Sri Lanka wants the world to forget about justice for war victims

‘Fresh evidence has emerged of the use of cluster bombs against Tamil civilians during the last phase of the war.’ Photograph: Tamilsagainstgenocide.org 

In October 2015 the government of Sri Lanka co-sponsored, along with the US, a resolution on promoting reconciliation, accountability and human rights in Sri Lanka, which was adopted at the 30th session of the UN Human Rights Council. However, this very same government has since been backsliding from implementing its own commitments, promises and obligations made at the UNHRC.

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My Question and the President’s Silence

Today, I asked the following question to the Sri Lankan President, Mahinda Rajapaksa during a Twitter interaction.

Mahinda Rajapaksa @PresRajapaksa:

This is the first time we are doing this. There may have been technical lapses. Lalith Weeratunga

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Northern Elections: A litmus test for democracy or Tamil national aspirations?

Just a few hours after the UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-Moon announced the forthcoming provincial elections in Sri Lanka to be an important opportunity for political reconciliation in the country, a terrifying attack took place against the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) candidate, Mrs Ananthi Sasitharan at Chuzhipuram in Jaffna at approximately 12:45 am.

Midnight Terror

According to Mrs Sasitharan, members of the Sri Lankan armed forces and the government backed paramilitary group, Eelam People's Democratic Party (EPDP) were behind this murder attempt. The national organizer of independent election monitoring committee Campaign for Free and Fair Elections (CaFFE) confirmed the military’s involvement in this attack. Soldiers reportedly also blocked independent election monitors from reaching the site of the crime .

The incident was firstly reported via twitter by the Jaffna Press Club

Midnight terror: Attempt to assassinate #TNA Candidate #AnathySasitharan #NPC #Election

Jaffna Press Club further reported that nearly 20 military personnel, military intelligence operatives and EPDP members arrived with guns, swords, knives and poles to attack Mrs Sasistharan. Though, the rapid response of her supporters prevented her and her three daughters from any physical harm.

Twelve of Mrs Sasitharan’s  supporters and an election observer attached to People's Action for Free and Fair Elections (PAFFREL) were injured by the military and members of their armed gang, with eight of them 12 injured requiring hospitalization. The incident has left the wounded traumatized and extremely frightened about the incident and their future safety, refusing to be photographed for fear of consequences. Mrs Sasitharan and her daughters are in a state of shock, though Mrs Sasitharan has courageously chosen to be interviewed about the incident despite being threatened by the attackers that death would ensue if anyone spoke out it.

I did not think that they (Sri Lankan army) would carry out an attack on a woman in the middle of the night, given the international community is closely observing the election process, but now, everything has been turned upside down, said Mrs Sasitharan. She further said, the police did not answer her calls when she contacted the authorities on the Emergency number 119 to complain about the attack against her, pointing out that the election commissioner in fact came and performed his duty well before the arrival of the police to the crime scene.

Mrs Sasitharan said the attackers along with unleashing physical violence, also shouted out, “You speak of Tamil nationalism? You want the Northern Provincial Council?” when they attacked the victims, later threating, “If you leak any news about the attack, we will kill you within four days.”

This was not the first murder attempt on Mrs Ananthi Sasitharan. There have already been two explicit attempts to assassinate Mrs Sasistharan during her current election campaign, both of which she narrowly escaped. She has also reported noticing her vehicle being followed on various occasions by ‘unidentified men’.

A Witness of the Mullivaaykkaal ‘Surrender’

Mrs Ananthi Sasitharan is a mother to three daughters and the wife of former head of Trincomalee political wing of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam’s (LTTE), Sinnathurai Sasitharan alias Ezhizhan. Ezhizhan’s fate is yet unknown since he surrendered to the Sri Lanka army on 18 May 2009. Mrs Sasitharan, a direct eye witness to the surrender of the LTTE’s senior political officers, along with a Catholic priest, to the Sri Lankan army in Vadduvaakal in Mullivaaykkaal, is the only female candidate of the TNA.

She is an outspoken candidate who has never hesitated to speak out about the genocidal acts of the Sri Lankan regime or criticize the internal politics of the TNA.

A day before the attack, she said in an interview to the Tamil Guardian: 

Our homeland is completely occupied by the military…

In the final stages of the war, there was a large-scale surrender, which the government completely denies any knowledge of. But the UN knew about this surrender; American officials knew and even the Indian government knew how many people surrendered – I don’t know why they are all silent…

The issue of missing people, or people unaccounted for after the war, is a really pressing matter for us. On top of those that are missing, there are Tamil political prisoners that have been in captivity for many years and there have been no meaningful steps taken towards their release. If there is something called hell, it is in the Sri Lankan state prisons.
The TNA is seeking a 2/3 majority in the upcoming elections. Mrs Sasitharan, who has been publicly advocating for over four years for the whereabouts of her husband and has become a bold voice for families of the disappeared, has a strong chance of winning in these elections. She has repeatedly stated that regardless of whether she wins or loses, her struggle on behalf of disappeared and their families will continue.

De ja vu: Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields

Mr. Sugash Kanagaratnam, an election monitor attached to PAFFREL and Attorney-at-Law, who is currently hospitalized due the attack last night described the events of the attack: They broke open the doors and got about five of us to come out of the house and forced us to kneel down in a nearby field used for banana cultivation. The army personnel pointed guns from the behind and even loaded them. I instantly remembered the scenes from the Channel 4 ‘Killing Fields’ documentary and thought that we all were going to be murdered. They wanted to give us the worst possible fear of death.

Fear among the Tamil people continues to rise as the culture of impunity in the island of Sri Lanka continues to mount. Given such brutal violence already, there is a strong potential for planned post-election violence. The military intelligence operatives have reportedly already collected information about supporters of certain TNA candidates. They have also obtained recordings of speeches made by certain TNA candidates and certain TNA politicians at the rallies. BBC correspondent Charles Haviland has described the situation in Jaffna as an atmosphere of bitterness and violence in the area .

Democracy, Reconciliation and Self-Determination

The attack on democracy in Sri Lanka began long before the violent assault on Mrs Sasitharan and her supporters, and arguably the island has backslid a long way from democracy. Considering the ongoing records of the genocidal process by the Sri Lankan state against the Tamil nation, suppression on press freedom, freedom of expression, intervention on independence of the judiciary, rule of law and good governance indicates the severe attack on democracy.

The latest attack on Mrs Sasitharan shows not only the lack of respect for democracy by Sri Lanka armed forces and the government, but also their hatred towards the Tamil nation. Rather than repeatedly finding faults or accusing the Tamils, concerned stake-holders should ask themselves why the right to self-determination and the ideology of nationhood is so powerful among the Tamil people even four and half years after the destruction of the LTTE.

In a statement condemning the attack on Mrs Sasitharan, the Tamil National People’s Front (TNPF) said:

These incidents only reaffirm that in order to cease the continuation of such attacks, the Tamil nation needs to be freed from the domination of the Sinhala nation, with the recognition of Tamil sovereignty through the creation of a solution whereby a sovereign Tamil nation exists together alongside a Sinhala nation.

It should be noted that at a rally in Kilinochchi, the former administrative capital of the LTTE, TNA MP, Mr.M.A.Sumanthiran said:

The international community wants to know whether Tamils support nationhood and self-determination and the people’s verdict at the election can endorse this position.

‘Moderate’ TNA MPs cannot be found at fault for making election campaign speeches dominated by phrases such as Tamil nationalism, self-determination, self-rule and nationhood, as they are merely pressured to do so by the people who are suffering in a sickening and pathetic situation further detailed below.

The national question of the Tamil people remains yet unanswered. The root causes of the conflict have yet not been addressed. The current Sri Lankan regime, as previous regimes, is far away from any meaningful political solution to the Tamil national question. The survivors and victims of genocide continue to tirelessly seek justice. Structural genocide has reached its high peak through accelerated military occupation and Sinhala settlements in the Tamil nation, while oppression of the Tamil people and the culture of impunity continue. For decades Tamil rights have been denied and today the Tamil people are unable to experience normalcy. The current regime is still flaunting in a mood of triumphalism though the direct war came to an end almost four and half years ago.

The increasingly widening gulf between the repressive policies of an ethnocratic state and the ongoing abstract ‘reconciliation discourse’ is not a false projection of the ‘Tiger propagandists’ but an undeniable ground reality. The northern election will not be a litmus test for Sri Lanka’s dysfunctional democracy, as many would like to believe. But it will certainly be a testing ground that would prove Tamil people’s undying resilience and collective will to be free.

Image courtesy: Tamilnet.com 

This article first appeared in JDS

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Remembering Lasantha: Now they come for “everyone”

Now more than ever with the current state of affairs in Sri Lanka, the vacuum left by Lasantha’s death and his importance can be felt by anyone who is concerned about human rights, democracy, rule of law, and, of course, the independence of the judiciary. The Founding Editor-in-Chief of the Sunday Leader newspaper Lasantha Wickrematunge , better known as Lasantha, was brutally assassinated four years ago.  The cold- blooded murder took place on 8 January 2009 in a High Security Zone [HSZ] area of the Colombo suburbs.

Lasantha addressed the Sri Lankan President in his last editorial, which was published posthumously, “You will never be allowed to forget that my death took place under your watch. As anguished as I know you will be, I also know that you will have no choice but to protect my killers: you will see to it that the guilty one is never convicted. You have no choice.” As he precisely said, the killers continue to enjoy the culture of impunity. It was not just a murder, but also a persisting strong message to dissident journalists who oppose the regime’s non-democratic actions.

Missing professionalism

The murder contains serious consequences in relation to freedom of expression in Sri Lanka. The commanders of the assassination are not just ‘powerful people’, but ‘smart people’, too. This was what made them decide to kill Lasantha at that specific time, as they knew that from a long-term perspective his existence would be a serious obstacle to their wrongdoings.

Now, we are not just remembering Lasantha as a courageous human being, but also the absence of the professionalism he showed. He wanted to tell the truth, even after he knew the price that he would have to pay for it, Once again in January, four years after Lasantha was assassinated, Sri Lanka is in turmoil as the country’s reigning ruler elongates his grip of terror and oppression on the supreme power of the Judiciary.

Words of prophecy

It is noteworthy that the present Cabinet Minister of Higher Education, S.B. Dissanayake was sentenced to two years rigorous imprisonment by a five Judge Supreme Court Bench headed by the then Chief Justice Sarath N. Silva on 7 December 2004 for defaming the Supreme Court during a speech he made at a function in Habaraduwa.  An irony in this is that, eight years later, under the direction of Sri Lankan President, the parliament is in the process to move an impeachment against the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. As Lasantha wrote in his last editorial, “Indeed, murder has become the primary tool whereby the state seeks to control the organs of liberty. Today it is the journalists, tomorrow it will be the judges.”

Here is where, again, we perceive the contribution of Lasantha and the motive of those who directed the killers. At the time Lasantha was killed, ‘Sri Lanka was united as they fought against a common enemy to defend their national sovereignty and security’.  However, unbowed and unafraid, Lasantha did not want to be part of the ‘united elements’, because Lasantha knew their ulterior intentions. Based on his analysis and decisions, he warned Sri Lankans and sent the message to the international community about the government’s motives. This he did even in his last editorial, which became known as his self-obituary.

Unfortunately the response from the receiver’s end was a mode of deafening silence and Lasantha paid his life as the price. Prior to assassinating Lasantha, the Sri Lankan regime waged a stern campaign and low intensity war alongside its psychological warfare against the Tamil nation. In this stage Tamil journalists, media workers, intellectuals, human rights activists, humanitarian workers and civil society activists became prime targets under the banner of ‘war on terror’. It was a time where it was quite normal for me to wake up to messages of killings and to go to bed after attending funerals.

Following conscience

Until the third week of April 2006, I was mostly based in Jaffna and informed Colombo based journalists and human rights organizations / activists about grave human rights violations with the aim of either preventing the killings or to seek justice for the victims and survivors. However, the response was not effective or efficient. Nevertheless, at least a few people acted with responsibility and moral obligation, but their fate was cut short as either they were killed, imprisoned or compelled to leave the country. Even after the threatening killings, imprisonment of journalists and a considerable number of journalists’ decision to function in exile, Lasantha remained in the soil where he was born, and decided to continue his fight bravely.  Lasantha followed his conscience despite of state treachery. Ultimately, he stood and died for what he believed in.

In his last editorial he precisely pointed out that “violating the rights of Tamil citizens, bombing and shooting mercilessly, is not only wrong but shames the Sinhalese, whose claim to be custodians of the Dhamma is for ever called into question by this savagery - much of it unknown to the public because of censorship. What is more, a military occupation of the country's north and east will require the Tamil people of those regions to live eternally as second-class citizens, deprived of all self-respect. Do not imagine you can placate them by showering "development" and "reconstruction" on them in the postwar era. The wounds of war will scar them for ever, and you will have an even more bitter and hateful diaspora to contend with.”

Sinhalese as victims

Today, Sri Lanka’s national sovereignty and security has turned counterproductive against those who were ‘united to fight against the common enemy to defend their national sovereignty’. The newly emerging direct and imminent victims of the Sri Lankan state system are Sinhalese, including those who in a way remained silent or supported the genocidal war against Tamils. Time heals, history records, but this is where Lasantha distinguished himself from others. It is common opinion now, that, the present disastrous development would not have happened, if the majority of the Sinhala community had in the past stood for the Tamils’ dignity, freedom and other rights.

Yet, there is no strong opposition in the south against ongoing genocide in the Tamil nation. The Sri Lankan regime is tightening its terror grip step by step on different ethnic groups in diverse forms. The failure to recognize and stop it, will lead to a formation of Sri Lanka’s Iron Gate. If anyone is serious about respecting and honoring Lasantha, then it is their moral obligation to lend their voice against the injustice and oppression that is taking place in the island, in particular against the ongoing genocide of the Tamil nation. Otherwise, their “Sri Lanka Matha” will not only cry, but will die inch by inch and then the entire island will be a curse of Asia. This was not what Lasantha scarified his life for.

Lasantha's inspiration

Lasantha noted in his last editorial, “I hope my murder will be seen not as a defeat of freedom but an inspiration”. I would like close this piece with a few words mentioned by me in London, in January 2010, at the first year commemoration ceremony of Lasantha. We, the journalists have a moral responsibility to speak the oblivious truth about the injustice and non-democratic actions, which we have witnessed. Our fidelity to our ambition is consolidated. Our aspiration is to bring to life the aspirations of oppressed people. We know the path and its consequences, which we have chosen, but we are confident to continue our struggle, despite the risks that we encounter.


First published

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November 28: Appalling attack and deafening silence

On the evening of the November 27 at 06:07 PM (local time), flames were lit in commemoration of Maaveerar Naal 2012 (Martyrs’ Day 2012). It was initiated by the Tamil students from the Jaffna University.

Pre-deployed Sri Lankan troops forcibly entered into the Ladies’ Hostel and attacked the students and damaged properties, soon after they realized that the flames were lit inside the Ladies’ Hostel of the Jaffna University. The victims called the University administration to escape from the attack and seek safety. However, following the attack tensions prevailed.

More troops and policemen were deployed to the university vicinity by the Sri Lankan defense establishment in Jaffna. The next day (November 28), the students called for a nonviolent protest in opposition to the military attack against the students. The sit-in protest which took place within the university premises revisited memories of the Satyagraha campaign led by the late S.J.V.Chelvanayagam.

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Searching for Peace in a Kingdom of Vultures

(From my archives 2009 September)

“Peace is the wholeness created by right relationships with oneself, other persons, other cultures, other life, Earth, and the larger whole of which all are a part”



The armed conflict in Sri Lanka came to an end by mid May 2009 - after more than three decades - with a ‘military victory’ of the Sri Lankan government. The Rajapakse regime won the Eelam War – IV, but a Tamil spirit for autonomy remains - as it occurred - due to misrule, an identity-based state patronage, exclusion, mismanagement of scarce natural resources, underdevelopment, and violation of human rights. The Tamil people’s political aspirations were once again proved through the recent Jaffna Municipality and Vavuniya Urban Council elections (both districts are in the Northern part of Sri Lanka). Even though the government has won their battles, it has failed in the resettlement, reconciliation and reconstruction process so far. Whether nonviolent or violent, the struggle of Tamils is closely related to the denial of their basic human needs.

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