to that., they are known for heavy lobbying and greasing of palms to get their agenda done. This is likely the case. Soon, we will be evicted from our own country and bombed like the Palestinians because these people believe that SL is their biblical Tarshish, also promised to them by invisible man in the sky, 6000 years ago. It has started in Arugam Bay - it will surely spread.

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Sashi Friday, 13 June 2025 12:51 PM

Yes; their carrot was employment of Sri Lankans with a desperate economy, and now Sri Lanka is under their control! Thai workers have been abused and exploited in Israel. Government should have considered these things before condemning our citizens to a similar fate. Witnessing the plight of starving Palestinians being executed openly by Israeli soldiers illustrates how they treat fellow human beings. They should have been barred entry here like so many countries have done!

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