Former minister Patali Champika Ranawaka has issued a blunt warning that turning personal beliefs into state doctrine using government power risks corrupting the nation’s institutions and deepening an already fragile crisis.
Former Minister Patali Champika Ranawaka has cautioned that using state power to impose personal ideologies or sexual orientations as national social philosophies is an extremely dangerous path, describing it as nothing short of “ideological corruption.” Speaking on recent controversies surrounding school textbooks, Ranawaka said he has no intention of criticising or insulting anyone’s personal sexual orientation, stressing that such matters remain a private choice.
He noted that Sri Lanka’s political history itself includes homosexual prime ministers and education ministers, underlining that personal lives have never been grounds for public condemnation. According to him, the problem arises when private ideologies are elevated into state enforced belief systems through institutional power.
Drawing a clear parallel, Ranawaka argued that just as the misuse of public funds for personal benefit is defined as corruption, the misuse of state authority to advance personal ideologies amounts to the same offence. He urged the current administration to avoid committing what he termed ideological corruption, warning that it could erode trust in public institutions.
The former minister also said President Anura Kumara Dissanayake should prioritise managing the multiple crises confronting the country, rather than pushing contested changes in the education sector. He suggested that reforms the present government cannot realistically deliver should be left to future administrations.
Ranawaka further emphasised that urgent action is needed to protect citizens from the wider national disaster unfolding, particularly in his capacity as Chairman of the Disaster Management Committee, calling for stability, restraint, and responsible governance.
