News
Athaulla: Those responsible for MR’s defeat had a hand in Easter Sunday attacks

MP A.L.M. Athaulla displays a copy of a letter he sent to the then President Maithripala Sirisena and PM Wickremesinghe underscoring the need to do away with the 19th Amendment(Pic courtesy National Congress)
… assures support for 20 A
By Shamindra Ferdinando
Those who had a hand in engineering President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s defeat at the 2015 presidential election were behind the 2019 Easter Sunday attacks, National Congress MP A. L. M. Athaulla, told a media briefing at his Thalakotuwa Gardens road residence, Narahenpita yesterday (20).
Digamadulla District MP blamed 2014 organised attacks on Muslims in Aluthgama, Beruwela and Darga Town also on the same group hell bent destabilising the country. Instigating ethnic violence was part of their strategy, a one-time UPFA Minister said, urging all communities to be vigilant of despicable efforts to undermine political stability.
Athaulla said so when The Island asked him whether he subscribed to SLMC leader Rauff Hakeem’s recent declaration that the Easter Sunday attacks had been carried out by another force and not the National Thowheed Jamaat or its leader Zahran Hashim.
One-time Justice Minister Attorney-at-law Haleem alleged that the NTJ had been hired to carry out the operation.
SLMC leader Hakeem made the aforesaid claim on September 7 before the Presidential Commission of Inquiry (P CoI) probing Easter Sunday attacks.
Athaulla said that President Gotabaya Rajapaksa would ensure a thorough investigation into Easter Sunday attacks. The MP also expressed confidence in the progress made by the PCoI which the National Congress leader said could reveal the truth.
When The Island pointed out that former Deputy Inspector General (DIG) in charge of the Eastern Range Edison Gunatilleke had recently accused Athaulla, former UPFA politician M H M Hisbullah et al of their involvement with extremists and terrorists, a smiling Athaulla said that there was absolutely no basis for such claims. He challenged Gunatilleke to prove his accusations. Athaulla said he didn’t even know Gunatilleke or even remember calling over the phone.
Lawmaker Athaulla questioned why Gunatilleke had waited so long to complain of political interference in police investigations. Declaring that he was among those politicians who received top level security, including bullet proof vehicles due to serious threats to his life, Athaulla denied ever working against the interests of the country.
Asked whether the unsubstantiated accusations had been levelled against him in a bid to deprive him of a possible cabinet portfolio, the National Congress leader replied in the negative.
Responding to a spate of media queries regarding the SLPP not accommodating him in the cabinet, Athaulla emphasized that he never asked for a cabinet portfolio nor would ever request for one.
MP Athaulla said that their responsibility would be to ensure required consensus in parliament to pave the way for the 20th Amendment in place of the 19th Amendment enacted at the onset of the treacherous yahapalana administration in 2015.
At the commencement of the media briefing, MP Athaulla said that the National Congress had backed the then President Mahinda Rajapaksa three conditions. “We asked for the eradication of terrorism. We also sought the demerger of the Eastern Province from the North during President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s presidency and those demands were met.”
Athaulla said that the only request yet to be fulfilled was a Constitution that met aspirations of all Sri Lankans.
He said that the National Congress believed President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who had been the Defence Secretary during the war and the war winning President Mahinda Rahapaksa, now the Prime Minister, would succeed in introducing a new Constitution. Referring to the 19th Amendment, MP Athaulla pointed out that the controversial piece of legislation caused chaos with political parties having to seek intervention of the Supreme Court to ascertain how powers were shared.
When The Island pointed out that even the SLPP hadn’t been able to settle differences among various sections as regards the 19th Amendment, lawmaker Athaulla said that he was confident the Rajapaksas wouldn’t do anything to harm the country. He denied any ambiguity over his party’s support for the 20th Amendment.
The country couldn’t afford to have the President and the Prime Minister from different political parties under any circumstances, the former minister said, warning of dire consequences in foreign interventions in the making of the new constitution.
Referring to the high profile Oslo peace bid in 2002-2003 during Ranil Wickremesinghe’s tenure as the Prime Minister, Athaulla insisted that constitutional reforms introduced at the behest of foreign powers wouldn’t address local issues. The former minister said that the country’s strategic location attracted foreign interests therefore the country needed to be cautious.
Reiterating his backing for the 20th Amendment, MP Athaulla urged the government to take tangible measures to introduce a new Constitution. Underscoring the importance of the proposed new Constitution being a Sri Lankan effort, Athaulla recalled how the TNA and the SLMC had facilitated foreign intervention.
The former minister dismissed the Opposition’s claims as regards SLPP bid to do away with independent commissions. Independent commissions weren’t certainly independent, the MP alleged, pointing out that they didn’t do their job.
Athaulla however side-stepped a query regarding the 20th Amendment proposing to abolish restrictions on dual citizens contesting parliamentary polls.
News
‘Accountability issues’: Successive govts. failed armed forces: Shavendra

“US, UK sanctions effectively prevented me from travelling to other countries as well”
Former GOC of the 58 Division General Shavendra Silva yesterday (18) found fault with successive governments since 2009 for failing to counter unsubstantiated war crimes accusations. The failure on the part of them led to punitive international measures against senior officers who spearheaded the offensive against the LTTE, the Gajaba veteran said.
Appearing on Derana 24/7 with Chathura Alwis, the former Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) declared his angst at the country’s failure at political level to address the issues at hand. The most decorated soldier was commenting on the 16th anniversary of the eradication of the LTTE’s conventional military capacity.
Sri Lanka brought the war to a successful conclusion on May 18, 2009, by bringing the entire northern province under government control. LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran was killed in the banks of the Nanthikadal lagoon on the following morning.
Referring to the US travel ban imposed on him, his wife and two daughters in February 2020 and the British sanctions declared in March this year, Gen. Silva said the US and British action had effectively restricted his overseas travel to south Asia.
The UK sanctioned Admiral of the Fleet Wasantha Karannagoda, former Army Commander Jagath Jayasuriya as well as former LTTE battlefield commander Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan alias Karuna.
Gen. Silva highlighted the protests carried out by pro-LTTE activists in London in February this year targeting Yohani de Silva whose father served as the GOC of 55 Division engaged in the Vanni offensive.
The protest was organised by the Tamil Youth Organisation of the UK.
Responding to another query, Gen. Silva, in his first interview since retirement as CDS on Dec 31, 2024, said that GoCs Gen Jagath Dias (57 Division), Gen. Kamal Gunaratne (53 Division), Maj. Gen. Nandana Udawatte (59 Division), Maj. Gen. Prasanna de Silva (55 Division) and Chagie Gallage as well as those who commanded Task Forces faced punitive international action.
Gen. Silva’s retirement coincided with the abolition of the Office of CDS by the NPP government.
At the onset of the interview, Gen. Silva strongly emphasised the need to celebrate the eradication of terrorism and liberation of the people. The outspoken ex-soldier said that the armed forces and police paid a very heavy price to bring the war to an end, a war that many believed couldn’t be brought to a successful conclusion. Gen. Silva pointed out the absurdity in doing away with military celebration as Sri Lanka still marks the end of WW I and WW 11.
On behalf of all Division and Task Force commanders on the northern front, I take this opportunity to thank officers and men and families of those who paid the supreme sacrifice and the wounded.
Gen. Silva asserted that the armed forces as a whole suffered as a result of their failure to conduct post-war examination of operations undertaken by fighting formations deprived of the opportunity to correctly establish their roles. The former Army Commander said that the other countries always undertook such examinations immediately after the end of operations.
Gen. Silva said that since the end of war the country never made an honest attempt to record the events thereby setting the record straight.
The Yahapalana government co-sponsored the US accountability resolution against the war-winning armed forces in Oct 2015.
Gen. Silva explained that failure on the part of political and military leaderships to reach consensus on a common narrative contributed to the growing international pressure on the country.
Appreciating the NPP government summoning Canadian High Commissioner Eric Walsh over the recent unveiling of so-called Tamil genocide memorial in Ontario, Gen. Silva said that before his retirement he briefed President Anura Kumara Dissanayake regarding the challenges faced on the Geneva front.President Dissanayake promised to look into this matter and take appropriate measures, Gen. Silva said. “I believe the President as promised will address the issues at hand.”
By Shamindra Ferdinando
News
Govt. likely to lose more votes in N&E unless it adopts remedial measures

Ex-HRCSL member:
Human rights lawyer and former member of the Human Rights Commission (HRCSL) Ambika Satkunanathan has warned that the National People’s Power (NPP) will face the prospect of further drop in its vote share in the North and the East in the next Provincial Council polls unless it takes remedial measures.
Asked what would be the likely scenario at the forthcoming Provincial Council polls, Satkunanathan said that she didn’t want to speculate. However, if the NPP failed to acknowledge its mistakes and did not adopt remedial measures, its share of the vote amongst Tamils and Muslims was likely to be further reduced, the civil society activist said.
The Illankai Thamil Arasu Kadchi (ITAK) contested 58 Local Government authorities at the recently concluded election. The ITAK won 40 out of 58 local authorities at the expense of the NPP that secured all northern and eastern electoral districts, except Batticaloa, at the parliamentary polls conducted last November.
The ITAK went it alone at the LG polls in the wake of the collapse of the TNA that served the interests of the LTTE during the war and threw its weight behind retired General Sarath Fonseka at the 2010 presidential election, less than a year after the eradication of the LTTE. General Fonseka secured all predominantly Tamil speaking electoral districts with the TNA backing but lost the election by 1.8 million votes.
Asked what had made the northern and eastern electorates switch allegiance to the ITAK and other Tamil parties within months after voting for NPP at the parliamentary polls, Ambika said: “Tamils have evolved into pragmatic voters and a range of factors likely influenced their vote at the local government election. Firstly, they have not seen any substantive or meaningful movement towards addressing their historical grievances and demands. For instance, instead of releasing lands occupied or that have been appropriated by the state, the government issued a gazette covering 5,940 acres of land in the Northern Province that it is seeking to appropriate. This is being done in what can only be called an insidious manner because they are not using the Land Appropriation Act, which would clearly demonstrate their intent to appropriate but the Land Settlement Ordinance. Where the repeal of the Prevention of Terrorism Act is concerned, they have appointed a committee to study the issue whereas the repeal of the law does not require any further study.
Asked whether the significant gains made by Tamil political parties at the expense of NPP and so-called Anura wave strengthened Tamil nationalism in the North-East, Ambika said President Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s or NPP’s win in the presidential and parliamentary elections is not demonstrative of the weakening of Tamil nationalism and the win of the Tamil parties at the local government elections does not illustrate the strengthening of Tamil nationalism.
This is because, like in the 2010 Presidential election, the pragmatic Tamil vote, which to the external observer may seem like abandonment of their historical demands, in the eyes of the community is a way of safeguarding the community at that instance and making the best of a bad situation. It in no way means they have given up their historical demands. Also, Tamil nationalism over the years has taken on many forms and the electoral choice is not always a reliable indicator of it, she said.
Tamil political sources said that the ITAK would go it alone at the Provincial Council polls. Sources said that the ITAK would seek to consolidate its position against the backdrop of recent electoral success after significant setbacks in last Sept and November at national elections.
By Shamindra Ferdinando
News
Parliament to meet from May 20 to 23

Parliament will meet from Tuesday (20) to Friday (23), according to Secretary General Kushani Rohanadeera.The decision was made at the Committee on Parliamentary Business meeting held last Friday under the chairmanship of Speaker Dr. Jagath Wickramanayake.
The sittings will open on Tuesday (20) at 9.30 am with business under Standing Order 22(1) to (6), followed by an hour of oral questions. Statements by party leaders under Standing Order 27(2) are scheduled for 11 am, ahead of a debate on the Order under the Excise (Special Provisions) Act, which will run until 5 pm. The day’s proceedings will close with a half-hour debate on an Opposition-led adjournment motion.
On Wednesday (21), business resumes at 9.30 am, with oral questions at 10 am, followed by questions under Standing Order 27(2). The House will then debate financial regulations issued under the Finance Acts of 2003 and 2018 until 5 pm, before wrapping up with a session on the adjournment motion.
Thursday’s (22) sitting will follow a similar format, with a key debate on regulations under the Imports and Exports (Control) Act No. 1 of 1969 scheduled from 11.30 am to 5 pm. The Government will table the adjournment motion for the final half-hour of the day.
On Friday (23), after the usual question sessions, the House will take up the second reading of the Code of Criminal Procedure (Amendment) Bill, with the debate running from 11.30 am to 5 pm, followed by the closing adjournment motion discussion.
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