Douglas Devananda took to his heels in Manila fearing an LTTE gunman was trailing us

1994 saw a new crop of MPs who had political knowledge outside their usual electorate concerns. Most of them had a wider vision than merely serving as providers of food stamps, roads and various other handouts to their voters. International Alert first organized a seminar for about 25 of them in the island of Crete in Greece. Apart from MPs from the SLFP and UNP, representatives of minority communities in Parliament were invited for this seminar.

We were to be introduced to the South African dialogue which resulted in the ending of Apartheid and the establishment of the new multi-racial South African nation under Nelson Mandela. The leader and facilitator of this dialogue was Pravin Gordan, then a senior official of the new republic who was later to be South Africa’s Finance Minister under President M’beki.

Among the participants I remember Rukman Senanayake, Mahinda Samarasinghe ,AnuraYapa, Dullas Alahapperuma,Dilan Perera, Karunasena Kodituwakku and Imtiaz Bakeer Markar. Minority parties were represented by Douglas Devananda, Rauf Hakeem and Hisbullah. The participation of Hisbullah created a problem for us. We were en route to Crete via Frankfurt and Athens. Since Hisbullah was the unofficial leader of our group – he was the Deputy Minister of Telecommunications and the only holder of ministerial rank in the delegation – his passport was submitted first to passport control at Frankfurt Airport.

The passport officer – obviously a newcomer – saw stars when he read Hisbullahs name. He shepherded all of us to a room, shut the door and ran to his superior. An experienced officer came down after some time to find that our motley crew of middle aged parliamentarians were certainly not terrorists. He apologized, stamped our transit visas and put us on the waiting plane to Athens. After that we made sure that Hisbullah’s passport was the last in our bundle of documents. There is an interesting post script to our visit to Greece.

A few days into the meeting we got the startling news about the bombing of the Central Bank in Colombo by the LTTE. We were desperate to get information from Colombo. Fortunately Hisbullah – the Deputy Minister of Telecommunications, was in our delegation and he arranged for all of us to get calls to Colombo. That was particularly important for me because my elder daughter Ramanika was working in the American Express Bank which was across the street from the Central Bank. I spoke to her on the telephone and was relieved to hear that she was safe. However one of her colleagues who was on the ground floor of the bank had been killed in the blast.

Belfast

Our next tour was to Northern Ireland. We all looked forward to this tour as Irish problems were very much in the news then with bombs exploding in London and an attack on the British Parliament itself. Lord Mountbatten and members of his family were killed while holidaying in an Irish village. Strict security measures were in force when we landed in Belfast where the inner city was a “no go zone”. We were whisked away to Bellamina Hotel which was quite far from the city.

On this occasion we were introduced to the leaders of the different contending groups who talked to us about their perceptions of a negotiated settlement. The Irish Catholics who dominated the countryside described their plight as victims of British colonialism. The Scots and English had invaded their land and after bitter battles subjugated them and held them as colonial subjects as in other parts of the globe. Large swathes of fertile land had been acquired by those invaders and we could see the big colonial mansions of the Irish Protestant aristocracy as we drove past the incredibly well maintained parks and greens.

The Protestants who were called “loyalists”as they were loyal to England and English royalty, were economically better off. They initially resorted to violence to maintain their dominance forcing retaliation by the Catholics. Their clashes in Belfast and Londonderry were parts of legends that kept them apart. But by far the main reason for the ethnic conflict was religion. The Sinn Fienn was the political party which represented the Catholics while the IRA was its military arm. The Catholics were larger in number and were encouraged by their coreligionists who were south of the border as the Irish Republic, with the legendary city of Dublin as its capital.

On the other hand the loyalists were fanatics who had contempt for the Catholics who had served as workers in their estates in the past. The status of these virtual slaves was low. Many had to emigrate to the United States during the potato famine to keep alive. The US Irish – including the Kennedys, Clintons and Bidens – were of that stock and they were happy to acknowledge their roots in northern Ireland and was a powerful lobby for a negotiated settlement in the home country which would play well in electoral politics of the US.

Greeting Nobel Prize winner John Hume

While their military units were kept out, political parties of both sides interacted with us often bringing maps and political literature while their gun toting “paras” guarded the perimeter of the hotel. We were not aware that discussions were going on behind the scenes with the Republic of Ireland pushing for an equitable solution for the Catholics. Indeed it was the recognition of the role of the Republic that paved the way for a settlement after Labour won a landslide victory under Tony Blair in 1987.

Finally an agreement called the “Good Friday Accord” were negotiated in 1988 with greater representation for the Catholics. This minutae of the negotiations were of much interest to us and meetings with Mc Guiness, Gerry Adams’ deputy, was a high point of our tour. Adams the IRA leader sent us autographed copies of his recently published biography “Fire in the Hills” as a memento. This book is now in my library. It reminds me of our memorable visit to Ireland at the height of the murderous conflict which was dominating global news at that time.

Several years later I was able to host John Hume the Irish leader who led the reconciliation process in Ireland and had won the Nobel prize for his effort. We had a meeting and dinner for him in Colombo with the cooperation of the British Embassy here.

Chittagong

International Alert arranged our next meeting in Bangladesh. The Chikma hill tribe of Chittagong were battling the Bangla army. The Chikmas holding the surrounding hills asked for autonomy as they were Buddhists with their own language and culture. Ethnically they were closer to the Kachin and Karen hill tribes who were confronting the Burmese and Thai military in their own countries. This time around our delegation was led by Bertie Dissanayake, a popular leader of the SLFP from Anuradhapura

district. Perhaps the organizers thought that a representative from our Buddhist heartland would be more acceptable to the rebels.

We first landed in Dhaka for consultations with the relevant Bangladeshi officials. They were all staunch Muslims who could not brook the thought of a conclave of Buddhists in their country ignoring the fact that Bangladesh had been founded because Pakistan had refused to recognize their individual language and culture. They too, like the Pakistanis, were set on a military solution to this ethnic crisis. I had done some research on Buddhism in the colonial period and knew that this area which was called Cox Bazaar by the British was part of old Arakan which was a Buddhist centre. In the colonial period Arakanese had been drawn to Calcutta which was the locus of a modern Buddhist revival, thanks to the Mahabodhi Society led by Anagarika Dharmapala.

We then left by bus to Chittagong. On the way we stopped at the site of the famous ancient Buddhist centre called Somapura Mahavihara. It was on a par with Nalanda, Vikramashila and Jaggadala Buddhist monasteries. Our request to visit the Chikma hills was turned down by the military. But we managed to go to a nearby town where some of the Chikma fighters met us. They unanimously sought our help to persuade the Bangladesh government to permit some devolution so that their distinctive identity would be preserved.

Their resources were so meagre that a settlement seemed to be the only way out. Happily, some time later an arrangement was made to accommodate them partly because Chittagong as a main port in the country grew rapidly as a garment hub. With greater economic benefits – including from several Sri Lankan managed garment factories – the Chikma problem was viewed more sympathetically and was eventually solved.

Manila

Our next rendezvous was Manila in the Philipines. The Mindanao rebellion was in full swing. The rebels were Muslims who were persecuted by the Manila authorities. The islands which saw an armed rebellion were closer to Indonesia and the Muslim militants there were funding and arming the rebels while the Philippines administration faced a logistical nightmare to get to the battle zone. We were precluded from visiting Mindanao on the grounds that it would be unsafe – a touching concern we observed in all the trouble spots in Northern Ireland, Bangladesh and now the Philippines.

However when the Filipino academics and security personnel briefed us in Manila it became clear that the solution lay outside their country. Accordingly there were long standing negotiations with Indonesia which were not going anywhere. Manila changed tack later and brought Saudi Arabia in as a mediator and achieved a good result. These discussions were very helpful for us MPs to understand the ramifications of ethnic conflicts and the need for foreign interlocutors. The JVP had earlier used this issue as a pretext to resume their violent activities which had ended in their military defeat and the killing of nearly all of their top leaders. There was a similar ending to the LTTE war.

There is one event which took place in Manila which still remains in my memory. Douglas Devananda and I took a stroll on a Manila street after a discussion session. We had hardly walked a mile when Douglas looked round and started running leaving me flabbergasted. I continued on my journey and came back to the hotel to find Douglas swimming in the hotel pool. When I asked him about his strange behaviour he told me that he had seen a LTTE gunman following us and that he had to run to escape a murder attempt.

To this day I do not know whether it was really so or that Douglas had imagined it. What I can say is that there were several attempts on his life later and that he has escaped them all even though many scars remain on his body to remind him that it was a close call.

Presidential Campaign 1994

The Presidential election was scheduled for November 1994. The two leading candidates were self selected in that both CBK and Gamini became the automatic choices of the two main contending parties. The latter however was under pressure, particularly from his family, to skip this election since at first CBK seemed invincible. However Gamini insisted on contesting and thereby putting his seal on the party, win or lose. We were also aware that there had been many internal disputes in the SLFP. I noticed that Gamini launched his campaign in a very professional manner bringing in Wickreme Weerasooria and Daham Wimalasena who had managed JRJ’s presidential bids.

He also seemed to be ready to outspend his rival whose antipathy to big business was well known. Another of his advantages was that he was indefatigable on the stump. With his financial backing he was using helicopters to crisscross the country and slowly the UNP party machine which had gone to sleep under Wijetunga and Ranil, began to wake up. Many observers opined that he was fast catching up on his rival.

That must have been the analysis of the LTTE as well because they would have only planned to assassinate him thinking that he had a chance of success. They calculated that if he won, Gamini would have India on his side. This was no fancy illusion because he was a firm favourite of the Gandhi family and the Indian Congress. When we celebrated his fiftieth birthday with a “Festschrift” entitled “50; A Beginning” India sent Natwar Singh, its State Minister of Foreign Affairs, to participate in the ceremony in Colombo. They were breaking protocol to honour a friend.

Thotalanga bomb blast

By late October 1994 the Presidential race was coming to its final lap. Both campaigns were in full swing and though CBK with her recent electoral victory appeared to be leading, Gamini was confident that he was catching up. He was pouring money into his campaign and redoubling his efforts to reach out to his supporters. He felt that he needed more time. He also was unhappy that Ranil was not throwing his weight behind the campaign. In fact we received intelligence that he was urging his close supporters to back CBK.

In his usual style Gamini confronted Ranil whom he had nurtured in the party in the early days and asked for his support. I too met Ranil at his house and urged him to support the party candidate. Gamini undertook helicopter rides to cover as much ground as possible in order to catch up on time lost in his battle to get back to the UNP. He overextended himself by trying to cover as many meetings as possible in a day, including late night meetings, which probably cost him his life.

I was with him on the morning of October 24, 1994. We went by helicopter for an early campaign in Kandy district. The first meeting was held in Kundasale presided over by Tissa Attanayake. Attanayake had been a cheerleader for Ranil and Gamini tried his best to win him over by flattering him in his speech. In my speech I introduced Gamini as a “native son” of Kandy, which pleased him. He told me that he planned to leave further campaigning in Kandy to me freeing him to stump in the marginal electorates.

We were joined by Dr. Palitha Randeniya, a Professor at Peradeniya University, who had become the virtual spokesman of a particular Kandyan caste. The three of us then took a short helicopter ride to Maratugoda in the Harispattuwa electorate for a meeting organised by ACS Hameed. The helicopter landed on the sports ground of Maratugoda senior school where a car had been arranged to take us to the venue of the meeting which was about two miles away. On the way we encountered a bad omen in that our car broke down half way and we had to waste time on the road till it was repaired.

To save time Gamini asked permission to speak early in his usual polite way. By this time GM Premachandra who represented the nearby Mawathagama electorate in Kurunegala district where the next meeting was to be held, was on the stage. I had told Gamini that I would not travel back with him by helicopter because my parents were living nearby in Nugawela and my father had wanted me to see him that day. I had a meeting with Eric Solheim arranged by my friend Arne Fjortoft at the Eighty Club that evening. I was in the midst of my speech when Gamini signaled that he was leaving. Since there was an empty seat in the helicopter due to my absence he had persuaded a reluctant Premachandra to join him.

Then a strange thing happened which has been lodged in my memory ever since. After reaching the end of the stage where the steps to the exit were located Gamini unexpectedly turned and walked back to me where I was busy speaking, tapped me on the arm and said that he was taking leave of me. The whole Harispattuwa audience saw that gesture of friendship. From the stage I caught a glimpse of him surrounded by his bodyguards heading towards his car amidst a knot of supporters who were cheering him. That was the last time I saw him alive.

He headed for the helicopter with Premachandra whom he had persuaded to join him on the rest of the tour as my sea twas available. They had returned to Colombo by evening to participate in the last meeting for the day at Thotalanga in the northern suburbs of the city. I had lunch with my parents and left for Colombo by car for my appointment with Eric Solheim. He had visited Myanmar to arrange for Norwegian aid and was interested in the Sri Lankan peace process.

After this visit he shifted his attention to Sri Lanka, and became a household name here. We had dinner and I went home to Siripa Road to sleep. Soon after midnight my bedside phone started ringing and I was shocked to receive the news of a bomb going off at Thotalanga. Many of the calls were to check whether I too had gone for Gamini’s meeting. At first I was told that my friend was alive and had been rushed to hospital. But soon the extent of damage became clear. Gamini was dead on arrival and so were many others including Premachandra and Wijesekere – the Secretary of the party.

My daughter Varuni and her husband Rohan were living in Siripa Road at that time and I persuaded them to quickly drive me to Gamini’s residence in Alfred House gardens. There was pandemonium there. Wickreme Weersooria asked me to go immediately to President’s House to brief Wijetunga. I had barely got there when CBK arrived in an agitated state. She was genuinely shocked and grieved by the assassination. We had a discussion and Wijetunga decided to give every possible state assistance for the funeral. CBK graciously agreed to all the measures that were proposed including a state funeral and a final ceremony in Independence square. I went back to Gamini’s house, sat in a corner in the veranda and could not hold back my tears. No one had expected our long journey to end in this terrible fashion.

After several days of “lying in state” when a large concourse of people filed past the bier the cremation was held in Independence square. The family wanted me to speak at the ceremony. Other speakers were several monks, Wijetunga, Ranil and a representative of the SLFP. N. Ram from Chennai flew down and joined me on the drive to Independence square. In my speech I invoked Gamini’s journey from Kotmale to the highest echelons of power. He was a model for every Sri Lankan young man. His achievements including the completion of the Mahaweli project, will remain in our memory.

It was a sad and emotional time for all of us and we went home exhausted to contemplate an uncertain future which had looked happily predictable only a week ago. I must place on record here that CBK acted with great sympathy during this period quite unlike the behaviour of Mrs. B and her Cabinet when they reacted shabbily to Dudley Senanayake’s death and funeral arrangements in the early seventies.

(Excerpted from vol. 3 of the Sarath Amunugama autbiography) ✍️