Did CIA chief William Burns visit Colombo in Feb 2023? Sri Lanka and the US refrained from formally confirming the visit. The Opposition sought confirmation of the then CIA Chief’s visit to Colombo in terms of the Right to Information Act but the Wickremesinghe-Rajapaksa government sidestepped the query. A former Republican congressman from Texas and Director of National Intelligence (2020–2021) John Ratcliffe succeeded Burns in late January 2025.

On the sheer weight of new evidence presented by Asanga Abeyagoonasekera’s ‘Winds of Change’, readers can get a clear picture of the forces that overthrew President Gotabaya Rajapaksa in 2022.

Even five years after the political upheaval, widely dubbed ‘Aragalaya,’ controversy surrounds the high-profile operation that forced wartime Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa to literally run for his dear life.

Gotabaya Rajapaksa, formerly of the Army but a novice to party politics, comfortably won the 2019 November presidential election against the backdrop of the Easter Sunday carnage that caused uncertainty and suspicions among communities. The economic crisis, also clandestinely engineered from abroad, firstly by crippling vital worker remittances from abroad, almost from the onset of Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s presidency, overwhelmed the government and created the environment conducive for external intervention. Could it have been avoided if the government, that enjoyed a near two-thirds majority in Parliament, sought the help of the International Monetary Fund (IMF)?

The costly and well-funded book project, undertaken at the time Abeyagoonasekera was working on a governance diagnostic report for the IMF, in the wake of the change of government in Sri Lanka, meticulously examined the former Lieutenant Colonel’s ouster, taking into consideration regional as well as global developments. Abeyagoonasekera dealt efficiently and furiously with rapidly changing situations and developments before the unprecedented 03 January, 2026, US raid on Venezuela.

Lt. Col. (retd) Gotabaya Rajapaksa, for some unexplainable reason and a considerable time after the events, has chosen to blame his ouster on the United States. We cannot blame him either, by the way we have seen how other regime changes had been engineered, in our region, by Washington, since and before Gotabaya’s ouster. The accusation is extraordinary as Gotabaya Rajapaksa in his memoirs ‘The conspiracy to oust me from presidency’ refrained from naming the primary conspirator, though he clearly alluded to an international conspiracy.

April 8, 2019 meeting

Launched in March 2024, in the run-up to the presidential election that brought Anura Kumara Dissanayake (AKD) to power, almost in a dream ride, if not for the intervening outside evil actors, ‘The conspiracy to oust me from presidency’ discussed the international conspiracy, but conveniently failed to name the primary conspirator. What made the former President speak so candidly with Abeyagoonasekera, the founding Director-General of the national security think tank, the Institute of National Security Studies Sri Lanka (INSS), under the Ministry of Defence, from 2016 to 2020?

Abeyagoonasekera also served as Executive Director at the Lakshman Kadirgamar Institute (LKI), under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (2011–2015), during Mahinda Rajapaksa’s second term as the President. The author, both precisely and furiously, dealt with issues. Readers may find very interesting quotes and they do give a feeling of the author’s general hostility towards the US, India, as well as to the US-India marriage of convenience. Those who sense so may end up thinking ‘Change of Winds’ being supportive of the Chinese strategy. Among the highly sensitive quotes that underlined the Indian approach were attributed to Indian Defence Secretary Sanjay Mitra. The author quoted Mitra as having declared: “We need the MRCC centre [Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre], and you cannot give it to another nation.” As pointed out by the author, it was not a request but an order given to Sri Lanka on 8 April, 2019, meant to prevent Sri Lanka from even considering a competing proposal from China. Against that background, the author, who had been present at that meeting at which the Sri Lanka delegation was led by then Defence Secretary Hemasiri Fernando, questioned the failure on the part of the delegations to take up the Easter Sunday attacks. Terrorists struck two weeks later. Implications were telling.

That particular quote reveals the circumstances India and the US operated here. No wonder the incumbent government does not want to discuss the secret defence MoUs it has entered into with India and the US as they would clearly reveal the sellout of our interests.

The following line says a lot about the circumstances under which Gotabaya Rajapaksa was removed: “In Singapore, a senior journalist recounted how Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s resignation was scripted, under duress, at a hotel, facilitated by a foreign motorcade.”

In the first Chapter that incisively dealt with the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), the author was so lucky to secure an explosive quote from the ousted leader in an exclusive, hitherto unreported, interview in June 2024, a few months after the launch of Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s memoirs. The ex-President hadn’t minced his words when he alleged that the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) orchestrated his removal. He also claimed that he had been under US surveillance throughout his presidency.

The ousted leader has confidently cleared India’s Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) of complicity in the operation. What made him call Indian National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval ‘a good man,’ in response to Abeyagoonasekera’s pointed query. Abeyagoonasekera quoted Gotabaya Rajapaksa as having said: “… he would never do such things.” The ex-President must have some reason to call Doval a good friend, regardless of intense pressure exerted on him and the Mahinda Rajapaksa government by the Indians to do away with large scale Chinese-funded projects. (Doval in late October last year declared “poor governance” was the reason behind uprisings that led to change of governments in Bangladesh, Nepal, and Sri Lanka over the period of past three-and-a-half years. The media quoted Doval as having said, during a function in New Delhi, that democracy and non-institutional methods of regime change in countries, such as Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Nepal, created their own set of problems. That was the first time a senior Indian government official made remarks on Nepal’s government change, followed by the Gen Z uprising in early September, 2025.)

Gotabaya Rajapaksa also cleared the Chinese of seeking to oust him. It would be pertinent to mention that China reacted sternly when at the onset of the Gotabaya presidency, the President suggested the need to re-negotiate the Hambantota Port deal.

During the treacherous ‘Yahapalana’ administration (2015 to 2019) Gotabaya Rajapaksa told me how Doval had pressed him to halt not only the Colombo Port City project but to take back Hambantota Port as well. By then, the Chinese had twisted the arms of the Yahapalana leaders Mairthpala Sirisena and Ranil Wickremesinghe and secured the Hambantota Port on a 99-year lease in a one-sided USD 1.2 bn deal. The Colombo Port City project, that had been halted by the Yahapalana government, too, was resumed possibly under Chinese threat or for some money incentive.

Once Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe, PC, declared, at a hastily arranged media briefing at Sri Lanka Foundation (SLF), that Sri Lanka would be relentlessly targeted as long as the Chinese held the Hambantota Port. The writer was present at that media briefing.

Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe said so in the aftermath of the 2019 Easter Sunday carnage, while disclosing his abortive bid to convince the Yahapalana government to abrogate the Hambantota Port deal. Did the parliamentarian know something we were not aware of? The author’s assessment, regarding the Easter Sunday attacks, based on interviews with Chinese officials and scholars, is frightening and an acknowledgement of a possible Western role in Sri Lanka’s destabilisation plot.

The ousted leader, in his lengthy interview with Abeyagoonasekera, made some attention-grabbing comments on the then US Ambassador here, Julie Chung. The ex-President questioned a particular aspect of Chung’s conduct during the protest campaign but his decision not to reveal it all in his memoirs is a mystery. Perhaps, one of the most thought-provoking queries raised by Abeyagoonasekera is the rationale in Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s claim that he didn’t want to suppress the protest campaign by using force against the backdrop of his own declaration that the CIA orchestrated the project.

Author’s foray into parliamentary politics

Gotabaya

For those genuinely interested in post-Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga developments, pertaining to international relations and geopolitics, may peruse ‘Winds of Change’ as the third of a trilogy. ‘Sri Lanka at Crossroads’ (2019) dealt with the Mahinda Rajapaksa period and ‘Conundrum of an Island’ (2021) discussed the treacherous Sirisena–Wickremesinghe alliance. The third in the series examined the end of the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna’s (SLPP) President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s rule and the rise of Anura Kumara Dissanayake (AKD) whom the author described as a Marxist, though this writer is of the view the JVP and NPP leader AKD is not so. AKD has clearly aligned his administration with US-India while trying to sustain existing relationship with China.

Among Asanga Abeyagoonasekera’s other books were ‘Towards a Better World Order’ (2015) and ‘Teardrop Diplomacy: China’s Sri Lanka Foray’ (2023, Bloomsbury).

Had Abeyagoonasekera succeeded in his bid to launch a political career in 2015, the trilogy on Sri Lanka may not have materialised. Abeyagoonasekera contested the Gampaha district at the August 2015 parliamentary election on the UNP ticket but failed to garner sufficient preferences to secure a place in Parliament. That dealt a devastating setback to Abeyagoonasekera’s political ambitions, but the Wickremesinghe-Sirisena administration created the Institute of National Security Studies Sri Lanka (INSS), under the Ministry of Defence, for him. Abeyagoonasekera received the appointment as the founding Director-General of the national security think tank, from 2016 to 2020.

Several persons dealt with ‘Aragalaya’ (the late Prof. Nalin de Silva used to call it (Paragalaya) before Abeyagoonasekera though none of them examined the regional and global contexts so deeply, taking into consideration the relevant developments. Having read Wimal Weerawansa’s (Nine: The hidden story), Sena Thoradeniya’s (Galle Face Protest; Systems Change or Anarchy?). Mahinda Siriwardena’s (Sri Lanka’s Economic Revival – Reflection on the Journey from Crisis to Recovery) and Prof. Sunanda Maddumabandara’s (Aragalaye Balaya), the writer is of the opinion Abeyagoonasekera dealt with the period in question as an incisive insider.

Abeyagoonasekera, as a person who left the country, under duress, in 2021, painted a frightening picture of a country with a small and vulnerable economy trapped in major global rivalries. The former government servant attributed his self–imposed exile to two issues.

The first was the 2019 Easter Sunday carnage. Why did the Wickremesinghe-Sirisena government ignore the warning issued by Abeyagoonasekera, in his capacity as DG INSS, in respect of the Easter Sunday bombing campaign? There is absolutely no ambiguity at all in his claim. Abeyagoonasekera insists that he alerted the government four months before the National Thowheed Jamath (NTJ) bombers struck. The bottom line is that Abeyagoonasekera had issued the warning several weeks before India did but those at the helm of that inept administration chose to turn a blind eye.

The second was the impending economic crisis that engulfed the country in 2022. Abeyagoonasekera is deeply bitter about his arrest on 21 July, 2024, at the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) over an alleged IRD –related offence as reported at that time, especially because he was returning home to visit his sick mother.

Asanga’s father Ossie, a member of Parliament and controversial figure, was killed in an LTTE suicide attack at Thotalanga in late Oct. 1994. The Chairman and leader of Sri Lanka Mahajana Pakshaya had been on stage with then UNP presidential election candidate Gamini Dissanayake when the woman suicide cadre blasted herself. The assassination was meant to ensure Kumaratunga’s victory. The LTTE probably felt that it could manipulate Kumaratunga than the experienced Dissanayake who may have had reached some sort of consensus with New Delhi on how to deal with the LTTE.

Let me reproduce a question posed to Asanga Abeyagoonasekera and his response in ‘Winds of Change’ as some may believe that the author is holding something back. “Didn’t they listen?” a US intelligence officer had asked me incredulously after the bombings. Years later, during my role as a technical advisor for the International Monetary Fund (IMF) amid Sri Lanka’s collapse, the question resurfaced: “How did you foresee the collapse of a powerful regime with a majority in parliament?” My answer remained the same—patterns. Rigorously gathered data and relentless analysis reveal the arcs of history before they unfold.

Perhaps, readers may find what former cashiered Flying Officer Keerthi Ratnayake had to say about ‘Aragalaya’ and related developments (https://island.lk/ex-slaf-officer-sheds-light-on-developments-leading-to-aragalaya/)

Bombshell claim

Essentially, Abeyagoonasekera, on the basis of his exclusive and lengthy interview with former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, confirmed what Wimal Weerawansa and Sena Thoradeniya alleged that the US spearheaded the operation.

But Prof. Maddumabandara, a confidant of first post-Aragalaya President Ranil Wickremesinghe has bared the direct Indian involvement in the regime change operation. In spite of Gotabaya Rajapaksa confidently clearing Indian NSA Doval of complicity in his ouster, Prof. Maddumabandara is on record as having said that the then Indian High Commissioner here Gopal Baglay put pressure on Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena to take over the government for an interim period. (https://island.lk/dovals-questionable-regional-stock-taking/)

Obviously, the US and India worked together on the Sri Lanka regime change operation. That is the undeniable truth. India wanted to thwart Wickremesinghe receiving the presidency by bringing in Speaker Abeywardena. That move went awry in spite of some sections of both Buddhist and Catholic clergy throwing their weight behind New Delhi.

The 2022 violent regime change operation cannot be discussed without taking into consideration the US-led project that also involved the UNP, JVP and TNA to engineer retired General Sarath Fonseka’s victory at the 2010 presidential election and their backing for turncoat Maithripala Sirisena at the 2015 presidential election.

The section, titled ‘Echoes of Crisis from Sri Lanka to Bangladesh: South Asia’s Struggle in a Polycrisis’, is riveting and underscores the complexity of the situation and fragility of governments. Executive power and undisputable majorities in Parliament seems irrelevant as external powers intervene thereby making the electoral system redundant.

Having meticulously compared the overthrowing of Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Bangladesh’s Premier Sheikh Hasina, the author condemned them for their alleged failures and brutality. Abeyagoonasekera stated: “When the military sides with the protesters, as it did in Sri Lanka and now in Bangladesh, it reveals the rulers’ vulnerabilities.” The author unmercifully chided the former President for seeking refuge in the West while alleging direct CIA role in his ouster. But that may have spared his life. Had he sought a lifeline from the Chinese so late the situation could have taken a turn for worse.

The comment that had been attributed to Gotabaya Rajapaksa seemed to belittle Ranil Wickremesinghe who accepted the challenge of becoming the Premier in May 2022 and then chosen by the ruling SLPP to complete the remainder of Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s five-year term. Ranil was definitely seen as an opportunistic vulture who backed ‘Aragalaya’ without any qualms till he saw an opening for himself out of the chaos.

On Wickremesinghe’s path

Abeyagoonasekera discussed the joint US-Indian strategy pertaining to Sri Lanka. Whatever the National People’s Power (NPP) and its President say, the current dispensation is continuing Wickremesinghe’s policy as pointed out by the author. In fact, this government appears to be ready even to go beyond Wickremesinghe’s understanding with New Delhi. The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on defence and the selling of the controlling interests of the Colombo Dockyard Limited (CDL) to India, mid last year, must have surprised even those who always pushed for enhanced relations at all levels.

The economic collapse that resulted in political upheaval has given New Delhi the perfect opportunity to consolidate its position here. Uncomplimentary comments on current Indian High Commissioner Santosh Jha in ‘Winds of Change’ have to be discussed, paying attention to Sri Lanka’s growing dependence and alleged clandestine activities of India’s Research and Analysis Wing (RAW). Abeyagoonasekera seemed to have no qualms in referring to RAW’s hand in 2019 Easter Sunday carnage.

Overall ‘Winds of Change’ encourages, inspires and confirms suspicions about US and Indian intelligence services and underscores the responsibility of those in power to be extra cautious. But, in the case of smaller and weaker economies, such as Sri Lanka still struggling to overcome the economic crisis, there seems to be no solution. Not only India and the US, the Chinese, too, pursue their agenda here unimpeded. Utilisation of political parties, represented in Parliament, selected individuals, and media, in the Chinese efforts, are obvious. Once parliamentarian Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe raised the Chinese interventions in Sri Lanka. He questioned the Parliament receiving about 240 personal laptops for all parliamentarians and top officials. The then UNPer told the writer his decision not to accept the laptop paid for by China. Perhaps, he is the only Sri Lankan politician to have written a strongly worded letter to Chinese leader Xi warning against high profile Chinese strategy.

Winds of Change
is available at
Vijitha Yapa and Sarasavi

By Shamindra Ferdinando

Lo and behold the dangerous doings,

Of our most rational of animals,

Said to be the pride of the natural order,

Who stands on its head Perennial Wisdom,

Preached by the likes of Plato and Confucius,

Now vexing the earth and international waters,

With nuke-armed subs and other lethal weapons,

But giving fresh life to the Balance of Terror,

And the spectre of Mutually Assured Destruction.

By Lynn Ockersz

President Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s (AKD) recent visit to Jaffna received significant social media attention due to posting of a less than a minute-long video of him going for a walk there.

An unarmed soldier was captured walking beside AKD who is also the Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces in addition to being the Defence Minister. A soldier carrying an assault rifle was seen walking behind AKD. There was another soldier in a pair of shorts walking just behind the President. AKD’s Personal Security Officer (PSO) was not on that video. By January 26th morning that video received 378 K ‘hits’ and 9.8 K reactions.

AKD was in a pair of shorts and running shoes. There hadn’t been a previous occasion in which AKD was captured in a pair of shorts during his time as a lawmaker or the President. AKD was there on a two-day visit that coincided with Thai Pongal.

AKD’s latest visit to Jaffna for Thai Pongal caused a huge controversy when he declared that those who visited Buddhist shrines there influenced and encouraged hate. “Coming to Jaffna to observe sil on a Poya Day, while passing the Sri Maha Bodhi, is not virtue, but hatred,” AKD declared. The utterly uncalled for declaration received the wrath of the Buddhists. What made AKD, the leader of the JVP, a generally avowed agnostics, as well as NPP, to make such an unsubstantiated statement?

Opposition political parties did not waste much time to exploit AKD’s Jaffna visit to their advantage. They accused AKD of betraying the majority Buddhists in the country. Those who peruse social media know how much AKD’s Jaffna talk angered the vast majority of people aware of the sacrifices made by the armed forces and police to eradicate terrorism.

If not for the armed forces triumph over the LTTE in May 2009, AKD would never have ended up in the Office of the President. That is the undeniable truth. Whatever, various interested parties say, the vast majority of people remember the huge battlefield sacrifices made by the country’s armed forces that made the destruction of the LTTE’s conventional military power possible. Although some speculated that the LTTE may retain the capability to conduct hit and run attacks, years after the loss of its conventional capacity, the group couldn’t stage a comeback, thanks to eternal vigilance and the severity of its defeat.

AKD’s attention-grabbing Jaffna walk is nothing but a timely reminder that separatist Tamil terrorism had been defeated, conclusively. Of course, various interested parties may still propagate separatist views and propaganda but Eelam wouldn’t be a reality unless the government – whichever political party is in power – created an environment conducive for such an eventuality.

The JVP/NPP handsomely won both the presidential and parliamentary polls in Sept. and Nov. 2024, respectively. Their unprecedented triumph in the Northern and Eastern provinces emboldened their top leadership to further consolidate their position therein at any cost. However, an unexpected and strong comeback made by one-time LTTE ally, the TNA, appeared to have unnerved the ruling party. On the other hand, the TNA, too, seems to be alarmed over AKD’s political strategy meant to consolidate and enhance his political power in the North.

Perhaps, against the backdrop of AKD’s Jaffna walk, we should recollect the capture of Jaffna, the heart of the separatist campaign during President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga’s time. Jaffna town was regained in the first week of December, 1995, 11 years before the outbreak of Eelam War IV (August 2006 to May 2009).

Operation Riviresa

In the run-up to the January 2015 presidential election, Kumaratunga, who served two terms as President (1994 to 1999 and 2001 to 2005), declared that her administration liberated 75% of the territory held by the LTTE. That claim was made in support of Maithripala Sirisena’s candidature at the then presidential election. Kumaratunga joined hands with the UNP’s Ranil Wickremesinghe, the JVP (NPP was formed in 2019), the SLMC and the TNA to ensure Sirisena’s victory.

Liberating 75% of territory held by the LTTE was nothing but a blatant lie. That claim was meant to dispute war-winning President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s bid for a third term. Ahead of the 2005 presidential election, Kumaratunga’s administration lost the capacity to conduct large-scale ground offensives in the Northern theatre of operations. In fact, the last major offensive, codenamed Agni Kheelsa in April 2001, had been undertaken in the Jaffna peninsula where the Army suffered debilitating losses, both in men and material. That was President Kumaratunga’s last attempt to flex military muscle. But, she should be credited for whole-heartedly supporting Operation Riviresa (Aug. to Dec. 1995) that brought back Jaffna under government control.

In spite of several major attempts by the LTTE to drive the Army out of Jaffna, the military held on. The largest ever combined security forces offensive, under President Mahinda Rajapaksa, with the Navy and Air Force initiating strategic action against the LTTE and the triumph over separatist terrorism in two months short of three years, should be examined taking into consideration the liberation of the Jaffna peninsula and the islands.

If President Kumaratunga failed to bring Jaffna under government control in 1995 and sustain the military presence there, regardless of enormous challenges, the war wouldn’t have lasted till 2006 and the outcome of the war could have gone the other way much earlier. Whatever the criticism of Kumaratunga’s rule, liberating the Jaffna peninsula is her greatest achievement. Regardless of financial constraints, Kumaratunga and her clever and intrepid Treasury Secretary, the late A.S. Jayawardena, provided the wherewithal for the armed forces to go on the offensive. After the successful capture of Jaffna, by the end of 1995, Kumaratunga ordered Kfirs and MiG 27s, and a range of other weapons, including Multi Barrel Rocket Launchers (MBRLs), to enhance the fire power, but the military couldn’t achieve the desired results. While she provided any amount of jaw, jaw, it was Amarananda Somasiri Jayawardena who ensured that the armed forces were provided with the necessary wherewithal, under difficult circumstances, especially in the aftermath of the later humiliating Wanni debacle, when he was the Central Bank Governor.

AKD is certainly privileged to engage in morning exercises in a terrain where some of the fiercest battles of the Eelam conflict were fought, involving the Indian Army, as well as other Tamil groups, sponsored by New Delhi, in the ’80s.

When the Army secured Jaffna, in 1995, and lost Elephant Pass in 2000, the forward defence lines had to be re-established and defended at great cost to both men and material. By then, the Vanni had become the LTTE stronghold and successful ground offensive seemed impossible but under President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s political leadership the combined armed forces achieved the unthinkable – the annihilation of the LTTE in a way it couldn’t make a comeback at any level. AKD’s post that went viral recently is evidence that peace has been restored and maintained for the Commander-in-Chief to take a walk on a Jaffna street.

Social media comments on AKD’s Jaffna walk reflected public thinking, especially against the backdrop of that unwarranted claim regarding Buddhists influencing hatred by visiting Jaffna on a Poya Day to observe sil, having passed the Sri Maha Bodhi.

UK anti-SL campaign

President Dissanayake taking a walk

It would be pertinent to ask the Sri Lanka High Commission in the UK regarding action taken to counter the continuing propaganda campaign against the country. Sri Lankan HC in the UK Nimal Senadheera owed an explanation as UK politicians seemed to be engaged in a stepped-up Sri Lanka bashing with the NPP government not making any effort to counter such propaganda against our country.

Interestingly, the UK government is on a collision course with no less a person than President Donald Trump over his recent humiliating comments on NATO troops who fought alongside the Americans in Afghanistan.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is on record as having said that President Trump’s comments were “insulting and frankly appalling.” Starmer suggested the US President apologise for his remarks. Amidst strong protests by humiliated NATO countries, President Trump retracted his derogatory comments.

But the UK’s position with regard to Tamil terrorism that also claimed the lives of nearly 1,500 Indian officers and men seemed different. The UK continues to ignore crimes perpetrated by the LTTE, including rival Tamil groups, political parties and Tamil civilians.

The Labour Party that promoted and encouraged terrorism throughout the war here raised the post-war Sri Lanka situation again.

The Labour Party questioned the British government in the House of Commons recently on what action it was taking to support Tamils seeking justice for past and ongoing abuses in Sri Lanka.

Raising the issue on 20 January 2026, Peter Lamb, the Labour MP for Crawley, asked: “What action is the UK Government taking to support Tamils in seeking justice for past and current injustices?”

Responding on behalf of the government, Hamish Falconer, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, said the UK remained actively engaged in accountability for crimes committed against the Tamil people.

“The UK is active in seeking justice and accountability for Sri Lanka’s Tamil community,” Falconer told the House. He said Britain continues to play a leading role at the United Nations Human Rights Council on resolutions addressing Sri Lanka’s human rights record.

Falconer added that the UK had taken concrete steps in recent years, including imposing sanctions. “Last year, we sanctioned Sri Lankans for human rights violations in the civil war,” he said, referring to measures targeting individuals implicated in serious abuses.

He also stated that the UK had communicated its expectations directly to Colombo. “We have made clear to the Sri Lankan Government the importance of improved human rights for all in Sri Lanka, as well as reconciliation,” Falconer said.

Concluding his response, Falconer marked the Tamil harvest festival, adding, “Let me take the opportunity to wish the Tamil community a happy Thai Pongal.”

The UK cannot be unaware that quite a number of ex-terrorists today carry British passports.

David Lammy’s promise

Our High Commissioner in London Nimal Senadheera, in consultation with the Foreign Ministry in Colombo, should take up the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office Hamish Falconer’s comment on sanctions imposed on Sri Lankans in March 2025. Falconer was referring to General (retd.) Shavendra Silva, Admiral of the Fleet Wasantha Karannagoda, General (retd), Jagath Jayasuriya and one-time LTTE commander Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan, aka Karuna Amman.

The then Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, David Lammy, declared in March 2025 that the above-mentioned Sri Lankans were sanctioned in line with election promises. A UK government statement quoted Lammy as having said: “I made a commitment during the election campaign to ensure those responsible are not allowed impunity. This decision ensures that those responsible for past human rights violations and abuses are held accountable.”

Since then David Lammy has received the appointment as Lord Chancellor, Secretary of State for Justice and Deputy Prime Minister.

Recent Thai Pongal celebrations held at 10 Downing Street for the second consecutive year, too, was used to disparage Sri Lanka with reference to genocide and Tamils fleeing the country. They have conveniently forgotten the origins of terrorism in Sri Lanka and how the UK, throughout the murderous campaign, backed terrorism by giving refuge to terrorists.

The British had no qualms in granting citizenship to Anton Balasingham, one-time translator at the British HC in Colombo and one of those who had direct access to LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran. Balasingham’s second wife, Australian-born Adele, too, promoted terrorism and, after her husband’s demise in Dec 2006, she lives comfortably in the UK.

Adele had been captured in LTTE fatigues with LTTE women cadres. The possibility of her knowing the LTTE suicide attack on former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in May 1991 can never be ruled out.

With the British PM accommodating those campaigning against Sri Lanka at 10 Downing Street and the Deputy PM openly playing politics with the issues at hand, Sri Lanka is definitely on a difficult wicket.

Sri Lanka has chosen to appease all at the expense of the war-winning military. The NPP government never made a genuine effort to convince Britain to rescind sanctions imposed on three senior ex-military officers and Karuna. The British found fault with Karuna because he switched allegiance to the Sri Lankan military in 2004. The former eastern commander’s unexpected move weakened the LTTE, not only in the eastern theatre of operations but in Vanni as well. Therefore, the British in a bid to placate voters of Sri Lankan origin, sanctioned Karuna while accommodating Adele whose murderous relationship with the LTTE is known both in and outside the UK Parliament.

Some British lawmakers, in a shameless and disgraceful manner, propagated lies in the UK Parliament for obvious reasons. Successive governments failed to counter British propaganda over the years but such despicable efforts, on behalf of the LTTE, largely went unanswered. Our governments lacked the political will to defend the war-winning armed forces. Instead, the treacherous UNP and the SLFP got together, in 2015, to back a US-led accountability resolution that sought to haul Sri Lanka up before the Geneva-based United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC).

The possibility of those who propagated lies receiving monetary benefits from interested parties cannot be ruled out. Sri Lanka never bothered to counter unsubstantiated allegations. Sri Lanka actually facilitated such contemptible projects by turning a blind eye to what was going on.

The Canadian Parliament declaration that Sri Lanka perpetrated genocide during the conflict didn’t surprise anyone. The 2022 May announcement underscored Sri Lanka’s pathetic failure on the ‘human rights’ front. The Gotabaya Rajapaksa government struggling to cope with the massive protest campaign (Aragalaya) never really addressed that issue. Ranil Wickremesinghe, who succeeded Gotabaya Rajapaksa in July 2022, too, failed to take it up with Canada. The NPP obviously has no interest in fighting back western lies.

The Canada Parliament is the first national body to condemn Sri Lanka over genocide. It wouldn’t be the only parliament to take such a drastic step unless Sri Lanka, at least now, makes a genuine effort to set the record straight. Political parties, representing our Parliament, never reached a consensus regarding the need to defeat terrorism in the North or in the South. Of those elected representatives backed terrorism in the North as well as terroirism in the South. Perhaps, they have collectively forgotten the JVP terrorism that targeted President JRJ and the entire UNP Parliamentary group. The JVP attack on the UNP, in parliament, in August 1987, is a reminder of a period of terror that may not have materialised if not for the Indian intervention.

By Shamindra Ferdinando