The Sectoral Oversight Committee on Education and Human Resources has decided to submit its report on the controversial Batticaloa Campus (Private) Limited to President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and the Cabinet of Ministers.
The Committee chaired by Parliamentarian Prof. Ashu Marasinghe took this decision during a committee meeting at the Parliament complex on Friday, December 20, parliamentary sources told the Sunday Observer.
The Sectoral Oversight Committee presented its report on the Batticaloa Campus to Parliament on June 21 and it was subsequently presented to the Cabinet of Ministers of the then Government.
The Committee in its report has confirmed that considering the security situation, the Batticaloa Campus (Private) Limited has illegally acquired money, conducted illegal constructions and forcibly taken over State lands.
Therefore, the Committee recommended to the Government to immediately take over the controversial Batticaloa Campus under provisions of the Emergency Regulations and initiate legal action against all wrongdoers regardless of their status.
The Sectoral Oversight Committee has been investigating the Sub Committee’s information regarding Batticaloa Campus (Pvt) Ltd and its related entities and companies since the commencement of the institution’s funding source, the Sri Lanka Heera Foundation in 1993. According to the investigation made by the Sub Committee, the foundation had received money on several occasions amounting to Rs. 3.6 billion, and it was not clear whether they were grants or loans to build the institution.
The Committee raised suspicion that one of its main objectives was to promote Sharia law or Islamic Ulamas as according to the information submitted to the Board of Investment of Sri Lanka and the Ministry of Higher Education, the institute had been listed as empowered to grant degrees in Bachelor of Arts in Sharia and Islamic Studies.
The Committee has noted that the architectural features and symbols of all the buildings of the Batticaloa Campus (Pvt) Ltd belonged to the Islamic religion and Arabic architecture and its landscaping had created an Arabic atmosphere in the area.