Midweek Review

Bronze statue for P’karan, NPP defeat in the North and 16th anniversary of triumph over terrorism

Published

8 months ago

2025/05/14

Canada unveiled the Tamil Genocide Monument in Chinguacousy Park, Brampton, on May 10. The organisers declared the monument honoured the memory of Tamil victims, between 1983 and 2009. The National Council of Canadians Tamils (NCCT), in partnership with the Brampton Tamil Association, the City of Brampton and many other Tamil community organisations, contributed to the project. The 4.8 metre tall stainless steel monument features an outline of Tamil Eelam. The surrounding pillars feature details about the decades of war and genocide, according to the organisers. The memorial is estimated to have cost $150,000.

As Sri Lanka marks the 26th anniversary of its dream-like triumph over terrorism, some of those who spearheaded the successful war effort remain categorised as war criminals without any hearings into such wild allegations before a PROPERLY CONSTITUTED COURT, while those in the West, who brazenly carry out genocides and other war crimes, go scot free.

Successive governments failed to counter wild war crimes allegations showing fealty to criminal white masters not having the backbone to rise above colonial subject mentality and simply be servile to suit their agenda. They intensified pressure on Sri Lanka over the years to appease the Tamil Diaspora who now exercised their rights as citizens of various foreign countries. Canada is a glaring example of Diaspora politics. Two Canadians of Sri Lankan origin were recently elected to the Canadian parliament. Veteran politician V. Anandasangaree’s son, Garry was among the two.

Sri Lanka brought the Eelam War to a successful conclusion in the third week of May 2009. Having crushed the Tigers in the battlefield and restored government control over the entire Northern and Eastern provinces, the armed forces declared the end of the war on May 18, 2009. Within 24 hours of that declaration LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran was killed on the banks of the Nanthikadal lagoon in a one-time LTTE stronghold in the Mullaitivu district.

The Army cremated Prabhakaran’s body, along with that of others killed in May 18/ 19 confrontations. The then Army Chief General Fonseka is on record as having said that his Army cremated Prabhakaran’s body in the same area and threw the ashes into the Indian Ocean.

The Northern branch of the ruling National People’s Power (NPP), in the run-up to Local Government polls, tried to ‘resurrect’ Prabhakaran in a desperate and shameful bid to win the Northern electorate. The NPP handsomely won the entire Northern region, comprising Jaffna and Vanni electorates, at the parliamentary election and was determined to consolidate its power.

During the LG polls campaign, the NPP declared its intention to build a memorial hall in memory of Prabhakaran and a bronze statue of the terrorist leader, ignoring all the grave crimes he and his terrorist band committed to dismember this country in the name of an Eelam they vowed to achieve. The ruling party obviously disregarded possible consequences as it sought to lure the electorate with catchy slogans that depicted the slain terrorist as their national leader.

The main Opposition Samagi Jana Balavegaya (SJB), the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) and the United National Party (UNP) conveniently remained silent on the delicate issue. None of the political parties in the fray criticised the NPP’s declaration to erect a memorial hall and a bronze statue of Prabhakaran in his hometown of Valvettithurai. The SJB obviously felt that a hostile response to NPP’s offer may adversely affect the party at the LG polls. Therefore, the SJB refrained from questioning the NPP’s despicable move.

The NPP seemed to have believed Prabhakaran can be appropriately used in its own campaign. But the Northern and Eastern electorates obviously believed that separatist agenda cannot be advanced by marketing Prabhakaran. Instead, Jaffna voters once again threw their weight behind the Illankai Tamil Arasu Kadchi (ITAK) that once declared the LTTE as the sole representative of the Tamil-speaking people.

What really surprised the NPP was why particularly the Jaffna electorate, having backed President Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s party at the general election in Nov. 2024 again switched its allegiance to the ITAK.

Whatever the outcome of the LG polls, the NPP certainly owed an explanation to the country as to why its Northern branch promoted a separatist agenda at the expense of national security interests. In fact, the ITAK never ever promised to put up a memorial hall in Prabhakaran’s memory or build a statue of him. The NPP, in a cheap bid to capitalise on public sentiments, particularly ahead of the so-called Vellamullivaikkal commemoration, sought to exploit Prabhakaran’s death.

Former parliamentarian M.A. Sumanthiran declared the outcome of the Local Government polls in the Northern and Eastern regions as being significant and decisive. The President’s Counsel emphasised that the results proved the Tamil people’s unwavering commitment to their nationalist aspirations, Sumanthiran said so addressing the media at the Jaffna Press Club. The ITAK contested 58 local councils, across the North-East, and secured administrative control in 40 of them.

The NPP should be mindful of the developing scenario in the North, particularly Jaffna peninsula. Obviously, the outcome at the recently concluded polls would boost the ITAK’s chances at the now long overdue Provincial Council elections expected to be held before the end of this year. Ironically, it was with the ITAK support that Ranil Wickremesinghe put off the PC polls last time.

Against the backdrop of severe setbacks suffered by the NPP in the Northern and Eastern regions, the significant drop in countrywide vote, compared to what the party polled at the parliamentary election, must have compelled the top leadership to discuss ways and means of addressing the developing situation.

NPP presidential candidate Anura Kumara Dissanayake polled 5.7 mn votes (this includes 105,264 preferences) in Sept. 2024, the NPP secured 6.8 mn votes at the parliamentary election and now the support recorded a significant drop with the NPP managing just 4.5 mn votes at the recently concluded LG polls. The situation can deteriorate further at the forthcoming Provincial Council polls.

The failure to retain the support of the predominantly Tamil-speaking areas must be a matter of serious concern for the ruling party. Having boasted of uniting the country by bringing both the North and the South under one political banner by winning all electorates, except Batticaloa, at the last general election, the NPP justly suffered a devastating and unexpected setback at the LG polls with its readiness to betray the South.

N&E outcome

President Dissanayake spearheaded the LG polls campaign. Premier Dr. Harini Amarasuriya threw her full weight behind the campaign. President Dissanayake focused on the Northern and Eastern regions as the ruling party quite clearly understood the pivotal importance in consolidating its hold in the former LTTE strongholds. The NPP’s offer to honour Prabhakaran, who fell with his die-hard inner circle in the last encounter with the security forces, on the banks of the Nanthikadal lagoon, must have surprised even the ITAK as such a sentimental election promise tend to influence the electorate in a big way. But, the electorate ignored that NPP’s offer and reiterated its commitment to the ITAK.

The ITAK obtained 13 seats to secure victory at the Jaffna Municipal Council. The All Ceylon Tamil Congress (ACTC) took the second position with 12 seats whereas the NPP ended up in third place with 10 seats.

The All Ceylon Tamil Congress (ACTC) won the Valvettithurai Urban Council while the ITAK took the second place. The NPP was pushed to a distant third place though Valvettithurai was the centre of the NPP campaign, literally backing Prabhakaran’s macabre feats. The NPP ended up with just three seats. Jaffna MC, VVT UC and all other Local Government bodies at Point Pedro (UC), Chavakachcheri (UC), Karainagar, Kayts, Delft, Velanai, Walikamam west, Walikamam north, Walikamam south-west, Walikamam south, Walikamam east, Vadamarachchy south-west, Point Pedro (Pradeshiya Sabha), Chavakachcheri (PS) and Nallur were all won by Tamil nationalist parties.

The outcome at the Vavuniya MC was really interesting. The Democratic Tamil National Alliance (DTNA), Sri Lanka Labour Party and the NPP won four seats each in the 21-member council. However, the NPP won Vavuniya south (Tamil) PS and Vavuniya north PS by winning six seats each and Vavuniya south (Sinhala) PS though it couldn’t secure a majority.

Troops carry Velupillai Prabharakan’s body following his death in a chance confrontation with the Army the day after the government declared victory over the LTTE
(pic Army)

The bottom line is that the NPP cannot be happy with its performance in the Northern and Eastern regions. The NPP must be really disappointed with the beating it received in the Jaffna peninsula where the ruling party released more land held by the military, lifted restrictions imposed within high security zones by opening a vital section of the Jaffna-Palaly road and generally eased military presence.

The NPP repeatedly pledged to release Tamil political prisoners though such a category didn’t exist. That promise was also made during presidential and parliamentary election campaigns last year. The truth is over 12,000 LTTE cadres, either surrendered or were apprehended during the final phase of the ground offensive in the Vanni east region, had been released over the years. The war-winning Mahinda Rajapaksa government as well as successive administrations didn’t resort to legal action against those who surrendered on the battle field.

Whatever the critics say, Sri Lanka has been credited with carrying out a successful rehabilitation programme that paved the way for former terrorists to reintegrate with the civilian population. The ITAK or other Tamil political parties refrained from backing the government effort. In fact, they did everything possible to undermine the rehabilitation programme. The successful rehabilitation project, spearheaded by the Army, exposed the lies propagated by various interested parties hell-bent on undermining the post-war reconciliation efforts.

Retired Supreme Court Justice C.V. Wigneswaran’s allegation had been at the forefront of these destabilisation efforts. During the Yahapalana administration, Wigneswaran caused a furore when he accused the Army in charge of the rehabilitation programme of poisoning 104 detained LTTEers. The declaration that had been made during the US Air Force exercise in the Jaffna peninsula, in August 2016, was meant to attract maximum public attention. Wigneswaran went to the extent of declaring that some of those who survived lethal injections would be examined by the US Air Force.

Having uttered such blatant lies against the war-winning military, in his capacity as the TNA Chief Minister of the Northern Provincial Council ,Wigneswaran successfully contested the 2020 general election from the newly registered party, the Tamil Makkal Thesiya Kootan (TMTK).

A forgotten war victory

Sri Lanka paid a huge price to bring the war to an end, avoiding civilian casualties as much as humanly possible. The result was that the security forces suffered more casualties. In the absence of a cohesive strategy to counter politically motivated unsubstantiated war crimes allegations, the war-winning Army ended-up mired in controversy. The Army, too, must take responsibility for its pathetic failure to address accountability issues over the years. Thr post-war Army never sought to press the government to adopt a holistic approach as the Geneva–based United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) and the Western powers declared humiliating punitive measures against selected officers on hearsay allegations.

Canada went a step further. Ottawa not only categorised former Presidents Mahinda Rajapaksa and Gotabaya Rajapaksa as war criminals by blindly accusing them of gross and systematic violations of human rights, without a shred of evidence, and then, in a similar cavalier way, declared that Sri Lanka perpetrated genocide. While blacklisting of six persons, including the two Presidents, took place in January 2023, the Canadian Parliament made the declaration, pertaining to genocide, in May 2022.

Unfortunately, the current government, too, is yet to take tangible measures in this regard as it struggles to cope up with political-economic-social developments as its chief Western benefactor itself is now mired in an economic catastrophe of its own making. The government seems simply disinterested in challenging the continuing western campaign against Sri Lanka.

The worrisome situation should be examined taking into consideration the treacherous Yahapalana administration co-sponsoring an accountability resolution against the war-winning armed forces. The despicable 2015 move shook the public conscience. President Maithripala Sirisena and Premier Ranil Wickremesinghe should be held responsible for the great betrayal. Subsequent action taken by the UNHRC, as well as other countries, cannot be discussed leaving out Sirisena-Wickremesinghe betrayal simply to be on the good books of the West.

No political party represented in Parliament, not even the UPFA/SLPP that gave political leadership during the war, bothered to take it up vigorously in Parliament. That is the ugly truth. Harsh reality is that none of the political parties really want to address this issue. Against the backdrop of the Pahalgam massacre in the Indian administered Kashmir, Sri Lanka should have discussed ways and means of reviewing the accountability issues. Instead, the ruling party ended up declaring its intention to honour Prabhakaran responsible for thousands of deaths, including many civilians, and ruining the lives of many more.

Perhaps the NPP should launch an internal inquiry on its northern branch for acting contrary to the policy of the party. However, if the top leadership had been aware of the move to glorify Prabhakaran in a bid to entice the electorate, the party should seriously rethink its treacherous new Northern strategy.

The final phase

In late March this year, the UK imposed sanctions on four persons, including Admiral of the Fleet Wasantha Karannagoda and General Shavendra Silva, wartime commander of celebrated 58 Division. They played an extraordinary role in Sri Lanka’s triumph over the LTTE, often considered invincible on the battlefield, until the experts were proved wrong. The US, too, blacklisted both Karannagoda and Silva during Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s presidency. However, the decision on the part of the US and UK not to sanction tough talking Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka whose leadership ensured seemingly undefeatable LTTE collapsed on the northern theatre of operations is a mystery.

Having backed Fonseka’s presidential bid in 2010, the US may find it embarrassing to sanction the Sinha Regiment veteran. For the British, there cannot be any plausible reason whatsoever not to agree with the US in backing Fonseka’s candidature. Could there be anything as ridiculous as the TNA backing the US initiative, having accused Fonseka of putting Tamil civilians to the sword. Similarly, the TNA backing for Fonseka and the mysterious US and British decision to leave Fonseka out of the sanctioned lists has made the whole selective accountability exercise nothing but a farce.

Successive governments, however, failed to utilise all available information, ranging from US dispatches from its missions in Colombo, as well as other parts of the world, British HC missives from Colombo and Norwegian documents, to build a iron clad defence of our valiant security forces. In fact, 17 years after the eradication of the LTTE, Sri Lanka is yet to reach consensus on countering unsubstantiated war crimes allegations. Sometimes we wonder whether we are represented by top diplomats or ‘diplomuts’ at such high cost to the taxpayer.

Both the US and British wartime defence advisors, serving here on the basis of information available to their respective missions, denied uncorroborated war crimes accusations. Lt. Colonel Lawrence Smith of the US made his disclosure in support of Sri Lanka in late May 2011, whereas Lord Naseby on the basis of Lt. Colonel Anthony Gashes’s dispatches from Colombo (January to May 2009) countered the main UN accusation pertaining to the massacre of over 40,000 civilians. Lord Naseby made his declaration in mid-October 2017. But the duplicitous Yahapalana government, having betrayed the country at the UNHRC, totally ignored the disclosure made in the House of Lords.

The SLFP, too, fully cooperated with the disgraceful UNP strategy meant to advance the government’s political relationship with the TNA at the expense of the armed forces. When the writer raised the pathetic failure on the part of the government to utilise all available information, particularly Lord Naseby’s disclosure, the then Cabinet spokesman Minister Dayasiri Jayasekera accused The Island of causing unnecessary friction.

Parliament, as the highest institution in the country, never sought to examine the circumstances under which the Yahapalana government co-sponsored the contentious Geneva accountability resolution at the expense of war-winning armed forces. The writer on many occasions referred to the attacking speech made by Maj. Gen. Chagie Gallage at the time of his retirement, but feel the need to mention it again. The Gajaba Regiment veteran, strategist Gallage questioned why he is having to retire as a war criminal after having faithfully and diligently served the country. Successive post-war governments should be ashamed for their failure to mount a proper defence of the armed forces whose sacrifices made Sri Lanka safe for all.

Eradication of the LTTE brought an end to the use of children as cannon fodder. The LTTE indiscriminately used child soldiers in the battlefield, with hundreds thrown into high intensity battles. The LTTE tried forced recruitment of children until the very end as the ground forces approached their remaining crumbling defences in the former Mullaitivu stronghold.

Sri Lanka could have avoided post-war turmoil if retired General Fonseka refrained from being part of the UNP’s 2010 political project. In hindsight, Fonseka’s abortive bid at the presidency caused a crisis and paved the way for western powers targeting Sri Lanka over war crimes accusations.

By Shamindra Ferdinando

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Midweek Review

Year ends with the NPP govt. on the back foot

Published

1 day ago

2025/12/24

Sahan Weerasooriya

President Dissanayake addresses Parliament as PM Dr. Harini Amarasuriya looks on. Dissanayake is the leader of both the JVP and NPP

The failure on the part of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP)-led National People’s Power (NPP) government to fulfil a plethora of promises given in the run up to the last presidential election, in September, 2024, and a series of incidents, including cases of corruption, and embarrassing failure to act on a specific weather alert, ahead of Cyclone Ditwah, had undermined the administration beyond measure.

Ditwah dealt a knockout blow to the arrogant and cocky NPP. If the ruling party consented to the Opposition proposal for a Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) to probe the events leading to the November 27 cyclone, the disclosure would be catastrophic, even for the all-powerful Executive President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, as responsible government bodies, like the Disaster Management Centre that horribly failed in its duty, and the Met Department that alerted about the developing storm, but the government did not heed its timely warnings, directly come under his purview.

The NPP is on the back foot and struggling to cope up with the rapidly developing situation. In spite of having both executive presidency and an overwhelming 2/3 majority in Parliament, the government seems to be weak and in total disarray.

The regular appearance of President Dissanayake in Parliament, who usually respond deftly to criticism, thereby defending his parliamentary group, obviously failed to make an impression. Overall, the top NPP leadership appeared to have caused irreparable damage to the NPP and taken the shine out of two glorious electoral victories at the last presidential and parliamentary polls held in September and November 2024 respectively.

The NPP has deteriorated, both in and out of Parliament. The performance of the 159-member NPP parliamentary group, led by Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya, doesn’t reflect the actual situation on the ground or the developing political environment.

Having repeatedly boasted of its commitment to bring about good governance and accountability, the current dispensation proved in style that it is definitely not different from the previous lots or even worse. (The recent arrest of a policeman who claimed of being assaulted by a gang, led by an NPP MP, emphasised that so-called system change is nothing but a farce) In the run-up to the November, 2024, parliamentary polls, President Dissanayake, who is the leader of both the JVP and NPP, declared that the House should be filled with only NPPers as other political parties were corrupt. Dissanayake cited the Parliament defeating the no-confidence motions filed against Ravi Karunanayake (2016/over Treasury Bond scams) and Keheliya Rambukwella (2023/against health sector corruption) to promote his argument. However, recently the ongoing controversy over patient deaths, allegedly blamed on the administration of Ondansetron injections, exposed the government.

Mounting concerns over drug safety and regulatory oversight triggered strong calls from medical professionals, and trade unions, for the resignation of senior officials at the National Medicines Regulatory Authority (NMRA) and the State Pharmaceutical Corporation (SPC).

Medical and civil rights groups declared that the incident exposed deep systemic failures in Sri Lanka’s drug regulatory framework, with critics warning that the collapse of quality assurance mechanisms is placing patients’ lives at grave risk.

The Medical and Civil Rights Professional Association of Doctors (MCRPA), and allied trade unions, accused health authorities of gross negligence and demanded the immediate resignation of senior NMRA and SPC officials.

MCRPA President Dr. Chamal Sanjeewa is on record as having said that the Health Ministry, NMRA and SPC had collectively failed to ensure patient safety, citing, what he described as, a failed drug regulatory system.

The controversy has taken an unexpected turn with some alleging that the NPP government, on behalf of Sri Lanka and India, in April this year, entered into an agreement whereby the former agreed to lower quality/standards of medicine imports.

Trouble begins with Ranwala’s resignation

The NPP suffered a humiliating setback when its National List MP Asoka Ranwala had to resign from the post of Speaker on 13 December, 2024, following intense controversy over his educational qualification. The petroleum sector trade union leader served as the Speaker for a period of three weeks and his resignation shook the party. Ranwala, first time entrant to Parliament was one of the 18 NPP National List appointees out of a total of 29. The Parliament consists of 196 elected and 29 appointed members. Since the introduction of the National List, in 1989, there had never been an occasion where one party secured 18 slots.

The JVP/NPP made an initial bid to defend Ranwala but quickly gave it up and got him to resign amidst media furor. Ranwala dominated the social media as political rivals exploited the controversy over his claimed doctorate from the Waseda University of Japan, which he has failed to prove to this day. But, the JVP/NPP had to suffer a second time as a result of Ranwala’s antics when he caused injuries to three persons, including a child, on 11 December, in the Sapugaskanda police area.

The NPP made a pathetic, UNP and SLFP style effort to save the parliamentarian by blaming the Sapugaskanda police for not promptly subjecting him for a drunk driving test. The declaration made by the Government Analyst Department that the parliamentarian hadn’t been drunk at the time of the accident, several days after the accident, does not make any difference. Having experienced the wrongdoing of successive previous governments, the public, regardless of what various interested parties propagated on social media, realise that the government is making a disgraceful bid to cover-up.

No less a person than President Dissanayake is on record as having said that their members do not consume liquor. Let us wait for the outcome of the internal investigation into the lapses on the part of the Sapugaskanda police with regard to the accident that happened near Denimulla Junction, in Sapugaskanda.

JVP/NPP bigwigs obviously hadn’t learnt from the Weligama W 15 hotel attack in December, 2023, that ruined President Ranil Wickremeinghe’s administration. That incident exposed the direct nexus between the government and the police in carrying out Mafia-style operations. Although the two incidents cannot be compared as the circumstances differ, there is a similarity. Initially, police headquarters represented the interests of the wrongdoers, while President Wickremesinghe bent over backwards to retain the man who dispatched the CCD (Colombo Crime Division) team to Weligama, as the IGP. The UNP leader went to the extent of speaking to Chief Justice Jayantha Jayasuriya, PC, and Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena to push his agenda. There is no dispute the then Public Security Minister Tiran Alles wanted Deshabandu Tennakoon as IGP, regardless of a spate of accusations against him, in addition to him being faulted by the Supreme Court in a high-profile fundamental rights application.

The JVP/NPP must have realised that though the Opposition remained disorganised and ineffective, thanks to the media, particularly social media, a case of transgression, if not addressed swiftly and properly, can develop into a crisis. Action taken by the government to protect Ranwala is a case in point. Government leaders must have heaved a sigh of relief as Ranwala is no longer the Speaker when he drove a jeep recklessly and collided with a motorcycle and a car.

Major cases, key developments

Instead of addressing public concerns, the government sought to suppress the truth by manipulating and exploiting developments

* The release of 323 containers from the Colombo Port, in January 2025, is a case in point. The issue at hand is whether the powers that be took advantage of the port congestion to clear ‘red-flagged’ containers.

Although the Customs repeatedly declared that they did nothing wrong and such releases were resorted even during Ranil Wickremesinghe’s presidency (July 2022 to September 2024), the public won’t buy that. Container issue remains a mystery. That controversy eroded public confidence in the NPP that vowed 100 percent transparency in all its dealings. But the way the current dispensation handled the Port congestion proved that transparency must be the last thing in the minds of the JVPers/NPPers holding office.

* The JVP/NPP’s much touted all-out anti-corruption stand suffered a debilitating blow over their failure to finalise the appointment of a new Auditor General. In spite of the Opposition, the civil society, and the media, vigorously taking up this issue, the government continued to hold up the appointment by irresponsibly pushing for an appointment acceptable to President Dissanayake. The JVP/NPP is certainly pursuing a strategy contrary to what it preached while in the Opposition and found fault with successive governments for trying to manipulate the AG. It would be pertinent to mention that President Dissanayake should accept the responsibility for the inordinate delay in proposing a suitable person to that position. The government failed to get the approval of the Constitutional Council more than once to install a favourite of theirs in it, thanks to the forthright position taken by its civil society representatives.

The government should be ashamed of its disgraceful effort to bring the Office of the Auditor General under its thumb:

* The JVP/NPP government’s hotly disputed decision to procure 1,775 brand-new double cab pickup trucks, at a staggering cost exceeding Rs. 12,500 mn, under controversial circumstances, exposed the duplicity of that party that painted all other political parties black. Would the government rethink the double cab deal, especially in the wake of economic ruination caused by Cyclone Ditwah? The top leadership seems to be determined to proceed with their original plans, regardless of immeasurable losses caused by Cyclone Ditwah. Post-cyclone efforts still remain at a nascent stage with the government putting on a brave face. The top leadership has turned a blind eye to the overwhelming challenge in getting the country back on track especially against the backdrop of its agreement with the IMF.

Post-Cyclone Ditwah recovery process is going to be slow and extremely painful. Unfortunately, both the government and the Opposition are hell-bent on exploiting the miserable conditions experienced by its hapless victims. The government is yet to acknowledge that it could have faced the crisis much better if it acted on the warning issued by Met Department Chief Athula Karunanayake on 12 November, two weeks before the cyclone struck.

Foreign policy dilemma

Sri Lanka moved further closer to India and the US this year as President Dissanayake entered into several new agreements with them. In spite of criticism, seven Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs), including one on defence, remains confidential. What are they hiding?

Within weeks after signing of the seven MoUs, India bought the controlling interests in the Colombo Dockyard Limited for USD 52 mn.

Although some Opposition members, representing the SJB, raised the issue, their leader Sajith Premadasa, during a subsequent visit to New Delhi, indicated he wouldn’t, under any circumstances, raise such a contentious issue.

Premadasa went a step further. The SJB leader assured his unwavering commitment to the full implementation of the 13th Amendment to the Constitution that was forced on Sri Lanka during President JRJ’s administration, under the highly questionable Indo-Lanka Accord of July, 1987, after the infamous parippu drop by Indian military aircraft over Jaffna, their version of the old gunboat diplomacy practiced by the West.

Both India and the US consolidated their position here further in the post-Aragalaya period. Those who felt that the JVP would be in a collision course with them must have been quite surprised by the turn of events and the way post-Aragalaya Sri Lanka leaned towards the US-India combine with not a hum from our carboard revolutionaries now installed in power. They certainly know which side of the bread is buttered. Sri Lanka’s economic deterioration, and the 2023 agreement with the IMF, had tied up the country with the US-led bloc.

In spite of India still procuring large quantities of Russian crude oil and its refusal to condemn Russia over the conflict in Ukraine, New Delhi has obviously reached consensus with the US on a long-term partnership to meet the formidable Chinese challenge. Both countries feel each other’s support is incalculably vital and indispensable.

Sri Lanka, India, and Japan, in May 2019, signed a Memorandum of Cooperation (MoC) to jointly develop the East Container Terminal (ECT) at the Colombo Port. That was during the tail end of the Yahapalana administration. The Gotabaya Rajapaksa administration wanted to take that project forward. But trade unions, spearheaded by the JVP/NPP combine, thwarted a tripartite agreement on the basis that they opposed privatisation of the Colombo Port at any level.

But, the Colombo West International Terminal (CWIT) project, that was launched in November, 2022, during Ranil Wickremesinghe’s presidency, became fully operational in April this year. The JVP revolutionary tiger has completely changed its stripes regarding foreign investments and privatisation. If the JVP remained committed to its previous strategies, India taking over CDL or CWIT would have been unrealistic.

The failure on the part of the government to reveal its stand on visits by foreign research vessels to ports here underscored the intensity of US and Indian pressure. Hope our readers remember how US and India compelled the then President Wickremesinghe to announce a one-year moratorium on such visits. In line with that decision Sri Lanka declared research vessels wouldn’t be allowed here during 2024. The NPP that succeeded Wickremesinghe’s administration in September, 2024, is yet to take a decision on foreign research vessels. What a pity?

The NPP ends the year on the back foot, struggling to cope up with daunting challenges, both domestic and external. The recent revelation of direct Indian intervention in the 2022 regime change project here along with the US underscored the gravity of the situation and developing challenges. Post-cyclone period will facilitate further Indian and US interventions for obvious reasons.

****

Perhaps one of the most debated events in 2025 was the opening of ‘City of Dreams Sri Lanka’ that included, what the investors called, a world-class casino. In spite of mega Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan’s unexpected decision to pull out of the grand opening on 02 August, the investors went ahead with the restricted event. The Chief Guest was President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, who is also the Finance Minister, in addition to being the Defence Minister. Among the other notable invitees were Dissanayake’s predecessor Ranil Wickremesinghe, whose administration gave critical support to the high-profile project, worth over USD 1.2 bn. John Keells Holdings PLC (JKH) and Melco Resorts & Entertainment (Melco) invested in the project that also consist of the luxurious Nüwa hotel and a premium shopping mall. Who would have thought President Dissanayake’s participation, even remotely, possible, against the backdrop of his strong past public opposition to gambling of any kind?

Don’t forget ‘City of Dreams’ received a license to operate for a period of 20 years. Definitely an unprecedented situation. Although that license had been issued by the Wickremesinghe administration, the NPP, or any other political party represented in Parliament, didn’t speak publicly about that matter. Interesting, isn’t it, coming from people, still referred by influential sections of the Western media, as avowed Marxists?

By Shamindra Ferdinando

Midweek Review

The Aesthetics and the Visual Politics of an Artisanal Community

Published

1 day ago

2025/12/24

Sahan Weerasooriya

Through the Eyes of the Patua:

Organised by the Colombo Institute for Human Sciences in collaboration with Millennium Art Contemporary, an interesting and unique exhibition got underway in the latter’s gallery in Millennium City, Oruwala on 21 December 2025. The exhibition is titled, ‘Through the Eyes of the Patua: Ramayana Paintings of an Artisanal Community’ and was organized in parallel with the conference that was held on 20 December 2025 under the theme, ‘Move Your Shadow: Rediscovering Ravana, Forms of Resistance and Alternative Universes in the Tellings of the Ramayana.’ The scrolls on display at the gallery are part of the over 100 scrolls in the collection of Colombo Institute’s ‘Roma Chatterji Patua Scroll Collection.’ Prof Chatterji, who taught Sociology at University of Delhi and at present teaches at Shiv Nadar University donated the scrolls to the Colombo Institute in 2024.

The paintings on display are what might be called narrative scrolls that are often over ten feet long. Each scroll narrates a story, with separate panels pictorially depicting one component of a story. The Patuas or the Chitrakars, as they are also known, are traditionally bards. A bard will sing the story that is depicted by each scroll which is simultaneously unfurled. For Sri Lankan viewers for whom the paintings and their contexts of production and use would be unusual and unfamiliar, the best way to understand them is to consider them as a comic strip. In the case of the ongoing exhibition, since the bards or the live songs are not a part of it, the word and voice elements are missing. However, the curators have endeavoured to address this gap by displaying a series of video presentations of the songs, how they are performed and the history of the Patuas as part of the exhibition itself.

The unfamiliarity of the art on display and their histories, necessitates broader explanation. The Patua hail from Medinipur District of West Bengal in India. Essentially, this community of artisans are traditional painters and singers who compose stories based on sacred texts such as the Ramayana or Mahabharata as well as secular events that can vary from the bombing of the Twin Towers in New York in 2001 to the Indian Ocean Tsunami of 2004. Even though painted storytelling is done by a number of traditional artisan groups in India, the Patua is the only community where performers and artists belong to the same group. Hence, Professor Chatterji, in her curatorial note for the exhibition calls them “the original multi-media performers in Bengal.”

‘The story of the Patuas’ also is an account of what happens to such artisanal communities in contemporary times in South Asia more broadly even though this specific story is from India. There was a time before the 21st century when such communities were living and working across a large part of eastern India – each group with a claim to their recognizably unique style of painting. However, at the present time, this community and their vocation is limited to areas such as Medinipur, Birbhum, Purulia in West Bengal and Dumka in Jharkhand.

A pertinent question is how the scroll painters from Medinipur have survived the vagaries of time when others have not. Professor Chatterji provides an important clue when she notes that these painters, “unlike their counterparts elsewhere, are also extremely responsive to political events.” As such, “apart from a rich repertoire of stories based on myth and folklore, including the Ramayana and other epics, they have, over many years, also composed on themes that range from events of local or national significance such as boat accidents and communal violence to global events such as the tsunami and the attack on the World Trade Centre.”

There is another interesting aspect that becomes evident when one looks into the socio-cultural background of this community. As Professor Chatterji writes, “one significant feature that gives a distinct flavour to their stories is the fact that a majority of Chitrakars consider themselves to be Muslims but perform stories based largely on Hindu myths.” In this sense, their story complicates the tension-ridden dichotomies between ethno-cultural and religious groups typical of relations between groups in India as well as more broadly in South Asia, including in Sri Lanka. Prof Chatterji suggests this positionality allows the Patua to have “a truly secular voice so vital in the world that we live in today.”

As a result, she notes, contemporary Patuas “have propagated the message of communal harmony in their compositions in the context of the recent riots in India and the Gulf War. Their commentaries couched in the language of myth are profoundly symbolic and draw on a rich oral tradition of storytelling.” What is even more important is their “engagement with contemporary issues also inflects their aesthetics” because many of these painters also “experiment with novel painterly values inspired by recent interaction with new media such as comic books and with folk art forms from other parts of the country.”

From this varied repertoire of the Patuas’ painterly tradition, this exhibition focusses on scrolls portraying different aspects of the Ramayana. In North Indian and the more dominant renditions of the Ramayana, the focus is on Rama while in many alternate renditions this shifts to Ravana as typified by versions popular among the Sinhalas and Tamils in Sri Lanka as well as in some areas in several Indian states. Compared to this, the Patua renditions in the exhibition mostly illustrate the abduction of Sita with a pronounced focus on Sita and not on Ravana, the conventional antagonist or on Rama, the conventional protagonist. As a result, these two traditional male colossuses are distant. Moreover, with the focus on Sita, these folk renditions also bring to the fore other figures directly associated with her such as her sons Luv and Kush in the act of capturing Rama’s victory horse as well as Lakshmana.

Interestingly, almost as a counter narrative, which also serves as a comparison to these Ramayana scrolls, the exhibition also presents three scrolls known as ‘bin-Laden Patas’ depicting different renditions on the attack on New York’s Twin Towers.

While the painted scrolls in this collection have been exhibited thrice in India, this is the first time they are being exhibited in Sri Lanka, and it is quite likely such paintings from any community beyond Sri Lanka’s shores were not available for viewing in the country before this. Organised with no diplomatic or political affiliation and purely as a Sri Lankan cultural effort with broader South Asian interest, it is definitely worth a visit. The exhibition will run until 10 January 2026.