Midweek Review

National Voters’ Day celebration amidst economic chaos, deepening political uncertainty

Published

5 years ago

2022/03/16

EC Chairman Punchihewa handing over their proposals to President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, at the Galadari Hotel. The President Rajapaksa, in spite of contesting the last presidential election on the SLPP ticket, is not a member of that political party.(Pic courtesy PMD)

Poor response from political parties

By Shamindra Ferdinando

Nimal Punchihewa, soft spoken Chairman of the Election Commission (EC), didn’t mince his words when he underscored the loss of public confidence as well as overall disappointment in the electoral system last week. Punchihewa stressed the need for far reaching changes in the electoral system while reiterating the EC’s proposals meant to improve and discipline utterly corrupt and wasteful electoral processes. The continuing failure on the part of Parliament to address the grievances of the electorate would be catastrophic and may pose a threat to political stability, he warned.

Attorney-at-Law Punchihewa said so at the ‘National Celebration of Voters’ held at the Galadari Hotel, Colombo, on March 11, the first such event since the establishment of the independent EC in terms of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution.

The House enacted the 19th Amendment, in early 2015, with an overwhelming 2/3 majority. However, the present five-member EC, headed by Punchihewa, came into being in Dec 2020 in terms of the 20th Amendment to the Constitution, enacted in October of the same year, repealing the trouble ridden 19th Amendment, especially when it came to members of so-called independent commissions, some of whom behaved as if they were a law unto themselves. At least one lawyer, in one such commission had the audacity to attack the Opposition in a partisan way outside his ambit.

Punchihewa, one-time public servant and civil society activist, explained the remedial measures that could be taken to address deficiencies and limitations in the electoral system.

The EC Chairman also discussed the need for punitive measures against offending lawmakers, regardless of their standing in society and the contentious issue of campaign funding. The EC Chief pointed out how both external and internal elements could influence political parties through campaign funding.

Punchihewa, who had served the previous EC, too, cannot be unaware of the way then US Secretary of State John Kerry’s boastful public declaration in 2016 how they funded Sri Lanka’s Opposition at the 2015 national elections (presidential and parliamentary polls in January and August, 2015, respectively) and similar stunts in several other countries.

The EC never inquired into the matter of the US interference in Lankan polls after openly boasting of it, even though the issue was raised both in and outside Parliament. The writer personally raised the US interference with the previous three- member EC, headed by Mahinda Deshapriya, but the outfit always side-stepped the issue. Even the European Union Election Observation Mission sidestepped the issue when the matter was raised at a media briefing held at the Colombo Hilton.

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Premier Mahinda Rajapaksa, Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena, Chief Government Whip Dinesh Gunawardena, Foreign Minister Prof. G.L. Peiris, who is also the Chairman of the ruling Sri Lanka Podujana Peremuna (SLPP) and Punchihewa’s predecessor, Mahinda Deshapriya, were among those in the audience. Deshapriya now serves as the Chairman of the Delimitation Committee. The EC attracted criticism during Deshapriya’s tenure as the outfit’s Chairman with the controversial recognition of the now main Opposition Samagi Jana Balavegaya (SJB) in early 2020 being one of the major controversies. The breakaway UNP faction won 54 seats, including seven National List slots at the expense of the UNP at the Aug 2020 general election. The UNP was reduced to just one National List member that was also filled months, after the lapsing of the stipulated time, to fill National List slots.

Punchihewa dealt with the EC’s one-year progress since its appointment in terms of the 20th Amendment to the Constitution and the way forward for a better democracy after Saman Sri Ratnayake, Commissioner General of the Election Commission, greeted the invitees. Reference was made to the absence of Opposition Leader and leader of the Samagi Jana Balavegaya (SJB) Sajith Premadasa. SJB members were not seen though the UNP Chairman and former Minister Vajira Abeywardena, attended the event.

Punchihewa, one-time EC’s Director General, Legal, emphasised the urgent need to introduce, what he called, quite a lot of amendments to existing laws to achieve the desired results. Attorney General Sanjay Rajaratnam, PC, was among the invitees. Perhaps, the EC should have invited Auditor General W.P.C. Wickramaratne, whose officers have, over the years, exposed how lawmakers, Secretaries to the Ministries, senior officials and some sections of the public sector, caused the revenue losses to the government, running into billions of rupees.

Education Minister Dinesh Gunawardena recently acknowledged, at the Public Petitions Committee, the failure on their part to implement recommendations of parliamentary watchdog committees. Chairman of the Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE) Prof. Charitha Herath, too, has on several occasions pointed out lapses in the law contributed to the deterioration of public finances. But, the powers that be have chosen to turn a blind eye.

In a way, Punchihewa’s statement is nothing but condemnation of the utterly corrupt political party system that has ruined the country. But, the EC should also work closely with the Auditor General, if the Commission is seriously interested in, the much-touted ‘system change.’ Corruption has become a way of public life with the Parliament, responsible for enactment of new laws and ensuring financial discipline, has pathetically failed in its responsibilities. The situation is so bad and appears to be out of control, the Parliament has become a mere spectator as the parliamentary system of governance continues to promote waste, corruption and irregularities by not taking remedial measures. The reports issued by the Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE), the Committee on Public Accounts (COPA) and the Committee on Public Finance (COPF) reveal corruption at every level.

The event at Galadari could have been held without high tea as well as wholly unnecessary dance performances at a time the vast majority of voters, regardless of the candidate and the party they voted for at the last presidential and parliamentary elections in Nov 2019 and Aug 2020, respectively, were struggling to make ends meet.

Although 15 political parties/groups represented the current Parliament, only a few were present on the occasion. The Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) as well as the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) were very conspicuous by their absence. General Secretary of the Democratic Left Front and Water Supply Minister Vasudeva Nanayakkara, in spite of breaking ranks with the government over the SLPP’s economic policy, sat with SLPP leaders whereas his rebellious former ministerial colleagues, Wimal Weerawansa and Udaya Gammanpila too were notable absentees. Nanayakkara along with Weerawansa and Gammanpila backed the fundamental rights petitions against the Yugadanavi deal (sale of 40 percent of Treasury owned shares of the power station to the US-based New Fortress Energy along with the controversial move to hand over a monopolistic position on supplying of LNG). The Supreme Court, however, dismissed the petitions. The SC didn’t give an order but stated the submissions were considered and leave to proceed refused. The SC didn’t give reasons at all though the case was heard for several days. When making submissions AG Rajaratnam said that the court should maintain harmony with the executive.

It would be pertinent to recall the devastating accident at an insecticide plant in India in the 80s.

On December 3, 1984, about 45 tonness of the dangerous gas methyl isocyanate escaped from an insecticide plant that was owned by the Indian subsidiary of the American firm Union Carbide Corporation. The gas drifted over the densely populated neighbourhoods around the plant, killing thousands of people immediately and creating panic as tens of thousands of others attempted to flee the area. The final death toll was estimated to be between 15,000 and 20,000. Some half a million survivors suffered respiratory problems, eye irritation or blindness, and other maladies, resulting from exposure to the toxic gas; many were awarded compensation of a few hundred dollars

(Britannica). And for some inexplicable reasons the Indian Supreme Court upheld that pittance of a compensation package! Indian Chief Justice at the time P.N. Bhagawati, when he came to Sri Lanka as a champion of peace about a decade ago, a cheeky Lankan journalist asked him about that controversial decision of the Indian Supreme Court and he got virtually tongue tied and avoided answering the question.

A House in turmoil

Can political chaos be addressed through electoral reforms and constitutional amendments? Has the EC really examined the current crisis and how political uncertainty, in addition to waste, corruption and irregularities, contributed to the overall deterioration of the country’s financial status and unprecedented instability.

A few hours after the end of the National Voters’ day celebration, the government announced an inevitable increase in diesel and petrol prices. It would be pertinent to mention that India, too, now exercise the right to intervene here by way of revising fuel prices. Lanka India Oil Company (LIOC) that set up base here in 2003, is affiliated to Indian Oil Corporation Limited that comes under the purview of its Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas.

One-time distinguished career diplomat Hardeep Singh Puri, who had served the Indian High Commission in Colombo during the volatile1984-1988 period when Indian-trained terrorists waged war against Sri Lanka, is India’s Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas and Housing and Urban Affairs. Rightly or wrongly he was then suspected to be involved in much more than diplomacy by especially those who saw how he and his wife lobbied certain key journalists behind the scene and the clout they wielded.

On March 10, the day LIOC announced staggering price increases in petrol and diesel that caused turmoil here, Sri Lanka’s High Commissioner in New Delhi Milinda Moragoda met Minister Puri. The meeting took place at the Ministry of Urban Affairs in New Delhi. Let me reproduce a statement verbatim issued by the Sri Lankan High Commission in New Delhi following the meeting between Moragoda and Puri: “At the outset, High Commissioner Moragoda thanked Minister Puri for the assistance that India has provided to Sri Lanka as envisaged under the four-pillars of cooperation, agreed during the visit of Sri Lankan Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa to India in December last year, in particular the USD 500 million line of credit to purchase petroleum products. Additional assistance, too, has been provided by India to enhance Sri Lanka’s petroleum stocks.

“High Commissioner Milinda Moragoda also briefed Minister Puri on the challenges that Sri Lanka is currently facing as regards to the supply and distribution of petroleum products and their impact on the Country’s energy sector. The High Commissioner and the Minister discussed modalities through which India and Sri Lanka could further expand cooperation in the petroleum sector to help overcome the present crisis.

The discussion also focused on a range of issues pertaining to the energy sector, including ways and means through which Sri Lanka could establish long-term strategic ties in the petroleum, oil, gas and related logistics sectors.”

The Government increased fuel prices at midnight on March 11 following LIOC price revisions on Feb 06, 24 and March 10 that resulted in the sharpest difference in retail price of a litre of petrol and diesel at LIOC and Ceypetco service stations, Rs 92 and Rs 77, respectively. The bottom line is that Sri Lanka’s pricing formula is in the hands of India.

That is the unpalatable truth. Obviously, there is no mechanism to ensure that upward or downward revisions of fuel prices are decided through consultations. Instead, a foreign power can take that decision on our behalf. In other words, Sri Lanka’s Energy Minister is actually former High Commission staffer Puri.

How can EC ensure political parties do not follow agendas inimical to Sri Lanka’s national interests? Recent high profile but unsubstantiated accusations that had been directed at Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa over him pursuing a pro-American agenda are a matter for concern.

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa removed Jathika Nidahas Peramuna (JNP) leader Wimal Weerawansa and Pivithuru Hela Urumaya (PHU) leader Udaya Gammanpila from Industries and Energy portfolios, respectively, following their clash with Basil Rajapaksa, who is also the founder of the SLPP. The political turmoil has taken a new turn with the SJB stepping up attacks on Basil Rajapaksa in Parliament.

The Opposition repeatedly questioned Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena over Basil Rajapaksa remaining mum in Parliament over the rapid deterioration of the economy. The failure on the part of political parties represented in Parliament to reach a consensus on national response to the current crisis is evidenced by the plight of the electorate. Instead, a sharply divided government has allowed the deterioration by refusing to take remedial measures.

The Opposition has sought to exploit the situation to its advantage whereas a section of the parliamentarians, including some of those accommodated on the SLPP National List, angered the top SLPP leadership by presenting an alternative set of proposals meant to restore the devastated economy.

The EC cannot afford to turn a blind eye to the utter chaos in Parliament and outside for want of a national response at a time of unprecedented crisis.

EC on key issues

The EC comprised five persons, namely Nimal Punchihewa, S.B. Divaratne, K.P.P. Pathirana, M.M. Mohammed and P.S.M. Charles, the only lady in the outfit. The EC has made representations to the Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) on electoral reforms as well as the nine-member Committee, headed by Romesh de Silva, PC. The EC representations dealt with electoral reforms and constitutional reforms, respectively. The writer would like to briefly discuss the touchy issue of the need to reduce the number of registered political parties and the proposal to recall those who pursue strategies contrary to the pledges they made at the election and in the printed manifestos of the respective political parties.

Having asserted that the country cannot afford to continue with 76 registered political parties, the EC has proposed ways and means to reduce that number. Examination of EC’s proposals submitted to the PSC and Romesh de Silva’s committee proves how unsatisfying the current situation is.

A sensible Parliament will certainly give serious consideration to EC’s proposals. Nothing can be as important as the proposal to recall lawmakers if they stepped out of line. Will leaders of political parties have the strength to accept the proposal to establish a mechanism to remove MPs?

The recent dismissal of charges in respect of the Treasury bond scam perpetrated on March 29, 2016, by the Colombo High Court Trial-at-Bar due to the flawed indictments raised many eyebrows. Yahapalana Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake has been among those who benefited as a result of the AG’s lapse. The indictments had been filed during Dappula de Livera, PC’s tenure as the AG. Sanjay Rajaratnam succeeded de Livera in May last year.

The Trial-at-Bar comprising Damith Thotawatte (Chairman), Manjula Thilakaratne and M. Izzadeen by a majority decision dismissed the relevant charges.

Can anyone explain the circumstances under which the indictment had been filed against the Perpetual Treasuries Limited (PTL) contrary to the Public Property Act? The AG’s Department cannot be unaware that in terms of the Public Property Act indictments can be filed only against individuals.

The Trial-at-Bar ruling should be examined against the backdrop of the AG and the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) withdrawing as much as over 50 cases since the last presidential election, in addition to the cases dismissed by various courts.

The AG as well as the CIABOC owed explanation as to how so many cases failed to achieve desired results or were withdrawn under controversial circumstances. The Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL) and the civil society should raise these issues. Can BASL and civil society remain silent as the situation continues to deteriorate?

All News Advertisement

Midweek Review

Legacy of enforced disappearances: Vital facts conveniently forgotten to whitewash LTTE and India

Published

6 days ago

2026/09/9

Sahan Weerasooriya

One-time child soldier Jesuthasan Antonythasan poses with actresses Claudine Vinasithamby and Kalieaswari Srinivasan during a photocall for the film "Dheepan" at the 68th Cannes Film Festival in Cannes. The movie won the Palme d'Or in 2015. Antonythasan fought for the LTTE terrorist group before fleeing Sri Lanka and reached France in 1993. Of those categorised as missing, perhaps he is the most famous.

Those demanding accountability from Sri Lanka for war crimes allegations are strangely silent on atrocities committed by the LTTE. On the orders of its leader Velupillai Prabhakaran, the LTTE killed hundreds of members belonging to rival terrorist groups. It assassinated President Ranasinghe Premadsasa, almost succeeded in assassinating President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga and made attempts on President Mahinda Rajapaksa. But, the indiscriminate use of children as cannon fodder went unnoticed. How many children, forcibly recruited into their ranks, perished in fighting? And, lastly, shouldn’t the Tamil community hold the Illankai Thamil Arasu Kadchi (ITAK)-led now defunct Tamil National Alliance, that recognised the LTTE in 2001 as the sole representative of the Tamil speaking people, responsible for death and destruction caused since 2001?

By Shamindra Ferdinando

Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances (WGEID) representative Ana Lorena Delgadillo Pérez, and head of the Association of Relatives of Enforced Disappearances (ARED) Yogarasa Kanagaranjini, on 30 August, opened an exhibition at the Thanthai Selva Auditorium in Jaffna. The exhibition, appropriately named ‘Long Road for Justice,’ coincided with the International Day for Victims of Enforced Disappearances.

Pérez later addressed a conference held therein where the responsibility on the part of Sri Lanka was stressed.

Civil society activist Sunanda Deshapriya, in an article titled ‘Sri Lanka’s Disappeared: Where Do We Go from Here?’ carried in Jaffna Monitor, dealt with missing persons issue. Deshapriya focused on the North-East war (https://www.jaffnamonitor.com/sri-lankas-disappeared-where-do-we-go-from-here/)

The ICRC, Colombo, issued a statement regarding the International Day of the Disappeared. When the writer sought the number of missing persons in the country, Ruwanthi Jayasundare, Head of Communications, said that they had a caseload of 15,000 registered tracing requests (1983-2009) but she asserted that the actual number of missing was far bigger (https://island.lk/icrs-sustained-and-collective-efforts-critical-to-address-issue-of-missing-persons/)

Perhaps, many people wouldn’t know that the ICRC arrived here in 1989 during the second Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) terror campaign in the wake of Indian military intervention here. The much discussed issue of disappearances must be appropriately dealt with, taking into consideration the relevant factors. At the time of their deployment here, President Ranasinghe Premadasa had been engaged in direct talks with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and the Geneva-headquartered body never expected a gruesome outbreak of violence. It would be pertinent to mention that within weeks after the ICRC’s arrival here, the JVP was crushed with brute force as it, too, resorted to senseless violence. The counter violence unleashed by the state apparatus was such that the then Marxist group’s top leadership was killed, except for Somawansa Amarasinghe, who escaped, with Indian help, in February 1990, and remained in exile till late 2001.

The ICRC deployment took place in mid October, 1989, and JVP leader Rohana Wijeweera was captured in the second week of November, at Ulapone, and shot in custody, and was allegedly cremated alive at the Borella cemetery.

In fact, at the time the ICRC arrived here, the JVP was on its last legs. The UNP government never bothered to hand over the bodies of slain JVP cadres to their families. Those who had been listed missing at that time were no longer in the land of the living, by the time the ICRC brought its operation in the South to an end.

What the country never expected was a fresh flare-up in the northern and eastern regions. The LTTE resumed large-scale hostilities, in June, after the Indian Army pulled out from Sri Lanka in late March 1990. Interestingly, some of those demanding justice for the missing/disappeared are conveniently silent about the disappearances during the Indian Army deployment here (July 1987 to March 1990).

Soon after hostilities erupted in the northern and eastern regions, following a 14-month truce between President Ranasinghe Premadasa and LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran (May 1989 to June 1990), the ICRC was invited to open offices in that region. There had been excesses on the part of the military and law enforcement authorities as the government battled the LTTE, the world’s most ruthless terrorist organisation as assessed by none other than the US Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Yet Sri Lanka must earnestly address accountability issues and take meaningful measures to compensate the families of the innocents.

However, the Tamil community must come to terms with the reality that the vast majority of dead were members of the LTTE. The LTTE enjoyed considerable firepower as it literally wielded a conventional fighting capability, which even included a fledgling air force and directly challenged the government, and the armed forces had no option but to fight back. Obviously, the LTTE, that achieved significant battlefield successes over the years, never expected the almost non-stop three-year-long offensive that brought the war to an end in May 2009. Disappearances became exceptionally an important issue in the overall agenda pursued by the Tamil Diaspora and Tamil speaking political parties here only after the LTTE’s eradication.

Multiple reasons

In September 1990, several months after the Indian Army was literally forced to pull out from Sri Lanka as Tigers fought back the mighty IPKF to a standstill, while President Premadasa, too, made it clear that they were no longer welcome here, Amnesty International (AI) documented 43 cases of disappearances. According to the London headquartered AI, the majority of these disappearances happened in the Jaffna peninsula, following the outbreak of fighting in October 1989. The Indian Army launched ‘Operation Pawan’ meant to disarm the LTTE in line with the Indo-Lanka Accord, signed on 29 July, 1987.

During the Indian Army deployment here (1987 July to 1990 March), the Sri Lankan armed forces were confined to their barracks in the North and East. The AI accused the Indian Army of torture, extrajudicial executions and disappearances. The deaths of nearly 1,500 Indian officers and men, and injuries to approximately 3,000 others during the Indian deployment here, underscored the ferocity of the situation.

The Indian Army carried out reprisals, following LTTE attacks in both provinces. The Indian Army was also accused of sexual violence. Perhaps, the August 1989 Valvettithurai orgy of violence, during which Indian soldiers killed civilians, tortured detainees, committed sexual violence, and systematically destroyed homes and businesses, while the town was under curfew, was the worst case.

In October, 2025, the International Truth and Justice Project (ITJP) presented a detailed reparations claim, in association with the Valvettithurai Citizens’ Committee, to the Sri Lankan Office for Reparations, requesting USD $15 million (LKR 4.5 billion) for victims of a 1989 orgy of violence committed by the IPKF where at least 66 civilians were killed and 34 injured.

There hadn’t been a previous instance of a comprehensive compensation claim for such a wartime crime. Thousands of LTTE cadres, some of them trained in India, and civilians, perished in Indian Army action. The Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) earned such a bad reputation it came to be dubbed the Indian People Killing Force.

The war in Sri Lanka, or whatever one chooses to call it, should be examined in the context of a high profile Indian destabilisation project ordered by Premier Indira Gandhi. Over a year after the Indian Army pullout, the LTTE assassinated Rajiv Gandhi, by then out of power, but he was the person Velupillai Prabhakaran held responsible for the Indian Army deployment in Sri Lanka. Following Gandhi’s assassination, India hunted down the LTTE team, involved in the operation, carried out by a female suicide cadre.

The LTTE forgot the Indian role in the transformation of the Tamil separatist terrorist movement to a deadly conventional threat. If not for the despicable Indian action, Sri Lanka wouldn’t have been hauled up before the Geneva-based United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC). That is the unpalatable truth.

How many Sri Lankan Tamils disappeared during weapons training in India? Did India investigate such disappearances as well as deaths caused by fighting among rival Tamil terrorist groups operating in India at that time? Among the groups that had been armed by India were PLOTE (People’s Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam), EPRLF (Eelam People’s Revolutionary Liberation Front) and TELO (Tamil Eelam Liberation Organisation) responsible for quite a significant number of killings and human rights violations.

India never accepted responsibility for the PLOTE raid on the Maldives on a contract to topple the then Maldivian PM Gayoom’s government given by a domestic rival in early November, 1988. Shouldn’t New Delhi at least apologise for the sea borne raid on the Maldives that resulted in deaths of Maldivians, as well as raiders? The Indian Navy sank a ship commandeered by the attackers fleeing the Maldives after air borne Indian troops brought the situation under control.

The Indian and global media praised swift Indian intervention but ignored two key factors, namely (i) the operation targeting Maldivian President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom was mounted by one of the groups trained, armed and deployed by India and (ii) two trawlers carrying the raiding party left the northern part of Sri Lanka, at that time held by the Indian Army.

The writer had the opportunity, in November, 2011, to interview the Maldivian businessman, Abdullah Luthufee, who convinced the PLOTE leader Uma Maheswaran to carry out the operation. (Male plot leader speaks out 3 November, 2011, Rajiv saved us from Gayoom-Male coup leader 4 November 2011 and How Luthufee moved SAARC venue from Male to Addu 11 Nov 2011) dealt with the operation that should have drawn international attention to the Indian destabilisation project. Let me stress that some PLOTE cadres perished when the Indian Navy sank the vessel commandeered by the fleeing PLOTE cadres. They were among those who had been listed missing during the conflict.

Australian and US interventions

One-time top JVPer Kumar Gunaratnam secret arrival in Sri Lanka as an Australian Citizen Noel Mudalige, in early September, 2011, emphasised the issuance of foreign passports in assumed names to Sri Lankans under controversial circumstances. The writer exclusively reported how the head of the breakaway JVP faction, known as the Frontline Socialist Party (FSP), arrived here. The Australian High Commission in Sri Lanka acted swiftly and decisively when Gunaratnam disappeared after entering the country, using Australian passport bearing number N 1016123 on September 4, 2011 (https://dbsjeyaraj.com/dbsj/?p=43914). The writer dealt with the same issue again in August 2016 (https://dbsjeyaraj.com/dbsj/?p=47936).

Among thousands of Sri Lankans, now having foreign citizenship, there can be many people listed here as “missing/forcibly” disappeared. Western governments never helped Sri Lanka to establish the real identities of Sri Lankans living abroad, under assumed names. If Gunaratnam never acted in a manner inimical to the JVP, he could have easily lived a comfortable life in Australia as Sinhala Buddhist Noel Mudalige.

There had been many interesting stories of those categorised as missing/dead turning up in the West, under new identities. One of the most intriguing ones, is about an ex-LTTE terrorist turned Frenchman Antonythasan Jesuthasan, the lead actor in Dheepen that won the prestigious Palme d’Or at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival.

Internationally acclaimed Jacques Audiard directed the movie about three Sri Lankans who formed a fake family to escape the war and to secure asylum in France. Antonythasan Jesuthasan’s performance in Dheepan earned him a Best Actor nomination at the 2016 César Awards (the French equivalent of the Oscars). Jesuthasan is the only ex-LTTE terrorist to receive international acclaim as an actor.

In an interview with Tom Seymour (Dheepan’s Antonythasan Jesuthasan: from Tamil Tiger to star of a Palme d’Or winner in The Guardian) posted online on March 31, 2016, transformed Frenchman Jesuthasan, unwittingly revealed how he deceived the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to secure political asylum. Seymour reported that Jesuthasan, after having shown him a dense lattice of scars on his forearm, declared: “I did those to myself. I was 22, and I had spent years trying to come to the west. I wanted to get a fake French passport, but I had to be accepted as a refugee. I went to the UNHCR [the UN High Commissioner for Refugees], but they wouldn’t believe my story. So I cut myself, and held up my arm, and said to them: ‘Look at my blood. This is my word.”

Jesuthasan is just one among thousands who obtained political asylum on false claims. Jesuthasan ended up as the star of Dheepan, directed by Jacques Audiard, possibly France’s most celebrated modern director. There cannot be a better example than Jesuthasan to highlight the web of deceit pertaining to the vast majority of those who successfully secured political asylum. But, the Sri Lanka Foreign Ministry never bothered to set the record straight. Born in Allaipiddy, on the Velanaitivu islet, Jesuthasan claimed he fought the Sri Lanka Army in August 1990 and subsequently fled the country and managed to reach France.

But, the case of Kathiravel Thayapararajah is one of the most controversial cases. Thayapararajah had been involved in a Tamil Diaspora funded project in Kilinochchi during Eelam war IV. He couldn’t have secured the Diaspora assignment without the approval of the LTTE and remained in the Vanni during the war. He disappeared in September 2009.

His disappearance prompted a section of the media, as well as some international NGOs, to accuse the Directorate of Military Intelligence (DMI) of executing him. No less a person than the then US Assistant Secretary of State for South Asian Affairs and one-time US Ambassador in Colombo, Robert O. Blake, inquired about the missing person.

The University Teachers for Human Rights (Jaffna), the Australian Government Refugee Review Tribunal, Tamilnet and the European Centre for Constitutional and Human Rights among others blamed the Sri Lankan intelligence for the disappearance. However, the Indian media, in May, 2014, revealed Thayapararajah’s arrest though they didn’t know at the time that he was the person who was supposed to have been killed by the Sri Lankan Intelligence. At the time Indian police apprehended Thayapararajah, at Arichamunai off Dhanuskodi, after arriving there in a boat from Sri Lanka, he had been with notorious female human smuggler Uthayakala. She claimed Thayapararajah was her second husband.

That chance detection exposed a blatant lie propagated over the years. The then Head of Missing Persons Commission, retired High Court Judge Maxwell Paranagama, is also on record as having called for international cooperation to trace persons living overseas under new identities. Paranagama told the writer that at that time both the international community, including the ICRC, had declined to help Sri Lanka identify those taking cover behind new identities.

Chemmani mass graves

Sri Lanka needs to investigate war crimes allegations, particularly the high profile Chemmani mass grave. The country cannot ignore the continuing accusations with the international media taking advantage of the situation to tarnish the country, especially the Rajapaksa rule. It must be a way of the West taking revenge from the Rajapaksas for going against their wish to save the bold thirsty Tigers. It is like their logic that Israel can do no wrong!

The CNN dealt with the Chemmani issue while the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ), in July last year, called for what it claimed as victim-centred investigation into the alleged mass graves in compliance with international law and standards.

Tamil political parties, too, repeatedly demanded tangible action against the perpetrators. The Chemmani mass grave site drew national and international attention in 1998 following the confession of a soldier implicated in the rape and murder of schoolgirl Krishanthy Kumaraswamy. Chemmani has become a powerful and painful symbol of the country’s war-torn past.

Krishanthy Kumaraswamy was raped and killed by soldiers on the 7th of September, 1996. The same group of soldiers later killed her mother, her younger brother and a family friend who went out searching for the teenager.

An excavation, in 1999, led to the recovery of 15 sets of remains, and then the matter was allowed to rest for about a quarter of a century. On the orders of the Jaffna Magistrate’s court, a fresh excavation was ordered last year, following the chance recovery of some skeletal remains and so far nearly 600 sets of human remains have been found, among them children and infants. Tamil media have declared Chemmani as the largest mass grave found in Sri Lanka.

It would be pertinent to mention that some time back the Army was accused of the Mannar mass graves but investigations undertaken by the Office of Missing Persons (OMP), with international expertise, proved the claims false. Bone fragment samples were submitted to Beta Analytic, a specialised US radiocarbon-dating laboratory. This happened during the Yahapalana administration (2015-2019) Later, the lab indicated that the tested bone samples dated back to the period between 1499 and 1719 AD (the 15th to 18th century). That brought an end to the Mannar mass graves hoax.

Whatever the circumstances, the government cannot remain silent regarding the Chemmani mass graves. The area that had been under Security Forces Headquarters, Jaffna continues to receive public attention, both here and abroad. The Army will have to address the issue without further delay. Let me stress the importance of investigating the atrocities perpetrated by others, namely the Indian Army for which the responsibility lies with the government of India as well as the LTTE, and over half a dozen other terrorist groups that subsequently entered the political mainstream.

The formation of Tamil National Army (TNA) by India before the Indian Army pullout by March 1990, too, must receive the attention of Sri Lanka as well the concerned international community. Having totally destabilised the smaller neighbouring county by arming scores of terrorist groups, New Delhi went a step further by the formation of the TNA meant to protect Varatharaja Perumal’s North-East provincial administration.

In spite of President Ranasinghe Premadasa drawing strong criticism for arming the LTTE against the Indian Army, in hindsight, if not for his controversial decision, India’s proxy, TNA may have taken root. Whatever various parties say today, the TNA had been formed to ensure the continuation of the deeply unpopular Perumal’s administration that went to the extent of forcible conscription. India can never absolve itself of responsibility for what it did in Sri Lanka. The destabilisation project, largely influenced by the then Premier Indira Gandhi’s concerns over the developing situation in Tamil Nadu, caused massive death and destruction. No less a person than J.N. Dixit, who served as their High Commissioner in Colombo (1985 to 1989), and later appointed National Security Advisor (2004 to 2005) disclosed in his memoirs ‘Makers of India’s Foreign Policy: Raja Ram Mohun to Yashwant Sinha’, Indira’s Gandhi’s intervention. The late Dixit in no uncertain terms blamed her for Indian intervention in Sri Lanka.

Midweek Review

A street where Sri Lankan stories found their readers

Published

6 days ago

2026/09/9

Sahan Weerasooriya

Margaret Richardson and Asanka de Mel / Ashok Ferrey

By Ifham Nizam

Pictures by Nishan S Priyantha and Kamal Bogoda

Ashok Ferrey took readers into an older Colombo through Colpetty People. Vivimarie Vanderpoorten opened the door to the personal stories behind her poetry. Andrew Fidel Fernando brought cricket, culture and the distinctive world of Sri Lankan school cricket into the conversation, while Ramya Jirasinghe spoke candidly about the long and often difficult road from writing a manuscript to seeing it published.

Then came Margaret Richardson and Asanka de Mel, whose conversation moved from literature to the question of where Sri Lanka should be by 2048.

These were among the voices that gave life to Fairway Street of Stories, a new initiative that sought to bring Sri Lankan English-language writers closer to their readers.

But behind the gathering of authors, readers, books, children, book clubs and aspiring writers was a bigger idea—the brainchild of Amendra Haputhanthri, Director of Sarasavi Bookshop (Pvt) Ltd.

For Haputhanthri, Fairway Street of Stories is not merely another literary event. It is part of a much larger attempt to create a marketplace for Sri Lankan talent and to persuade readers to discover stories that are unmistakably their own.

“Usually, when we have exhibitions, such as the Colombo Book Fair, we always think about what sells the most. Here, we wanted to create a niche market for people who want to read Sri Lankan writing,” she said.

And the first event demonstrated just how wide that literary world can be.

Stories from a Sri Lanka we know

Haputhanthri believes one of the greatest strengths of Sri Lankan English writing is its sense of place.

A thriller set in an unfamiliar foreign city may be entertaining. But a thriller unfolding at the Galle Face Hotel or Mount Lavinia Hotel carries another kind of intimacy for a Sri Lankan reader.

“You have familiar words and actual real-world places that we have been to. There will be a connection with the book,” she said.

That connection can be even more powerful when the story takes readers into places and experiences that are disappearing.

This is one reason she admires Ferrey’s work.

During his Fairway session, Ferrey, together with Tanya de Mel, offered readers an engaging glimpse into the world behind Colpetty People and the Colombo it captures.

Amendra Haputhanthri (extreme left) with winners

For Haputhanthri, Ferrey’s writing is also a record of a rapidly changing city.

“Even Sri Lanka is changing very rapidly. Within Colombo also, the environment is rapidly changing, and that is being addressed nicely in the books of Ashok Ferrey,” she said.

Literature, in that sense, becomes more than entertainment.

It becomes memory.

The stories behind the poems

Vivimarie Vanderpoorten offered a very different literary experience.

Haputhanthri describes her as one of the country’s outstanding contemporary talents, particularly because of the personal histories embedded in her poetry.

A poem on a page may be only a few lines long. But behind those lines can lie an entire life.

Vanderpoorten spoke about those experiences at Fairway, including deeply disturbing events she had witnessed during her university years.

For Haputhanthri, hearing those stories transformed the poems.

“All her stories, there is a back story. All her poems, there is a back story,” she said.

She believes such conversations are precisely what literary events should create—a space where readers can move beyond the printed page and understand the human experience that produced it.

She also encouraged people to read poetry, even if only one poetry collection a year.

Poetry, she believes, forces readers to think beyond what is immediately presented.

“It gives you the ability to think out of the box,” she said.

Cricket is more than a score

Andrew Fidel Fernando brought yet another dimension to the event.

For someone who writes and comments on international cricket, his work naturally takes readers into the world of the game. But Haputhanthri noted that Fernando’s writing also captures the culture surrounding cricket in different countries.

And Sri Lanka has a particularly richstory to tell.

Andrew Fidel Fernando / Dr. Vivimarie Vanderpoorten

For Haputhanthri, the island’s school-cricket culture is something the world should know more about.

“We are the best in the world when it comes to having a culture for school cricket. It is something very unique to our country,” she said.

She even suggested that writers interested in Sri Lankan cricket should explore this largely distinctive phenomenon in greater depth.

Because literature can sometimes reveal what statistics cannot.

A schoolboy walking onto a cricket ground carries with him a school, a city, friendships, rivalries, family expectations and an entire culture.

From manuscript to book

Ramya Jirasinghe’s contribution was particularly relevant to aspiring writers.

She spoke about her own journey and the realities of getting a book published.

Her experience demonstrated that literary success rarely happens overnight.

Winning recognition is one thing. Turning a manuscript into an internationally published book is another.

For emerging writers listening to her, the message was clear: writing requires patience, revision and persistence.

Haputhanthri knows that process well.

Writers, she said, can be rejected repeatedly—even at international level.

And translations create another layer of difficulty.

Sometimes an author reads a translation of his or her work and says: “This doesn’t have my voice.”

That, Haputhanthri acknowledged, illustrates how complex the journey from an original manuscript to another language can be.

A speech from the future

Carmel Miranda

Asanka de Mel and Margaret Richardson brought another perspective to Fairway.

De Mel’s 2048: A Speech from 2048 looks towards the centenary of Sri Lanka’s independence and asks why the country has not yet become a developed nation.

But his message, as Haputhanthri interpreted it, was not one of resignation.

Sri Lanka should not allow its small geographical size to become a psychological limitation.

De Mel’s own journey—from two decades in Silicon Valley to returning to Sri Lanka and embarking on entrepreneurial ventures—was offered as an example of what persistence and confidence can achieve.

For Haputhanthri, it reinforced one of the central lessons of both writing and life.

“There is no shortcut in life,” she said.

Stories that preserve a country

Fairway Street of Stories also reflected Haputhanthri’s belief that literature can preserve aspects of Sri Lankan identity that are increasingly vulnerable.

She spoke about Angampora, Beeralu weaving, traditional culture and historical stories.

Even the country’s royal heritage can become a gateway for a new generation to understand the island’s past.

She recalled seeing foreign visitors browsing books about Sri Lankan kings.

Those books were doing more than recounting history. They were presenting the story of a country with a long and complicated heritage.

Haputhanthri believes Sri Lankan literature can perform a similar role internationally.

“Our stories should also reach people in the same way our food and cultural experiences have reached the world,” she said.

She recalled meeting two foreigners who had visited Sri Lanka around 156 times.

Their extraordinary attachment to the country reminded her that Sri Lanka’s culture has an ability to attract people repeatedly.

The stories of the country, she believes, deserve the same reach.

The problem is not the e-book

Ramya Jirasinghe (third from left)

Yet while Haputhanthri is passionate about books, she is equally concerned about the future of reading.

She does not believe e-books are necessarily the enemy.

“If people are reading an e-version, as long as they are reading something valuable, that will add something to you,” she said.

The bigger threat, in her view, is the endless scrolling culture of the smartphone.

“Scrolling on the phone reduces your attention span and you can’t do any sort of deep work,” she said.

She has observed this challenge among young people entering the workplace and believes sustained concentration is increasingly difficult.

But her answer is not to blame young people.

It is to begin much earlier—with parents and teachers.

“Whatever the parents read, the children also will read,” she said.

‘Readers Are Not Born, They Are Created’

That belief is now developing into another initiative.

Haputhanthri is working on a programme titled ‘Readers Are Not Born, They Are Created’, which she hopes to take from school to school and community to community.

The target will be parents as much as children.

The message is that reading habits are cultivated. They are demonstrated, encouraged and nurtured.

She also hopes to involve children who have themselves developed through reading, allowing them to share their experiences with others.

For Haputhanthri, the issue is deeply personal.

“I would credit everything that I have today, and everything I am today, because of reading,” she said.

She believes avid readers develop empathy, creativity and critical thinking—qualities that are increasingly valuable in a world dominated by information but often short on attention.

Beyond one literary weekend

Fairway Street of Stories, therefore, is not intended to remain a once-a-year literary celebration.

Haputhanthri wants to see activities connected with reading and books continue throughout the year.

A bargain book sale is among the ideas being considered, making use of books from Sarasavi’s extensive network of branches that may have suffered minor damage or discolouration while remaining on shelves.

The next major event will be the book fair, followed by further initiatives.

But the larger ambition goes beyond sales.

It is about discovery.

A reader discovering a Sri Lankan writer.

A child discovering poetry.

An aspiring author discovering that rejection is not the end.

A foreign visitor discovering that Sri Lanka’s stories are as rich as its food, landscapes and traditions.

And a country discovering itself in its own books.

That is perhaps the most significant contribution of Fairway Street of Stories.

Because the authors who gathered there did more than talk about their books.

They demonstrated the many ways in which Sri Lanka can be written, remembered and imagined.

And behind that gathering was Amendra Haputhanthri’s conviction that these stories deserve not only a place on a bookshelf, but a place in the minds of readers—and eventually, a place in the wider world.