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No regrets over assaulting Rajiv Gandhi on that fateful morning of ’87 says Wijemuni
View(s):- Claims same veil of secrecy that prevailed over Indo-Lanka Accord then prevails over MOUs signed with Premier Modi yesterday
By Chandani Kirinde
Vijitha Rohana Wijemuni, a former naval rating who gained notoriety after assaulting then Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi with his rifle butt on July 30, 1987, remains suspicious of Indian intentions in Sri Lanka and says the government needs to be transparent about the agreements it plans to sign with its southern neighbour.
“There was secrecy when the Indo-Lanka Accord was signed in 1987, and even now the public are unaware of the MOUs (Memorandum of Understanding) that the government plans signed during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit yesterday,” Mr. Wijemuni told the Sunday Times.
Today: Vijitha Rohana Wijemuni looks at a photograph that captured the moment he struck Rajiv Gandhi with his rifle butt on July 30, 1987. Pic by M.A. Pushpa Kumara
Vijitha Rohana Wijemuni, a 21-year-old naval rating in 1987, was among a group selected for the Navy Guard of Honour for Mr Gandhi, who was departing the country after the signing of the Indo-Lanka Accord. As the Indian leader passed by him, Wijemuni assaulted him with the rifle butt, but Mr. Gandhi managed to duck and escape serious injury, though he sustained a minor injury. The assaulter was restrained by other navy personnel present and later court-martialed, sentenced to six years in prison and dishonourably discharged from the navy.
Though it’s nearly 38 years since the infamous incident, Mr. Wijemuni remains strongly opposed to the Accord which resulted in the passing of the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution, paving the way for the setting up of provincial councils.
“The PCs have proven to be a failure. The councils have not functioned for three years, and we can see that without them, government services are functioning without any problem. For a country the size of Sri Lanka, power should be devolved at the local authority or district level. Tamil Nadu alone is more than two and a half times the size of Sri Lanka,” he said.
Despite his six-year sentence, Mr.Wijemuni was pardoned by President Ranasinghe Premadasa and released, having served a two-and-a-half-year jail term. Since then, he gained a degree from the Sri Jayewardenepura University, dabbled in politics and studied astrology, which he now practises as a vocation.
Mr. Wijemuni insists that he was not a member of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), which led the main campaign against signing the Accord, at the time of the assault but that he was driven by anger at attempts to “barter away the country’s territorial integrity’ by signing an accord with India.
“My action was a reflection of what the majority of the country felt at that time. Unfortunately, no government has had the will to abolish the PCs. The Accord was a dead letter from the start, the terms of which were not fulfilled by India. According to the terms of the Accord, all militant groups were to surrender all arms in their possession to the Indian army within 72 hours after the signing of the Accord, but we know that never happened,” he said.
He remains sceptical of how genuine the current Indian rulers are when dealing with Sri Lanka and is wary of the NPP’s ability to ensure that Sri Lanka does not get arm-twisted into agreements which are not in the country’s best interests. “The government must be transparent about what agreement they are signing. They must place these before parliament and discuss them first,” he said.
Snapshots from the past: Then Indian Premier Rajiv Gandhi and Sri Lankan President J.R. Jayewardene signing the Indo-Lanka Accord
Mr. Wijemuni says he has no regrets about assaulting Mr. Gandhi and considers himself lucky to be alive. “I did not take that action hoping to be alive after that, but I survived, so I am happy,” he said.
Though far removed from that July 1987 morning in Colombo when the world’s focus fell on him, his assault on the late Indian Prime Minister continues to keep him in public focus.
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