Sharmalee's Tiger affair

Excerpts:

By Mihiri Wikramanayake

Q: When did Jayantha Gnanakone leave the country? And why?

A: He left on July 23, 1983, the day before the riots, never to return. His mother also died and he didn't come for the funeral. The police had gone to the funeral house around 3 in the morning to find out whether Jayantha had come down for the funeral. So really he doesn't feel comfortable coming and I don't let him come either.

Q: You were arrested by the police last week, and later released. Did they ask whether your husband had any links with the LTTE?

A: I told them that Jayantha is not funding the LTTE. But I know that he has collected medicine, clothes, books and other such items to help Tamil people in the North and East.

Q: After that did the police let you go?

A: Yes. My father and mother came to get me and when I went home I realised that Jayantha had panicked after hearing about my arrest. He had called Ranil (Wickremesinghe) and told him about my situation also.

Q: What is Jayantha's relationship with Ranil?

A: They go back a long time during Jayantha's time in Ceylon. Financially, Jayantha was doing extremely well at that time.

Q: Financially?

A: Yes, financially. Jayantha had lots of lorries and he was into shipping, engineering and a little bit of everything. He had an office in Ceylinco House called Majula Agencies. He gave this name because it sounded like a Muslim name. He didn't want to call it Gnanakone and Gnanakone.

Q: Is Jayantha in direct contact with Prabakaran?

A: Not directly but indirectly.

Q: So if Prabakaran wants something conveyed to Ranil would he do so through Jayantha?

A: No. These are not Prabakaran's view. They are purely Jayantha's views on what the LTTE wants. He knows that whatever the government is offering the Tamils is far less now, after 17 years of bloodshed, than what the Chelva/Banda pact offered then. 

Actually, there are no separate sides to this whole issue. What has happened to me is just the surface. This is the paranoia the Tamils around the world are facing. That is why they don't want to come back and do something for our people.

Q: Did you know about Jayantha's LTTE affiliations before you married him?

A: I met Jayantha at a party in California. Everybody there told me that he is a Tiger. . When one thinks of a Tiger, you naturally think of them as murderers and unreasonable persons asking for whatever it is.

Q: Why was he there?

A: Then he started explaining his side of story. They burnt down his father's shop in Wellawatte. Jayantha was studying at S. Thomas' Mount Lavinia. The father didn't have a way of feeding the four children. He had to start from ground again. Because of these problems his father pulled Jayantha and his elder brother Charles out of college and sent them to a boarding school in Jaffna. St John's. All this time he was growing up blaming the Sinhalese for what he was going through in Jaffna. He grows up and joins Air Ceylon and was sent for training to Oxford Training school under UTA. He did his training and came back as a First Officer. He was one of the first Sri Lankans to fly a plane into Katunayake. When he came to a point to get his captain's promotion they refused to do so. 

Q; Why?

A: Because he didn't have his O/Levels in Sinhala. He got mad because he didn't know why he needed Sinhala to fly a plane. This was another form of discrimination to keep him down. He didn't get his promotion and so he resigned. Then he went to Singapore and set up his shipping agency. While he was training in England he had done a shipping course. After he set up the agency he came down to Colombo. He did this after about three years in Singapore. He was not comfortable there because it was a police state and as a Sri Lankan Tamil there was not so much he could do. 

Q: Then what?

A: He saw tremendous opportunities in Ceylon then because of his relationship with various people at the top. He started Majula, a shipping company, and was the rep for various shipping lines. He was managing a lot of ships, 'specially for a Greek owner. Athulathmudali was the minister at that time. Jayantha had to employ lots of people for the ships. 

Q: Whom was he employing? 

A: All the Tamils. 90% of the people employed were Tamils. Athulathmudali was at loggerheads because of this. He wanted Sinhalese employed. Jayantha refused other than for a few of them who wanted personal favours done. Athulathmudali would then go to JR and Jayantha would go to JR and justify what he was doing. Jayantha is a very headstrong person. Not like the Maharajas or all the other Tamils who are doing business. He won't put his head down. I tell him that that is his problem. If he does shut up he will be a multi billionaire today. He says it is not the right thing to do in his conscience once knowing that everybody else is suffering.

Q: Everybody else?

A: The other Tamil people in Jaffna. People who don't have the guts to stand up and say it is wrong. It is discrimination. So when Athulathmudali was questioning him about employing Tamils, he said look I grew up with Tamils, I went to school with them I know how they suffer. If I don't give them this opportunity of getting a job and making their lives a little bit better, there is no one to do this for the common person there. 

Q: Who is this common person?

A: In the Tamil community there is a caste system. They go beyond what you can even imagine. They don't want to talk to the fisherman's son etc. So he was more familiar and comfortable with those type of people. 

Q: Jayantha comes from such a caste, does he?

A: No…well yes. His ancestors come from that.. like… the village area. That is why he felt he had an obligation to do something for them. But Athulathmudali didn't accept that. And since the Greek owners wanted cheap labour, Jayantha was employing them in their hundreds to work on these ships. Even at that time he was saying that the Tamils should have there own place. 

Q: Was Jayantha a very high profile person?

A: No. He kept a very low profile. He employed Sinhalese people to head his companies. All his directors were Sinhalese. He kept behind the scenes. He hid behind the name of the company because he knew if he came out he would face all sorts of stumbling blocks. He formed overseas trusts and funds and made it difficult to be traced to the top other than for the people at the very top who knew. Over the years he became very close to Athulathmudali's private secretary

Q: What are Jayantha's ideals about this separate state?

A: All that they are asking for is to be left in peace to do their own thing and to bring the country up as a whole under one roof. Even though they are asking for a separate state it's not like they are asking for a concrete wall to be built with no access. Think of it as sliding door or open door policy where they don't' have to depend on the government to give them the funding and control. What this whole thing evolves to is, if you look at the past 17 years, no gun is going to solve this problem. The Sinhala way is an eye for an eye. If a Sinhala person is willing to give an eye for an eye they are prepared to lay down ten lives for that one eye. They know they have lost two generations in this war. You know they train children from the ages of ten years on. 

Q: So it's ok to use children in this war?

A: That is the only way. We have to sacrifice five to six generations for this war.

Q: Why doesn't Jayantha come down from the States and fight in this war instead of recruiting a child?

A: I asked him the same question when I first met him. He said that every dog has a place. Every dog has a role to play in this. He is good at certain things and certain other people are good at other things.

The Sinhala public does not realise that there is the LTTE, which is the main organization, PLOTE TELO EPRLF, ENDPLF and whatever other mushroom groups there are against the LTTE. This is a power struggle within the Tamils because PLOTE is headed by the high caste Tamils.

Q: So it is a caste struggle?

A: Yes. So if you look at the whole picture, the Tamil enemy is not the Sinhalese. The enemy is themselves because these are the people supporting the EPRLF, and TULF and all the Tamil people sitting in Colombo being protected by the govt. It is because of them that LTTE can be tamed to a certain extent because these people are showing the way to the govt, being wined and dined by the President and being protected by the govt. 

Q: Why do they need protection from the Govt?

A: Because they don't feel safe walking the streets. Because the LTTE's main enemy is them before the Sinhala man.

Q: What does Jayantha think about all the bombs going off in Colombo and the killing of innocent civilians?

A: What he feels is that the world doesn't know about the massacre and slaughter of the innocent Tamil civilians.

Q: Where is this?

A: In the North and the East. No reporter is allowed to go in to see what is happening there. There is a lot of slaughter going on there. I can provide you with all the video clips. Why can't reporters go in there? What you see in the Sinhala massacre is nothing compared to what is going on there. I have seen the Army, the 100,000 Indian army killing. The rapes. We went through all this. 

Q: Shyamali, so the bombs going off is a case of an eye for an eye?

A: No. Don't think that. you are going to sit here in Colombo, making money, and living comfortably while we are suffering. 

Q: What is this suffering that Prabakaran is going through?

A: There is no food there and it is the govt's right to provide food for them. How can they bomb the libraries and schools and get away with it? That is why they are prepared to lay down ten lives for a Sinhala eye. 

Q: Ten lives of children?

A: No, now they are even taking women. Do you know how far back we have been using children? Ten to 15 years ago and those children are now 25 years and they know that this war has to continue for the next 50 years.

Q: Aren't the children forcibly taken?

A: The children are being given a choice. Either they go to school and get arrested by the Army and Navy and get killed or join us.

Q: What about the suicide bombers?

A: They are not LTTE. Have they branded themselves. It may be the EPRLF or PLOTE trying to discredit the LTTE. I don't know that's what I think.

Q: So as a Sinhalese person, you are convinced that the Government is being unfair to the Tamil people? 

A: Yes. Unfair and discriminating.

Q: What about all the big businesses in Colombo headed by the Tamils?

A: Those are Colombo Tamils.

Q: So now do we categorize the Sinhalese into Anuradhapura Sinhalese and Colombo Sinhalese also?

A: Now this is the problem we have with our minds. There are two sides to the story. I have lived with Jayantha for almost 15 years and have been exposed to that side.

Q: You have been exposed to the side of a Tamil living in true American style?

A: No. By the Jaffna people who have come to my house in America after paying about Rs. 800,000 and fleeing Jaffna. Because they have no food and place. 

Q: So whose fault is that?

A: Chandrika is crying out for the last so many months or years for help to get them to come and talk to her. She is desperate at this time. They are not desperate for her to talk to them. In their mind this a long drawn out war. This is what we all fail to see. They are prepared to fight this war for the next 50 years. That is why they are training ten year olds. The Sinhala man is not going to let the Tamil man live in peace. 

Q: Do you know of one Tamil in Colombo who does not feel safe?

A: Yes. The Tamils are safe in Colombo because of the LTTE.

Q: Why?

A: Because the Sinhala people are afraid to do anything to the Tamils in Colombo. My father's friends told me the other day that thanks to them (LTTE) we can go out in peace. Because if the Sinhala people touch a common Tamil person in Colombo, they will massacre another village.

Q: So this is more likely an eye for a village?

A: Yes. That is what it is.

Q: What about Prabakaran?

A: They are not going to stop until they get what they want. But they know they can't get everything they want. The Buddhist priests won't allow it, they know there will be other opposition and that Chandrika's hands are tied to a certain extent. Do you know that the LTTE has a better food supply than everybody in Colombo put together. I'll tell you that much. From Elephant House ice cream to everything else. I have seen them on the videos and they are well fed and so content. 

Q: So why do they want the Government also to feed them for you just said the people in the North have no food and are suffering?

A: No, the common person must be fed.…The point is at the end of the day we have to answer to a higher power.

Q: So you are convinced that there is a higher power watching over the LTTE?

A: Yes. Otherwise how can Prabakaran survive. Give the LTTE three years. The international govt's are standing by to fund them, they will have their international airlines, their own port and trust me that will be the end of the Sinhalese.

Q: The Sinhalese will be the minority?

A: Yes. If it is not eelam then it will be ellam for us.

Q: What about your life and life with Jayantha?

A: I am a Catholic. I don't want to make my money in blood money. Not one person today can say that Jayantha has taken a bribe. That is why people respect him. I feel completely safe with Jayantha. But he is a trapped man. I know there is a calling for me to go and tell the world that there is a cause.

Q: Then why do you still carry a passport with a Sinhalese name on it?

A: I want to. Because it is easy for me to go through customs and I have to travel with my first child who has that name. And any way, I don't need to change my name. If I don't want to carry the Gnanakone name then I don't have to. I am a Sinhalese and I don't want to carry a Tamil name. Besides I don't want people to think that I made my money because of my being Mrs. Gnanakone. 

India should help Lanka in every way: ex- IPKF General

By Hiranthi Fernando

General Ashok K. Mehta served in Sri Lanka with the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) from July 1988 until March 1990. He was General Officer Commanding (GOC) IPKF South, based initially in Batticoloa, and later handling the entire Eastern Province from Trincomalee. Gen. Mehta was one of the last generals to set sail from Sri Lanka in March 1990. After his retirement in 1991, Gen. Mehta became a defence and security analyst as well as a defence columnist for several publications. On a private visit to Sri Lanka, Gen. Mehta spoke this week to The Sunday Times:

Q: Why did India refuse assistance to Sri Lanka during the recent crisis in the north?

A: There is no lack of goodwill on the part of India and the Indian Armed Forces for Sri Lanka. The refusal was for military assistance and not for evacuation of troops. India agreed to give humanitarian assistance. As far as evacuation was concerned, it was stated that when the situation arises, it will be considered. 

However, the IPKF experience in 1988 was such a bad experience that nobody wants to touch Sri Lanka in a sense. We lost 1200 men here. We came here and we were successful in ensuring that this country did not break up. In other words, we ensured that the territorial integrity, unity and sovereignty of this country were maintained. 

While we were in the middle of a task that was assigned to us jointly by Sri Lanka and India, we were quite ignominiously asked to leave. If that is not bad, then what is bad? If that is not back stabbing, then what is back stabbing? So how can people in Sri Lanka turn around and say that they have been let down or we didn't help them. Sri Lankans have to ask themselves this question. Do they deserve this kind of help after what they did to us. That is the general feeling in India.

My own feeling of course is slightly different. It is that India should help Sri Lanka in every possible way, given the political compulsions both in India and in Sri Lanka. Indian assistance should be directed towards ensuring that the war comes to an end and that a democratic process that will meet the just aspirations of the Tamils is initiated, preferably including the LTTE in the process. 

The present lull in the battle, hopefully, can be converted into a more stable environment on the ground. And we can get the LTTE on to the negotiating table. I know, everybody says this is impossible. I have not met anybody who says it is possible, but I think there is hope. A lot of people have to get their act together to make this possible. 

I am sure India and Sri Lanka can sit together and see what can be done and what cannot be done. I think our objective is the same. 

Q: Considering your experience with the IPKF in Sri Lanka, do you still think it is possible that the LTTE will come to the negotiating table and that talks can be successful?

A: Everybody says they won't come. Perhaps I am the lone voice in this. If you go by experience, then the answer is no. I am just going by my gut feeling that no guerrilla group can keep fighting from a bunker endlessly. So there has to be some opening somewhere and one should be optimistic. 

Those who say that the LTTE will never accept a united Sri Lanka, go by their experience. I am just going by more practical things. Like how times have changed; how the regional environment has changed; how the international environment has changed. Everywhere, people are talking about a peace process, whether it is Africa, or the Middle East or the Irish problem. So if those intractable problems are nearing fruition, why shouldn't the LTTE take a leaf out of those books. So, I am hopeful.

Q: What went wrong with the IPKF in Sri Lanka? How did you lose so many men here?

A: Nothing went wrong. We lost 1200 men here. The Sri Lankan Army lost 1200 men in one battle, in 24 hours. So nothing went wrong with the IPKF. We might have been able to finish the task that was assigned to us if Mr. Premadasa had not crossed over and joined hands with the LTTE. 

Q: There have been newspaper articles both in India and Sri Lanka, that during the IPKF period here, the IPKF had captured Prabhakaran on three occasions but had been ordered by some authority in India, to release him. What do you say about this?

A: This is the most popular piece of speculation and hypothesis, perhaps gossip. No self respecting soldier or a bunch of soldiers will allow such an attractive prize within its grasp to escape that easily. I don't subscribe to this gossip at all. There is absolutely no truth in this. 

Q: If the IPKF was not asked to leave at that time, do you think you would ultimately have captured Prabhakaran?

A: Even if we were not able to actually catch Prabhakaran, we would have made life very difficult for him and his cadres. Because by the time we left in 1990, the LTTE was militarily very seriously marginalised.

NMAT holds anti-reforms meeting

A protest organised by the National Movement Against Terrorism denouncing the Government's move to present constitutional reforms was held last evening at the Viharamahadevi Park with the participation of the Maha Sanga.

The protest was presided over by Ven. Madihe Pannaseeha Mahanayake Thera.

He and other monks called on the Maha Sangha to unite in protest agaisnt the move by the PA and the UNP to introduce constitutional reforms.

They said the Sinhalese should have the right to practise their religion and live in any part of the country which should be a unitary state.

Oliver pays compensation

Former Air Force Commander Oliver Ranasinghe charged with assaulting a bus driver and conductor of a state-run bus in February this year paid compensation to the victims and legal cost to the Transport Board and settled the case before a mediation board yesterday.

The incident occurred soon after a bus attached to the central bus stand was involved in an accident with the former air chief's daughter's car at the Ayurvedha junction at Rajagiriya on February 22.

Police filed action against the former Commander, but later the case was referred to the mediation board.

While the matter was pending with the mediation board, Mr. Ranasinghe agreed to pay compensation to the driver and the conductor and reach a settlement.

Accordingly, the driver and conductor were paid Rs. 5000 and Rs. 3000 respectively as compensation. Mr. Ranasinghe also paid Rs. 1750 for loss of revenue of the particular bus on the day of the inicident and Rs. 1300 for legal costs incurred by the SLCTB.

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