COLOMBO: Legal action is being contemplated against some unscrupulous Indians who have been misusing the Colombo address of “Medicina Alternativa” to sell “doctorates” of a fictitious “Open International University of Complementary Medicines”.
Dr Mohan Siriwardene, Director of “Medicina Alternativa” told Express over phone from Australia on Wednesday that he was aware that crooks in India and Pakistan have been using the name “Open International University of Complementary Medicines”.
He is also aware that they were misusing the address of “Medicina Alternativa” too which is located on International Buddhist Centre Road, Colombo - 6.
The fraudulent persons are issuing, at a price, unauthorised certificates including doctorates.
“But, so far,all efforts to get to the bottom of the illegal activitiy have failed,” he said.
“We got no answer from the Indian authorities to our queries on the issue. Now I am planning legal action using Australian lawyers,” Siriwardene said.
Dr Siriwardene is practicing allopathic medicine in Australia. He denied that there is an institution called Open International University of Complementary Medicines. “The website of the so called university is fake, hacked by some Pakistanis,” he contended.
“Our institution Medicina Alternativa” is at the address given in the website. The institution has been in existence for 52 years and functioning successfully. It trains acupuncturists through severely courses. Our diploma is recognised by the Sri Lankan Department of Vocational Training. We have so far trained over 30,000 acupuncturists including several hundred Indians.”
“When we give the certificate for the courses, we specifically state that it does not entitle the holder to call himself a doctor.” Siriwardene said.
He also denied that his institution has affiliates or franchises in India. “We have no affiliates anywhere,” he said.
According to a Bangalore datelined story in Express (Chennai edition) dated August 13, two local cheats, Suresh and Ananth, had posed as agents of the Colombo-based “university” and tried to sell PhDs for `3 lakh.
It also said that spiritualists Sri Sri Ravi Shankar and Swami Nityananda had got doctorates from the dubious university.