Mahinda Rajapaksa urges jailed son Namal to trust Sri Lanka's judiciary

Mahinda Rajapaksa, the patriarch of Sri Lanka's Rajapaksa political dynasty, has sent an emotional message to his son Namal Rajapaksa, the family's political heir, amid his continued remand in an alleged corruption case, news agency Press Trust of India reported.

Namal Rajapaksa, 40, has been in remand custody since September 4 in connection with bribery allegations and other ongoing investigations. On Friday, his remand was extended until November 6 in a case linked to the abandoned Indian Krish Hotels project.

In a letter delivered to Namal in jail, the 81-year-old former president and prime minister recalled the advice he had given his son before he entered politics in 2010.

“I remind you of my word of advice to you when you wanted to enter politics in 2010. It is your wish to enter politics but be prepared to go to jail and undergo hardships,” Mahinda Rajapaksa told the eldest of his three sons, according to PTI.

Mahinda Rajapaksa, who has served as both president and prime minister of Sri Lanka over the past two decades, said Namal had sought his permission to enter politics and that he had cautioned him to be prepared for imprisonment and hardship.

He said the advice came from his own experience of being jailed on what he described as baseless allegations shortly after entering politics and before Namal was born. He urged his son to retain faith in the judiciary, saying it had been his only source of confidence during his own imprisonment.

Mahinda Rajapaksa said that, by a twist of fate, he and Namal's mother, Shiranthi Rajapaksa, were admitted to the same private hospital in Colombo where Namal was born in 1986. Shiranthi, who was remanded on October 7 and granted bail 10 days later, had undergone heart surgery.

He also referred to his younger son, Yoshitha Rajapaksa, who faces court action over his recruitment as an officer cadet in the Sri Lanka Navy in 2007, allegedly through an irregular process.

Mahinda Rajapaksa advised Namal not to make political revenge against opponents a policy if he came to power. He said the children of political figures should not be held responsible for their parents' actions, concluding a message that drew on his own experience of imprisonment as his son remained in custody.

With PTI Inputs

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