Following strong condemnation of Education Minister Akila Viraj Kariyawasam's comments on the 'HIV infected' mother and her child child in Kuliyapitiya, the Minister yesterday backtracked on his statement and acknowledged that it was wrong to publicly state that the mother was HIV infected.

"Even doctors cannot reveal if a person is HIV infected. It was wrong to say that in public" he told BBC. Kariyawasam added that he regrets any difficulty caused to an HIV infected person or any other interested party because of his statement.

On Saturday, Kariyawasam said that the government was planning to separate the child from his mother as she was HIV infected. Otherwise, he could also be infected, the Education Minister claimed. He made the statement based on information he received from the Kuliyapitiya Zonal Education Director. However, the mother rejects the claim that she is infected with HIV.

The Education Minister said that people were raising concerns of the child's health, especially due to the mother's condition. What he wanted was to temporarily transfer the child to probationary care, he added.

He did not mean any harm, and wanted to do what was good for the child, Kariyawasam said.