Author: TELO Admin

In August of this year, Sunak reaffirmed his commitment to justice for mass atrocities committed in Sri Lanka and discussed the possibility of applying targeted sanctions on Sri Lankan officials just as the UK has on Russians. Sunak met with Tamil conservatives where he praised their contribution to British life and addressed concerns regarding the situation in Sri Lanka.

In his opening statement earlier this year, Sunak reflected on Sri Lanka’s dire economic straits with record levels of inflation and shortages of basic necessities.

“My heart goes out to all of you and all of those in Sri Lanka,” he told the online audience. He went on to stress his vision for a democratic island free from corruption and “inappropriate influence from the military”. To achieve this and overcome the crippling economic disaster, Sunak maintained the importance of conditional aid through the International Monetary Fund, which is currently in negotiations with the Sri Lankan government.

Sunak went on to reflect on the “hurt and pain caused by the civil war and the events of 2009,” as he empathised with Tamils in their struggle for justice and accountability for mass atrocities committed during the final stages of the armed conflict.

He emphasized his support for members of international community in taking a tougher stance on Sri Lanka, prompted by Sri Lanka’s withdrawal from a resolution that was passed by the UN Human Rights Council.

“I am proud of the UK’s role, and the UK will continue to play a central role in bringing about justice and accountability,” he said.

In his statement, he stressed his support for the latest UN resolution on Sri Lanka, which mandated the collection of evidence that may be used in a future war crimes tribunal. The resolution, however, has been seen by many Tamil activists and human rights campaigners as falling short of delivering on justice and as a “time-buying exercise”.

Asked how Britain would ensure that Sri Lanka officials would not spend their “ill-gotten gains in the UK”, Sunak responded by stating that any future government under him would look at “how we’ve done this to Russian officials”.

“I helped put this together” Sunak stated. “We’ve got a much better playbook and we know more about how to do it… It is a new tool in our toolkit”.

The statement comes amidst growing calls for sanctions on senior Sri Lankan officials accused of war crimes and genocide, as well as for prosecutions in domestic courts around the world under the principle of universal jurisdiction.

Commenting on the demand to recognise the Tamil genocide, Sunak stated that he would look into the matter and that different countries would have different standards but that for the UK this would be a legal matter following a court proceeding.

On the question of broader sanctions on Sri Lanka, Sunak maintained that this was a difficult balance as the island’s “very vulnerable need assistance” and that he does not want to “hold them hostage”. However, he stressed the need for structural reform and conditions on aid to Sri Lanka. A further concern he raised, however, was the influence of China as he warned against pushing “Sri Lanka into Chinese hands”.

This is not the first time Sunak has spoken on Sri Lanka. In October 2020, whilst Chancellor of the UK, Sunak, wrote to the British Tamil Conservatives (BTC), telling them “I want to first stress how strongly I share you concerns about the human rights situation in Sri Lanka, particularly the government’s withdrawal from the UNHRC process.”

Due to a sudden illness, I had to refrain myself from writing for two consecutive weeks. I must admit that the comment made by Shehan Karunathilaka, the Booker Prize winner 2022 about my book titled ‘Paradise in Tears’, which was published in September 2008, generated an innocent pride in me while I was confined to a sick bed recently.

Karunathilaka, who was eight when the war began, says that he found his memories came back when he read a book called Paradise in Tears by the journalist Victor Ivan. “It brought back the mobs, and my mum pulled my face away. Later I found out they were pulling people out of cars to test whether they could speak Sinhalese; if they couldn’t, they were set on fire.” Despite it has not been subjected to an adequate academic review, the ‘Paradise in Tears’ is a valuable pictorial resume of the main events connected with the present crisis; it contains a large number of photographs (444) of historic importance followed by a brief description of each of them, and could be considered as a significant research study on how Sri Lanka has been pushed to its present state of failure, collapse and bankruptcy.

It has covered a large portion of the episode of the great collapse in the socio-political system of Sri Lanka. In that sense, this book explains not only the historical development of the crisis but also the way Sri Lanka was moving towards great devastation. In fact, what I really wanted was to present the serious events and the grim atmosphere that affected the course of the country in the form of an appropriate pictorial resume using a collection of rare photographs that have been published in regard to each event as and when they occurred, with a brief narration of each picture in a manner they would make an intense impact and a deep shock in the reader.

I originally dreamt not only of publishing just a book with a collection of annotated photographs, but also having an exhibition of them held across the country with the aim of educating and enlightening the general public of the situation. I had been working for a long time to achieve this objective. About 15 years had passed by the time the final collection of photographs was completed. Needless to say, that the selection of 442 photographs of historic importance and illustrating them with background details with specific dates alone is not a simple or easy task

Mangala’s intervention

In 1997, Mangala Samaraweera who was a powerful minister in the Cabinet of the Chandrika government knew that I had a comprehensive collection of photographs with captions written in respect of each of them and it could be used for a photo exhibition about the crisis in Sri Lanka. He called me and not only did he have a look at the collection of photographs but also read the captions I had written on them. He was of the opinion that this collection of photographs should be exhibited across the country. Along with that, he said that the narrative on the pictures, especially the critical ones written about the Bandaranaikes, should be edited in such a way that they would be acceptable to President Chandrika Bandaranaike.

But, I was of the view that the editing could only be allowed if the facts contained in the narrations are not true, and that it is not appropriate to edit them to please the Bandaranaike family. Consequently, the efforts made by Mangala to persuade me to change my authoritarian attitude proved to be unsuccessful; he gave up the idea of ​​holding a photo exhibition at the national level using the collection in my possession. Had I not adhered to such a policy strictly and become flexible to the extent that Mangala wanted, it would have been possible to have an exhibition held across the country making a profound impact on the public. At the same time; it might have caused a big distortion in the purpose of exhibiting the photographs.

Investigator of the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case

Dr. Pathum Kerner, who can be considered as a colourful young liberal leader of the youth struggle, had commented on my book ‘Paradise in Tears’ on social media, two to three weeks ago. Some experiences I encountered in regard to this work may be of importance not only for me but also for the people of this country. One day a person came to me with three copies of the English version of it. The price of the English version was Rs. 3,500 and I was curious to know his identity since he had purchased three copies of it. The happiness I felt when he disclosed his identity was immense and inexpressible. He was the retired CBI officer K. Raghothaman, the chief investigation officer of the Special Investigation Team (SIT) that probed the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case in the early 1990s.

When asked as to why he had purchased three copies of the book, he replied that one copy was for him, one for the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) library and the other for Sonia Gandhi. When I asked him about the relevance and importance of it for him he said that the importance of the book can be seen from the manner in which it has been compiled, and the notes written on the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi can be considered quite special and outstanding. Unfortunately, this excellent investigator died of COVID-19 in May 2021, at the age of 76.

I had commented that it was ironic that Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated by a Tamil woman from the north when in fact he could have been killed before that by a Sinhalese navy soldier in the south. I had a great respect for Rajiv Gandhi. He tried to rectify the mistakes made by his mother. He visited Sri Lanka to sign the Indo-Sri Lanka Peace Accord in Colombo on 29 July 1987, knowing that there was a big risk involved in it. If the Indian troops were not sent to Sri Lanka at that stage at the request of President Jayewardene, Sri Lanka would certainly have ended up in a great destruction being unable to face two powerful rebellions.

If the responsibility of defeating the LTTE was entrusted to the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) instead of following a policy that demanded the IPKF to cease their operation against the LTTE, the defeat of the LTTE would have been a short-term affair and the damage to the Tamil people would have been minimal. Also it would have paved the way for arriving at a political solution to the Tamil problem. If that had been the case, the crisis facing Sri Lanka would not have reached such a decrepit state and the unfortunate situation that the country is in now. According to its location, Sri Lanka should not become a country which is either pro-Indian or anti-Indian. But, in view of the prominence India has gained in the region in terms of its location, size and power and the other aspects, it is important that Sri Lanka should always maintain close and healthy cooperation with India.

Patrick Lawrence

Another wonderful relationship that I developed as a result of this book is as follows. He was Patrick Lawrence, a British national and the editor of the Asian edition of the International Herald Tribune. One day he came to my office with a copy of the English translation of ‘Paradise in Tears’ to have it autographed by me as a memento. I asked him about his opinion of the book. He started the conversation by explaining how he came to know about it. He stayed in Mt. Lavinia. During a conversation he had with a Muslim shopkeeper whom he knew in that area, Patrick had asked him the kind of Sri Lanka that he would expect to live in. The latter had opened a table drawer in the shop and respectfully picked up a book from it and handed it to him and had said that he hopes for a Sri Lanka of the kind that the author of this book is looking forward to.

It was a copy of the Sinhala original of the ‘Paradise in Tears’ the trader had handed him. Although Patrick couldn’t read the Sinhala book, he was able to get an idea about the nature of the book to a certain extent with the aid of the visuals produced in it. Having come to know that there is an English edition as well, of the book he had bought a copy and read it. After that, we had several meetings.

He had read the English translation of ‘Nonimi Aragalaya’ (Unfinished Struggle) authored by me about the crisis in the judiciary. He said that the quality of the English translation of ‘Nonimi Aragalaya’ was not of a satisfactory standard and suggested that it should be re-edited urgently. I also knew that the English version of it was not in a satisfactory standard as the translation was done in a hurry. However, this defect was not rectified with an adequate speed as he expected. Later, he asked for the soft copy of the English translation and was kind enough to copy edit the English text by himself, improving its quality a great deal and without any payment which even after a long time I wish to place on record here as a mark of respect for this celebrated newspaper editor.

Later he quit the field of journalism for some time and worked with the Asian Human Rights Commission. During that time, he wrote and published a book about Sri Lanka titled ‘Conversations in A Failing State’ (in 2008). It was the conversation he had with me on this issue that he had included as the last conversation in that book. This can be considered as a book written on the emerging failure of Sri Lanka based on the views of various people whom he knew in Sri Lanka, about the country. It includes a critical analysis of the great collapse of the judiciary during the tenure of Chief Justice Sarath Nanda Silva. He wonders as to how the judiciary of the country has gone into such a state of ruin by the intervention of a single person.

Rectifying mistakes

The struggle I launched against Chief Justice Sarath Silva continued for 10 years. I neither won nor lost that long, protracted and abysmal struggle. More than a decade has passed since Sarath Silva’s retirement, but the legislature or the judiciary has not rectified the serious mistakes committed by him to the judiciary. Even the Bar Association has not made any effort to correct those mistakes. 15 years have lapsed since I wrote the ‘Paradise in Tears’. Sri Lanka is still living in tears. So far, Sri Lanka has not been able to rectify this ugly situation. Not only the outdated politicians but also the strugglers have failed to realise the reforms the country needs and act accordingly. What is needed now is a reform program that will bring about a profound change in the system. It is something that should be achieved with the support of the Parliament and not through a struggle on the street. Even a change of the government could be effected only by an election, not by a struggle on the street. Only if all conflicting political forces are able to work together to achieve that purpose can the country be oriented to a reform program leading to a profound change in the system.

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, many schoolchildren between the age of 14 to 16 years in the Northern province have dropped out of school.

In 2020, 485 students in the region had dropped out. The number reduced to105 last year. But this year, the number of school dropouts has sharply risen to 519, so far.

In 2020, the highest number of school dropouts was from Madu (94). Mannar had 72 dropouts, while Kilinochchi had 52. The Kilinochchi North Zonal Education Division had 51 dropouts, while 48 drop outs were reported from Mullaitivu.

Northern Provincial Education Director S. Udayakumar said extreme poverty was the main reason for children dropping out of school.

The economic crisis had resulted in parents losing their livelihoods, so many male students had dropped out to seek odd jobs to support their families, he said.

Many of them even left the province to seek jobs in other areas including Colombo, he added.

Meanwhile, the parents of female students had been seeking partners for them either based in Sri Lanka or overseas, and this had resulted in a rise of underage marriages in the province, officials said.

President and the Leader of the United National Party (UNP) Ranil Wickremesinghe has instructed the senior leaders of the party to prepare a new mechanism bring political activists representing all major parties into the UNP fold based on their consent.

The UNP Leader had called upon the UNP seniors to commence work to bring in mainstream representatives as well as the political activists at the rural level of all parties including Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna, Samagi Jana Balawegaya, Janata Vimukthi Peramuna, National Freedom Front, Tamil National Alliance, and Sri Lanka Muslim Congress to the UNP as soon as possible.

These measures have been taken by directing attention to the rapidly changing political climate of the country.

President Wickremesinghe has called upon the party hierarchy to prepare this program as soon as possible and to start the future activities of the party accordingly.

It has been reported that the UNP leader had given these instructions at a high-level political meeting comprising Deputy Leader Ruwan Wijewardene, Chairman Wajira Abeywardena, General Secretary Palitha Range Bandara and Deputy Leader Akila Viraj Kariyawasam.

Whether or not President Ranil Wickremesinghe took SLPP General Secretary Sagara Kariyawasam seriously when the latter publicly pronounced that his party cannot support the recently enacted 21st Amendment to the Constitution (introduced through the 22A Bill) because of provisions there that dual citizen cannot run for elected office, we do not know. But Kariyawasam, clearly went on record making that pronouncement, or more accurately threat. He also said that the SLPP would be discussing the matter with the president at a scheduled meeting. If that meeting was held, and if so what transpired there, is not in the public domain.

What we do know is that 22A (later dubbed 21A) was comfortably passed with the required two thirds majority with Admiral (Retd.) Sarath Weerasekera of the SLPP casting the only dissenting vote. Explaining his party’s stance, Kariyawasam said it was clear that the clause banning dual citizen from running for political office targeted former Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa. This, he said, was totally unacceptable because laws are not meant to target individuals.

In the event many SLPP members, including three Rajapaksas, Namal, Chamal and Sasheendra, voted for the Bill. Party leader Mahinda Rajapaksa was among the many absentees at voting time. Basil Rajapaksa, the national organizer of the SLPP, widely credited to be the brains behind party and its eminence grise has been praised for the SLPP’s success at the 2018 local elections. This was the take-off point for Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s 2019 election as president with the frequently flaunted 6.9 million vote mandate. That paved the way for Mahinda Rajapaksa’s return to office as Prime Minister in 2020.

All that is now old hat. What is important right now is that Basil, more so than his siblings Gotabaya and Mahinda, is perceived as the genius behind the SLPP victory. Some party men have even sycophantically dubbed him as a “man with seven brains.” Brother Gotabaya renounced his U.S. citizenship to run for president in 2019. But Basil was not willing to do likewise and did not run for parliament in 2020 for the reason he was barred by provisions of 19A. While sections of the SLPP-led coalition that swept that election did not favour the removal of the constitutional prohibition of dual citizen from running, President Gotabaya was able to secure the enactment of 20A removing that barrier. He did so with the promise that the new constitution he promised would not include that provision. It was widely anticipated that this was done solely for Basil’s benefit. In eight months he was back in parliament on the SLPP National List assuming the finance ministry brother Mahinda long held both as president and prime minister.

Basil Rajapaksa was permitted by the courts to return to his U.S. homeland where his family lives, for medical attention on the promise he would return. He is now considered the SLPP puppeteer, pulling the strings from far away and setting his party’s agenda. If Basil engineered that some SLPP Member of Parliament, including ministers, were absent at voting time on 21A a few days ago, he did not secure blanket backing for his wishes. Even the Rajapaksas have broken ranks with only Mahinda, with no explanation offered up to now of his reasons for keeping away, remaining on Basil’s side with three other family members voting for the amendment. Does this signal cracks in the party and family? Only time can tell.

SJB, SLFP and dissident SLPP support was necessary for the amendment to get through with the required two thirds majority. The president understood that very well and he would have socked that into the SLPP that elected him president. Given that he only has the assured support of the solitary UNPer who succeeded him in his party’s single national list slot in parliament, Wickremesinghe remains a prisoner of the SLPP in the legislature until February next year when the constitution empowers him to dissolve parliament. Whether he has held out any assurances that he would not do that, and those MPs who would not qualify for a parliamentary pension if they do not have five years parliamentary service would be apprehensive of an early dissolution, he has levers to pressure sections of the SLPP if required.

Justifying his stand, Sagara Kariyawasam pointed out that a Briton of Indian origin has become the prime minister of the UK and urged that the world was now becoming or has become a global village. Implicit in that remark is “why can’t dual citizen Basil retain his U.S. and Sri Lanka citizenships and enjoy the rights of both?” Rishi Sunak was born in Britain, schooled there and graduated from Oxford. His parents immigrated to the UK from East Africa. But comparing Sunak’s case to Basil’s is like comparing chalk and cheese. Basil was born here and sought greener pastures in the U.S., possibly for economic reasons, and acquired citizenship there. He came back after this side of the fence became even greener with MR’s election. Unlike GR, he is unwilling to renounce that citizenship in return for elected office. He has not discussed the reasons for this stance. Reportedly he has a home in the U.S. but not in Malwana according to a court determination. Kariyawasam obviously wants to help Basil to butter his bread on both sides.