by

Shamindra Ferdinando

The Sri Lankan military had fought a relatively a clean war against the LTTE, when compared with others engaged in such operations, UPFA National List MP Prof. Rajiva Wijesinha told a special live Al-Jazeera programme ‘inside story: clinging to power in Sri Lanka’ anchored by Jane Dutton late last week.

Liberal Party Leader Prof. Wijesinha was responding to allegations made by Global Tamil Forum (GTF) spokesman Suren Surendiran that President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s government committed war crimes and crimes against humanity during the final phase of the offensive on the Vanni east front in early 2009.

The one-time head of the Sri Lanka Peace Secretariat asserted that President Rajapaksa earned the appreciation of the vast majority of the people for eradicating LTTE terrorism.

However, Prof. Wijesinha faulted President Rajapaksa for not consulting others when launching post-war projects in war-torn areas. Prof. Wijesinha went onto assert that there had been a lot of development since the conclusion of the conflict.

The military brought the Vanni offensive to a successful conclusion in May 2009. The Diaspora set up the GTF soon after the conclusion of the war.

Joining the programme from Dublin, Surendiran, the UK based GTF’s Director of Strategic Initiative, predicted that the Geneva-based United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) would bring out a damning report almost accusing the government of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity in March 2015. The GTF official alleged Sri Lanka’s economy had been dwindling, foreign reserves sharply down with the IMF demanding the government to drastically reduce public expenditure. Surendiran alleged that people couldn’t even feed their own families in the wake of rising inflation. Surendiran said: “The security situation is poor and the judiciary politicized.”

Al-Jazeera telecast the programme the day before Prof. Wijesinha joined a rebel SLFP group led by the then General Secretary of the party,Maithripala Sirisena to pledge support for a political movement against incumbent President Mahinda Rajapaksa.

Taking part in the discussion, UNP National List MP Dr. Harsha De Silva explained the discussions as regards a joint campaign against President Rajapaksa whose popularity was dwindling. The economist emphasized that the project meant to defeat the Rajapaksa government involved the Opposition as well as the SLFP.

Calling Sri Lanka a nationalist state, Surendiran said that President Rajapaksa hadn’t addressed Tamil grievances even after the conclusion of the conflict. The GTF official said that both the international community and the Tamil speaking people wanted President Rajapaksa to provide a political solution to the national problem. Surendiran accused the government of causing racial hatred among communities while specifically identifying the Bodu Bala Sena (BBS)as a government tool used against other communities.

Surendiran further alleged that Sri Lanka’s relationship with India was in an extremely bad position.

Prof. Wijesinha challenged Surendiran only on the war crimes issue.

Prof. Wijesinha accused Surendiran of propagating unsubstantiated claims.

Responding to a query by Dutton, Dr Harsha De Silva said that President Rajapaksa had purchased a two-thirds majority to introduce 18th Amendment at the expense of the 17th Amendment.

Referring to a statement made by Prof. Wijesinha , MP De Silva said that President Rajapaksa, his brothers and sons were equally responsible for the current crisis in the country. The UNPer said that President Rajapaksa hadn’t been used by others as asserted by Dr. Wijesinha.

Prof. Wijesinha explained what he meant by an earlier statement which was challenged by De Silva.

Responding to Prof. Wijesinha, an irate Surendiran said that President Rajapaksa had been accused of war crimes. Some had accused him of conducting a genocidal war against the Tamil speaking people. Surendiran warned that President Rajapaksa too would be hauled up before the International Criminal Court the way one-time Liberian President Charles Taylor and Serb leader Slobodan Milosevic had been.

Surendiran queried Prof. Wijesinha the basis for his assumption that the Sri Lankan military fought a relatively a clean war, when over 140,000 civilians died at their hands. The GTF spokesman alleged that the military also executed surrendering LTTE cadres and civilians, killed a 11-year-old (possible reference to the killing of LTTE leader Prabhakaran’s son) et al.

Prof. Wijesinha accused Surendiran of propagating unsubstantiated claims. The Prof. lashed out at Surendiran for repeating often mentioned allegations. The UPFA MP urged Surendiran and the GTF not to interfere in the forthcoming presidential election because that would be advantageous to the Rajapaksa government.

Courtesy: The Island