2026-02-06 / Debate: Extension of Emergency Regulations under Public Security Ordinance 2026-02-06
Hon. Imran Maharoof questioned the justification for extending the state of emergency, suggesting it may be aimed at suppressing growing protests by graduate teachers, doctors, and other groups rather than addressing genuine security threats. He raised concerns about critical police understaffing in the Kinniya DS Division in his Trincomalee District, where officer numbers have fallen from 120 to 47 despite serving a population of over 100,000, and called for staffing to be restored. He also urged the government to proceed with the construction of a new Kinniya police station on properly designated state land and to establish the previously gazetted Naduwaththu police station. Additionally, he renewed calls for the resolution of a long-standing issue concerning access to the Karumalaiyootru Mosque, requesting that impediments to Muslim worship there be removed.
Thank you, Hon. Presiding Member.
Today’s debate extends emergency, but few on the Government side explain its true purpose. Instead, they attack the Opposition and speak of a 76-year “curse.” If all is peaceful—no war, no ethnic strife, people are content and money flows—why extend emergency? Is it to suppress growing protests by graduates absorbed into schools in 2005 without jobs, by doctors, and others who now oppose the Government?
In my Trincomalee District there are 17 police stations. In Kinniya DS Division—over 100,000 people—there were 120 officers in 2024; today only 47 remain. How can such a thin force serve such a population? Please restore adequate staffing. A Gazette in 2023 announced a new police station for Naduwaththu, but it has stalled; it should proceed. The Kinniya police station itself is not on proper state land or in a proper building; a new site has been identified—please construct the station there, and establish the Naduwaththu station to address local issues.
Regarding the Karumalaiyootru Mosque: we have repeatedly raised this long-standing matter. Visits and discussions have happened, but access and facilities for worship are still being impeded. Please act so Muslims can once again use their mosque freely.