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Shashi Tharoor said the charges brought against Wickremesinghe appeared minor and noted that the 76-year-old former president had been hospitalised soon after his detention.
Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor. (PTI file photo)
Congress MP Shashi Tharoor voiced concern over the arrest of former Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe, urging Colombo to avoid “the politics of vengeance” and to treat the veteran leader with dignity.
Posting on X, Tharoor said the charges brought against Wickremesinghe appeared minor and noted that the 76-year-old former president had been hospitalised soon after his detention.
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“Concerned about the detention of former Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickramasinghe on what, on the face of it, seem trivial charges. His health issues have already seen him taken to the prison hospital. I call on the government of Sri Lanka — while fully respecting that this is their internal matter — to abjure the politics of vengeance and treat their former President with the respect and dignity that he deserves, after his decades of service to the nation,” Tharoor wrote.
Concerned about the detention of former Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickramasinghe on what, on the face of it, seem trivial charges. His health issues have already seen him taken to the prison hospital. I call on the government of Sri Lanka — while fully respecting that this is… pic.twitter.com/ojuEfEu4FG— Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) August 23, 2025
Sri Lankan journalist S. Venkat Narayan also condemned the move, calling the arrest “ridiculous” and suggesting that India could step in with medical assistance if required.
“I think this is highly ridiculous because, as he said before he was taken in, he said, hello, I never did anything for myself. I only worked for Sri Lanka. And you know the fact that they are arresting me shows what kind of administration Anura (President Anura Kumara Dissanayake) is heading at the moment,” Narayan told news agency ANI.
Wickremesinghe was taken into custody on Friday on allegations of misusing state funds.
According to Newswire Lanka, the charges are linked to a private visit to London, where he attended a university graduation ceremony.
Investigators allege the trip was not an official engagement but was financed with public money as part of a broader overseas tour.
A seasoned politician, Wickremesinghe served six terms as prime minister before stepping in as interim president in July 2022 following Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s exit.
He later lost the September 2024 presidential election to Anura Kumara Dissanayake, leader of the National People’s Power.
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