2 children in critical condition after run over by Salman Khan backup vehicle!

 Wednesday, 31 December 2014 

Two children are receiving treatment at the ICU of the Colombo National Hospital in critical condition after being run over on December 29 by a backup vehicle providing security to Bollywood actor Salman Khan who was in Sri Lanka for president Mahinda Rajapaksa’s election campaign, an official of Welikada police traffic division told ‘Lanka News Web.’

The accident occurred at Ambagaha Junction at Welikada. The presidential secretariat has ordered Welikada police to hide this incident from the media. Accordingly, the traffic division of Welikada police is treating it as a minor accident.

The police official said the vehicle involved in the accident belongs to aviation services minister Priyankara Jayaratne. Doctors have recommended that a foot one child be amputated, while they are fighting to bring consciousness back for the other child.

Alarmed by the incident, Salman had abandoned his visit and returned to India on the same night.

Also, the Indian high commissioner in Sri Lanka has complained to the Indian external affairs ministry against Salman’s campaigning on behalf of president Rajapaksa. As a result, the Indian government has told the actor to return immediately.

Is Mahinda Counting On Extremists To Help Him Win (Again)?

By Rajiva Wijesinha -December 31, 2014 

Prof. Rajiva Wijesinha MP

When I began this column, over seven months ago, I did not think that the threat to President Rajapaksa would come to fruition quite so quickly. Until the incidents at Aluthgama, I thought it unlikely that anyone would be able to defeat him in a Presidential election. After that I thought any reasonable candidate would probably win, if there was unity in the opposition, but it seemed unlikely that that would be achieved. And after Uva, when it seemed that the government was on a slippery slope, I assumed Mahinda Rajapaksa would have the sense to back down if he was unable to make the few simple reforms and tough decisions that would have restored his popularity.

But he failed to do so, perhaps because vast funds had been spent and there would be nothing left for the sort of propaganda blitz he was planning if the election had to be postponed till 2015. So it is likely that he will soon be history. Fortunately he has an opponent who will safeguard his position in history, and make sure that his victory against terrorism in 2009 will not be forgotten. He then has little to lose, if he is willing to accept defeat gracefully.

The same is not true however of those who have profited from his Presidency, and I suspect they will use every trick in the book to cling to power. But even they are running out of tricks, and by now they have begun to realize that the hammer and tongs approach they had decided on simply will not work. Thus, though Temple Trees is full of visitors who are sumptuously treated, everyone now knows who is paying for this, and many of the invitees, who would rather not waste their time on long journeys, are even less likely to vote for the President. Certainly, though they may be more sophisticated than most, and to generalize from them would be dangerous, colleagues at university have affirmed the need for change, and their disgust at being forced to have dinner at short notice with the President.Read More