Features

Ranil’s Triple Reconciliation: National, Criminal and Electoral

Published

3 years ago

2023/04/30

by Rajan Philips

Everyone is familiar with national reconciliation, some even to the point of being bored. I am using the term reconciliation in two other situations: one, in accommodating criminal activities, past and present; and two, in juggling between different elections (local, provincial, parliamentary) for presidential advantage. The prime mover and chief puppeteer in all three is, of course, President Wickremesinghe. National reconciliation has been a longtime pastime for the President. To be fair, the man actually believes in it and is quite sincere about it. But his pure intentions and the positive benefits of national reconciliation are invariably contaminated by what goes on in the sphere of criminal activity and on the terrain of electoral politics. In both areas, the President has notorious precedents to follow, and he keeps following them rather dissapointingly in spite of his lofty assurances to the contrary.

Let us take criminal reconciliation first, as it is the oldest of the three. The political accommodation of crime and corruption became a phenomenon after the 1977 parliamentary election, and more comprehensively after the presidential election of 2010. We don’t need to name any names here. It was the allegation and experience of corruption that led to the first defeat of a sitting President in 2015. The white knight who promised the eradication of corruption in January 2015 was then Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe. But within days of his promises and the celebrations at Independence Square, the Central Bank bond scam hit the political fans.

Thajudeen and Schaffter

For all intents and purposes, the promises of yahapalanaya were dead on arrival. But the pretension of action was not given up. Special mechanisms for investigating corruption were set up for public showing, but their progress was stymied from the top. President Sirisena did it clumsily. Prime Minister Wickremesinghe did it artfully. The so called emblematic crimes were reopened from cold storage and nothing actually came out for any of them. Police covered up the death of Wasim Thajudeen as an accident in 2012, but concluded it was murder in 2015. But nothing came out of it. His family had to go through the ordeal of seeing his body exhumed and re-examined, ultimately for nothing.

Another family, the Schaffter family, is now going through the same ordeal after the shocking daylight murder of their son, Dinesh, in the national cemetery. Police investigation of it has been inept and wayward. In the case of Thajudeen, the Police ruled accident first and murder after three years. In the case of Schaffter, the police have become wiser and are suggesting murder and suicide at the same time. Incompetent JMOs have been known to make technical mistakes and have been humiliated in cross-examination during trials by competent lawyers. But never have JMOs been known for tampering with and falsifying medical evidence as it would seem to have happened in the Thajudden and Schaffter cases. And whoever committed the crimes and whoever tried to cover them up are getting away as if nothing ever happened.

The point about reconciliation involving crimes is a point about credibility. How can you trust a government that promises an economic turnaround for the country, when the same government makes no effort to pull the country out of the cul-de-sac of crimes where it is stuck now? Last Wednesday, the President waxed eloquent in parliament as he canvassed MPs for their support of the IMF Agreement. He called for “a national policy framework targeting the Year 2048 (the centenary of Sri Lanka’ Independence) through which the country can achieve prosperity.” He called for creating “a green economy, a digital economy,” and said, “that’s the way forward in the global economy.”

Missing in this litany are references to crime or corruption. Shouldn’t we create a crime free society? A corruption free government and economy? Where are they in the policy framework targeting 1948? What will prosperity be if it is not free of corruption and of crime? It will be Pyrrhic prosperity. The President who is becoming quite garrulous as he ages, never mentions crime or corruption and the need to eliminate them in a serious and committed way. Both are continuing unabated even through the economically difficult times that the country is going through. If debt-restructuring is the buzzword in economic discussions, the key words in law and order discussions are cover-up and inaction.

The X-Press Affair

Take the case of the MV X-Press Pearl disaster that occurred on Sri Lankan waters off Colombo, on May 20, 2021, causing significant ecological and livelihood harm. Compensation claims must be filed within two years, but with hardly 30 days left before the clock runs out, the government is in a scramble not only to prepare the legal claim but also to decide where to file them – in Colombo or in Singapore. Already, the to-be respondents are reported to have set up a ‘limitation of liability fund’ in London up to a maximum of 19.5 million pounds, a paltry starting point. But the Sri Lankan government is yet to send a letter of demand to the respondents even though local experts working on the matter have produced a Damage Assessment Report, which preliminarily estimates the damages to be USD 6.2 billion. Some expect that it could be as high as USD 10 billion. It would be like getting two to three times the current IMF loan without getting into debt. But no urgency to send a letter of demand to counter the ridiculously low limitation amount of GBP 19.5 million.

The Damage Assessment Report and the estimate were completed in September 2021, but nothing has gone from the Sri Lankan government by way of a letter of demand to X-Press respondents. As if all this is not enough the Minister of Justice casually drops a grenade that he has received information that a certain Chamara Gunasekera was paid USD 250 million as bribe to stop the government’s lawsuit for damages. The Minister would seem to have informed parliament even before he alerted the police to find out what on earth is going on. That really is the question as the media is now questioning who Chamara Gunasekera is, and others speculating who he really could be.

To get back to reconciliation, how can the President or the government make credible assertions that they are all set to liberate the economy based on the IMF Agreement, when they cannot even send a letter of demand to X-Press Pearl and put them on notice? How can they reconcile their economic assertions with their inaction on any and all corruption files? Oh yes, there were cover-up attempts and inaction when X-Press Pearl caught fire, but the inferno was too much to hide and extent of the damages to marine ecology and maritime livelihood was too vast to paper over.

Elections as Pawns

The dilemma for the President is that he cannot withdraw his protection of the Rajapaksas from the allegations that are swirling around them, without risking his majority in parliament. All that he has been able to do so far is to keep the Rajapaksas out of the cabinet and away from the levers of power. But there are ministers in the cabinet who are as corrupt as the Rajapaksas, but they are all supporters of the President now. The President with his usual cleverness is not only poaching erstwhile UNPers from under the wings of Sajith Premadasa, but he is also peeling off SLPPers who want to break away from the fallen Rajapaksa family enterprise.

The question if he were to establish a majority in Parliament independent of the Rajapaksas, what will he do with it? Will he use it to declare a National Government and use that ruse to cavalierly expand the cabinet? Will he use it to crack down on corruption sparing no one, not even the Rajapaksas? Or will any fight against corruption have to wait until Ranil Wickremesinghe becomes an elected president? Even as he calls on the parliament and the country to “target 2048” as the year of our prosperity, the President is targeting the next presidential election, the last hurdle to clear to achieve the ultimate goal in his political life.

It is here I think we could be seeing the President resorting to what I call electoral reconciliation. That is to reconcile the opposition demands for elections by giving them not the elections they are expecting but the elections that are of advantage to him. In other words, use elections as pawns. The local government elections are now dead, not only for now, but potentially until the next presidential election is over. That is because the local elections will give significant advantage to the NPP/JVP, and a sound electoral platform to prepare for parliamentary and presidential elections.

None of the other (southern) parties want the JVP to steal a march over them. That includes the SJB. The mainstream media is unable to shake off its JVP phobia even if the people have started warming up to it. And the President did all of them and himself a favour by scuttling the local elections. He did so with his usual artfulness by starving the Election Commission of funds for the local elections. There was no need for any other fuss, or emergency.

Now there is talk of conducting provincial elections, one or two at a time, until the next presidential election. Whether this is a trial balloon that is being floated, or not, we know not. But it is a time tested method for staggering provincial elections to the advantage of the governing party. The Rajapaksas made the most of it, and now Ranil Wickremesinghe seems ready to make enough of it to buy electoral time till the next presidential election.

The calculation is simple. Unlike the local elections, the provincial elections can be called one at a time so any negative effect (to the President) will be limited and not nationally significant. Also, no party is in a position to win in multiple provinces. The President’s Party, the UNP, is not in a position win anywhere (unless there is a re-merging of the UNP and the SJB), but the President can pretend that he is not losing anywhere. His main advantage would be to divide the opposition and make sure no single party emerges as a dominant force and provides the base for a viable presidential candidate to run against him. Right now, there is none.

And he can compound national and electoral reconciliations by calling the Northern Provincial Council election to go first. The Tamil Parties will not object. India will be pleased. The President cannot lose no matter who wins in the north. And Wimal Weerawansa can write another book that the whole scheme was cooked up in a Washington kitchen. Weerawansa will get good press but no one will notice, while Wickremesinghe will move on to the next province. The East, perhaps, to please the Muslims. Then the Central to accommodate the Plantation Tamils. And gradually to the cosmopolitan Western Province before targeting the Ranil-wary heartland provinces. A perfect scheme if that indeed is the plan and nothing goes wrong.

Chandrika Kumaratunga started in the South and marched on Colombo in 1994. Ranil Wickremesinghe is likely to start in the North, but the difference now is that Mr. Wickremesinghe does not have to march on Colombo. He is already President, he is already in Colombo, and you can see why he has been busy fortifying it. He is the executive establishment, not an outside usurper. The hugely bigger difference between 1994 and today is the economy. That is the elephant in the room which everyone misses as they keep playing the same old political games, even if in different costumes.

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Features

Misinterpreting President Dissanayake on National Reconciliation

Published

22 hours ago

2026/02/10

Sahan Weerasooriya

President Dissanayake

President Anura Kumara Dissanayake has been investing his political capital in going to the public to explain some of the most politically sensitive and controversial issues. At a time when easier political choices are available, the president is choosing the harder path of confronting ethnic suspicion and communal fears. There are three issues in particular on which the president’s words have generated strong reactions. These are first with regard to Buddhist pilgrims going to the north of the country with nationalist motivations. Second is the controversy relating to the expansion of the Tissa Raja Maha Viharaya, a recently constructed Buddhist temple in Kankesanturai which has become a flashpoint between local Tamil residents and Sinhala nationalist groups. Third is the decision not to give the war victory a central place in the Independence Day celebrations.

Even in the opposition, when his party held only three seats in parliament, Anura Kumara Dissanayake took his role as a public educator seriously. He used to deliver lengthy, well researched and easily digestible speeches in parliament. He continues this practice as president. It can be seen that his statements are primarily meant to elevate the thinking of the people and not to win votes the easy way. The easy way to win votes whether in Sri Lanka or elsewhere in the world is to rouse nationalist and racist sentiments and ride that wave. Sri Lanka’s post independence political history shows that narrow ethnic mobilisation has often produced short term electoral gains but long term national damage.

Sections of the opposition and segments of the general public have been critical of the president for taking these positions. They have claimed that the president is taking these positions in order to obtain more Tamil votes or to appease minority communities. The same may be said in reverse of those others who take contrary positions that they seek the Sinhala votes. These political actors who thrive on nationalist mobilisation have attempted to portray the president’s statements as an abandonment of the majority community. The president’s actions need to be understood within the larger framework of national reconciliation and long term national stability.

Reconciler’s Duty

When the president referred to Buddhist pilgrims from the south going to the north, he was not speaking about pilgrims visiting long established Buddhist heritage sites such as Nagadeepa or Kandarodai. His remarks were directed at a specific and highly contentious development, the recently built Buddhist temple in Kankesanturai and those built elsewhere in the recent past in the north and east. The temple in Kankesanturai did not emerge from the religious needs of a local Buddhist community as there is none in that area. It has been constructed on land that was formerly owned and used by Tamil civilians and which came under military occupation as a high security zone. What has made the issue of the temple particularly controversial is that it was established with the support of the security forces.

The controversy has deepened because the temple authorities have sought to expand the site from approximately one acre to nearly fourteen acres on the basis that there was a historic Buddhist temple in that area up to the colonial period. However, the Tamil residents of the area fear that expansion would further displace surrounding residents and consolidate a permanent Buddhist religious presence in the present period in an area where the local population is overwhelmingly Hindu. For many Tamils in Kankesanturai, the issue is not Buddhism as a religion but the use of religion as a vehicle for territorial assertion and demographic changes in a region that bore the brunt of the war. Likewise, there are other parts of the north and east where other temples or places of worship have been established by the military personnel in their camps during their war-time occupation and questions arise regarding the future when these camps are finally closed.

There are those who have actively organised large scale pilgrimages from the south to make the Tissa temple another important religious site. These pilgrimages are framed publicly as acts of devotion but are widely perceived locally as demonstrations of dominance. Each such visit heightens tension, provokes protest by Tamil residents, and risks confrontation. For communities that experienced mass displacement, military occupation and land loss, the symbolism of a state backed religious structure on contested land with the backing of the security forces is impossible to separate from memories of war and destruction. A president committed to reconciliation cannot remain silent in the face of such provocations, however uncomfortable it may be to challenge sections of the majority community.

High-minded leadership

The controversy regarding the president’s Independence Day speech has also generated strong debate. In that speech the president did not refer to the military victory over the LTTE and also did not use the term “war heroes” to describe soldiers. For many Sinhala nationalist groups, the absence of these references was seen as an attempt to diminish the sacrifices of the armed forces. The reality is that Independence Day means very different things to different communities. In the north and east the same day is marked by protest events and mourning and as a “Black Day”, symbolising the consolidation of a state they continue to experience as excluding them and not empathizing with the full extent of their losses.

By way of contrast, the president’s objective was to ensure that Independence Day could be observed as a day that belonged to all communities in the country. It is not correct to assume that the president takes these positions in order to appease minorities or secure electoral advantage. The president is only one year into his term and does not need to take politically risky positions for short term electoral gains. Indeed, the positions he has taken involve confronting powerful nationalist political forces that can mobilise significant opposition. He risks losing majority support for his statements. This itself indicates that the motivation is not electoral calculation.

President Dissanayake has recognized that Sri Lanka’s long term political stability and economic recovery depend on building trust among communities that once peacefully coexisted and then lived through decades of war. Political leadership is ultimately tested by the willingness to say what is necessary rather than what is politically expedient. The president’s recent interventions demonstrate rare national leadership and constitute an attempt to shift public discourse away from ethnic triumphalism and toward a more inclusive conception of nationhood. Reconciliation cannot take root if national ceremonies reinforce the perception of victory for one community and defeat for another especially in an internal conflict.

BY Jehan Perera

Features

Recovery of LTTE weapons

Published

22 hours ago

2026/02/10

Sahan Weerasooriya

Sri Lanka Navy in action

I have read a newspaper report that the Special Task Force of Sri Lanka Police, with help of Military Intelligence, recovered three buried yet well-preserved 84mm Carl Gustaf recoilless rocket launchers used by the LTTE, in the Kudumbimalai area, Batticaloa.

These deadly weapons were used by the LTTE SEA TIGER WING to attack the Sri Lanka Navy ships and craft in 1990s. The first incident was in February 1997, off Iranativu island, in the Gulf of Mannar.

Admiral Cecil Tissera took over as Commander of the Navy on 27 January, 1997, from Admiral Mohan Samarasekara.

The fight against the LTTE was intensified from 1996 and the SLN was using her Vanguard of the Navy, Fast Attack Craft Squadron, to destroy the LTTE’s littoral fighting capabilities. Frequent confrontations against the LTTE Sea Tiger boats were reported off Mullaitivu, Point Pedro and Velvetiturai areas, where SLN units became victorious in most of these sea battles, except in a few incidents where the SLN lost Fast Attack Craft.

Carl Gustaf recoilless rocket launchers

The intelligence reports confirmed that the LTTE Sea Tigers was using new recoilless rocket launchers against aluminium-hull FACs, and they were deadly at close quarter sea battles, but the exact type of this weapon was not disclosed.

The following incident, which occurred in February 1997, helped confirm the weapon was Carl Gustaf 84 mm Recoilless gun!

DATE: 09TH FEBRUARY, 1997, morning 0600 hrs.

LOCATION: OFF IRANATHIVE.

FACs: P 460 ISRAEL BUILT, COMMANDED BY CDR MANOJ JAYESOORIYA

P 452 CDL BUILT, COMMANDED BY LCDR PM WICKRAMASINGHE (ON TEMPORARY COMMAND. PROPER OIC LCDR N HEENATIGALA)

OPERATED FROM KKS.

CONFRONTED WITH LTTE ATTACK CRAFT POWERED WITH FOUR 250 HP OUT BOARD MOTORS.

TARGET WAS DESTROYED AND ONE LTTE MEMBER WAS CAPTURED.

LEADING MARINE ENGINEERING MECHANIC OF THE FAC CAME UP TO THE BRIDGE CARRYING A PROJECTILE WHICH WAS FIRED BY THE LTTE BOAT, DURING CONFRONTATION, WHICH PENETRATED THROUGH THE FAC’s HULL, AND ENTERED THE OICs CABIN (BETWEEN THE TWO BUNKS) AND HIT THE AUXILIARY ENGINE ROOM DOOR AND HAD FALLEN DOWN WITHOUT EXPLODING. THE ENGINE ROOM DOOR WAS HEAVILY DAMAGED LOOSING THE WATER TIGHT INTEGRITY OF THE FAC.

THE PROJECTILE WAS LATER HANDED OVER TO THE NAVAL WEAPONS EXPERTS WHEN THE FACs RETURNED TO KKS. INVESTIGATIONS REVEALED THE WEAPON USED BY THE ENEMY WAS 84 mm CARL GUSTAF SHOULDER-FIRED RECOILLESS GUN AND THIS PROJECTILE WAS AN ILLUMINATER BOMB OF ONE MILLION CANDLE POWER. BUT THE ATTACKERS HAS FAILED TO REMOVE THE SAFETY PIN, THEREFORE THE BOMB WAS NOT ACTIVATED.

Sea Tigers

Carl Gustaf 84 mm recoilless gun was named after Carl Gustaf Stads Gevärsfaktori, which, initially, produced it. Sweden later developed the 84mm shoulder-fired recoilless gun by the Royal Swedish Army Materiel Administration during the second half of 1940s as a crew served man- portable infantry support gun for close range multi-role anti-armour, anti-personnel, battle field illumination, smoke screening and marking fire.

It is confirmed in Wikipedia that Carl Gustaf Recoilless shoulder-fired guns were used by the only non-state actor in the world – the LTTE – during the final Eelam War.

It is extremely important to check the batch numbers of the recently recovered three launchers to find out where they were produced and other details like how they ended up in Batticaloa, Sri Lanka?

By Admiral Ravindra C. Wijegunaratne
WV, RWP and Bar, RSP, VSV, USP, NI (M) (Pakistan), ndc, psn, Bsc (Hons) (War Studies) (Karachi) MPhil (Madras)
Former Navy Commander and Former Chief of Defence Staff
Former Chairman, Trincomalee Petroleum Terminals Ltd
Former Managing Director Ceylon Petroleum Corporation
Former High Commissioner to Pakistan

Features

Yellow Beatz … a style similar to K-pop!

Published

22 hours ago

2026/02/10

Sahan Weerasooriya

Yes, get ready to vibe with Yellow Beatz, Sri Lanka’s awesome girl group, keen to take Sri Lankan music to the world with a style similar to K-pop!

With high-energy beats and infectious hooks, these talented ladies are here to shake up the music scene.

Think bold moves, catchy hooks, and, of course, spicy versions of old Sinhala hits, and Yellow Beatz is the package you won’t want to miss!

According to a spokesman for the group, Yellow Beatz became a reality during the Covid period … when everyone was stuck at home, in lockdown.

“First we interviewed girls, online, and selected a team that blended well, as four voices, and then started rehearsals. One of the cover songs we recorded, during those early rehearsals, unexpectedly went viral on Facebook. From that moment onward, we continued doing cover songs, and we received a huge response. Through that, we were able to bring back some beautiful Sri Lankan musical creations that were being forgotten, and introduce them to the new generation.”

The team members, I am told, have strong musical skills and with proper training their goal is to become a vocal group recognised around the world.

Believe me, their goal, they say, is not only to take Sri Lanka’s name forward, in the music scene, but to bring home a Grammy Award, as well.

“We truly believe we can achieve this with the love and support of everyone in Sri Lanka.”

The year 2026 is very special for Yellow Beatz as they have received an exceptional opportunity to represent Sri Lanka at the World Championships of Performing Arts in the USA.

Under the guidance of Chris Raththara, the Director for Sri Lanka, and with the blessings of all Sri Lankans, the girls have a great hope that they can win this milestone.

“We believe this will be a moment of great value for us as Yellow Beatz, and also for all Sri Lankans, and it will be an important inspiration for the future of our country.”

Along with all the preparation for the event in the USA, they went on to say they also need to manage their performances, original song recordings, and everything related.

The year 2026 is very special for Yellow Beatz

“We have strong confidence in ourselves and in our sincere intentions, because we are a team that studies music deeply, researches within the field, and works to take the uniqueness of Sri Lankan identity to the world.”

At present, they gather at the Voices Lab Academy, twice a week, for new creations and concert rehearsals.

This project was created by Buddhika Dayarathne who is currently working as a Pop Vocal lecturer at SLTC Campus. Voice Lab Academy is also his own private music academy and Yellow Beatz was formed through that platform.

Buddhika is keen to take Sri Lankan music to the world with a style similar to K-Pop and Yellow Beatz began as a result of that vision. With that same aim, we all work together as one team.

“Although it was a little challenging for the four of us girls to work together at first, we have united for our goal and continue to work very flexibly and with dedication. Our parents and families also give their continuous blessings and support for this project,” Rameesha, Dinushi, Newansa and Risuri said.

Last year, Yellow Beatz released their first original song, ‘Ihirila’ , and with everything happening this year, they are also preparing for their first album.