By

Rasika Jayakody

There was a string of political assassinations targeting prominent Tamil politicians during the first half of the Rajapaksa rule, starting from November, 2005.

Nearly a month after former President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s ascension to power, a prominent Tamil Parliamentarian was shot dead by a gunman while attending a Christmas midnight mass at St. Mary’s Church in Batticaloa. Pararajasingham, a journalist turned politician, was identified by many in the South for his pro-LTTE viewpoints and it was no secret that the TNA’s politics, at that juncture, was eclipsed by the military power of the LTTE.

Government authorities dubbed Pararajasingham’s assassination as a “mysterious political killing” for which no party claimed responsibility. They said only the Parliamentarian’s wife and his security officer, a Policeman attached to the Battocaloa Police station, were aware of the Parliamentarian’s decision to attend the midnight mass. His wife too was among the eight people who were injured due to the attack.

St. Mary’s Church is located in a former High Security Zone between two important military camps in the East. There was ample military presence in the area and it did not require a lot of wisdom to understand that the culprits could only have escaped with the complicity of some members of the security forces. The slain Parliamentarian’s family had blamed that a certain paramilitary group operating in the East should be held responsible for the killing.

Quite obviously, fingers were pointed at the group led by Vinayagamoorthi Muralitharan alias Karuna, who defected from the LTTE in 2004. The second in command of the Karuna group was Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan alias Pilleyan who later fell out with Karuna and became the Chief Minister of the Eastern Province.

It was common knowledge that Karuna’s group, which later formed the Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Puligal (TMVP) party, was hugely backed by the Sri Lankan military. For obvious reasons, the Sri Lankan military was playing the Karuna card against Prabhakaran in an attempt to gain a higher bargaining position in the faltering peace process. Random killings were taking place across the country and fingers were pointed at the LTTE and paramilitary groups, backed by the Army. Pararajasingham, Nadaraja Raviraj and T. Maheswaran were prominent Tamil politicians who got killed amidst this ‘smokescreen’ created by random killings.

Saturday night drama at Pilleyan’s Batticaloa residence

The controversy surrounding Pararajasingham’s murder took a new turn when the CID arrested two suspects last week in connection with the incident. The two suspects were former Batticaloa Municipal Council member Edwin Silva Krishnanandaraja alias Pradeep Master and Rangasami kanaganayagam alias ‘Gajan Mama’. They were close associates of former Eastern Province Chief Minister Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan alias Pilleyan. A few days after the arrest, suspicions were directed at the former Chief Minister, an ex-militant of the LTTE, in connection with the murder.

A group of CID officers investigating into the matter left for Batticaloa on Saturday afternoon in search of the former Chief Minister, who is now a political non-entity. They first visited the personal residence of Chandrakanthan to question him over the murder. To their disappointment, the family members of the former Chief Minister informed the CID officer that he was not home and they were unaware of his whereabouts. The CID officers’ suspicions grew as they spotted the former Chief Minister’s vehicle parked near the house. That was an indication that Chandrakanthan was attempting “dodge” the Police inquiry into the murder.

The CID then deployed a phalanx of security officers around the former Chief Minister’s house, expecting his “return” at any moment. Another group visited Chandrakanthan’s brother’s house to see if they had any information about the politician’s whereabouts. They said they too were unaware of his movements.
At this point, the CID told Chandrakanthan’s family members to inform the former Chief Minister to be present at the CID office on Sunday at 5.00 p.m.

There was some uncertainty on Sunday as to whether the former Chief Minister would turn up for the questioning. While on his way to Colombo, he informed the CID that he was coming. The former Chief Minister, accompanied by his lawyer, arrived at the CID at 5.30 p.m. After the questioning, the CID took measures to arrest the former Chief Minister under a 72-hour detention order.

What requires emphasis is the fact that the killing took place when Karuna and Pilleyan were together, after their defection from the LTTE. There were speculations that at the time the killing took place the Karuna group had some links with the members of the security forces. However, it is too early even to speculate that members of the security forces are linked to Pararajasingham’s killing. While maintaining its links with the Army, the Karuna group also waged a battle with the LTTE and Pararajasingham was a supporter of the LTTE at the time.

Eknaligoda tortured for five days and murdered in Welikanda?

Investigations into Prageeth Eknaligioda’s disappearance took a new turn last week with the CID teams visiting the Girithale army camp where the journalist had allegedly beenheld after his abduction, two days before the Presidential election in 2010.

The CID has already taken into custody 11 members of the military intelligence unit in connection with the journalist’s disappearance. The majority of suspects who are presently in custody are ex-members of the LTTE who defected from the organization with Karuna and Pilleyan. That leaves space for outsiders to draw parallels between Eknaligoda’s disappearance and other political killings such as Pararajasingham’s murder.

The CID also took the suspects into the Girithale camp, under the protection of the military police. After perusing reports pertaining to the vehicle movement at the camp during the period of abduction, the CID got the suspects to identify the places where the journalist had allegedly been held.

According to highly placed Police sources, the journalist had been detained at the Girithale army camp for more than five days. During the first two days, he had been questioned over a booklet titled ‘family tree’ and his alleged associations with former Army Commander Sarath Fonseka who was then a Presidential candidate. After questioning, the journalist had been subjected to torture for nearly three days, a Police source who wished to remain anonymous told the Daily News.

It has now been established that Eknaligoda had been detained at Girithale with the knowledge of top military officers who were in charge of the camp. It is also clear that senior officers who were handling military intelligence at the time were also aware of the ‘abduction’ and the subsequent disappearance. As a result, several ‘big names’ in the Army have already come under the searchlights of investigators, sending ripples across the country’s defence establishment.

The investigation teams have already found some evidence to suggest that the journalist had been taken to Welikanda from the Girithale camp. But nothing concrete has been established so far. Some suspect that the journalist was killed in Welikanda. However, the CID is yet to officially declare that the journalist, who was a vociferous critique of the Rajapaksa rule, had been killed.

“We already have evidence and information to take legal action against the suspect for abducting the journalist. But, we need concrete evidence to determine his fate. We need to know whether those who abducted the journalist had killed him. Then, we will take legal action against ‘culprits’ for killing Eknaligoda. That is why the investigation has consumed a lot of time. We don’t want to come up with a ‘half-baked’ prosecution,” a senior official, who is heavily involved in the investigation, told the Daily News.

The other challenge for the CID team is to identify the ‘authority’ that issued orders to “disappear” the journalist. Nothing has been transpired so far about the person who issued the order as the suspects are keeping it as a closely guarded secret. However, the Eknaligoda’s family had already stated in public that a senior official, who was involved in the country’s defence establishment over the past 10 years, should be held responsible for the abduction. But, the CID investigations into the matter are solely based on evidence.

Indecisiveness on LG polls

A strong sense of indecisiveness looms large over the Local Government election scheduled for March. There is no decision so far on the electoral system that will come into effect at the Local Government election. While the President and the SLFP prefers the new electoral system, the UNP is pushing for the current system. The Elections Department has told the government that it can finalize delimitation within six months, if the government decides to conduct the Local Government election under the new electoral system.

Although the Prime Minister has said there is no reason to refrain from holding the Local Government election in March, political circles in Colombo are still not too certain about timelines of the election. However, the postponement of the election is disadvantageous for the ruling party in more ways than one. Under the present circumstances, only the UNP can be identified as the ruling party as it has a majority stake in the national unity government.

However, the Local Government election is now turning out to be a three-cornered fight with the UPFA facing a split ahead of the election.

Weerawansa and co. attempt to revive 2004 strategy

A major step in this direction was the formation of a ‘national movement’ with the participation of several constituent parties of the UPFA. The prime objective of this new alliance, titled ‘National Movement to protect the Motherland’, is to oppose the government’s commitment to conduct a war crimes inquiry.

A discussion in this regard was held at the Abhayaramaya, the de facto political office of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, on October 9 with the participation of minor political parties of the UPFA. During the meeting, the group decided to appoint Ven. Muruththettuwe Ananda Thera, Prof. Induragare Dhammarathana Thera, Dr. Medagoda Abhayathissa Thera, Bengamuwe Nalaka Thera and Fr. Sarath Hettiarachchi as the patrons of the movement.

Mahajana Eksath Peramuna Leader and UPFA Parliamentarian Dinesh Gunawardena has been appointed as the Chairman of the movement while Prof. G. L. Peiris has been appointed as the Secretary. National Freedom Front Leader and UPFA Parliamentarian Wimal Weerawansa is the National Organizer of the movement.
Udaya Gammanpila has been appointed as the Cultural Affairs Secretary of the organization while Gevindu Kumaratunga serving as its Administrative Secretary. Parliamentarian Gamini Lokuge has been appointed as the Treasurer.

The National Movement to Protect the Motherland has been formed as a socio-political movement and one can easily draw parallels with this movement and the Patriotic National Movement (PNM) formed in 2003 to make way for the United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA). Some who were heavily involved in the affairs of the Patriotic National Movement (PNM) were behind the formation of the ‘National Movement to Protect the Motherland’.

It is important to examine the circumstances leading to the formation of the Patriotic National Movement (PNM), a front organization for the UPFA. Among the key figures involved in the formation of the movement were Ven. Elle Gunawansa Thera, Wimal Weerawansa, Mangala Samaraweera, Anura Bandaranaike and Dr. Gunadasa Amarasekera. Wimal Weerawansa, at that point, was the Propaganda Secretary of the JVP while Bandaranaike and Samaraweera represented the SLFP-led People’s Alliance.

The main objective behind the setting up of the PNM was to hinder the peace process initiated by the UNP government in December 2005. The PNM dubbed the entire peace process as a “betrayal” and mobilized masses against it. As Weerawansa was heavily involved in the affairs of the PNM, the JVP’s the organizational strength was behind the movement and it also had the backing of a section of the SLFP.

The LTTE was at the zenith of its military power at the time of the movement’s formation. Although the organization was negotiating with the government, they also strengthened their military apparatus, raising serious doubts over its commitment to the peace process. The South was suspicious over the bonafides of the LTTE and there was a strong criticism that the government was soft-pedaling the LTTE matter. The PNM cashed in on the fears of the South and consolidated their position in the country’s socio-political sphere.

Twisted roles of Mangala and GL

Through public meetings, rallies and seminars, the organization stressed the need for a “patriotic” political alliance to counter the peace process of the UNP-led government. It laid the foundation to form the UPFA, an alliance between the SLFP, the JVP and several other political parties in the opposition. The UPFA was formed just months ahead of the Parliamentary election in 2004 and the coalition managed to defeat the UNP with a margin of nearly 20 seats. Wimal Weerawansa and Mangala Samaraweera played decisive roles behind the formation of the coalition and it was led by the then President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga.

The minor parties of the UPFA are now attempting to stage the same play with some different characters, after a lapse of 12 years. Wimal Weerawansa, has chosen to play an important role in the ‘drama’ like in 2004, but he does not have the same strength he had in 2004 as the Propaganda Secretary of the JVP. Dinesh Gunawardena, who played a ‘supporting role’ in the UPFA’s formation in 2004, has become a key figure in the new national movement.

Interestingly, Mangala Samaraweera, a key player in the PNM and the UPFA in 2004, is playing a pivotal role in the country’s inquiry into war crimes allegations and international humanitarian law violations. Former President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga, now a Patron of the SLFP, is to head the government’s mission for national reconciliation and she has become a staunch supporter of the war crimes inquiry. Arjuna Ranatunga, another founding member of the PNM, is currently holding an important Cabinet portfolio, under the national unity government.

In a strange twist of events, Prof. G.L. Peiris, a key member of the UNP’s government’s negotiation team who earned the wrath of the likes of Weerawansa, is a front-liner of the newly formed national movement. Prof. Peiris, the chief architect of former President Kumaratunga’s power devolution package in the mid-90s, has now reinvented himself as a staunch nationalist with Sinhala-Buddhist leanings!

On the other hand, dynamics have shifted in an unimaginable way 12 years after the UPFA’s formation. The Rajapaksa government has militarily crushed the LTTE, the biggest challenge the country faced at the time of the UPFA’s formation. Even the Tamil National Alliance has abandoned the idea of a separate state and its leader has been appointed as the Opposition Leader of the country’s legislature, positioning the party strongly in Sri Lanka’s national politics. The impact of the Rajapaksa government’s military victory against the LTTE has lost its validity as the former President overplayed it for his own political gains. The ultra-nationalist campaign, which forms the ideological base of the new national government, suffered defeat at two national level elections, within a period of nine months. It is no longer a “popular slogan” as it used to be in 2004.

All the groups involved in the new movement are minor political parties that do not have island-wide presence. The largest political party in the movement, the NFF led by Weerawansa, has only five seats in Parliament. As stand-alone entities outside the umbrella of the UPFA coalition, they can hardly secure a seat at a national level election. In this context, it is difficult to imagine – at least at this point – that the new movement will be a prelude to a grand political coalition like the UPFA, twelve years ago.
The ‘popular face’ they are trying to promote is former President Mahinda Rajapaksa.

However, former President Rajapaksa, who led the UPFA’s unsuccessful election campaign in August, is yet to officially associate himself with the new alliance. He will have to step out of the SLFP – the party of which he was a member for more than 45 years – to extend his support formally to the newly formed national movement. It, needless to say, will be a tough task for the former President who is now a mere Parliamentarian of the opposition.

The UNP and the SLFP, the two main political parties, are on the same page about the domestic war crimes investigation, supported by international stakeholders. Both parties have expressed clearly that the country cannot rule the need for a credible domestic mechanism that can earn the faith of the international community. This agreement will not allow the new national movement to piggyback on a mainstream political party, in its bid to gain political power.

Against this backdrop, the national movement will only ensure the ‘political survival’ of the UPFA minor parties who will be left out by the SLFP in the near future. With the SLFP going solo, the minor constituents will be deprived of organizational strength to carry out an island-wide campaign when it comes to an important election. The movement against war crimes inquiry and patriotic rhetoric associated with it will be their “last straw” where the elections are concerned.

Courtesy:Daily News