New Prez on a collision course with Western powers

 SPECIAL REPORT : Part 428

Published

  2022/07/27

US Ambassador Julie Chung poses for a photograph with UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe on March 21 at the latter’s residence at Fifth Lane, Kollupitiya. The meeting took place a week before the violent Pangiriwatta, Mirihana, protest at the then President’s private residence. Did the US ever anticipate Wickremesinghe receiving an invitation from President Rajapaksa to receive premiership on May 12 and him receiving the presidency 10 weeks later.

US Ambassador of Korean extract Chung tweeted Friday July 22 evening that she had expressed grave concern over the ‘unnecessary and deeply troubling escalation of violence against protestors overnight’. “The President and Cabinet have an opportunity and an obligation to respond to the calls of Sri Lankans for a better future. This is not the time to crack down on citizens, but instead to look ahead at the immediate and tangible steps the government can take to regain the trust of the people, restore stability, and rebuild the economy”, Chung said. During the discussion with Ambassador Chung, President Wickemesinghe is reported to have compared the seizure of the Presidential Secretariat with that of the January 06, 2021 attack on the US Capitol at a time the joint session of the US Congress was underway to affirm Joe Biden’s victory. President Wickremesinghe is also believed to have reminded that no one bothered to issue tweets when his private residence was set ablaze by a violent mob on the night of July 09. They even prevented the fire engines from reaching the site to put out the fire.

By Shamindra Ferdinando

Uncompromising ardent nationalist and Sri Lanka’s former Ambassador to Myanmar  Prof. Nalin de Silva has compared President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s actions with that of late President Ranasinghe Premadasa and President Mahinda Rajapaksa.

 In an online article written in Sinhala and posted on July 23, the retired university mathematics don dealt with President Wickremesinghe, the Parliament and Western envoys.

Towards the end of a short piece, Prof. de Silva made reference to President Wickremesinghe’s directive to the police and armed forces to clear the Presidential Secretariat (old parliament) of protesters. The newly elected President’s no-time-to-waste move drew angry reactions from Western embassies, local and international NGOs as well as by civil society groups, mainly dependent on Western funding. They conveniently didn’t bother to acknowledge that the Galle Face protest site remained, though those who blocked the Presidential Secretariat were removed for the new President to get down to work from the rightful place.

 President Wickremesinghe immediately called for a meeting with those envoys who raised concerns at his office where he briefed them. Top presidential aide Sagala Ratnayake sat next to the President. The new leader didn’t mince his words when he strongly defended the action taken by the military and the police on his directives to begin restoring order in the country, overrun by violent mobs, who often posed off as non-partisan peaceful protesters, despite JVP leaders and some members of the breakaway faction, the Frontline Socialist Party (FSP), openly saying that they were behind the protests, especially at the nerve centre at Galle Face.

Prof. de Silva equated President Wickremesinghe’s response to Western governments’ criticism of late President Ranasinghe Premadasa and President Mahinda Rajapaksa over their actions in response to British High Commissioner David Gladstone and French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner and his British counterpart David Miliband, respectively.

Gladstone served as the UK’s High Commissioner in Colombo from 1987 to 1991. An angry President Premadasa declared Gladstone persona non grata over him lodging a complaint with the police over election violence in the Dickwella electorate at the Local Government election conducted on May 10, 1991. President Premadasa ordered Gladstone out after his efforts to persuade London to recall its man failed. Gladstone departed a few days before the LTTE assassinated one-time Indian Premier Rajiv Gandhi on May 21, 1991, at Sriperumbudur in Tamil Nadu.

 President Mahinda Rajapaksa without cowing down to Western pressure flatly denied a joint British–French call for an immediate ceasefire as the combined security forces thrusts were in the process of encircling the LTTE remnants, trapped in the Mullaithivu district. The President made his position clear after both Miliband and Kouchner went all the way down to meet him at remote Chandrikawewa, Embilipitiya, on April 29, 2009.

President Rajapaksa’s military brought the war to a successful conclusion on the banks of the Nanthikadal lagoon on May 19, 2009.

Appreciating how President Mahinda Rajapaksa asked Westerners to keep out of the war against separatist terrorists, academic de Silva asserted that in case Matara District parliamentarian Dullas Alahapperuma won the

Presidential contest, the protesters would have been still in control of government buildings seized by them on July 09. The former Ambassador alleged that the protesters would have had the backing of Western governments and India.

The ardent nationalist said that an assessment on President Wickremesinghe couldn’t be made on the basis of one incident.

Prof. de Silva quit the ambassadorial position in mid-September 2021, a posting he received courtesy the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) administration despite being a maverick all his life when it came to the national interest. He presented the Letter of Credence to Myanmar President Win Myint on 01 Sept. 2020 at the Presidential palace in Nay Pyi Taw.

Though a strong critic of Wickremesinghe and those considered Western elitists in the past, the former envoy asserted that there would have been a catastrophe if the Parliament didn’t elect the five time PM as the President. UNP

Leader Wickremesinghe secured 134 votes against Alahapperuma 82. JVP leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake came in a distant third with just three votes.

 Lambasting the group that had backed Alahapperuma, Prof. de Silva strongly defended the Parliament for its endorsement of Wickremesinghe. The academic dismissed the much touted claim by interested parties that the current Parliament didn’t reflect the opinion of the electorate. The outspoken activist emphasized that it wouldn’t be realistic to expect lawmakers to consult the electorate as regards decisions taken at such a critical juncture, when mob rule was about to get established.

 The President’s Media Division (PMD) quoted President Wickremesinghe as having told Western envoys that both Article 21 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and Article 14 (1) (b) of the Constitution of Sri Lanka, which governed the rights of peaceful assembly, would be upheld by the Government.

The President also explained that the instructions given by the American Civil Liberties Union stated that protesters were not permitted to block government buildings and interfere with other purposes the property was designed for.

 Unfortunately, the UNP leader didn’t say so before those who converged in Colombo since April 09 with overwhelming reinforcements paid for by hidden hands with deep pockets, finally overran the President’s House, Temple Trees and the Presidential Secretariat.

 The declarations made by National Freedom Front (NFF) Leader Wimal Weerawansa, in Parliament, and former General Secretary of the Communist Party DEW Gunasekera that US Ambassador in Colombo Julie Chung interfered in an operation planned by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s government cannot be simply forgotten.

President Wickremesinghe has pointed out to these blind critics that contrary to their claims ‘Gotagogama’ hasn’t been removed as alleged by various parties.

Stability and uncertainty

 Former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa never addressed the threat posed by the public protest movement. The previous government lacked a cohesive strategy to meet the daunting challenge. However, the government’s pathetic failure should be examined, taking into consideration a long list of disasters caused by its actions and inactions. The government never comprehended that the public protest movement drew its strength from those badly affected by the economic downturn. Instead of addressing economic issues, the previous government badly handicapped by financial constraints played politics with the issues at hand until it was too late.

The UNP that backed the protest campaign received an unexpected opportunity to secure the presidency, courtesy of the ‘Gotagogama’ campaign.

In hindsight, the crises that ultimately compelled Gotabaya Rajapaksa, the wartime Defence Secretary who secured nearly seven million votes at the 2019 presidential election, to flee the country in the early hours of July 13, 2022, couldn’t have been dealt with security measures alone. Obviously the security setup rapidly deteriorated since the March 31, 2022, attempt to storm his private residence, instigated by an organized gang, to such an extent all overland routes to Colombo remained opened in spite of the protest movement vowing to oust President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on July 09 with courts refusing to issue injunctions to stop such acts.

 There had never been an attempt to estimate the strength of the growing movement. Those who blamed various interested parties, including the Tamil Diaspora and Western embassies of fomenting the public against the government never bothered to acknowledge their own blunders that created an army of angry youth.

Now, President Wickremesinghe has sought to reassert government authority, while acknowledging the right of the protest movement to continue its struggle, albeit without violence.

 Ironically Samagi Jana Balavegaya (SJB) leader Sajith Premadasa, who had been targeted by the protesters on May 09 at Galle Face, was among those who issued statements condemning President Wickremesinghe’s actions. Can President Wickremesinghe’s actions be compared with the unleashing of a goon attack on the Galle Face protesters from Temple Trees by some of those who came to bid farewell to then PM Mahinda Rajapaksa?

Police headquarters issued a detailed statement on the situation leading to the clearing of protesters and the situation thereafter. However, the police should respond to protesters’ claims that the military moved in regardless of their announcement to vacate the environs of the Presidential Secretariat. Perhaps, the government should have waited a little longer before deploying the military. It would also be pertinent to mention that repeated attempts by the police to persuade the protesters to vacate those places had been ignored and law enforcement officers were repeatedly humiliated for the public to see. The police released video footage of such an encounter between the police and protesters, which were earlier posted on social media obviously by those backing the protesters.

 There is no doubt we cannot allow mob rule to destroy this country and early restoration of stability largely depends on tangible measures taken by the new administration to rebuild the economy. It would be a grave mistake on the part of the political parties represented in Parliament to prioritize constitutional and electoral reforms at the expense of the financial sector. Ugly confrontations between the government and the Opposition in Parliament and street battles would not in any way help rebuild the economy. Let there be a ceasefire on all fronts until the executive, the legislature and the judiciary address the issues at hand.

 The Opposition, particularly those who voted for lawmaker Alahapperuma at the presidential contest should realize that further destabilization wouldn’t benefit the already deeply wounded country at all.

Foreign projects

 Foreign governments shrewdly exploited situations here to pressure post-war Sri Lanka. Wartime disappearances and the Colombo Swiss Embassy drama staged in Nov 2019 can be cited as two such issues.

The latter was meant to humiliate Gotabaya Rajapaksa in the immediate aftermath of his magnificent victory over UNP candidate Sajith Premadasa at the presidential election.

 The Swiss project received the backing of Western missions before the government exposed it. Peter Hans Mock, the then Swiss Ambassador here made a desperate bid to make the trumped up allegation stick. Then US Ambassador Alaina Teplitz was among those envoys who questioned Sri Lanka’s right to challenge the Swiss allegation. Teplitz went to the extent of taking up the issue with popularly elected President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, the real Swiss target.

 It would be pertinent to discuss Wickremesinghe’s response to wartime disappearances when he served as Prime Minister of the yahapalana administration.

The 2015 presidential election brought an end to the war-winning President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s rule. The Rajapaksa administration was repeatedly accused of running secret detention facilities, both in the Northern and Eastern provinces. A section of the Western powers, too, subscribed to these unsubstantiated allegations. In spite of the change of the government, in 2015, accusations persisted.

In the run-up to the 2015 Geneva sessions, Sri Lanka was repeatedly accused of still operating secret detention facilities. In the then administration Maithripala Sirisena served as the President whereas UNP leader Wickremesinghe held the post of the Prime Minister.

 In 2015, Sri Lanka agreed to set up (I) a judicial mechanism with a Special Counsel to investigate allegations of violations and abuses of human rights and violations of international human rights law, (II) a Commission on truth, justice, reconciliation and non-recurrence, (III) an Office on missing, and (IV) an office for reparations.

 In the run-up to the Geneva sessions, Premier Wickremesinghe set the record straight, at a ceremony at Rukmale Sri Dharmaloka Vijayaloka Maha Viharaya, on March 01, 2015, to felicitate the newly appointed Maha Nayaka Thera Ven. Ittapane Dharmalankara. Among those present was Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith, Archbishop of Colombo.

 Premier Wickremesinghe declared that as all those who had been taken into custody, during the war and the post-conflict period, were being held in legally run facilities, all detainees/prisoners could be accounted for. The UNP leader didn’t mince his words when he emphasized that those missing, but not listed among those in government custody, had either perished during the conflict or were living overseas ‘(Prime Minister denies existence of secret detention camps’. with the strap line ‘Those not among prison population either perished during the war or living overseas’- The Island March 04, 2015.)

 A couple of days later, Premier Wickremesinghe challenged the much-touted UN claim of over 40,000 civilians killed on the Vanni east front, in 2009. Wickremesinghe also stressed the urgent need to verify the UN claims, as well as various other accusations. Unfortunately, Wickremesinghe did nothing. In spite of countering allegations, his government conveniently failed to bring the issues to a successful conclusion. Wickremesinghe’s handling of the post-war accountability issue, too, contributed to the humiliating defeat his party suffered at national level elections.

 More than seven decades old, the UNP ended up without a single elected MP. The party filled its National List slot in June 2021 with the nomination of its leader Ranil Wickremesinghe.

 The UNP leader Wickremesinghe however clearly indicated in an exclusive interview with the Indian Thanthi TV in which he insisted that figures, quoted by the UN or other organizations, couldn’t be accepted without being verified. The March 6, 2015, interview couldn’t have been conducted at a better time, though Wickremesinghe did nothing subsequently to examine the Vanni death toll. Instead, Wickremesinghe gave the then Foreign Minister late Mangala Samaraweera the go ahead to co -sponsor the accountability resolution, in Geneva, on Oct 01, 2015. The rest is history.

 When the interviewer, S.A. Hariharan, pointed out that the Tamil Diaspora had estimated the number of civilian deaths closer to 100,000, Wickremesinghe asserted that it wouldn’t even come up to 40,000. Wickremesinghe pointed out that, in addition to the PoE (Panel of Experts) report, there had been other official reports that dealt with accountability issues. The Premier emphasized the pivotal importance of verifying such accusations to establish the number of civilian deaths.

The Premier said that some official reports placed the number of civilian deaths at 5,000. The UNP leader however never called for the verification of the UN report until he was humiliatingly turned out of parliament by the electorate at the last general election.

 In spite of underlining the importance of verifying accusations, Wickremesinghe didn’t take any follow-up action. The Sirisena-Wickremesinghe government conveniently refrained from using heavy ammunition in our rightful defence, provided by Lord Naseby, in Oct 2017, to counter the PoE report. The Gotabaya Rajapaksa government, too, never formulated a cohesive strategy to use Lord Naseby’s bombshell disclosure.

Now, Wickremesinghe, who re-entered Parliament in late June 2021, 10 months after the last general election, is at the helm. As the President, Wickremesinghe has been compelled to face Western criticism. In a way, the Western reaction to the clearing of protesters blocking the entrance to the Presidential Secretariat can be compared with the staged Swiss Embassy drama soon after President Gotabaya Rajapaksa was elected with a record majority to tarnish his image.

Economic meltdown: Prez takes refuge overseas, ‘advisors’ face legal action

SPECIAL REPORT : Part 427

Published

  2022/07/20

Gotabaya Rajapaksa meets Narendra Modi in late Nov 2019 during his first and only state visit after winning the 2019 presidential election with an overwhlming majority

The US denied visa to Narendra Modi in 2005 over his alleged role in murderous rampage in Gujarat three years earlier during his tenure as the Chief Minister of the important Indian state. The US declared Modi would never be issued a visa. The US gradually changed its position as Modi, over the years emerged as the new power. Having won the parliamentary election in May of 2014, Narendra Modi visited Washington in Sept 2014, where he met then US president Barack Obama. The visit received public attention as this was the Indian leader’s first since the US denied him a diplomatic visa to the US for his alleged complicity in 2002 Godhra riots in 2005. Since becoming the Premier, Modi has visited the US seven times. The US response to Modi’s accountability reflects the Superpower’s thinking. Their political, security and economic interests supersedes any other issue. That applies to all major powers. India and China no exceptions.

By Shamindra Ferdinando

India has firmly denied having played any role in facilitating the hasty forced departure, or travel, of 73-year-old former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa from Sri Lanka.

The Indian High Commission said so in a statement issued on July 15 in the wake of Gotabaya Rajapaksa arriving in Singapore, his second stop after initially taking refuge in the Maldives. Based on remarks made by the Spokesperson, Ministry of External Affairs in New Delhi on the previous day, the Indian HC denied coming to the rescue of Gotabaya Rajapaksa.

It would be pertinent to mention that at the time of the forced departure from Sri Lanka, with violent mobs pursuing him, Gotabaya Rajapaksa remained the President and resigned only after reaching Singapore. Therefore, India’s denial that it didn’t have any role in facilitating the departure or travel of former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa from Sri Lanka is questionable. Did New Delhi turn down Colombo’s request to facilitate then President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s departure? If Sri Lanka didn’t ask India to make way for President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and his wife, Iyoma, what made the Indian External Affairs Ministry to categorically deny facilitating the first family’s departure? Perhaps, both capitals should set the record straight.

Still licking its wounds from the aftermath of the forced Indo-Lanka Accord of July 1987 and the disastrous intervention by the Indian Peace Keeping Force here, perhaps for New Delhi it’s a case of the proverbial once bitten twice shy with Pol Pots here who are generating hysteria in the name of Sri Lankan people’s welfare .

Having comfortably won the last presidential election in Nov 2019, Gotabaya Rajapaksa undertook only one state visit before his unceremonious departure from the country. That state visit was to New Delhi, where Gotabaya Rajapaksa met the top Indian leadership. The media quoted Indian President Ram Nath Kovind as having told President Gotabaya Rajapaksa the first official foreign tour marked a new chapter in the historic relationship between the two countries.

The two-day visit took place in the last week of November 2019, soon after the President thwarted shameless Swiss Embassy mission here to derail his presidency. In spite of heavy Western pressure, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa stood his ground and overcame the well-planned diplomatic plot. An effort to evacuate a Swiss Embassy local employee on a trumped up claim of her having been a victim of abduction and molestation by government security personnel was made while the President was in New Delhi.

Swiss authorities ended up with egg on their face as unsubstantiated allegations were proved false. Actually that had been the first major challenge faced by Gotabaya Rajapaksa just days after he won the presidency with an overwhelming majority.

The stage managed incident by the Swiss Embassy here should have been a forewarning to the government of what was in store for them from the West for crushing the terrorist LTTE in the battlefield against their wishes.

A special banquet was held at the Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi in honour of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on the evening of Nov 29, 2019. Indian President Ram Nath Kovind, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, MPs and Ministers of the Indian Government and members of the Sri Lankan delegation had been among the guests.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi presented a photograph to President Gotabaya Rajapaksa when they met in Hyderabad. The photograph was of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, during his military training in India. Former Indian Commander and current Minister V.K. Singh and Nigerian President are among those in the picture.

India’s decision not to get involved in the evacuation of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa despite being the preeminent regional power is understandable. That decision should be examined against the backdrop of the US turning down President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and that of his wife’s request for visas. Quad members, the US and India wouldn’t contribute to a situation that may undermine their relationship with those responsible for the overthrowing of the Rajapaksa administration.

The corporate mafia controlled Western media right across has also been in the vanguard of painting Gotabaya as an outright villain, especially telling the world what a luxury lifestyle he led while the people suffered immeasurably, showing the opulence of the presidential palace. In actual fact Gotabaya Rajapaksa hardly ever used any of the official facilities, including massive security contingents, unlike his predecessors, whose motorcades of over a dozen vehicles, even included an ambulance. He actually lived in his modest private home at Pangiriwatte, Mirihana, till a massive violent mob tried to storm it on March 31. In fact it was Daham, the son of previous President Maithripala Sirisena who partied at the Presidential palace with his friends after he was banned by his father from visiting night clubs following a violent incident in one such club during the early days of Sirisena’s presidency.

Both the US and India are concerned about the growing public movement in the wake of the overthrowing of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. The status of Japan and Australia (two other Quad members) relations/role in Sri Lanka are somewhat different from that of India and the US. However, that grouping appeared to be of the view that saving the first family wouldn’t under any circumstances be helpful to their strategy meant to contain the Chinese influence here.

The bottom line is major powers cannot be expected to undertake a missions at the expense of their own vile interests. It would be a grave mistake on the part of the previous Sri Lankan leadership to believe India’s ‘Neighbourhood First’ policy as well as the SAGAR (Security and Growth for All in the Region) meant to rescue political leaders.

The US certainly encouraged the public protest campaign against the Rajapaksas. Lawmaker Wimal Weerawansa declared in Parliament how US Ambassador Julie Chung intervened on behalf of protesters when the then government planned to forcibly remove them. But, external interventions wouldn’t have succeeded if not for President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s stubbornness coupled with unforeseen external factors ruined the economy by adamantly sticking to ill-advised foolish decisions till it was too late, especially the decision to do away with some vital taxes and not reversing it when it was obvious to everyone that Sri Lanka could ill afford it while especially battling a pandemic.

Ill-fated decisions

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s administration contributed to his downfall. There is no point in denying the fact a spate of wrong decisions, some taken by the then President’s economic advisors as alleged by members of Parliament as well as Governor of the Central Bank Dr. Nandalal Weerasinghe and members of the Monetary Board Dr. Ranee Jayamaha and Sanjiva Jayawardena, PC, and disclosures made by Secretary to the Treasury Mahinda Siriwardana before the Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE) and the Committee on Public Finance (COPF).

Ali Sabry, PC, in an interview with Swarnavahni declared that the Secretary to the Treasury, Governor of the Central Bank, and senior economic advisors to the President, misled the Cabinet of Ministers as regards the economic situation. The President heads the Cabinet.

Sabry explained how the Secretary to the Treasury, Governor of the Central Bank, and senior economic advisors to the President frequently assured that the situation was well under control in spite of difficulties. According to Sabry, that team expressed confidence that issues at hand could be successfully dealt with.

Possibly they were right if a solid friend like China, who helped us immensely in the past as during the height of the war and thereafter had not distanced from us at the worst possible time. That may have been caused by Finance Minister and Rajapaksa sibling Basil, a dual citizen of US and Sri Lanka sailing Lankan ship of state increasingly towards the West like through the highly questionable Yugadanavi deal hastily and secretly concluded at midnight, with much of the government in the dark.

Sabry said so in a live interview, the first since his return from Washington, where he led the government delegation at talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank.

By the time, the Cabinet-of-Ministers realized the gravity of the situation in August 2021, it was too late.

When the Central Bank floated the rupee in March this year even without bothering to inform the Cabinet-of-Ministers of its decision, irreparable damage had already been caused. No one has challenged Sabry so far over his controversial declarations.

Sabry alleged that those who managed the national economy prevented the country seeking IMF’s intervention well over a year back. Had President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and the Cabinet-of-Ministers received proper advice, Sri Lanka would not have been in the current predicament, lawmaker Sabry asserted.

Sabry is one former Minister the whole country can be proud of for having no parochial baggage, with his sole aim being to serve the country with honour to the best of his ability.

Prof. W.A.D. Lakshman (Dec 2019-Sept 2021) and Ajith Nivard Cabraal (Sept 2021-March 2022) served as Governors of CBSL, S.R. Attygalle was the Secretary, Ministry of Finance (Nov 2019-April 2022) whereas another veteran Central Banker Dr. P. B. Jayasundera functioned as Secretary to the President (Nov 2019-Dec 2021). Jayasundera showed his metal as the Treasury Secretary at the height of the war, by essentially keeping the economy humming with hardly any assistance from outside other than from China with various project funding. Because of sensitivities in South India, New Delhi essentially played a hands-off role.

COPE and COPF proceedings confirmed Sabry’s claims. Therefore, there cannot be any ambiguity over the circumstances leading to the massive explosion of public anger at the then President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s private residence at Pangiriwatta, Mirihana, on the night of March 31. The disclosure of the abolition of a spate of taxes, including PAYE (Pay as You Earn) should be fully investigated and the culprits named. Unfortunately, even on fateful March 31, hours before large crowds converged near the President’s private residence, the President believed the situation was well under control.

Discussions with state media heads including print, electronic, President’s Media Division as well as the Information Department at the President’s private residence didn’t result in tangible action. By then Presidential Spokesperson Kingsley Ratnayake has taken two weeks leave and was overseas while the then Director General of Presidential Media Sudeva Hettiarachchi attended the meeting.

Essentially, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa felt that the issues could be addressed, though disruption of fuel, gas and electricity supply caused unprecedented pressure. Obviously no one dared to stress the need for immediate remedial measures. Sudeva Hettiarachchi resigned on July 04 in the wake of the protesters vowing to storm the President’s House. He returned to Swarnawahini where he covered the overthrowing of the Gotabaya Rajapaksa administration. Veteran Sirasa personality Kingsley Ratnayake and Sudeva Hettiarachchi received their appointments in late April 2021 at a time the economic situation was turning for the worse.

Instead of addressing the issues at hand, the government played politics. Basil Rajapaksa was brought in July 2021 to Parliament on the National List and made the Finance Minister. A few months later, State Finance Minister Ajith Nivard Cabraal quit his National List seat in parliament to succeed Prof. W.D. Lakshman as the Governor of the Central Bank. The Pohottuwa party then brought back Jayantha Ketagoda into Parliament to fill the vacancy created by Cabraal’s resignation. Ketagoda earlier resigned his National List seat to pave the way for Basil Rajapaksa to re-enter Parliament. Basil Rajapaksa gave the leadership to the operation that allowed finalization of Yugadanavi deal in Sept 2021. The role played by the disgraced M.M.C. Ferdinando in his capacity as the CEB Chairman highlighted how those elected by the people conducted affairs of the state.

The utterly controversial Yugadanavi deal has caused irreparable damage to the SLPP’s relationship with its constituents. President Rajapaksa quite wrongly believed the crisis could be addressed by reshuffling the Cabinet of Ministers and perhaps major calamity could have been averted if he prevented the then Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa from bringing in several thousands of supporters to Temple Trees for his ostensible farewell.

The May 09 Temple Trees ‘operation’ escalated the situation. The collapse of Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s presidency exactly two months later underscored the failure on the part of those in authority to address the threat on the economic front at an early phase of the crisis.

Dr. Nandalal didn’t mince his words before the COPE when he named Dr. PBJ as the one who prevented the country reaching a consensus with the IMF in early 2020. The central banker explained the responsibility of various persons to varying degrees, including the then Finance Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa for the economic meltdown.

The Supreme Court has been moved against those who caused the financial meltdown. The Bar Association of Sri Lanka is among the petitioners. Let us wait for the developments on the legal front.

The Pohottuwa party didn’t take notice of what was going on. The aging and beleaguered Pohottuwa leadership should be ashamed of its failure at least to address accountability issues in spite of fully exploiting the Geneva challenge at the presidential and parliamentary polls.

Why did the US decline to issue visas to the then President and his wife? Did the US now want to include Gotabaya Rajapaksa in its list of those categorized as human rights violators? The US has already categorized Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka and General Shavendra Silva, Chief of Defence Staff and the first General Officer Commanding (GOC) of the celebrated 58 Division

Udaya Perera’s dilemma

The humiliation suffered by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, should be examined taking into consideration Maj. Gen. Udaya Perera’s plight in the hands of the Americans. The government didn’t really take notice of the incident at the BIA. In early Dec last year, the US categorized Maj. Gen. Udaya Perera, formerly Sri Lanka’s Deputy High Commissioner in Malaysia (2009-2011) as a war crimes suspect.

The US denied the wartime Director of Operations permission to enter the US though he had a five-year multiple entry visas issued in August 2019. The retired General received the US abrupt about turn as he along with his wife and his teenage son proceeded to the immigration counter to board the Colombo-Singapore SIA flight.

Maj. Gen. Perera has successfully followed top military courses in NDU (National Defence University in 2004) and USAWC (United States Army War College in 2012) and is a frequent traveller.

Having cleared the Perera family, the Singaporean Airline staff at BIA told him that they had received an alert from US authorities.

From Singapore, they were to fly to Los Angeles. Maj. Gen. Perera stayed back while his wife and son went ahead with the planned visit. The General and his wife were to see their first granddaughter born in California.

Having retired in 2017, Perera has received a multiple entry visa two years later. The Maj. Gen. had previously even attended his daughter’s wedding there in Sept. 2019.

The US made its move several weeks after inducting former Army Commander General Mahesh Senanayake into the United States Army Command and General Staff College (CGSC) International Hall of Fame at Fort Leavenworth. An alumnus of CGSC, Senanayake, who contested the 2019 presidential election has been conferred this honour in recognition of his “outstanding military leadership for the nation and commitment to preserving global peace. “

 About a week after blocking Maj. Gen. Perera, the US included two other Sri Lankan military personnel in a list of officials prohibited to enter the US under Section 7031(c) of the Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programmes Appropriation Act, 2021. The following is the relevant section of the US embassy statement:

• Chandana Hettiarachchi, a Sri Lankan naval intelligence officer, for his involvement in gross violations of human rights, namely, the flagrant denial of the right to liberty of at least eight “Trincomalee 11″ victims, from 2008 to 2009. Sunil Ratnayake, a former Staff Sergeant in the Sri Lanka Army, for his involvement in gross violations of human rights, namely the extrajudicial killings of at least eight Tamil villagers in December 2000. The designation of these two Sri Lankan individuals is not the only action we are taking in support of accountability for gross violations of human rights in Sri Lanka.”

However, the US Embassy statement that dealt with the inclusion of two personnel conveniently refrained from making any reference to Maj. Gen. Udaya Perera.

Actually, separate parliamentary select committees should be appointed to investigate (i) events leading to the ruination of economy with a view to identify them and (ii) Sri Lanka’s response to the Geneva challenge. The circumstances that led Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who survived an LTTE suicide attack in early Dec 2006, to flee the country underscored the need for a deeper examination of Sri Lanka’s economy.

Death of a Patriot

  SPECIAL REPORT : Part 426

Published

  2022/07/6

The late Gomin Dayasri declared he didn’t want to be a President’s Counsel. Appearing on Sirasa Pathikada, the outspoken lawyer said that there was no point in requesting such a title. Dayasri said so during a conversation with the late Bandula Jayasekera, who invited him on several occasions. Dayasri pointed out the absurdity in the process of appointing President’s Counsel.

By Shamindra Ferdinando

The much respected senior Attorney-at-Law Gomin Dayasri, 77, is no more, but his voice carried such weight that he had the opportunity to advise the Mahinda Rajapaksa government (2005-2015) at the highest level, in his heyday, despite not fearing to admonish them whenever it was deserved. The final rites were conducted on July 02 at the Borella Cemetery.

A true patriot, Gomin had been among those who stood for Sri Lanka’s unitary status whatever the consequences. During the war, and after, Gomin, always mindful of the interests of the armed forces and the police, which was not a popular thing to do among those who had the ear and patronage of the self-appointed international community of the West and was among those few civil society activists who valiantly threw their weight behind the campaign against separatist terrorists as it was treated like heresy by those same elements who worshipped the West.

Sirasa and MTV/TV 1, although being constantly accused of undermining the war effort, earned the respect of the nationalists for the coverage given to the late lawyer. The writer received opportunities to participate in Sirasa and MTV/TV 1 programmes, sometimes, with the late Dayasiri who strongly opposed federalism, separatism and foreign interference.

Top lawyer, Gomin Dayasiri, and General Secretary of the Communist Party of Sri Lanka, Dew Gunasekera, declared that Sangakkara couldn’t have made that statement in the UK at a better time.

The late Dayasri never hesitated to take on the Rajapaksa government if he felt it was on the wrong path.

A case in point is Kumar Sangakkara’s controversial hour-long Sir Colin Cowdrey lecture delivered in July 2011, at Lords. A section of the then government depicted the lecture as a frontal attack on them. Those who resented Sangakkara for exposing their wrongs, cleverly deceived then President Mahinda Rajapaksa. They propagated the lie that the cricketer was challenging the government and was working with the Opposition. Sangakkara earned the wrath of the then government though he paid a glowing tribute to the war winning armed forces at such a prestigious forum at a time a section of the international community, including the UK, was and is literally hounding Sri Lanka’s valiant fighting units for bringing on an implausible victory against all odds, wherever possible.

He was neither a blind worshipper of patriots, the late Dayasri was among the few who dared to stand by Sangakkara. When the writer sought his response to the threats on Sangakkara, Dayasri was prompt and strongly supported Sangakkara’s demand to tackle waste, corruption and irregularities in the game, Dayasri declared that a cohesive strategy was required to stamp out corruption in both public and private sectors. Sangakkara’s speech couldn’t have come at a better time, Dayasri said, adding: “The dashing batsman’s eloquent presentation was very pro-Sri Lanka as against the LTTE terrorism and cricket terrorism. If any politician, or the government, decides to take action against the player, there’ll be a public outcry because the sports personality has courageously exposed the insider dealings in Sri Lanka Cricket. More of Sangakkara’s kind should come to the forefront.” (“The day Kumar Sangakkara felt humbled’, with strapline ‘Unpardonable failure to capitalize on ‘Spirit of Cricket’” lecture, on January 25, 2017 issue of The Island). Michael Roberts posted in The Island Midweek column article under the headline ‘Sangakkara’s MCC lecture and the Rajapaksa/ Wickemesinghe governments’ failures,’ in his Thuppahi blog.

Sangakkara became the first speaker to receive a standing ovation at Lords since Bishop Desmond Tutu in 2008. Both the UK-based, and Sri Lankan media focused on Sangakkara’s assault on the politically influential cricket administration and the criminal waste of funds, as well as resources belonging to Sri Lanka Cricket. The Sinhala print and electronic media completely ignored Sangakkara’s speech.

Dayasri asserted that the only shortcoming in Sangakkara’s superb speech was the absence of a reference to the Indian factor in Sri Lanka terrorism. Dayasri suggested that the writer left that out as Sangakkara must have had reason to be silent on the Indian factor.

The following post by Janaka Perera “Gomin did not confuse patriotism with loyalty to any political party or consider it the monopoly of any group” in the US-based Gamini Edirisinghe’s e-mail thread, explained the late lawyer’s response to the situation.

Daya Gamage posted: “I have been following Gomin Dayasiri’s trajectory for the past 30 to 40 years, his struggle to keep Sri Lanka undivided”.

Nimal Fernando posted: “A true son of the soil, whose fierce patriotism was a source of solace for Mother Lanka.”

Dr. Anula Wijesundere declared in her post that Gomin was a true patriot and a great lawyer who spoke fearlessly and eloquently against LTTE terrorism. Like the other great patriotic lawyer, the late S.L. Gunasekera, Gomin, too, appeared free of charge and defended the armed forces and the police.

Lt. Col. Anil Amarasekera recalled the services rendered by Gomin Dayasri and the late S.L. Gunasekara.

The retired officer posted the following: “… during their lifetime, they worked tirelessly to protect and preserve the unity and territorial integrity of our motherland for posterity”.

Gomin even appeared for me free of charge when I filed a case against the then Commander of the Army for violating my fundamental rights by not allowing me to enter the Sinhalese villages in the Weli Oya region to work against the devolution proposals of the then Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga government. The Commander of the Army withdrew the order preventing me from entering Weli Oya after a fundamental rights petition was filed in the Supreme Court. Therefore we withdrew our fundamental rights case.

Asoka Bandarage: “Sri Lanka has lost a beloved patriot. Gomin Dayasiri was a brilliant, courageous and interesting individual. I communicated with him a number of times on matters pertaining to peace and sovereignty of Sri Lanka. Gomin gave advice freely when H.L.D. Mahindapala and I were faced with legal charges over our writings on Sri Lanka. I also had the opportunity to visit and enjoy lunch at Gomin’s home in the tranquil village setting off Thalawathugoda.”

Sudharshan Seneviratne: “I do remember Gomin very well at Ananda. We admired him for his oratory skills and his sharp rebukes levelled at the opposing debating team!

In a limed way though, he did give his valued opinion on the College English Union magazine, the Spark, edited by Deva Rodrigo.

After he left college Gomin took time off while he was doing his Law exams to tutor me on the AL Government paper.

Later we met, not frequently though, at Anuradhapura when I was excavating at the citadel and Jetavanaramaya where he did have pointed questions on culture, identity and training of the next generation.”

Gamini Edirisinghe posted the News First video clip of Dayasri’s funeral.

Oct 2006 triumph

The judgment on the high profile case, filed by the JVP seeking de-merger of the Eastern Province, comprising Ampara, Batticaloa and Trincomalee Districts from the Northern Province, was delivered on Oct 16, 2006, the day an LTTE suicide attack on a Navy land convoy claimed the lives of nearly 100 of its personnel at Digampathaha (not Digampathana) between Habarana and Dambulla. Digampathaha attack was the single worst directed at a military convoy during the entire war whereas the judgment could be considered the most important as regards Sri Lanka’s unitary status.

The Supreme Court on Oct 16, 2006 declared the merger of the northern and eastern provinces, implemented in terms of the controversial 1987 Indo-Sri Lanka Accord, ‘null and void and illegal’. The Court declared that material provided by the petitioners resulted in “volumes of material to establish the divisions that existed in historic times and that the eastern province was part of the Kandyan Kingdom at the time of the British conquest”.

The ruling was given in spite of heavy international pressure against de-merging the East from the North. It would be pertinent to mention that at the time of the SC judgment and Digampathaha suicide attack, the LTTE’s conventional military capacity was considered inviolable, especially by the West. In fact, the armed forces hadn’t been able to seriously challenge the LTTE, at least in the Eastern Province, at the time of the historic judgment.

In Sept. 2006, Co-Chairs backing the peace process – the United States, European Union, Japan and Norway – cautioned Sri Lanka against the move. Co-Chairs warned: “There should be no change to the specific arrangements for the North and East which could endanger the achievement of peace. The legitimate interests and aspirations of all communities, including the Tamil, Muslims and Sinhala communities, must be accommodated as part of a political settlement.”

Prominent lawyers H.L. de Silva, S.L. Gunasekera and Gomin Dayasri appeared for the petitioners. Prof. Nalin de Silva, who served as Sri Lanka’s Ambassador in Myanmar (Sept 2020-Sept 2021), recalled in a piece on Gomin Dayasri, written in Sinhala, the role played by the three lawyers in the triumphant case.

Son of fearless N.Q. Dias, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Defence, during Mrs. Sirimavo Bandaranaike’s first term (1960-65) as Prime Minister, has been given a new name. Showing his disdain for the colonial past his father, ditching the Portuguese derived last name Dias, still carried by many Sri Lankans, proudly and simply named him Gomin Dayasri and sent him to Ananda College though his mother very much preferred Anglican S. Thomas College, Mount Lavinia. But, N.Q. Dias, who had studied at an equally elitist Trinity College, Kandy, desired his son to receive an education at Ananda College for obvious reasons.

Prof. de Silva played a glowing tribute to Gomin’s father, legendary civil servant N.Q. Dias, for facilitating the recruitment of Sinhala Buddhists to the armed forces’ officer corps, which, along with top echelons of the police, was till then an almost exclusive club of Christians. Had that not happened, the armed forces couldn’t have brought the war to an end on the banks of the Nanthikadal lagoon in May 2009, Prof. de Silva asserted.

Declaring that the case against the merger of the Eastern Province from the Northern had been the most important one the late Dayasri appeared, Prof. de Silva declared that if not for lawyers H.L. de Silva, S.L. Gunasekera and Gomin Dayasri, Sri Lanka’s history could have been different. Pointing out that except Dayasri, other lawyers weren’t Sinhala Buddhists, Prof. de Silva emphasized the need to de-link the East from the North through the passage of a Parliament act. That should be done in honour of those lawyers who rendered great service to the motherland. We would however like to differ with Prof. Nalin de Silva on late S.L. de Silva, though born into a Christian family, he was a life-long agnostic.

Accountability issues

The late Dayasri had been seriously disappointed with the way Sri Lanka handled accountability issues both during the conflict and after. The Island reportage on the conflict and related matters certainly received a big boost, thanks to advice and suggestions the writer received from the late lawyer. Dayasri was always accessible and never declined to comment on contentious issues. Twice he visited The Island editorial after the conclusion of the sittings of the Presidential Commission of Inquiry (CoI) at the BMICH, into the killing of 17 persons employed by the Action Contra La Faim (ACF) to provide the writer a briefing of what was going on. The CoI also inquired into the killing of five youth in Trincomlee in January 2006.

On one occasion, Dayasri provided the writer several photographs of civil society representatives with foreigners involved in the process. With a mischievous grin, Dayasri said the role played by most foreign-funded NGOs here was quite treacherous. The lawyer asserted that successive governments pathetically failed to meet the challenge posed by those who represented the interests of separatists.

The ACF case took an unprecedented turn in late March 2008, when the late Dayasri challenged the right of one-time Government Agent Dr. Devanesan Nesiah to be Commissioner due to his close relationship with the Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA). S.L. Gunasekera, who also appeared for the military, demanded Dr. Nesiah’s removal.

Appearing for the then Lt. Gen. Sarath Fonseka’s Army, free of charge, Dayasri opposed Dr. Nesiah’s role against the backdrop of the Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA) being made party to the high profile case. Dayasri targeted Dr. Nesiah after the Presidential Commission accepted CPA and several other civil society groups, party to the inquiry on the basis of an application submitted by President’s Counsel and one-time President of Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL) the late Desmond Fernando. Justice N.K. Udalagama headed the Commission. The proceedings were held under the scrutiny of International Independent Group of Eminent Persons (IIGEP).

Dayasri didn’t mince his words when he questioned the failure on the part of Dr Nesiah to disclose his close relationship with the CPA at an earlier stage. Alleging that it had been a serious lapse on the part of the Commissioner, Dayasri bluntly told the former Jaffna Government Agent Nesiah: “You cannot be a judge in your own case because not only justice must be done, but it must be seen to be so done, otherwise there’ll be the likelihood of bias.”

Dayasri and Desmond Fernando clashed at the inquiry over the latter’s claim that a minister confided in him that he (minister) knew the perpetrators of the Muttur massacre. Dayasri demanded that Fernando should get into the witness box. Fernando skipped the proceedings the following day (Probe into Muttur massacre takes a dramatic turn: Commissioner’s right to hear case challenged due to NGO link, The Island, March 27, 2008 edition).

As a result of the stand taken by Dayasri and Gunasekera, President Mahinda Rajapaksa had no option but to intervene. In a letter dated June 06, 2008, Presidential Secretary Lalith Weeratunga asked Dr. Nesiah to explain his relationship with the CPA and the payments received from the CPA. In spite of the presidential directive for him to step down, Dr. Nesiah joined the proceedings on June 10, 2008. Dayasri’s protests compelled the CoI to ask Dr. Nesiah to leave (Commission probing human rights violations: Nesiah dropped after President’s intervention, The Island, June 11, 2008)

Dayasri also argued against the 19th Amendment in a Fundamental Rights petition before the Supreme Court in 2015. Many an eyebrow was raised when Dayasri petitioned against President Maithripala Sirisena’s decision to dissolve Parliament in Oct 2018. Dayasiri told the Supreme Court though he opposed the 19A, since its passage in Parliament, yet the President was duty-bound to act in accordance with it, and the dissolution in less than four and a half years without a Parliament resolution was unconstitutional.

Dayasri simply ignored the fact that Mahinda Rajapaksa had received the premiership as a result of Maithripala Sirisena’s constitutional coup.

In conversation with the writer, Dayasri, lecturer in law and respected commentator on matters of national importance, expressed serious concerns over the failure on the part of the government to address the Geneva challenge. The absence of a clear action plan to use disclosures made by Lord Naseby offended Dayasri, who felt those who exercised political authority quite conveniently failed to exploit the advantage given by Lord Naseby. The cancellation of the Victory Day parade by the Sirisena-Wickremesinghe government in 2015 angered the lawyer. Calling the decision a disgrace, Dayasri explained that the President and the Premier should be ashamed of themselves.

Dayasri earned the respect of the armed forces and the vast majority of people. His contribution and influence would remain as the country struggles to cope up with an extremely difficult situation caused by waste, corruption, irregularities, mismanagement and, most of all, simple political incompetence at the highest level, being the prime cause of it.