Bathiudeen denies calls to Army Commander

Industry and Commerce Minister Rishad Bathiudeen speaking in Parliament   

• Rishad clarifies events leading up to his call to the Army Commander
• Says he got involved on humanitarian grounds 

Industry and Commerce Minister Rishad Bathiudeen has denied a slew of allegations levelled against him, including employing an Islamic cleric as an advisor to the Ministry, and exerting pressure on the Commander of the Army to release an arrested person. 

“There are no Moulavis functioning in an advisory capacity to me as the Minister. Therefore none of the Moulavis arrested to date were my advisors. My two official advisors have been Roy Jayasinghe and Dr. Azeez,” said the Minister in Parliament on 22 May. Using his right to reply in the House, Minister Bathiudeen was making his statement to clear various allegations levelled against him by local politicians.

“It has been also reported earlier that a Coordinating Secretary of mine was arrested. That too was a lie and a totally false statement. There was also the accusation that my brother was arrested, which was false. I have now obtained a letter from the IGP, attesting my brother was never arrested.  I never pressured the Army Commander either. An Advisor to the Muslim Affairs Ministry named Jainudeen called me and complained to me that an unidentified group of people visited his home, and nabbed his son. For two days I was visiting Police stations, even Dehiwela Police station, without any success,” he said.  

According to Bathiudeen, the Police had repeatedly denied arresting such a person, and he was advised to speak to the military forces. 

“Then I contacted the State Minister of Defence Ruwan Wijewardene, who advised me to contact the Army Commander to see if the missing person was with the Army. I was doing this search on humanitarian grounds. I then contacted the Commander, and only asked him if this person was with the Army. I did not pressure the Commander, and never asked the Commander to release any individual either. Therefore the accusation that I tried to influence the Commander is utterly false. I wish to ask this House and the people of Sri Lanka, is it wrong to inquire about another politician’s missing family member, if the family contacts you and asks you to help them?”