Columns

•   Controversy rages over former LTTE Eastern commander’s remarks about massacring thousands of troops
•   Major dispute over Harin Fernando’s comments about Cardinal’s role in last year’s presidential election
•   Strict health guidelines for parliamentary elections; concern over voter turnout

At one time, he was the most trusted ‘military commander’ of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) leader, Velupillai Prabhakaran, who led a near three-decade-long failed separatist war.

That high level of trust prompted the LTTE leader in 2004 to name him to the delegation for Norwegian-brokered peace talks between the government and the LTTE. Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan alias Karuna was then the LTTE’s ‘Eastern Commander’. That took him to the Thai capital of Bangkok a few times, his first exposure to the outside world. The city that never sleeps is known for its bustling night life. LTTE cadres were already operating then from Silom, a key financial district in that country.

They also ran a ‘Yarl” restaurant too in a far corner. Among other items, its Pittu and mutton curry were popular. It was perhaps the only place in Thailand where Elephant House ginger beer and cream soda were served. I have seen cadres, possibly war wounded, with hands or legs bandaged. One in particular was a person walking with crutches since he could not place his heavily wrapped left foot on the ground. Weeks later, relations with his leader soured so much that war broke out between Prabhakaran’s northern and Karuna’s eastern cadres in June 2007. It was a north versus east battle. Prabhakaran sent death squads after he defied an order to come to Wanni.

For the August 5 parliamentary elections, the campaign is still on low key because of health guidelines. The turnout is also restricted. At this Kurunegala meeting addressed by Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, physical distancing was maintained to a large extent while the participants wore masks. In terms of the health guidelines, the participants had to give their names, addresses and telephone numbers for contract tracing in case of a COVID-19 detection.

The Verugal River, which divides the Trincomalee and Batticaloa districts, was the battlefront. Prabhakaran’s men were positioned on the Trincomalee end and Karuna’s on the Batticaloa side. The former positioned loudspeakers and blared loud martial music besides interrupting them occasionally to make fiery appeals to Karuna’s men to surrender. If he expected an attack across the river, Prabhakaran launched a sea borne landing and carried out a fierce assault from the rear. That was his undoing. Karuna ordered his cadres to destroy mortar launchers, assault rifles and communications equipment and make a hasty retreat.

He fled to Colombo and checked into the JAIC Hilton. He came under the protection of the Directorate of Military Intelligence (DMI). Months later, he joined a tour group which a travel agency was arranging regularly for religious pilgrimages to South India. He lived there for weeks. Again, when he returned months later, to say it briefly, he entered politics in 2008 by becoming a national list MP. The next year he became non-Cabinet Minister of National Integration. He also became a Vice President of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP). He contested the 2010 parliamentary elections, but lost.

Within a week of his return to Colombo from the eastern battlefields, I met Karuna at the residence of a then senior military official. It was for a 140-minute, recorded interview. I had embarked on a book on the different phases of the Eelam Wars. I had followed them from beginning to end. It never materialised. On one occasion, reports of a possible raid on my residence prompted me to light a bonfire of valuable documents, some sensitive with photographs and flee home with my family to a southern hotel. I am still not sure whether it was due to representations I made to a political leader, but the raid did not take place that night. Yet, I suffered a severe loss, one that was irreparable. It came at a time when I was facing death threats and was forced to flee the country. If I were found with the material, I could have faced charges and even a jail sentence. On the other hand, perhaps some aspects of the war would have been viewed differently for the material was proof enough.

Some of details Karuna told me are still valid. He believes it was the LTTE “intelligence boss” Pottu Amman (Shanmugalingam Shivashankar) who was responsible for the bad blood between him and Prabhakaran. He disclosed that the LTTE leader was mortified by the attacks carried out by the Sri Lanka Army’s Long-Range Reconnaissance Patrols (LRRP). Prabhakaran, he said, sacked his close protection bodyguards after a mine exploded near the house where his wife Mathivathani was living. For reasons of security, they never lived together. He revealed that the leader himself shifted positions after he was shaken by the incident and also restricted his movements.

This was how, Karuna said, he sent 450 of his ‘well-trained’ cadres from the east to protect Prabhakaran. It was only he and Pottu Amman who were permitted to meet their leader with their side arm in holsters. “They looked after him until I left. Thereafter, they became prisoners,” he said. Some of his other comments, more detailed and little known, would have to wait for another day.

Karuna’s controversial statement

Karuna, now better known as Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan, is a candidate for the Ahila Ilankai Thamil Maha Sabha for the Digamadulla (Ampara) district in the August 5 parliamentary elections — a long journey from striped Tiger guerrilla combat uniform with boots to wearing a lounge suit with pointed leather shoes.

Muralitharan, who spoke at a public meeting in Karativu, has now triggered a political storm with the remarks that “we massacred 3,000 soldiers overnight in Kilinochchi and Elephant Pass areas.”  A tape-recorded Tamil version is available with the Sunday Times.  To place matters in context, here is an English translation of how the remarks came to be made:

“We want to return at least two members from the Digamadulla district to Parliament. In the Batticaloa district the number of Tamil members has been reduced to three. This time they will get only two members. The Muslims constitute 26 percent of the population in Batticaloa and will return three members in Batticaloa. In the Batticaloa district the Muslims are well organised.  Our community members have not done any work in the district.

“If we are united, we can get two of our party members elected from the Digamadulla district. There are many parties contesting from this district.  We have a better chance to get two members to Parliament. Some of our members are not keen on voting. They should be enthusiastic, go and vote”.

He referred to the name of a Pradeshiya Sabha Chairman, (not the one whom he officially named but it was another) saying “Karuna is deadlier than the coronavirus.” He declared “What he said is correct, as the Coronavirus (in Sri Lanka) has claimed only nine lives. He is not aware that we massacred 3,000 soldiers overnight in the Kilinochchi and Elephant Pass areas. He is not aware of what we are capable of……”

Quite rightly Karuna’s remarks need to be investigated. Here is one of the top LTTE ‘field commanders’ saying that during the war they massacred 3000 government troops. Did it happen in action or after they were taken prisoner? This is important to be established. This also has resonance in the US-sponsored resolution on Sri Lanka now before the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva. There is now a witness who served the LTTE to confirm its military might, which would have led to extensive abuses. Ironically, drafters of the resolution would never have foreseen such a confession. Is this a blessing in disguise?”

Unlike the Tamil diaspora groups, all non-state actors, which are geared to react to issues rapidly, government’s agencies have been painfully slow. The latest is the case of Major General Tuan Suresh Sallay, who has chosen to send a letter of demand to UN transitional justice expert Jasmin Sooka. This is for alleged defamatory statements she had made as Executive Director of the International Truth and Justice Project (ITJP) website. The idea here is not to argue or dissect the merits or demerits of Maj. Gen. Sally’s claims. He is now the head of State Intelligence Services (SIS), the first Army officer to take up that position in the country’s premier intelligence agency. It is like what the CIA is to the United States or GRU to Russia.

Be that as it may, that the accusations against this senior intelligence official have come in the line of duty is all too well known. It would have been incumbent on the part of the Ministry of Defence, his higher command, to have defended him through a statement setting out the facts. The fact that Maj. Gen. Sallay continues in office is proof that there is confidence in him. Why then the silence leaving him to fight his own battle personally? That has exacerbated suspicions, which to say the least, is not fair by a serving officer.

This phenomenon is nothing new but has assumed greater proportions now. The same can be said of the Ministry of Foreign Relations whose preoccupation in the recent weeks, from accounts in its own news releases, is mostly on the expatriation of Sri Lankans abroad. This is after the Covid-19 pandemic. Groups living abroad and opposed to the government, particularly against President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, have been egging international agencies to issue critical statements. They have been successful so far. One is not sure whether the Ministry is aware. If it does, there has been no counter action. Just last week, it took Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa to counter a handful of such instances. Another cause for concern for influential sections in the Government is the mounting in-fighting among officials prompting mudslinging in the social media.

The issues are becoming a dilemma for Foreign Relations Minister Dinesh Gunawardena.

Just last week, European Union envoys held a meeting with President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. They raised a multitude of issues related to human rights and claimed that some of the assurances given by governments have not been fulfilled. They cited the rescinding of the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) as an example. With heads of mission positions in a number of important capitals including Tokyo, Paris, and New Delhi still vacant, one would naturally expect the Foreign Ministry to be more proactive. The matter was the subject of a high-level discussion.

Karuna’s remarks assumed greater significance only after protests were raised by members of the Buddhist clergy as well as sections of the Opposition.  The Ven. Omalpe Sobitha thera went to Police Headquarters last Monday to lodge a complaint over Karuna’s remarks. He told the Sunday Times, “Under our laws, he has admitted to engaging in acts against the state with a terrorist group. The remarks he made were to induce fear in the minds of the people and intimidate them.”

As an LTTE leader, “the people believe Karuna was responsible for many terrorist acts, including the massacre of 600 policemen who had surrendered. People also believe he was involved in the massacre of 33 Buddhist monks at Arantalawa. Everyone thought he has now become a reformed man who welcomed democracy. People honoured him but now the cat has jumped out of the bag,” the Ven. Sobitha said,

The Ven. Dharmapathi Handigalle Vimalasara Thera made a statement to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID). The prelate told the Sunday Times, “They (the CID) asked why I was making a complaint. Later they recorded a statement. I told the CID that legal action should be taken based on the public remarks Karuna has made. We also handed over a copy of a letter we had sent to the acting IGP Chandana Wickremeratne. Though we believed that Karuna was now a reformed person, he is now taking pride in the terrorist actions he resorted to.”

Karuna made a seven-hour long statement to the CID on Thursday. However, he was not available for comment. Several calls and SMS messages sent to him on his mobile telephone went unanswered.

Harin’s controversial remarks

It seems paradoxical that politicians choose to make controversial statements purely to win votes. Karuna is not alone. Another to join in with equally controversial remarks was the Samagi Jana Balavegaya (SJB) front-liner and former minister, Harin Fernando. Addressing an SJB meeting in Medirigiriya (Polonnaruwa District) last Sunday, he made some critical remarks against Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith, Archbishop of Colombo. Here is an English translation of the relevant part from the tape-recorded speech:

“A new leader of the country has been elected. He had 6.9 million votes while we got 5.6 million votes. If we looked at percentages 42 percent votes were given to Sajith Premadasa while 52 percent votes were received by Gotabaya Rajapaksa. Now you should carefully see what the actual game was. If five percent of votes given to Gotabaya were given to Sajith Premadasa the vote parentages for both candidates would have been 47 per cent each. Then the preference vote would have had to be counted. If that were the case Sajith Premadasa would have won because the JVP had cast its second preferential vote to him (Premadasa). As I recall around 350,000 JVP supporters had cast their second vote to him. Do you now have an idea who changed the five percent of votes?”

The remarks are as good as saying there would be sunshine if there is no gloom and rain or a woman could have delivered a boy if not for the girl she brought out. That was Fernando’s logic, a way of saying why Sajith Premadasa lost the presidential election. Simply put, it was only because Gotabaya Rajapaksa polled more votes. Fernando then went on to say:  “The Catholic votes were stolen via issues arising from the Easter Sunday attacks last year. Normally 80 percent of Catholic votes are for UNP candidates. They targeted the Catholic votes, they went to Archbishop Cardinal Ranjith and engaged in funny politics. (“Maru Deshapalanayak”)

“I never told this as I too have a Catholic origin. My mother is a Buddhist and my father is a Catholic, I went to St Joseph College, I learned under Catholic fathers. When I was small, I lived at Wattala, I lived close to the Wattala church. My grandfather was the person who built the church. These are true stories. I am disgusted with the Archbishop as he is directly engaged in politics.

“I gave him a call once. This is the first time that I am saying this to the media. When the issue took place, he (Cardinal) stated “Amathi putha beruna ape minissu maruna (son of minister was saved while innocent Catholics died)” What kind of a ridiculous statement is that. All those statements are political statements. They are the people who are behind the five percent vote’s game (theft).

“What had happened to them today? Mother Nature has punished them. Mother Nature is weeping. The 6.9 million who voted are now understanding that there is no fertilizer. They only had a  prime minister and a president for salmon and lentils. Corona came through the environment. They could not do anything…

“As the Easter Sunday attack was carried out, we never attacked them when the government took the fall.  When I came to Polonnaruwa I thought it would be like coming to Paris. I thought that because this was the area of the President. However, it is still like before when I came here during 2008.

“……However, do you know the unfortunate plight I faced; the elder brother appointed another brother to Sri Lanka Telecom. He does not know how to even dial a phone number. He was made chairman. I was really upset over that……” (The reference was to the Sri Lanka Telecom Chairman Kumarasinghe Sirisena, the brother of former President Maithripala Sirisena. Fernando was Telecommunication Minister). In other words, he is conceding that he had no power as then Telecommunication Minister to stop then President Sirisena appointing his own brother, a disqualified person.

Fernando’s remarks drew a howl of protests. The Bishops of Colombo together with the Catholic Clergy of the Archdiocese of Colombo declared that they “view with great concern the statement made by Mr Harin Fernando, former Member of Parliament at a political rally in Medirigiriya. His derogatory comments against His Eminence that the UNP candidate Sajith Premadasa had been deprived of the Catholic votes during the last Presidential Election, is totally a fabrication of his own imagination.”  The statement noted that it is “very appalling that Mr Fernando attacks the leadership of the Catholic Church in such a disparaging manner and we urge those concerned to take steps to correct this situation with immediate effect and restore the esteemed high office of the Catholic hierarchy. The statement praised Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith for giving “leadership to a country wrecked in political turmoil and it was solely due to his efforts that clashes between different communities were prevented after the tragic Easter Sunday bomb blasts.”

The United National Party (UNP) said in a statement that it “vehemently condemned” Fernando’s statement. Services rendered by Cardinal Malcolm Ranjit, particularly his support to the government and the country following the Easter Sunday attacks, must not be forgotten, it said. The Anunayake of the Asgiriya Chapter, the Venerable Wendaruwe Upali Thera said that a people’s representative should not have criticised religious dignitaries because it vitiates the atmosphere created for all communities and religious groups to live in peace and harmony promoting brotherhood. Mounting criticism prompted SJB leader Sajith Premadasa to extend an apology to Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith.

Interesting enough, Premadasa made no such apology either to the Buddhist community or the clergy when his onetime stalwart and ex-Finance Minister, Mangala Samaraweera made some controversial remarks. He once said that Sri Lanka is not a Sinhala Buddhist country. Then he declared whilst criticising the Buddhist clergy, that even Lord Buddha had his detractors.

However, there was neither an apology nor an expression of regret by Fernando. As is now the practice of some politicians caught up in controversial situations, he blamed it on media institutions. They become the smokescreen or scapegoats. “A 45-minute speech made by me at a rally in Polonnaruwa was edited, and a mere one-minute clip released by certain media institutions with vested interests,”  he said in a lengthy statement. Surely, he cannot expect the electronic media to run his entire 45-minute speech. Taking newsworthy points even from speeches made by the President or the Prime Minister is standard practice. It is common knowledge that if they were to do otherwise, they would lose public ratings and thus their viewership.

Among other points made by Fernando in his statement: “…….. On the 20th of April last year (2019) I was at my electorate of Badulla to attend a series of meetings. I attended church in Badulla alone, the next day (21st April) as I do most on Sundays.  When the news broke of the terror attacks on the churches in Colombo I rushed back as soon as I could. On my way back to the capital, my sister called me to mention that our father had told her something to the effect that churches would be attacked, when she had visited him the day before. I visited my father prior to a press conference at which I was to speak. During a brief interaction I asked him what he meant by what he had told my sister. His reply was brief and being his true self said he knows everything. My father was under a lot of medication and was in a delirious state. Therefore, it is quite obvious why no one in my family took him seriously when he had first made the statement.

“I have given statements to the CID and the Presidential Commission with regard to the conversations that took place with my father. I was shocked and appalled as to why, if such information had in fact been available with the law enforcement agencies, the relevant officials did nothing about it. The feeling I expressed at the press conference was just that…….

“Although the views expressed at the political rally were entirely my own (and not even suggested by me to be reflection of the views of the party I represent), some media institutions have chosen to highlight, out of context, a morsel of what I said, in order to create tensions between members of the Catholic community and the party which I represent. This is typical of the conduct of certain media institutions….”

Nowhere in the statement does Fernando deny that he made those remarks against Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith at the meeting in Medirigiriya. Thus, blaming the media is a diversion to avoid embarrassment. Not when tape recorders and video cameras are available freely in Sri Lanka. The term brushing under the carpet has become obsolete.

From a rather lukewarm mood, polls campaigning is now picking up. Yet, it is not to the levels of either previous presidential or parliamentary elections. That is the result of an uninvited participant — the Covid 19 pandemic.

Most political party leaders are engaging in smaller campaigns where the crowds are limited. It is likely to reach a more active phase when main rallies, one in each district, are allowed after the health guidelines are gazetted.

Here again, for the political parties, there is a glitch — those taking part would have to provide their names, addresses and phone numbers. There are fears that would lower attendance, but health officials say they have no choice. Like the political rallies, the turnout at polling booths also remains a key question. The answer will be known in the next 37 days when votes are cast.