Midweek Review
Gotabaya: Only Ranil could have restored law and order
By Shamindra Ferdinando
By the time President Gotabaya Rajapaksa had arrived in Singapore in the second week of July 2022, a few days after fleeing Sri Lanka, he firmly believed that then Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe was the only person capable of restoring the rule of law in the country.
In the chapter titled ‘The Politics of Regime Change’ in the recently launched ‘The Conspiracy’ that dealt with the circumstances leading to his ouster in July, 2022, Gotabaya Rajapaksa concedes recognizing the UNP leader as the ideal person to overcome, what he called, mob rule.
President Rajapaksa appointed Wickremesinghe as the Prime Minister on May 12, 2022, after SJB leader Sajith Premadasa and SJB Chairman Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka declined to accept the premiership.
In spite of knowing that Wickremesinghe backed the sustained protest campaign that was launched on March 31, 2022, against him, Gotabaya Rajapaksa appeared to have had no qualms in handing over the country’s leadership and the all-powerful Presidency to the UNP leader.
Many an eye brow was raised when two UNPers/SJBers, Manusha Nanayakkara and Harin Fernando, who repeatedly accused the President of orchestrating the Easter Sunday carnage in April 2019, received key ministerial portfolios. They were the only SJB lawmakers who switched allegiance to Gotabaya Rajapaksa at Wickremesinghe’s behest, though interested parties propagated the lie that a large section of the main Opposition party would join the then government with an unknown future.
What really influenced Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s thinking that Wickremesinghe could restore law and order, after his own pathetic failure as the Minister of Defence, Commander-in-Chief of the war-winning armed forces, and the head of the National Security Council to thwart an unprecedented public protest campaign, was obviously engineered from both within and outside.
The author disclosed the disagreement between him and leaders of political parties represented in Parliament and the Committee on Parliamentary Business over the appointment of Wickremesinghe as the Acting President.
Gotabaya Rajapaksa didn’t mince his words when he declared that those represented in Parliament wanted Wickremesinghe to resign in a bid to appease the mobs. Gotabaya Rajapaksa seemed to have commended Wickremesinghe’s stand that he wouldn’t resign until a new government took over.
The decision on the part of the ruling SLPP to elect Wickremesinghe as the 8th President on July 20, 2022, should be examined taking into consideration Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s assertion that the UNP leader should be his successor.
Gotabaya Rajapaksa must have felt relieved when Wickremesinghe cleared government buildings of unruly elements occupying them, within 24 hours after being appointed President to complete the remainder of his predecessor’s five-year term. Those who were threatening to lay down their lives for a system change, while wrapping themselves in the national flag, simply melted away as if on cue, proving that it was all a charade.
Regardless of various machinations at different levels, the SLPP obviously had no option but to endorse Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s choice of Ranil as the President. A consensus between the SLPP and Rajapaksa who hadn’t at least obtained party membership caused a debilitating division of the party. A section, led by SLPP Chairman Prof. G. L. Peiris and Dullas Alahapperuma, switched their allegiance to the SJB and the former in turn voted for Alahapperuma at the presidential contest in Parliament. As Gotabaya Rajapaksa desired, Wickremesinghe emerged the winner by receiving 134 votes (including his own as the only UNP National List MP), Alahapperuma received 82, whereas JVP leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake obtained just three votes.
Those who have read National Freedom Front (NFF) leader Wimal Weerawansa’s ‘Nine: The hidden Story’ and award-winning writer Sena Thoradeniya’s ‘Galle Face Protest: Systems Change or Anarchy?, would find the ex-President’s narrative somewhat contradictory, pertaining to Wickremesinghe’s role during the protest campaign and after.
The ex-President and Messrs. Weerawansa and Thoradeniya differed sharply on the role played by the then Under Secretary of Political Affairs of the US State Department, Victoria Nuland, here. Neo-con Nuland, widely blamed for a high profile but seriously flawed US project in Ukraine that finally forced Russia to send in her Army, ironically received Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s commendation. Maybe it is all due to him still being a political neophyte.
Actually, the former President owed an explanation why he viewed his meeting with Nuland on March 22, 2022 on a positive note against the backdrop of accusations of the role played by the US in the overall operation. Both Weerawansa and Thoradeniya detailed repeated US interventions that deprived the government of an opportunity to suppress the violent public protest campaign that confounded problems.
However, all three found fault with the Bar Association for promoting mobs hell-bent on regime change.
Chung’s move
The former leader conveniently refrained from commenting on US Ambassador Julie Chung’s effort to convince Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena to accept the presidency temporarily.
Speaker Abeywardena has never contradicted the accusations made by lawmaker Weerawansa and Thoradeniya though Ambassador Chung denied meeting the Speaker at his official residence on July 09, 2022, to make the unprecedented offer, a blatant act of interference in a sovereign state.
Why did Gotabaya Rajapaksa choose to remain silent on one of the most crucial issues that directly tied the Biden administration with the regime change operation in Sri Lanka?
Many found fault with Gotabaya Rajapaksa for alleging a Western role in the protest campaign that forced him out of office. Those skeptical of Western interventions here must be reminded how the US State Department report in 2016 declared how they spent USD 585 mn in Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Nigeria to restore democracy (meaning bringing about regime change to suit their agenda) in 2014/2015. And former Secretary of State John Kerry even openly crowed about it in public.
The US Embassy here declined to provide a breakdown of the allocation of USD 585 mn. The then MPs Kanchana Wijesekera and Shehan Semasinghe raised this issue but Sri Lanka never made a genuine effort to examine foreign interventions.
Thanks to Wikileaks, we know how the US, though unsuccessfully, intervened to help retired General Sarath Fonseka at the 2010 presidential elections. After having accused Fonseka’s Army of killing thousands of Tamil civilians on the Vanni east front, the US had no compunctions in getting the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) to throw its full weight behind the war-winning Army Commander, who turned against his own Commander in Chief and the country’s sitting President Mahinda Rajapaksa no sooner the war ended, as it served Washington’s vile interests and his future ambitions.
Gotabaya Rajapaksa referred to external interventions here and exposure of their sordid operations in various parts of the world but, unfortunately, refrained from giving at least a few examples.
Another key omission in the book was the US refusal to issue Gotabaya Rajapaksa a visa after he decided to give up the presidency. The US refusal certainly revealed their hand in the operation here. Therefore, the author’s accusation regarding Indian interference should be examined in the proper context, taking into consideration the US-India common strategy pertaining to Sri Lanka.
Having reached the Maldives at around 3 am on July 12, 2022, Gotabaya Rajapaksa had wanted to leave for Singapore in a private plane but was forced to change plans due to Indian interference. Don’t forget that Gotabaya Rajapaksa hadn’t resigned and wanted to fly from the Maldives to Singapore as the President. He was accompanied by wife Iyoma and two bodyguards. This is what Gotabaya Rajapaksa said about Indian action: “The plan was to fly to Singapore in a private plane but Indian authorities had not allowed this private plane to fly to Male.”
Gotabaya Rajapaksa appointed Wickremesinghe as the Acting President while he was in the Maldives but took a firm decision to give the UNP leader the responsibility to complete the remainder of his term after he arrived in Singapore.
Who could have been keen to protect Gotabaya Rajapaksa as claimed by the author that he received an assurance from a major foreign power to ensure uninterrupted supply of essentials. But his great phobia of the combined power of the West and India perhaps prevented him from taking up that offer.
Failure of the armed forces
The author without hesitation found fault with Defence Secretary Gen. Kamal Gunaratne, Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) Gen. Shavendra Silva, and Director of State Intelligence Service (SIS) Suresh Sallay for the security crisis that forced him out of office. The ex-President was not so harsh on the police.
Gotabaya Rajapaksa dealt with the issue in the chapter, titled ‘The Law and Order Debacle.’
The failure on the part of the armed forces and police on May 09/10, 2022, and July 09, 2022, should be carefully examined against the backdrop of how the government had handled the Rambukkana shooting on April 19, 2022.
It was the first police shooting since the almost daily protests began on March 31, 2022. Regardless of the police maintaining that they had no option but to open fire to prevent protesters from setting fire to a fuel bowser in Rambukkana town, the government gave in.
Ambassador Chung and the then UN Resident Coordinator Hanaa Singer-Hamdy urged restraint from all sides and called on the authorities to ensure the people’s right to peaceful protest. Chung also called for an independent investigation into the shooting that claimed the life of one person. Nearly two dozen policemen and protesters received injuries.
The diplomats and the government ignored that the police had no alternative but to open fire to prevent protesters from setting the fuel bowser placed across the railway line there ablaze.
The government fell into the classic trap in trying to please the Western critics, when senior officer at the scene SSP, Kegalle, K.B. Keerthiratne, was arrested and remanded along with three other police personnel, despite them having done their job dutifully to avert a disaster and that callous act of the then government alone would have disheartened all police personnel, as well as the military, from doing their duty thereafter. The government response obviously had a demoralizing effect not only on the police but on the armed forces, as well.
No one in the government bothered to examine the circumstances the police opened fire in Rambukkana. Perhaps, the political leadership felt the situation could have been brought under control by appeasing the mobs. The arresting of policemen who, at the risk to their lives, thwarted the protesters’ bid to set fire to a fuel bowser there, must have caused apprehension among the police and armed forces. It was the first strategical lapse on the part of the government. The government’s failure, in a way, gave a turbo boost to the protest campaign.
The former President didn’t examine that issue at all though he simply mentioned the Rambukkana incident.
President Rajapaksa’s failure to thwart the Temple Trees project to somehow save Mahinda Rajapaksa’s premiership created an environment conducive for the enemy camp, an opportunity they immediately capitalized on to unleash terror attacks against government politicians and their close supporters across the country, especially in torching all their personal belongings that they had acquired over a lifetime.
TT operation goes awry
Temple Trees brought in a huge crowd on the morning of May 09, 2022, on the pretext of felicitating the outgoing Premier Mahinda Rajapaksa though the actual plan was to unleash them on the protesters besieging Temple Trees and at Galle Face.
The police and the military didn’t intervene, thereby allowing the SLPP goons to go on the rampage. That was because it was considered a Temple Trees operation.
What they didn’t expect was a swift unprecedented readymade countrywide retaliation. The police and armed forces simply watched. No one dared to order the police, or troops, to open fire. Back of their minds must have been former Kegalle SSP Keerthiratne’s predicament who was languishing in jail at that time.
The killing of SLPP Polonnaruwa MP Amarakeerthi Atukorale and his police bodyguard in Nittambuwa town, several hours after the goons attack on Galle Face protesters, could have been averted if the police, backed by troops, intervened. Unfortunately they didn’t. Atukorale was on his way home after attending the Temple Trees meeting. Obviously, it was no spontaneous case of general public venting their anger as the entire thing was staged with very specific intelligence right across the country.
The gradual build-up against the President’s House should be viewed against the backdrop of the Rambukkana incident and violence on May 09/10, 2022 during which mobs even targeted senior police officers in Colombo.
Gotabaya Rajapaksa disclosed that in the run-up to the March 31, 2022, protest, outside his Mirihana residence, some members of the Rajapaksa family, during a powwow, proposed that except him and Premier Mahinda Rajapaksa all other members holding positions in the government should resign. Chamal Rajapaksa, his son, Shashindra and Namal had declared their readiness to resign while assuring they would convince the then Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa also to do so. Obviously Basil Rajapaksa dismissed the idea though the author refrained from saying so.
President Gotabaya Rajapaksa appeared to have accepted the proposal made by Chamal, Shashindra and Namal that resignation of all Rajapaksas, except him and the Premier, could ease pressure on the government. Unfortunately, they have failed to realize that quite a number of parliamentary group members, too, felt that Mahinda Rajapaksa should give up the premiership. Had that happened at an early stage, perhaps the SLPP could have addressed some of the growing public concerns. But, Temple Trees launched an operation of its own in support of Mahinda Rajapaksa as it tried in vain to consolidate the rapidly declining popularity of the warwinning President.
Dispute with Church and other matters
The author’s claim that he couldn’t comprehend why Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith and the Catholic Church went against him, after his triumph at the 2019 presidential poll, is quite surprising.
Although the ex-President called the Cardinal’s conduct a mystery, the Church has repeatedly declared that it only demanded the implementation of the recommendations made by the Presidential Commission of Inquiry (PCoI) that inquired into the Easter Sunday carnage.
The author quoted the then Attorney General Dappula de Livera, PC, as having told him that action couldn’t be taken on the basis of the findings/recommendations of the PCoI. Against the backdrop of the former President’s claim, the public have a right to know what the AG meant by that there was a grand conspiracy behind the Easter carnage. With Indians and others knowing of the entire plot in detail well in advance to even warn their local law enforcement counterparts, it appears Zahran and his followers were mere puppets dancing to the tune of their puppet master operating from abroad.
The Easter Sunday issue was dealt quite intensively with the author questioning the accusations directed at him that he used Muslim suicide bombers to create conditions conducive for him while accusing him of him being anti-Muslim due to alleged association with Bodu Bala Sena since President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s second term. That argument certainly holds water. But Bodu Bala Sena, too ,was an obvious plot hatched by the West. After they went on a worldwide tour that included Washingtom, where its leader obtained a four-year American visa and it concluded in Oslo, Norway. And no sooner they returned to Sri Lanka they started agitating against Muslim extremists, while at the same time the West was winding up that community about excesses of Rajapaksas against their community, albeit with the help of BBS. What a winning formula!
Presidential aspirant Dilith Jayaweera is one of those who accused the Secretary to the President Dr. P.B. Jayasundera and Basil Rajapaksa and other members of the Rajapaksa family creating an extremely unfavourable environment for President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. However, Gotabaya Rajapaksa didn’t really comment on the issue while leaving out the sugar scam that caused immense harm to his government within two months after the last parliamentary election.
The former President seemed to have disregarded the Supreme Court ruling on the ruination of the national economy as he strongly defended the handling of the economy by his team of experts.
However, it would be necessary to remind the former President that ministers Wimal Weerawansa and Udaya Gammanpila didn’t drift away as he mentioned but were sacked by him over the controversy regarding the finalization of the Kerawalapitiya deal in Sept 2021. Weerawansa made a desperate effort to pressure the SLPP to accommodate the President in its hierarchy by creating a special position for him. One of Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s main complaints was that in spite of being President, he lacked political authority.
Midweek Review
Ranil reveals bid to get rid of him while GR was fleeing to Trinco on board SLNS Gajabahu
By Shamindra Ferdinando
Attempts had been made to compel UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe to give up the premiership immediately after the then President Gotabaya Rajapaksa had left Janadhipathi Mandiraya in the early afternoon of July 09, 2022.
That had been the devious Aragalaya strategy meant to pave the way for Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena to assume executive powers as a mere figurehead and with them easily controlling him with the threat of further upheaval. Obviously Aragalaya strategists wanted to force Wickremesinghe out of office before President Gotabaya Rajapaksa quit the presidency.
However, they may not have expected President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to flee President’s House immediately after protestors breached its main gates.
As we recall the law enforcers simply did nothing to halt the advance of the mob right into the President’s House, as people like US Ambassador Julie Chung openly prevailed on law enforcers not to act against what she repeatedly termed “peaceful protesters”, even after they, in a preplanned operation, meticulously burnt down more than hundred properties of government politicos and loyalists, across the country, on May 09/10, 2022. So they were on the whole the proverbial wolves in sheep’s clothing working with the Western regime change project here as was previously done in places like Libya and Iraq.
President Wickremesinghe discussed the challenge faced by him at the time of the Aragalaya, when he addressed a group of young legal professionals at the Presidential Secretariat on May 28.
Among those who had been at the head table was Colombo District SLPP lawmaker Premanath C. Dolawatte, an Attorney-at-Law and now widely believed to be one of those pursuing the UNP leader’s agenda.
Stressing the importance of the executive presidency in restoring stability, President Wickremesinghe recalled the situation as Aragalaya forced Gotabaya Rajapaksa out of Janadhipathi Mandiraya. The President said that some persons had asked him to resign as President Gotabaya Rajapaksa was on board a ship and on his way to Trincomalee.
The President’s Media Division (PMD) quoted him as having told the young professionals how he declined to resign unless an MP, who commanded the confidence of the majority in Parliament, emerged against the backdrop of chaos. The President said that even if he wrote a letter of resignation, he couldn’t have handed it over to President Gotabaya Rajapaksa when he was on his way to Trincomalee in a ship or flying to the Maldives to escape mob justice.
The President said that if he resigned, due to pressure brought on him by a particular person, or due to the destruction of his residence, at the top of 05th Lane, in Colombo 07, near Royal Primary, also on July 09, 2022, someone would have secured power outside the democratic process.
The President’s comments on Aragalaya didn’t attract sufficient media attention. In fact, the coverage of the Presidential Secretariat event had been influenced by the PMD media release. Both print and electronic media focused on the President pointing out that none of those contesting the forthcoming Presidential poll had assured so far that executive powers would be done away with.
Actually, at the 2019 Presidential election, SLPP candidate Gotabaya Rajapaksa never referred to the abolition of the Executive Presidency or further dilution of executive powers. The wartime Defence Secretary aspired to be an all-powerful Executive President and, in fact, further enhanced the presidency with the enactment of the 20th Amendment, enacted in late October 2020. The move to introduce a new Constitution was also meant to further enhance the Executive Presidency. That report, prepared at a tremendous cost to the taxpayer, is gathering dust, probably at the Presidential Secretariat. Perhaps Gotabaya Rajapaksa should inquire from his successor Ranil Wickremesinghe what he intended to do with it. The former President has every right to seek an explanation, not only from the President, but the Cabinet-of-Ministers as well.
Let us get back to President Wickremesinghe’s disclosure of the bid to force him out of office soon after President Gotabaya Rajapaksa boarded SLNS Gajabahu (formerly Sherman of the US Coast Guard), at the Colombo harbor, to escape the pursuing mob.
Now that President Wickremesinghe again made reference to Aragalaya’s bid to get rid of him, who could have asked Premier Wickremesinghe to resign on July 09, 2022? Had there been similar demands/requests in the run-up to Wickremesinghe receiving the appointment as President on July 14?
Perhaps, President Wickremesinghe would never reveal the identities of those who demanded his resignation, obviously on more than one occasion during July 09-14 period.
Political party system in a bind
Post-Aragalaya political leadership conveniently refrained from inquiring into the overthrowing of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. Nearly two years after Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s ouster, there hadn’t been an effort, at any level, to conduct a thorough investigation into Aragalaya.
No holds barred investigation into Aragalaya shouldn’t be mixed up with individual cases, such as the killing of SLPP lawmaker Amatakeerthi Atukorale and his police bodyguard, at Nittambuwa, on the afternoon of May 09, 2022, or the killing of a protester at Rambukkana on April 19, 2022. A proper probe into Aragalaya should focus on the circumstances leading to the eruption of violent protest campaign, outside President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s private residence at Pangiriwatte, Mirihana, on the night of March 31, 2022, and the period till President Wickremesinghe deployed the military and the police, including the Special Task Force (STF), on July 22, 2022, to clear the Presidential Secretariat of protesters. And all those who were threatening to die for the “system change,” they were ostensibly clamouring for, simply vanished into thin air. How convenient! And how conveniently Julie Chung’s trap, too, shut on behalf of Aragalaya?
Had Wickremesinghe lacked the courage to do so, regardless of “international “condemnation”, the Aragalaya could have been still in control of the President’s House, Presidential Secretariat, etc. Wickremesinghe acted swiftly and decisively as he realized the danger in failing to bring back the situation under control, within a short period of time. Or was that all a show to hoodwink the country? May be he knew too much about JVP shenanigans, especially with the West for them being the principal mover of the demand for system change, too, to go silent, like obedient kittens, with Ranil at the helm.
National Freedom Front (NFF) leader Wimal Weerawansa, MP, in April 2023, named outgoing US Ambassador Julie Chung as one of the key Aragalaya conspirators. The former JVP heavyweight went to the extent of alleging that Ambassador Chung personally met Speaker Abeywardena at the latter’s official residence in the wake of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa fleeing Janadhipathi Mandiraya.
Speaker Abeywardena never denied Weerawansa’s claim, though Ambassador Chung dismissed the allegation. However, President Wickremesinghe latest disclosure should be examined, taking into Speaker’s declaration in March this year that those who spearheaded Aragalaya even threatened him unless he cooperated with them. Speaker Abeywardena declared that Aragalaya wanted him to accept the presidency, though the Constitution stipulated that the Premier should succeed the President.
Then, obviously, those who demanded Wickremesinghe to resign, and Speaker Abeywardena to accept the Presidency in July 2020, must be the same. There cannot be any dispute whatsoever regarding the Aragalaya strategy. Obviously, ousted President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, in his widely read book ‘The Conspiracy to Oust Me from Presidency’ failed to properly deal with external intervention, particularly the interventions made by Ambassador Chung.
The US, through Ambassador Chung’s interventions, ensured protection for Aragalaya throughout the high profile project as President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s control rapidly eroded. The then government never really comprehended the grave implications of the April 19, 2022 Rambukkana incident. The senior police officer in charge of Kegalle, Senior Superintendent of Police K.B. Keerthiratne, had to undergo the humiliation of being arrested and remanded over a police shooting that claimed the life of a protester. Had Keerthiratne failed to order that shooting, the protesters would have set ablaze a fully loaded bowser, carrying petrol, strategically placed across the rail tracks there to create chaos and disrupt rail transport By the time the SSP and three other policemen received bail, in August, Wickremesinghe was the President.
The former President should have dealt with the Rambukkana issue in his memoirs. There cannot be any doubt, or dispute, that the utterly irresponsible government response to police firing at Rambukkana discouraged the military from taking tangible measures to thwart the overrunning of Janadhipathi Mandiraya.
The Aragalaya opened Janadhipathi Mandiraya and Presidential Secretariat for the public and they remained in their hands until President Wickremesinghe regained control on July 22, 2022.
Prez draws sharp criticism
Sri Lanka couldn’t have continued with chaos caused in the wake of the political-economic-social crisis that threatened the ruination of the war-winning country that also successfully undertook so many development projects, like building expressways in the country for the first time, badly needed new international airport and even an international harbour, that became the envy of even our giant neighbour. Speaker Abeywardena, whatever his shortcomings and failures, should receive the respect and gratitude of all for saving the country from a horrible fate. Sri Lanka’s unitary status had been at stake and the country faced the risk of disintegrating.
Having been elected as the 8th Executive President on July 20, 2022 by the SLPP parliamentarians, who had the majority in the House, the UNP leader moved swiftly to regain control. Since then, Wickremesinghe, in spite of being reduced to just one National List MP in Parliament, never looked back as he advanced his agenda.
The President’s decision to do away with the Galle Face protest site earned the wrath of those who hoped for a different outcome. They expected Speaker Abeywardena, as Head of State, at least for a brief period, pending post-Gaddafi-style Libyan administration.
The following are some of the statements issued by the “usual suspects” who blindly tow the US line, in the wake of President Wickremesinghe’s directive:
UN Human Rights Commission:
“We are alarmed by the unnecessary use of force by security forces to break up a protest camp near presidential offices in Colombo. We condemn reports of beatings of protesters, journalists and lawyers and urge authorities to halt the use of force.”
The UNHRC Sri Lanka Core Group (consisting of Canada, Germany, Malawi, Montenegro, North Macedonia, the USA and the UK):
“peaceful protest is fundamental to any democracy and dismayed at the violence which took place at Galle Face on Friday.” The grouping called for full respect for human rights and the rule of law.
Amnesty International South Asia:
“…the attack on ‘GotaGoGama,’ the peaceful protest site in Colombo by the police and the military is unacceptable and authorities must stand down immediately. The right to protest must be protected. Sri Lankan authorities must immediately cease these acts of violence and release those arrested unlawfully in this manner. Authorities must also protect the freedom of the press. Journalists must not be barred from ‘GotaGoGama’. Blocking journalists from doing their jobs directly violates freedom of the press.”
Human Rights Watch South Asia Director Meenakshi Ganguly said:
“President Ranil Wickremesinghe has been telling donors and friends that he is committed to resolving the economic crisis, and yet among his first acts was to deploy a midnight security forces raid to disperse the peaceful protesters. The international community needs to act now, send a strong message that the global efforts are directed to support the people of Sri Lanka, and not to prop up abusive political leaders who undermine fundamental freedoms.”
UN Resident Coordinator Hanaa Singer-Hamdy said she was gravely concerned by the use of force to disperse protesters.
“Journalists and human rights defenders have a right to monitor demonstrations and their functions should not be impeded. Actions that stifle protests and right to peaceful assembly can worsen economic and political stability in Sri Lanka. Peaceful solutions in accordance with broad public consultations is the only way forward.”
The European Union:
“Freedom of expression proved essential to Sri Lanka’s current transition. Hard to see how severely restricting it can help in finding solutions to the current political and economic crises.”
UK High Commissioner Sarah Hulton expressed concern over the attack and said:
“We have made clear the importance of the right to peaceful protest.”
US Ambassador Julie Chung:
“Deeply concerned about actions taken against protestors at Galle Face in the middle of the night. We urge restraint by authorities and immediate access to medical attention for those injured.”
Canadian High Commissioner David McKinnon:
“It is crucial the authorities act with restraint and avoid violence.”
The Presidential Secretariat remained in the hands of protesters till midnight July 22, 2022, out of the three State properties they took control of on July 09. Protesters evacuated from the other two – the President’s House and Temple Trees ahead of any confrontation with the military tasked to remove them!
In the absence of proper investigations…
Chief Government Whip Prasanna Ranatunga is one of the few lawmakers to question the failure on the part of relevant authorities to investigate organized attacks on government MPs. When the writer raised this issue with Minister Ranatunga a few moons ago, the Gampaha District SLPP strongman expressed serious disappointment over the status of the investigations.
Declaring that his properties at Udugampola, Gampaha, had been set ablaze in the presence of law enforcement officers, Urban Development and Housing Minister Ranatunga said that he was still awaiting the conclusion of the investigation undertaken by the Human Rights Commission. None of those who had been identified as responsible for systematic destruction of houses and other properties belonging to government members and in some cases supporters hadn’t been dealt with.
President Wickremesinghe’s recent disclosure of efforts to force him out of the Premier’s Office revealed that there hadn’t been a proper investigation into the Aragalaya at all. What is the mysterious evil hand preventing justice being done to victims of mob justice by Aragalaya? But the evil West leaves no stone unturned in seeking “justice” on behalf of the LTTE and its sympathisers, who tried to break up this country through sheer raw terror.
It would be interesting to know the status of the investigation promised by the Attorney General Sanjay Rajaratnam, PC, into the May 9/10 attacks on politicians’ properties. A case filed by a group of politicians, demanding an investigation into these incidents, had been withdrawn in late May, 2023 on an assurance given by the Attorney General.
The State Counsel appearing on behalf of the Attorney General assured Court that the AG had received an assurance from the Public Security Ministry that there would be a formal investigation into the incidents and secondly, the Secretary to the President promised that the Wasantha Karannagoda Committee report on the May 2022 incidents would be brought to the attention of the President.
What is the status of the promised investigation? President Wickremesinghe cannot absolve himself of the responsibility for ensuring a comprehensive investigation into violence perpetrated during 2022.
In spite of allegations that the JVP instigated an attack on Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) and Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa at the Galle Face protest site on the afternoon of May 09, 2022, the main Opposition party never pushed hard for an investigation.
Recently MP Premadasa confirmed the alleged JVP plot when the writer sought his response to SLPP MP Johnston Fernando’s declaration that Premadasa would have been lynched if his driver failed to reverse the vehicle at high-speed after the JVP mob surrounded Premadasa. Sunil Handunetti declared that both Johnston and Sajith should have their heads examined. But JVP Leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake was virtually received with open arms by the same Aragalaya activists on the same day at the same venue
Another matter for serious concern is that all suspects arrested in connection with the killing of MP Amarakeerthi Atukorale were granted bail without the AG being consulted. The accusation has been made by the AG in respect of the decision taken by the Trial-at-Bar of the Gampaha High Court. We would refrain from commenting on the issue at hand as the matter is pending before the court.
The Wickremesinghe-Rajapaksa government has completely ignored ex-President’s allegations that the military deliberately failed to thwart the public protest campaign that was launched on March 31, 2022. Gotabaya Rajapaksa went to the extent of alleging that Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General (retd.) Shavendra Silva and Defence Secretary General (retd.) Kamal Gunaratne may have failed to take tangible measures as they were under pressure due to war crimes accusations directed at them by the US. However, it must be pointed out that General Silva hadn’t been at the helm of the Army at the time Aragalaya overran Janadhipathi Mandiraya with ease.
President Gotabaya Rajapaksa replaced General Silva on June 1, 2022, following the May 09 incidents which shook his government with Vikum Liyanage, also of the Gajaba Regiment as the Commander of the Army, though various interested parties found fault with Silva, who headed the celebrated 58 Division that in way spearheaded the war victory, for not protecting Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s government.
The UNP also provided muscle to Aragalaya. Former MP and current presidential advisor Ashu Marasinghe and SJB MP and Minister Harin Fernando had declared the UNP’s direct role in Aragalaya whereas the JVP and its breakaway faction the Frontline Socialist Party (FSP/Peratugami Pakshaya) played a significant role. However, the vast majority of those who provided the real strength to the protest campaign were not members of any political party but angry Sri Lankans influenced by the collapsing of the economy. They also engaged in looting in some instances but there were organized groups which caused massive destruction, systematically at the behest of Aragalaya masterminds operating from behind the scene.
President Wickremesinghe should name those who had asked him to give up the premiership. Speaker Abeywardena, too, should reveal who threatened to harm him unless he fully cooperated with the Aragalaya.
By Lynn Ockersz
White-clad and smug,
In cavernous Limousines,
The dignitaries are back,
Trying out winning smiles,
Surveying the debacle,
Of these brave decades,
Of people and homesteads,
Sinking mercilessly,
In backwaters of neglect,
Which is the best proof yet,
That the land’s periphery,
Has not figured much,
On the planning boards,
Of those ‘strutting and fretting,
Their hour’ on high ground.
By Shamindra Ferdinando
Jaffna district parliamentarian Mathiaparanan Abraham Sumanthiran’s recent declaration supportive of the militarily defeated Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) particularly captured the public attention.
Then soon after, MP Sumanthiran surprised all by appearing on stage with President Ranil Wickremesinghe, in Jaffna, where the UNP leader bestowed land deeds on a selected group of people.
With them on stage were EPDP leader Douglas Devananda, MP, and Dharmalingam Siddharthan, MP, of PLOTE/TNA whose father, Visvanather Dharmalingam, MP (Jaffna District) was assassinated by TELO at the behest of Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) in Sept 1985. (Siddharthan himself told the writer that his father and colleague Jaffna District MP Arumugam Murugesu Alalasundaram were abducted and killed in a Mafia-style TELO operation). Will deal with Sumanthiran’s Jaffna move later.
Issuing a statement ahead of Tamil Genocide Remembrance Day that was marked on May 18 around the world, Sumanthiran, PC, now in his third term as a lawmaker, said: “Although it is my personal belief that a just political liberation cannot be achieved at the point of a gun, I have repeatedly stated that we cannot today decry or judge the decision taken by the Tamil youth who saw no other option at a time when oppression and military….”
The Illankai Arasu Katchi (ITAK) MP went on to say: “I have also consistently emphasized that the commitment and sacrifices unselfishly made by those who took up arms on our behalf should be regarded very highly.”
Sumanthiran tweeted hours before he paid respects to those who perished in fighting and the civilians at the Mullivaikkal commemoration site. However, Sumanthiran attended another commemoration also on the same day organized at the Viharamahadevi Park by several groups, including the Global Tamil Forum (GTF), to remember “all victims of war over 30 years in the North and South.”
Some found fault with MP Sumanthiran for attending the Colombo event where organizers quite rightly refrained from making reference to any particular group or community. There hadn’t been a similar remembrance event in Colombo since the end of the war 15 years ago. The same group organized an inter-religious prayer event at the Vavuniya Town Hall grounds, also on the same day.
The GTF should be commended for taking a courageous stand in spite of criticism by those who still seek advantage of the LTTE’s crushing defeat.
Perhaps, the GTF-led group should have made reference to Sri Lankans killed overseas due to terrorism, Indian military deaths here (July 1987-March 1990) and former Indian Premier Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination in May 1991 while campaigning during a general election by a brainwashed LTTE teenage suicide cadre.
The Tamil community shouldn’t confine the war dead commemoration to those who died during the last phase of the fighting with the focus on Mullivaikkal. Commemorations whether in the North, East or Colombo should be devoid of any petty racial connotation, for all were human beings. Such events shouldn’t be allowed to cause further divisions among the communities, under any circumstances. Those who make unnecessary interventions with a view to attracting media attention should be appropriately dealt with by law enforcement authorities.
We also like to ask self-proclaimed international do-gooders why they don’t show even an iota of interest in the unimaginable suffering undergoing by Palestinians at the hands of the Israelis, while they make a song and dance about imaginary genocide they claim to have happened here during the last phase of fighting.
The ITAK is the main constituent of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) that had been formed in late Oct 2001 in line with the community’s overall politico-military strategy to achieve Eelam. Against the backdrop of the worst-ever battlefield defeat that had been inflicted on the Army in April 2000, Eelam seemed achievable. Having defeated the 54 Division, deployed at the Elephant Pass sector then widely believed to be impregnable, thereafter the LTTE almost succeeded in overwhelming the Army in the rest of the peninsula.
Muslims’ dilemma
The Sinhalese and Tamils should also publicly repent the suffering experienced by the Muslim community. That community suffered untold hardships for being steadfastly taking a stand against separatism. Had they thrown their weight behind the LTTE, the country could have been overwhelmed and the 2009 absolute victory over the LTTE couldn’t have been achieved. So, do not hesitate to recognize the Muslims’ commitment as a whole to Sri Lanka’s unitary status. They paid a very heavy price for being always supportive of the government stand for a united Sri Lanka, whoever was in power.
The 2019 Easter Sunday massacre, carried out by a group of extremist misguided Muslims, shouldn’t in any way be used against the community. Officers and men of the Muslim and Tamil communities served in the armed forces and police with distinction and made quite a contribution to the overall success of the war.
Just five months after the LTTE resumed war in June 1990 in the wake of the IPKF withdrawal from the temporarily-merged North and East Provinces, the LTTE ordered the Muslims out of the Northern region, comprising Jaffna, Kilinochchi, Mannar, Mullaithivu and Vavuniya giving them a matter of hours to leave. The then President Ranasinghe Premadasa’s government couldn’t do anything about it. The international community turned a blind eye. Tamil politicians remained silent. No one dared to challenge the LTTE’s inhumane and drastic move.
Twenty-one years later a deranged Norwegian Andres Breivik massacred 77 persons, mostly children in two attacks the attacker claimed was influenced by the LTTE’s eviction of the Muslim community from Northern Sri Lanka.
Did the late LTTE theoretician and ideologue Anton Balasingham approve of Velupillai Prabhakaran’s plan to force Muslims out of the Northern Province? Balasingham, the one-time British High Commission employee in Colombo, passed away in the UK, in Dec 2006, of kidney failure, a couple of months before the LTTE lost control of the Eastern Province.
Far right Breivik, then 32, a few hours before he went on the rampage on July 22, 2011, made reference to the LTTE’s eviction of the Muslim community from the Northern Province, in his so-called manifesto posted online. The following are the references (1) Pro-Sri Lanka (supports the deportation of all Muslims from Sri Lanka) (Page 1235) and (2) Fourth Generation War is normally characterized by a ‘stateless’ entity fighting a state or regime (the EUSSR). Fighting can be physical such as the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) to use a modern example. (Page 1479).
Perhaps, Sri Lanka should have asked those who had been demanding international inquiry to include the Norwegian massacre in their agenda. One of Sri Lanka’s foremost diplomats, the late Jayantha Dhanapala, appearing before the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) in 2010, stressed on the need for accountability on the part of foreign governments. The then Mahinda Rajapaksa government, probably blinded by unfathomable victory, was not bothered. It only saw immediate political advantage out of the developments even forgetting the long term ramifications for the country.
Focus on Sumanthiran
Sumanthiran on his knees before the Mullaivaikkal monument
(pic courtesy Tamil Guardian)
Maybe MP Sumanthiran should have recognized the LTTE as the group that continued the war until the very end. The parliamentarian shouldn’t have hesitated to do so though terrorism cannot be justified under any circumstances. The LTTE, however, proved its conventional capabilities throughout the war. The casualties, and the losses the group inflicted on the Indian Army underscored its fighting capabilities.
As Sumanthiran entered Parliament at the 2010 General Election, perhaps he hadn’t been affected by the LTTE’s wartime strategies and unprecedented developments that characterized the conflict, with him comfortably settled down in Wellawatte.
The writer first met Sumanthiran at A.J.M. Muzammil’s (incumbent Governor of the Uva Province) residence at No 07, Alfred House Road, Colombo 03 in June 2011. Muzammil, who had been a UNP member of the Western Provincial Council (WPC), arranged the writer to interview former Tamil Nadu State Assembly Congress I member Hasanali Kuddus at his residence. The new entrant to the Parliament Attorney-at-Law Sumanthiran, too, was there on that occasion and the writer had an opportunity to seek his opinion on some contentious matters.
Naturally, matters raised herein included the recognition of the LTTE by the TNA as the sole representative of the Tamil speaking people ahead of the signing of the Ceasefire Agreement (Feb 2002), LTTE-TNA joint boycott of 2005 presidential poll that cost UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe victory (the writer wouldn’t humiliate the defunct LTTE by repeating allegation that the Rajapaksas bribed the LTTE to order the boycott. The LTTE may have accepted money but the boycott was not certainly inspired by that) and still unbelievable was the TNA backing for the war-winning Army Chief Gen. Sarath Fonseka at the 2010 Presidential Poll. The TNA ensured a comfortable victory for Fonseka in the entire then merged North-East Province though he lost badly in the rest of the country. Mahinda Rajapaksa secured a second term by obtaining 1.8 mn votes more than Fonseka. A silly claim of computer “jilmaart” by Fonseka’s camp made his defeat even worse.
Kuddus, in an exclusive interview with The Island, strongly defended the eradication of the LTTE though concerns remained of atrocities allegedly committed by the military. Declaring that Sri Lanka couldn’t be punished on the basis of unsubstantiated war crimes allegations, Kuddus said that no country would be safe if legitimate governments were deprived of the opportunity to neutralize threats posed by terrorism. If Sri Lanka could be questioned over its right to hit back hard at the LTTE, what would be the position of the Indian military battling those who had taken up arms? (Congress I member Hasanali speaks out, The Island, June 16, 2011 edition)
At the April 2010 General Glection, the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) won 14 seats. Thirteen were elected while the party secured just one of the 29 National List slots. The TNA picked Sumanthiran as its NL member. It would be pertinent to mention that the TNA was placed third in terms of the number of seats won at that election. The UPFA secured a staggering 144 seats, including 17 NL slots whereas the UNP-led United National Front obtained 60 seats. Nine NL MPs were among them.
The TNA tally drastically dropped due to the eradication of the LTTE. At the previous general election conducted in April 2004, close on the heels of the devastating split in the group, the TNA won a record 22 seats, including two NL slots. The European Union Election Observation Mission, in its report found fault with the TNA for being the beneficiary of poll violence unleashed by the Tigers to stuff ballot boxes in TNA’s favour. That was the best outcome for the TNA at a general election.
At the last General Election, the TNA tally was reduced to 10 MPs. It is a pity that Sumanthiran couldn’t gain the leadership of the ITAK at a keenly contested election in January this year. Jaffna District lawmaker Sivagnanam Sritharan secured 184 votes while M.A. Sumanthiran obtained 137 votes.
Let us get back to MP Sumanthiran’s appearance on stage in Jaffna with President Wickremesinghe last week. During his brief statement, the President’s Counsel made reference to the LTTE-TNA boycott of the 2005 Presidential Poll that caused Wickremesinghe’s defeat, Mahinda Rajapaksa’s election and the unthinkable annihilation of the LTTE. The Presidential Media Division (PMD) quoted Sumanthiran as having told the gathering: “It is possible that the challenges in the North may have impeded your journey in 2005, a fact that I believe is now regretfully acknowledged by the people of the region.”
In the wake of a minor commotion over MP Sumanthiran’s appearance on stage with Wickremesinghe, the PC tweeted that his attendance at the state functions in his electorate shouldn’t be considered as an endorsement of the UNP leader’s candidature at the forthcoming Presidential Poll. The Jaffna District MP’s tweet is irrelevant. His declaration pertaining to the 2005 Presidential Poll clearly meant his support for Wickremesinghe.
The bottom line is that if not for that strategic mistake made by the LTTE and TNA in 2005, they could have achieved military superiority in the North after the then expected UNP victory as Wickremesinghe hardly making even a whimper against the LTTE. MP Sumanthiran’s politically charged statement in Jaffna should be examined also taking into consideration two key developments-in April 2003 (LTTE quit negotiating table) and January 2010 (backed General Fonseka).
The TNA could have used the opportunity to reach a consensus with President Rajapaksa if the party at least adopted a neutral stance. Instead, the TNA joined with the UNP and the JVP to defeat President Rajapaksa, thereby causing a lot of hostility. Backing Fonseka also dealt a severe blow to the TNA’s credibility in the backdrop of war crimes accusations directed at the Army.
GR meets Sampanthan at India House
Sumanthiran cannot be unaware of an attempt made by India in 2011 to work out an arrangement between President Rajapaksa’s government and the TNA.
TNA leader R. Sampanthan has been keen to normalize relations between his party and the government. The veteran politician appeared to have felt that such an arrangement could have helped his community and sought Indian intervention. But a section of the party sabotaged that effort, thereby undermining reconciliatory moves.
Following an incident at Alaveddi that had been staged by the group opposed to Sampanthan’s bid, an angry Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa told the writer of a hitherto unreported meeting between him and Sampanthan at India House on June 08, 2011. The meeting that had taken place in the presence of the then Indian High Commissioner Ashok Kantha could have facilitated post-war reconciliation.
Pointing out that the June 16 incident at Alaveddi was meant to harm reconciliatory moves, Gotabaya Rajapaksa said that unwarranted interventions made by various interested parties, including the US, caused complications (GR alleges TNA split over Sampanthan’s reconciliation move with strapline ‘TNA pressured US State Department, several diplomatic missions to take up Alaveddi issue’ in the June 20, 2011 edition of The Island.
Recently SJB MP Mano Ganesan attacked TNA over what he called its post-war honeymoon with the government. A comprehensive post-war examination of political developments, commencing with the formation of the TNA at the behest of the LTTE, is necessary to comprehend the situation today.
The arrest of four persons in February 2017 during the Yahapalana administration, over an alleged attempt on Sumanthiran’s life, underscores the need for a wider examination of developments. The suspects held under Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) were granted bail in Oct 2022.
During that administration, the TNA played quite an important role with Sampanthan receiving the Opposition Leader’s post though his party had only 16 seats, including two NL slots whereas the breakaway UPFA faction comprised over 50 MPs. But, Yahapalana bosses decided in favour of TNA. In return, the TNA helped thwart President Maithripala Sirisena’s bid to form a new government under the premiership of Mahinda Rajapaksa. Formed in late Oct 2018, the Sirisena-Rajapaksa effort collapsed in 52 days. Sumanthiran played a significant role in the counter attack in support of ousted Wickremesinghe, who continued to insist he was the Premier regardless of the appointment made by Sirisena. Finally, the SC ruled in favour of Wickremesinghe. The rest is history. However, in the wake of 2019 Easter Sunday carnage, MP Sumanthiran said something which he shouldn’t have said under any circumstances. Addressing the first anniversary event of the political weekly ‘Annidha’ on April 29, 2019 at the BMICH, the TNA spokesman justified the heinous crime. He warned of dire consequences unless the government addressed the grievances of the minorities.
Sumanthiran is best remembered for his role in working out a tripartite agreement on a hybrid war crimes court as announced in Washington in June 2016.
Political parties need to make a genuine effort to move forward. The post-war reconciliation wouldn’t be realistic until parties represented in Parliament stopped playing politics with the war. The Tamil community should accept the LTTE had ample opportunities to reach consensus with the Sinhala leadership, particularly Ranil Wickremesinghe, who pursued a strategy even at the expense of his political life. The LTTE’s cardinal sin or serious error of judgment was the April 2003 withdrawal from the Norway-led peace effort. That was meant to create an environment conducive for full scale war that the group felt could have been brought to a successful conclusion by it. The LTTE was certainly ready for war in August 2005. If not, Prabhakaran wouldn’t have ordered Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar’s assassination. Full scale war commenced exactly a year later and what was widely believed to be an invincible force collapsed within two years and 10 months. Had the military not taken the civilian factor into consideration, the LTTE could have been wiped out much earlier. The ICRC said so as revealed by WikiLeaks.
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