Midweek Review

Killing of Premakeerthi amidst govt., JVP onslaught on media

Published

8 months ago

2025/09/10

Assassinated Premakeerthi de Alwis' second wife Nirmala handing over "Premakeerthini", a book written by her to the then President Mahinda Rajapaksa in 2014. She caused controversy by alleging that a person who held a top post in SLBC was responsible for her husband's killing. The unsubstantiated claim was made in spite of the Colombo HC sentencing a JVPer to life imprisonment for his confessed junior role in the 1989 dastardly and cowardly killing.

‘Premakeerthi Ghathanaye Sulamula briefly discussed the JVP’s association with PLOTE (People’s Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam), one of the Indian sponsored terrorist groups. The PLOTE that received international attention in late 1988 when it, at the behest of a Maldivian businessman Abdulla Luthfee, mounted a sea borne attack on Male. Their bid to assassinate the then President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom went awry. The JVP has received the backing of the PLOTE to set up a radio station of its own. It was called ‘Ranahanda.’ Tamil groups (not the LTTE) also provided support to the JVP to produce landmines. However, the JVP never succeeded in mastering landmine warfare completely, though they carried out several dozens of attacks. Had they mastered landmine warfare, the second JVP terror campaign could have taken an entirely different turn. Whatever the allegations against the military, police and para military units, they defeated the JVP twice and crushed separatist Tamil terrorism for once and for all.

Dharman Wickremaratne’s latest book ‘Premakeerthi Ghathanaye Sulamula’ meticulously examines the killing of radio announcer, producer and lyricist Premakeerthi de Alwis in late July 1989, at the height of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP)-led terror campaign.

Having examined various claims, accusations and assertions by interested parties, including Premakeerthi’s first wife, Daya, the author on the basis of the proceedings at the Colombo High Court, during the UNP rule, declared that the much admired SLBC staffer was killed by the JVP.

A gang of JVPers gunned down Premakeerthi after having taken him out of his home, situated on the Homagama-Katuwana road.

Premakeerthi had been 10 years younger to SLBC announcer and lyricist Daya at the time of their marriage. Mother of one child, Daya had been the widow of journalist Somapala Ranatunga at the time she met Premakeerthi.

Daya, who legally separated from Premakeerthi in 1975, following a five-year tumultuous marriage, sent shockwaves through political parties when she declared her former husband was assassinated at the behest of Hudson Samarasinghe. The shocking but unsubstantiated declaration was made at an event at the SLBC, chaired by President Rajapaksa, to mark the 25th death anniversary of Premakeerthi. This happened on 31 July, 2014, just six months before the change of government.

Hudson Samarasinghe moved court against Daya but she again cleared the JVP of one of the most dastardly killings at that time when she appeared alongside National People’s Power candidate Anura Kumara Dissanayake at a propaganda event at the Colombo Public Library about six years later. She cleared the JVP of Premakeerthi’s killing. AKD, who simultaneously led both the JVP and NPP, had been unsuccessful at the 2019 Nov. presidential election. The event at the Colombo public library was held in late Oct. 2019. Daya’s declaration didn’t make any impact.

Hudson Samarasinghe withdrew his defamation case seeking compensation to the tune of Rs 500 mn in the wake of Daya’s death in late July this year.

Hudson Samarasinghe / Dharman Wickremaratne

Dharman, the former Divaina staffer, who served as the Editor of Silumina for a period of four years, during the administrations of Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Ranil Wickremesinghe (2020-2024,) has so far authored four books on the ’80s terror and he intends to release five more books on that period.

Wickremaratne’s far reaching work on the JVP should be examined cautiously, keeping in mind that the author himself had been accused of being supportive of the JVP, and Upali Newspapers was compelled to discontinue his services as a Divaina staffer. The writer joined The Island in 1987, four years after Wickremaretne joined Divaina.

Both the UNP and the JVP furiously directed attacks on the media with the state media at the receiving end of unbridled violence as the latter sought to overwhelm the government. Wickremaretne skillfully dealt with the violence against the media at a time the South bled. In the Northern and Eastern provinces, the armed forces had been confined to barracks in terms of the Indo-Lanka Accord of July 1987, while the New Delhi’s Army, deployed here as the Indian Peace Keeping Force, battled the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) till they were asked to leave by President Premadasa while supplying truckloads of weapons and money to the Tigers to fight the IPKF.

‘Premakeerthi Ghathanaye Sulamula’ is a must read for those interested in the JVP rise to power after having launched two abortive bids in 1971 and 1987-1989 to capture power. Wickremaretne’s account of Saman Priyankara, who had been sentenced to life in prison in March 1994 during the tail end of the UNP reign, joining the JVP, is exciting. The teenager had been among a gang of activists assigned to kill Premakeerthi for refusing to heed a JVP directive to quit the SLBC. The Prisons Department released him after serving 18 years out of the life term.

The author, who had been digging into the past, met Saman Priyankara, as well as many other former members of the organisation. Wickremaratne’s work is particularly important against the backdrop of the JVP-led NPP enjoying political power. Having secured the presidency at the 2019 Sept presidential poll, the AKD-led NPP won an overwhelming 159 seats – nine more than an extraordinary 2/3 majority.

Inspired by anti-India feelings

The author explained the circumstances Saman Priyankara had been sentenced to life imprisonment though he was not among those who shot Premakeerthi. Those who allegedly shot Premakeerthi hadn’t been identified/apprehended during counter-insurgency operations. Saman Priyankara had been a member of the JVP hit squad though he didn’t cause any physical harm to Premakeerthi.

During court proceedings, it transpired that a gang of JVPers, numbering about six, confronted them (Saman Priyankara and a person identified as Pathmasiri), in July 1989, on the road, close to Magammana Purana Viharaya, and demanded that they join the JVP as the Indian Army was destroying Sri Lanka.

The JVP blatantly exploited the deployment of the Indian Army, in the Northern and Eastern Provinces, in terms of the Indo-Lanka accord that had been forced on Sri Lanka, to muster public support. That is the undeniable truth. The author also very briefly discussed the operations undertaken by the JVP in the eastern Trincomalee district embroiled in post-accord violence that at one point threatened to undermine the whole ‘peace’ process.

While the author placed the number of Indian military deaths at 29 during this period (1987 July to 1990 March), the JVP claimed its Eastern front group killed 63 Indians. India never acknowledged deaths caused by JVPers cadres. The JVP’s claims, as well as Wickremaratne’s assertions with regard to Indian Army deaths, need further verification.

As Wickremaratne pointed, out it would be pertinent to mention that the JVP launched its terror campaign several months before India forced Sri Lanka to accept the deployment of its Army here. The first victim of JVP terror had been 39-year-old H. Jayawickrema, killed on 05 Dec., 1986. The JVP found fault with Jayawickrema, principal of Gonadeniya Vidyalaya, Middeniya, for suspending a group of students over pasting of JVP notices.

The Middeniya killing was followed with the assassination of Daya Pathirana on 15 Dec., 1986. At the time of his death, Pathirana led the Independent Students Union of University of Colombo during the period 1985–1986. However, the deployment of the Indian Army gave a massive boost to the JVP and the supposed Marxist group shook the entire political establishment by mounting grenade attacks on the UNP parliamentary group in Parliament on 18 August, 1987. Both President JRJ and Premier Ranasinghe Premadasa had been present at the time of the attack. That attack compelled both the government and the JVP to go all out against each other.

But what really made me interested is the fact that the JVP involved Saman Priyankara, an Army deserter’s younger brother, in somewhat of a high profile killing within days, if not weeks, after he joined the organisation. Obviously the JVP disregarded the possibility of a novice ending up in police/security forces custody. Perhaps, in the absence of sufficient experienced armed cadre, the organisation absorbed the young novices into units assigned to eliminate opponents. Like the Tigers, the cunning JVP hierarchy attracted youth to their movement in their impressionable young and gullible years.

Saman Priyankara had been just 17 years at the time he pledged his allegiance to the organisation. Wickremaretne disclosed some interesting information pertaining to the use of children by the LTTE. According to him, 171 children, under 15 years of age, had been apprehended and rehabilitated after the annihilation of the JVP. But as a percentage of 11,658 rehabilitated, those under 15 is just 1%. However, of the 15 to 25 age category, which included Saman Priyankara, 5,508 underwent rehabilitation (46%) of the total rehabilitated.

The JVP’s use of children cannot be compared with that of the LTTE during the war in the Northern and Eastern Provinces. The LTTE threw children into high intensity battles, involving armour and artillery, and, in a despicable manner that caused massive loss of life. But that does not absolve the JVP of culpability in using children in terrorist activity as cannon fodder.

The author revealed how a 13-year-old boy received training off Kantale in mid-1989. The boy is alleged to have killed a female UNP supporter. As the JVP collapsed in early 1990, within months after the arrest and execution of its leader, Rohana Wijeweera, the boy, known as ‘bonikka’ (doll) must have carried out the killing at the age of 13 or 14.

One of the gruesome examples given by the author to highlight the use of children is the killing of an SLTB driver, identified as Dingiri Banda, who defied a JVP directive not to work. Two 15-year-old boys, in Grade 09, according to the author, murdered the driver attached to the Kuliyapitiya bus depot, at Giriulla. The killing of an employee of the Udugama Janatha Estate Development Board was also blamed on a child activist who delivered the severed head of the victim on a plate to his home. The possibility of exaggeration cannot be ruled out. Therefore, the JVP, now ensconced in power, should consider inquiring into such allegations.

The involvement of children in two other incidents was also mentioned by Wickremaretne whose exposure surely embarrassed not only the JVP but the NPP as well. A driver, attached to the Kataragama depot, identified as Weerasekera, had been killed just before he stepped onto the traditional Poruwa with his would-be-bride for their marriage ceremony at Pallemalala, Hambantota.

Inquirer into sudden deaths of the Hali-Ela Dehiwini Palatha korale, Weeraratne had been shot dead at his home. The author confidently asserted that though children lacked political ideology they were a new element ready to act swiftly. But on the other hand, when apprehended they quickly succumbed to police and armed forces pressure and ended up being informants.

During that reign of terror, altogether 137 SLTB employees had been murdered by the JVP for refusing to leave employment.

JVP’s swift collapse

By June/July 1989, the government had been desperately trying to cope up with the situation. Amidst JVP attacks, and counter violence unleashed by the police, the armed forces and paramilitary groups, the UNP won the parliamentary elections conducted in February 1989. The JVP ordered a civil disobedience campaign. The JVP issued specific orders against those who disregarded its campaign meant to destabilise the state-run media. The then State Defence Minister Ranjan Wijeratne on 07 July, 1989, vowed to retaliate. The author pointed out the JVP’s response to Wijeratne’s warning by killing four persons attached to state media, namely Thevis Guruge (23 July, 1989), Premakeerthi de Alwis (31 July, 1989), chief news editor of Rupavahini, Kulasiri Amaratunga (13 August, 1989) and Rupavahini announcer Sagarika Gomes (13 Sept., 1989). The situation was so bad, President Ranasinghe Premadasa had no option but to bring state media under the then Air Commodore Ananda Samarakoon.

In fact, Premakeerthi had been among a group of SLBC staffers who received letters on a Friday morning, in the first week of July, threatening them with death. All of the threatened persons had been attached to the News Section of the SLBC. The threatened were Hemasiri Kularatne, Wasantha Lankathilaka, Palitha Perera and Premakeerthi de Alwis. However, Premakeerthi had been quite confident that the JVP, or the so-called Deshapremi Janatha Viyaparaya (DJV), wouldn’t cause him any harm. Obviously he was totally wrong.

In a way, the country had been in the grip of JVP terror with the government making desperate bids to counter such violence. Amidst many employees refusing to serve as announcers, due to direct death threats on them, the government brought in the Army and Air Force personnel to fill the vacuum.

Wickremaratne appreciated the role played by military personnel as announcers. The author recalled how Airwoman Anoma Satharasingha, on the night of 13 Nov., 1989, announced the arrest and death of JVP leader Wijeweera. The author named those who had served the government at the risk to their lives amidst the killing of their colleagues. However, Wickremaretne failed to explain as to why Premakeerthi, in spite of receiving direct and specific death threats, hadn’t been granted military security. There is no explanation as to why Premakeerthi had been deprived of security. Did he decline to accept military security?

While trying to cripple the state-run media, the JVP tried hard to set up its own radio. It was called Ranahanda. The government quickly identified the JVP strategy and took measures to neutralize that threat.

Wickremaretne’s narrative of the Army putting pressure on Director Programmes, Rupavahini, Piyadasa Rathnasinha, to announce Wijeweera’s killing, around 2 am, made good reading. The author based his description on an interview Irida Lankadeepa writer Priyantha Kodipilli had with Piyadasa Rathnasinha, carried in the 12 January, 2024, edition. Piyadasa Rathnasinha’s claim that he declined to adhere with the instructions issued by the Army and got in touch with President Premadasa, around 2 am in the morning, and received order from the head-of-state not to telecast the video but wait till he viewed the tape and decided what to do, underscored the crisis at the time. President Premadasa had visited Rupavahini on the same day, viewed the video and decided to edit Wijeweera’s speech, recorded by the Army, to just two minutes.

After having won the presidential election, conducted in Dec. 1988, President Ranasinghe Premadasa made a desperate bid to reach a consensus with the JVP. Regardless of serious concerns, expressed by the police, the armed forces and members of the government, President Premadasa ordered the release of a large number of detained JVP suspects from various places. The President’s gamble failed. The JVP intensified violence. The government resorted to an all-out campaign. The country bled. Within a couple of months after Premadasa’s election as President, the government gradually overwhelmed the JVP. The latter couldn’t keep up with the pace of the government counter terror campaign. Within four months after Premakeerthi’s assassination, the JVP was in tatters. Its top leadership was executed, barring Somawanasa Amerasinghe, who managed to escape to India with the help of New Delhi, and thousands of activists and supporters killed.

Those who demand legal action against Ranil Wickremesinghe for his association with the Batalanda conveniently forget how the JVP strategy compelled the then government to resort to counter terror tactics. But the JVP may not have contemplated the scale of the government’s counter attack. The UNP, regardless of consequences, also took measures to suppress the Opposition, including the media. The assassination of much loved journalist Richard de Zoysa was obviously part of that counter-insurgency strategy. It certainly was a case of absolute power corrupting absolutely with R. Premadasa and Ranjan Wijeratne, who wanted to consolidate their power at any cost. Similarly, the JVPers are no angels or they were even worse having sent so many innocent people to premature and gruesome deaths for their macabre wishes to succeed with no permanent principles whatsoever. A good example of this is that after the crushing of their second violent uprising they joined every government that came to power, thereafter, as a coalition partner and every time it helped to topple each of those administrations in its cunning march to power.

By Shamindra Ferdinando

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Midweek Review

NPP drowning in sea of scams

Published

7 days ago

2026/04/29

Sahan Weerasooriya

Outgoing Treasury Chief Mahinda Siriwardena congratulates his successor Harshana Suriyapperuma in late June 2025 at the Finance Ministry

The Opposition is pressing for a one-day debate on USD 2.5 mn Treasury theft, which is more like a daylight robbery that had been kept under wraps by Treasury mandarins till ‘Free Lawyers’ made it public. However, the government is strongly opposed to the Opposition proposal. The Opposition is seeking consensus among

different parties to intensify the campaign against the government, struggling to cope up with a spate of controversies. Against the backdrop of the devastating debate on the coal scam, the NPP seems reluctant to face another over the theft of Treasury funds.

By Shamindra Ferdinando

USD 2.5 mn brazen heist at the Treasury several months ago and the bigwigs there obviously dragging their feet over the matter till it was brought to light recently, thanks to the Free Lawyers movement, which has dampened the NPP’s enthusiasm for May Day. The Treasury fiasco humiliated the cocky NPP leadership against the backdrop of damning report issued by the National Audit Office (NAO) that found fault with the government for awarding the coal tender for 2025/2026 period to Trident Champhar Limited of India in violation of tender procedures. The NAO emphasised that the Indian company shouldn’t have even been considered for the tender.

Even after the exposure of the scandalous handling of the coal tender, the NPP, in spite of some rumblings within the party, remained confident of overcoming the growing accusations regarding governance issues. But, the sudden revelation of the loss suffered by the Treasury, and pathetic efforts made by the NPP to suppress the truth, has caused irreparable harm to the ruling party. The arrogant NPP will have to use May Day to defend the government. Instead of preaching to the masses ad nauseum the corruption allegations against previous administrations, the NPP would have to explain such massive failures/corruption, particularly the loss of USD 2.5 mn.

There hadn’t been a previous instance of such an incident at the Treasury. The NPP will have to answer questions posed by ‘Free Lawyers,’ a civil society group that first raised the Treasury issue. On behalf of ‘Free Lawyers,’ its President Maithri Gunaratne, PC, former Governor of several provinces Rajith Keerthi Tennakoon, and Attorney-at-Law Shiral Lakthikala, targeted the government over the unprecedented Treasury heist. The Opposition, too, censured the NPP, with SJB leader Sajith Premadasa, MP, Chairman of Public Finance Committee (CoPF) Dr. Harsha de Silva, MP, and United Republican Front (URF) taking the lead.

The NPP’s excuses, based on claimed raids carried out by hacker/hackers targeting the Treasury, are untenable. The NPP’s position cannot be defended or supported against growing criticism. The coal scam and Treasury fiasco dominated social media, with the Opposition, as well as ordinary citizens, having a field day at the expense of the NPP, a political party that accused its opponents of waste, corruption, irregularities and mismanagement. Its successful propaganda campaigns, at the presidential and parliamentary polls, in September and November, 2024, respectively, were centered on fighting corruption.

Their anti-corruption platform appealed to the people for obvious reasons. Against the backdrop of bankruptcy, declared in May, 2022, after failing to meet debt commitments, the electorate rallied around the NPP that thrived on waste, corruption, irregularities and mismanagement, perpetrated by previous governments. Having bagged the executive presidency in September, 2024, the NPP assured the electorate that the Parliament would be cleansed of evils at the general election. President Anura Kumara Dissanayake declared that the people have been vested with the responsibility of cleansing the Parliament. Dissanayake went a step further when he addressed a public gathering at the 18th mile post on the Negombo-Colombo road. The NPP leader, who also leads the JVP, asserted that there was no need for an Opposition in Parliament and the House should be filled with NPPers.

Dissanayake based his assertion essentially on two failed No-Confidence Motions (NCMs) moved against Ravi Karunanayake and Keheliya Rambukwella in 2016 and 2023, respectively. The NPP/JVP leader found fault with Yahapalanaya and the Wickremesinghe-Rajapaksa government for protecting the two wrongdoers, hence the call to cleanse Parliament.

The results of the parliamentary election proved that the electorate responded very favourably to Dissanayake’s call. Of the 225-seat Parliament, the NPP secured 159 seats, including 18 National List slots. Having accused previous governments of shielding wrongdoers, Dissanayake easily directed the NPP’s steamroller parliamentary group to defeat the NCM moved against Energy Minister Punyakumara Dissanayake (National List) on 10 April, just a few days after the NAO report exposed the coal scam.

First ex-MP as Treasury Secy.

If its own hands are clean, there is no doubt that the NPP now deeply regrets the appointment of ex-NPP National List MP Harshana Suriyapperuma as the Secretary to the Treasury and the Finance Ministry. That appointment was made in June 2025 to fill the vacancy created by the retirement of Mahinda Siriwardana who, along with Governor of the Central Bank Dr. Nandalal Weerasinghe, played a significant role in the country’s post-Aragalaya recovery programme.

Suriyapperuma, who had served as Deputy Minister of Finance and Planning for just seven months, before being appointed the Treasury Secretary/Finance Ministry Secretary, is under heavy fire for suppressing the truth. No less a person than CoPF Chairman Dr. de Silva publicly accused Suriyapperuma of trying to undermine his committee. The SJB has demanded Suriyapperuma’s immediate resignation. Dr. Anil Jayantha succeeded as Deputy Minister of Finance and Planning.

Those who inquired into the crisis-hit Treasury are of the belief that 53-year-old Suriyapperuma lacked the much required experience to fill the shoes of Mahinda Siriwardana. Perhaps, the breach at the Treasury could have been averted if an outsider was not brought in place of Siriwardena. The recent reportage of the incident revealed that Suriyapperuma had been aware of the breach and sought to avoid appearing before the CoPF. The NPP could have responded to the developing situation differently if an ex-MP hadn’t been entrusted with the task of steering the Treasury/Finance Ministry. To make matters worse, President Dissanayake holds the Finance portfolio.

Although the government declared that the theft of USD 2.5 mn had been reported to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) after initial detection made in January this year, controversy surrounds the failure on the part of law enforcement authorities to bring it to the notice of the courts. Maithri Gunaratne, appearing in Hiru last Saturday (25), questioned why the police failed to inform the relevant Magistrate if the government lodged a complaint in that regard.

Australia has confirmed irregularities in payments owed to their government. Regardless of NPP efforts to blame it on hacker/hackers, the truth is clear. Payments have been made to an account that hadn’t been in the original agreement between the governments of Sri Lanka and Australia. That is the undeniable truth that the NPP cannot suppress by propaganda.

The NPP should be ashamed that such a fraud had been perpetrated on a country still struggling to cope up with the economic destruction caused by the UNP- and the SLFP-led governments with the help of “mission impossible” type roles played by outside interests, especially during Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s tenure using the JVP/Aragalaya.

The world knows how the UNP perpetrated the Treasury bond scams with the direct involvement of the then Governor of the Central Bank Arjuna Mahendran, in February 2015 and March 2016. Regardless of that intolerable scam, the UNP made a desperate attempt to retain the services of the Singaporean as the Governor of the Central Bank. Party leader and the then Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe demanded the re-appointment of Mahendran. That despicable move had to be dropped due to massive Opposition protests and growing public discontent over the Treasury bond scams.

The first Treasury bond scam carried out on 27 February, 2015 caused a direct loss of approximately Rs. 2 billion. On the instructions of Mahendran, the Treasury suddenly and arbitrarily changed the process of issuing Treasury Bonds. According to media reports at that time, higher interest payments, over the next 30 years, caused a further loss of around Rs. 145 billion.

Then Mahendran struck again. Caused further direct losses of more than Rs. 4 billion to the government through the fraudulent increase in interest rates as a result of the Treasury Bond issues on 27th March, 2016 ,and 29th March, 2016, in order to provide an undue advantage to connected primary dealers by indulging in further pre-meditated bond scams.

NPP on back foot

The ruling party put on a brave face with lawmakers and various others trying to play down the incident at the Treasury. Some pathetically tried to compare various accusations directed at the Rajapaksas with the incident at the Treasury which they conveniently blamed on hacker/hackers.

The NPP is facing an explosive mixture of issues. Both the coal and Treasury scams have brought immense pressure on the national economy and caused automatic deterioration. The resignation of Punyakumara aka Kumara Jayakody over the coal scam indicated that defeating the NCM moved against him was a strategic political blunder. Had the NPP asked the tainted first time Minister to step down and appoint a Presidential Commission to go into the coal scam, the NPP could have averted a major disaster. However, the Energy Minister and the Energy Secretary Udayanga Hemapala had to resign before the Parliament took up the NCM. Had the top NPP leadership bothered to peruse the executive summary of the NAO presented to Parliament on 7 April, the Party wouldn’t have tried to defend the minister.

Having championed a corruption-free political party system and then won both the presidential and parliamentary polls on that platform, the NPP executed the shocking move to move 323 containers out of the Colombo Port, in January 2025, without even any cursory checks. Those who perpetrated that operation used continuing port congestion as an excuse to clear red-flagged containers without mandatory physical checking. The NPP recently thwarted a bid by Opposition lawmakers, representing a parliamentary committee inquiring into the illegal release of containers, to summon President Dissanayake.

That committee, headed by Justice Minister Attorney-at-Law Harshana Nanayakkara, owed an explanation as to why President Dissanayake, in his capacity as the Finance Minister, shouldn’t appear before a House committee. President Dissanayake very often addresses Parliament on crucial issues. As the Minister in charge of Finance, the President should offer an explanation regarding the high profile container issue that tarnished the NPP’s image.

Three major issues in hand, namely the release of 323 containers, coal scam and theft at the Treasury, regardless of what various apologists say on mainstream and social media, have caused irrevocable damage to the party, let alone escapades involving the likes of Speaker Jagath Wickramaratne, Minister Lal Kantha, etc. The impact on the NPP can be ascertained only at an election. With the public increasingly aware of the growing accusations against it, the ruling party will do whatever possible to put off long delayed Provincial Council elections. Facing the electorate against deepening discontent among the public seems to be a frightening situation. It would be interesting to observe how a House committee, headed by Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath, appointed to explore ways and means to conduct Provincial Council polls, address the issue at hand.

When compared with the three major issues, the resignation of Asoka Ranwala, as the Speaker, in December, 2024, over his failure to produce the much-touted educational qualifications, seems unnecessary. Of course, Ranwala’s case attracted tremendous public attention at that time as the public really believed the NPP wouldn’t deceive them. Ranwala’s lie shocked the public. NPP theoretician Prof. Ranjith Nirmal Dewasiri had no qualms in publicly attacking Ranwala in the wake of the NPP defending the Speaker. But, subsequent NPP actions revealed massive manipulations that shamed the first post-Aragalaya government.

Having accused Ranil Wickremesinghe of squandering as much as Rs 16 mn to join his wife Prof. Maithree in the UK in September, 2023, the NPP has ended up facing far more serious accusations. The incident at the Treasury should be sufficient for the Opposition to move NCM against the government. Of course, the NPP got the numbers in Parliament to easily defeat the NCM but the consequences would be devastating. Those who still talk of recovering the missing USD 2.5 mn must be living in a dreamland. The UNP is labelled with Treasury bond scams (2015 and 2016) and the SLPP faulted with tax cuts (2019) and sugar tax scam (2020). The NPP will have to live with the coal scam and Treasury theft. The NPP will no longer be able to parade on political platforms as paragons of virtue. It would be pertinent to mention that the Presidential Commission appointed to probe the procurement of coal, since 2009, would be able to produce a report to meet the NPP’s expectations. All indications point to that and 2026 is going to be far more challenging, both in and outside Parliament, than the previous year.

NDB fraud

Examined together, the massive fraud at the National Development Bank (NDB), perpetrated during the 2024-2026 period, and the Treasury incident, they underscore the vulnerability of the entire banking system. The 13.2 bn NDB fraud and theft of USD 2.5 mn from the Treasury exposed the regulator, the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, in respect of the NDB. The situation at the NDB cannot be examined without taking into consideration that Ernst & Young is the external auditors of the NDB and its Managing Partner Duminda Hulangamuwa functions as Senior Economic Adviser to President Dissanayake. People haven’t forgotten that Hulangamuwa had been mentioned as the possible successor of Mahinda Siriwardena before the NPP brought in Suriyapperuma. The Central Bank and Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) come under the purview of the Finance Ministry now embroiled in the expanding Treasury fiasco.

The Board of Directors at the NDB consists of Sriyan Cooray (Chairman), Kelum Edirisinghe (Director / Chief Executive Officer (Executive), Bernard Sinniah (Director /Non-Independent), Sujeewa Mudalige (Director /Independent), Kushan D’Alwis (Director/Independent), Kasturi Chellaraja (Director/Independent), Shweta Pandey (Director /Independent), Hasitha Premaratne (Director/Independent), Sanjaya Mohottala (Director (Non-Independent) and Shanil Fernando Director (Independent).

The issue at hand is how such a fraud went unnoticed for a considerable period of time and whether the top management simply ignored warning signs and the failure on the part of the regulator to intervene. Those who have read Mahinda Siriwardana’s ‘Sri Lanka’s Economic Revival: Reflections on the Journey from Crisis to Recovery’ would know the circumstances leading to the 2022 economic collapse. Soft spoken Siriwardana meticulously discussed how the then Central Bank leadership as well as the so-called economic leadership of the Pohottuwa party deliberately deceived President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. Siriwardena’s narrative is explosive. The book, launched before his retirement, with the participation of President Dissanayake, underscored the responsibility on the part of the political leadership and those running the banking system. Obviously Siriwardena’s work had no impact on the current dispensation as well as the top banking management.

The Opposition sees an apparent opportunity to heap pressure on the NPP as it contemplates counter measures. Their challenge is how to take remedial measures without jeopardizing the government. The IMF declaration that it is closely watching the theft of USD 2.5 mn from the Treasury must have added pressure on the government, ripped apart by the situation at the Treasury. Let us hope the government and the Opposition reach consensus on ways and means to improve financial discipline. Overall, the Parliament cannot absolve itself of the responsibility for enactment of laws and ensuring financial discipline and the fact that Sri Lanka needs to start repayment of debt in 2028.

Midweek Review

Is language social or psychological phenomenon?

Published

7 days ago

2026/04/29

Sahan Weerasooriya

This essay was presented at The Philosophy Group of the University of London about 20 years ago. The thought provoking essay published in The Island on 22 April by Usvwatte-aratchi- Some languages confine you; some languages free you prompted me to try to get this essay published if possible. It may help the readers to further their ideas about the importance of usage of language.

Personally, I have firsthand experience in this subject. I was exposed to two different cultures and two languages. In my formative years I was brought up in a certain culture and spoke the language pertaining to that culture/language (Sinhalese -Sri Lanka). I spent all my studying and working life (55 years) using a different language in a different culture (English -England). I must mention that this was not recently. It was the early 1960’s. I can claim that I have enough knowledge and experience to justify this essay topic. In this essay I shall be investigating some of the social aspects of language with the aid of some opinions put forward by some philosophers. Then I shall be making an attempt to see what psychology has to offer before I draw my own conclusions. I am treating social aspects as part and parcel of the culture. In my view these are inseparable entities, unless one chooses to forget his or her cultural upbringing to suit a particular society.

Adoption of different culture

Socially, learning a different language and adopting a different culture is quite possible. In this case what dominates is one’s attitude or the circumstances. Attitude is psychological. I am convinced that circumstances may lead to a change of attitudes. Having said that, we must not forget that there are individuals who have not taken the trouble to learn the language of the culture in which they live. This has created a lot of socio-psychological problems in the community in which they live. It is obvious that the problem is one of communication. The main tool of communication is language. Philosophers and psychologists have spent many years investigating how language helps us to communicate and also how it may lead us to misunderstand our own fellow human beings. Understanding others (family members, members of the community in which we live, and the strangers we meet) is one of the most important aspects of living.

An awareness of the problem of language goes back to the early Greek philosophers. Parmenides gave us the first example of an argument from language to the world, saying that if we speak of a thing it must exist, since we speak of a thing at various times, it must continue to exist in a particular form. It is recently that language itself has come to be studied in a systematic way. The two landmarks in this respect were the development of Linguistics and the philosophy of language in the 20th century. The great philosopher Bertrand Russell (1872-1970) has admitted that until he became a middle-aged man, he did not think about language per se, but regarded it as ‘transparent’. I am sure this is true with most of us although we are not of Russell’s caliber when it comes to philosophy. And one may not have to wait until one reaches one’s middle age.

Linguistics and philosophy of language

It will help us if we understand the difference between Linguistics and philosophy of Language. What linguists discover may be applied to philosophy, sociology, psychology, anthropology or physiology. But as a discipline of study, it remains independent of them. The philosophy of language is different. One of the modern philosophers John Searle (1932-2025) thought, by contrast to linguistics, philosophy tries to solve philosophical problems by analyzing the ordinary use, meaning and relations of words in a particular language. Searle goes on to say that language is crucial to understand human experience. In my opinion this is a very valid comment. At a very practical level we spend a lot of time sharing our experiences. Verbal communication is vital in this area. According to Canadian philosopher Ian Hacking(1936-2023) the influence of language on philosophy has been profound and almost unrecognized. He indicates, if we are not to be misled by this influence, it is necessary to become conscious of it, and to ask ourselves deliberately how far it is legitimate.

It is appropriate to bring in Ludwig Wittgenstein(1889-1951) at this point. He brought in the subject predicate theory of language. For example, if we say “John is king”. Where John is the subject and king is the predicate. Here existence requires substance. For Aristotle, forms do not exist independently of things—every form is the form of something. A “substantial” form is a kind that is attributed to a thing, without which that thing would be of a different kind or would cease to exist altogether. Wittgenstein supports Saint Augustine’s view that words are names of objects and that combinations of words have the sole function of describing reality. For example, if we point at a certain object, say a table and try to say to a child “this is a table”, the child will be confused as to what we are pointing at. Is it the colour, the tabletop or one or more of its legs This is called the ostensive definition method of teaching. Ostensive definitions lead to a variety of interpretations. The child may understand a particular case of this definition but there is no guarantee that she will be able to make a transition from one case to others like it.

Plato’s theory

J G Herder (1744-1803) pointed out the object to which we make reference may be defined by numerous different terms. How then can we justify direct, one to one correspondence-either of so many to one, or of one to so many? How are we going to deal with situations where a term describes something non-existent or only possible? Plato’s “Forms” theory cannot be applied here as anything that we can speak of already exists as a Form. Critics of this theory ask the question: “how can the world be crowded with so many imaginary objects?” We use words to describe and define. Is there any room for slang language? This comes in handy in our day to day social communication. Ostensive definition raises the questions that require a constant selection of what counts as relevant. In Aldous Huxley’s novel Chrome Yellow, the character Old Rowley is confused as to: Does ‘pig’ refer to the quality of having a curly tail? Or standing in rows to eat? Or being pink skinned and fat? Or wearing no clothes? When we use the word “piggishness” is it something inherent to pigs, or simply, a matter of how we choose to describe them?

How can we relate the above ideas and theories of language to our daily living? Daily living is a psychosocial activity.

Perceptions

The nature of language reflects the nature of our perceptions, and these are far from straight forward. Franz Brentano (1838-1917) developed his theory of intentionality: that every mental phenomenon has a relation of direction to its object, i.e. perceptions, desires, imagination etc. are related to what is perceived, desired or imagined. I presume this can be applied to any language irrespective of the culture (our social conditioning). Say for instance the images of art and the writings are given the ability to represent objects by imposing the intentionality on the object. Thus, when we assert that we see or believe something, we impose, by convention and intention, (that is true if and only if it is the case) on the statement, and these conditions are not contained intrinsically in the sounds that make it up, but in our perception of belief about the fact. I begin to wonder how this can be applied to non-physical and unseen situations. Sometimes our feelings and attitudes are unknown to the observer. A person may shout because he is angry but you cannot see the anger, only its physical expression. We will not be able to see the prior event that has led to the anger and the utterance. This shows that there is a limit to how much is revealed simply by observing a word and its context; there is often more than that can be said.

How can we account for unexpected linguistic behaviour? This has both social and psychological implications.

For a long time behavioural theorists believed that every development of the human being was controlled by environmental and social factors. This is similar to an ostensive explanation of meaning. It implied that everything was learnt through training and association. But Noam Chomsky (b.1928) was not happy with this idea. He thought language is a complex phenomenon and which is not taught bit by bit or systematically to infants. It is successfully acquired by (almost) everybody. From my own experience it is true to say that the difficulty in learning a second language is a very different process from that experienced with the first language. Chomsky argued that the first language is not in fact learned, but rather acquired through exposure to a particular language. According to him all languages share the same basic structure, and he called this “deep structure”, which may be expressed as surface structures through a process called ‘transformation’. Chomsky’s theory helps us to assume a universal system of grammar, which may generate an infinite number of particular sentences within a language. This explains how we may create sentences within a language we have never encountered before from a limited set of grammatical rules and this appears to be a rational scientific approach.

Social or psychological phenomenon

The argument/discussion whether language is a social or a psychological phenomenon requires much more investigation than this essay warrants. I have briefly brought in various philosophers’ work, which are invaluable to this topic in terms of philosophy of language. In conclusion I am tempted to state my own experiences as a bi-lingual person. When it comes to my first language, which is Sinhalese I don’t think I learned it. I heard my parents speaking it and I picked up a few words and I constructed my own sentences and gradually became proficient by accumulating more words. Of course, the proper grammatical use of even my own language was taught in school and not by my parents. Learning my second language i.e. English took a different form. I was taught to speak, read, and write English at school and I had to work harder at this than my first language, because my English was confined to the classroom situation only, i. e. I learnt English in a non- English environment. First language came naturally and the second one I had to learn to fit into the social and the education structure that prevailed at that time. Compulsion can motivate us to learn!I had no choice but to adopt myself culturally and linguistically as a university student in England and then as a university teacher in England. Apart from the native English students, I have taught students from different countries. European, African and Asian. I had the opportunity to intermingle with them and learned various different cultural and linguistic aspects. After almost a half a century in England, I am back to my own culture (language, customs, food etc) where I was born and started my life. I am still proficient in my own language Sinhalese. No conscious effort needed.

After all the foregoing arguments and philosophy that I have put forward, my own conclusion is Chomsky’s theories are more plausible to me than other theories on this issue. It is difficult to be exact and say whether language is a social or psychological phenomenon. From the above arguments, we can see that culture and language of a given society are tightly bound. This leads us to psychological adjustments in order to fit into a society. Who can deny that even the philosophers mentioned above have not been subjected to their own cultural environment?

by Prof. Sampath
Anson Fernando
Formerly University of
The Arts London