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Weerasekera tears into Wigneswaran, Ponnambalam
By Saman Indrajith
State Minister of Provincial Councils and Local Government Rear Adm. (retd) Sarath Weerasekara yesterday challenged Tamil MPs in the Opposition to prove that they had a genuine concern for the welfare of their people.
Participating in the debate on the Vote on Account Minister Weeraskera said that so-called representatives of Tamil people would not even donate blood for the people they represented. “I ask them if they have ever donated blood for their own people. When the Jaffna Hospital runs out of blood it is the Sinhalese soldiers who donate blood. The Vellalas will never donate their blood as they don’t want the socially disadvantaged Tamils to receive their blood. These are the very people who are talking about the aspirations and welfare of the Tamil people. They don’t have the right to talk about the aspirations of the Tamil people.
We have greater right to talk about the Tamil people.
Former Navy Chief of Staff Weerasekera said that Rs. 174 billion had been allocated for Defence expenditure at a time when there was peace in the country. He said that after 30 years of war, there was peace in the country and in case that peace was compromised, the government would allocate more from the Vote on Account for defence expenditure.
“The minister said that if anyone was trying to instigate the youth and spread hatred between the Sinhalese and Tamils and laying the foundation for another conflict, then that persons had to be exposed.
On the inaugural day of the Parliament one party leader went out of his way to speak of self-determination and supremacy of the Tamil language. This august Assembly was not a place to decide whether one language was superior to the other. But, one could sympathise with him as a person who was clueless about the true history of Sri Lanka.
“We are a country with a written history of over 2500 years and an even longer Sinhala history. The ruins and historical monuments spread throughout the country are testament to the history of the country based on Sinhala civilisation. Hence, knowing of this past very well, these statements intended to ignite disharmony should be strongly condemned.
“Somehow, we must be concerned about his statement about self-determination. If self-determination is given to the North to fulfil the aspirations of the Tamils living in the North, then what about the Tamils living in the South? More than 50% of the Tamils are living in the South among the Sinhalese and the Muslims. Does this mean he is not concerned about the aspirations of the Tamils living in the South or is he fully convinced that their aspirations have already been met? Weerasekera asked.
“Weerasekera said the particular MP when he was holding a very responsible position in Jaffna, had claimed that the Sinhalese and the Muslims had no right to live in the Jaffna Peninsula. He attended the Colombo Royal College and studied with the Sinhalese, then went to Law College and studied with the Sinhalese, then went on to become a magistrate and High Court judge and became a Supreme Court judge and lived among the Sinhalese and Muslims for 65 years and then had the audacity to go to Jaffna thereafter and claim that the Sinhalese and Muslims had no right to live in the North.
“This MP is eternally insulting the government and the Sinhalese people, Buddhism and the Sinhala language and engages in protests in Killinochchi demanding the removal of Buddhist statues. He is none other than MP C.V. Wigneswaran. This same MP took oaths in Mulliwaikkal prior to taking oaths in parliament. This spot is where the most intense battle took place. There, many were killed and the battle was for a separate state and him taking oaths at this very spot is a clear manifestation that he too is has the same agenda. Hence, he definitely needs to give an explanation for his actions. As pointed out by MP Manusha Nanayakkara, such racist statements should be removed from Hansard.
“Similarly, MP Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam said that the Sri Lankan forces had committed war crimes and that was the reason why President Gotabaya Rajapaksa had lost the electorates in the North. However, I want to ask him how come the former Army Commander Sarath Fonseka, who commanded the Army during the war, won so many votes in the North when he contested the Presidential election. Therefore, I don’t think his utterances should be taken seriously as they are baseless.
“Although he claims the Sri Lankan forces committed war crimes , experts in the field such as Sir Desmond de Silva, Sir Geoffrey Nice and David Crane, Prof. Michael Newton, Rodney Dixon QC and Maj. Gen. John Holmespic, after extensive investigations and cleared the Sri Lankan armed forces of war crimes and crimes Minister .”
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PCoI on Easter Sunday attacks:
By Shamindra Ferdinando
Attorney General Dappula de Livera, PC is not bound by recommendations made by the Presidential Commission of Inquiry (P CoI) into the 2019 Easter Sunday carnage, or presidential directives in that regard, according to authoritative sources.
They said that the AG couldn’t under any circumstances initiate legal proceedings until he had received the full PCoI report.
President Gotabaya Rajapaksa received the PCoI report on Feb 1. The President’s Office delivered a set of PCoI reports to Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena on Feb 23, a day after the report was presented to the cabinet of ministers. The Island raised the matter with relevant authorities in the wake of a section of the media reporting the PCoI recommending punitive measures against former President Maithripala Sirisena, Defence Secretary Hemasiri Fernando, IGP Pujitha Jayasundera, Chief of State Intelligence Senior DIG Nilantha Jayawardena, Chief of National Intelligence retired DIG Sisira Mendis and All Ceylon Makkal Congress (ACMC) leader and Samagi Jana Balavegaya MP Rishad Bathiudeen et al over the Easter Sunday carnage.
Sources pointed out that due to the inordinate delay in sharing the PCoI report with the AG, the department hadn’t been able to take preliminary measures required to initiate the proceedings. Sources said that a team of officers would take at least six weeks or more to examine the report before tangible measures could be taken.
With the AG scheduled to retire on May 24, 2021, even if the AG Department received the P CoI it would be quite a tough task to initiate proceedings ahead of retirement, sources said. However, in terms of the 20th Amendment to the Constitution enacted in last October, both the AG and the IGP could receive extensions beyond 60 at the President’s discretion.
Dappula de Livera received an Acting appointment as the AG a week after the Easter Sunday carnage whereas his predecessor Jayantha Jayasuriya, PC, was elevated to Chief Justice.
Responding to another query, sources said that the Attorney General two weeks ago requested Secretary to the President for a copy of the P CoI. However, the AG was yet to receive one, sources said. In spite of the AG not receiving a P CoI copy, the AG had instructed the IGP to obtain a copy of the report when he requested the police to complete investigations into the Easter Sunday carnage. The AG issued specific instructions after having examined police files pertaining to the investigations.
The IGP, too, hadn’t received a copy so far though some sections of the report were in the public domain.
Agriculture Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage displayed at a live political programme on Derana a copy of the P CoI report he received at the cabinet meeting earlier in the day.
Sources said that the Attorney General’s Department couldn’t decide on a course of action in respect of the Easter carnage on the basis of a section of the report. In terms of the Commission of Inquiry Act (Section 24), the AG enjoyed significant powers/authority in respect of investigations; sources said adding that the Department urgently required both the P CoI report and police investigations report. The Attorney General’s Department has raised the delay in receiving a P CoI report amidst the Catholic Church attacking the government over the same issue.
Sources said that ministerial committee appointed to study the P CoI report couldn’t decide on how to proceed with the recommendations and the matter was entirely in the hands of the AG. Sources pointed out that the delay on the part of the government to release the report had received the attention of sections of the international media, including the New York Times. Public Security Minister retired Rear Admiral Sarath Weerasekera having met Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith at the Bishop’s House on Dec 8, 2020 said that the AG would get a copy of the P CoI report once the President received it. Minister Weerasekera said that the CID had handed over the relevant files after having completed investigations into eight blasts. Referring to the Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) report on the Easter Sunday carnage, the former Navy Chief of Staff said that all such documents would have to be brought to one place and considered before initiating legal proceedings. Acknowledging that there could be delays, lawmaker Weerasekera said that on the instructions of the Attorney General a 12-member team of lawyers was working on the case. The minister vowed to expose the mastermind behind the Easter Sunday attacks. Investigations continued while some of those wanted were overseas, the minister said.
The minister acknowledged that the Attorney General couldn’t proceed without the P CoI report. Minister Weerasekera reiterated that once the President received the P CoI report, it would be sent to the Attorney General. The minister said that there were documents two to three feet high that needed scrutiny. The minister assured comprehensive investigation. The minister said that investigations pertaining to eight blasts had been completed and the reports handed over to the AG. However, the Attorney General had found shortcomings in those investigations.
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By Saman Indrajith
The Presidential Commission of Inquiry on the Easter Sunday bombings had failed to identify the mastermind of , the JVP said yesterday.
Addressing the media at the party headquarters in Pelawatte, JVP Propaganda Secretary MP Vijitha Herath said that the PCoI report had levelled accusations against former President Maithripala Sirisena, former IGP and head of intelligence for their dereliction of duty, shirking of responsibilities and not taking action to prevent the attacks and negligence. There were reference to the causes of the terror attacks and actions to be taken to avoid such attacks and the influence of extremist organisations. “However, there is no mention of the mastermind of the attacks, the handlers of the attackers and those whose interests the carnage served. It is also not mentioned whether there has been any foreign or local organisation behind those attacks. As per the PCoI report the attack took place as a result of culmination of extremism.
“According to the PCoI the extremist activities were a result of the prevailing political situation then. The entire nation was waiting to see who was responsible and who masterminded those attacks. The PCoI has failed to identify the true culprits responsible for the terror attacks. The report says that the leader of the suicide cadres killed himself in the attacks and it was a puzzle. That means those who are actually responsible for the attacks are still at large. The report does not provide exact details of the sources of the attacks. The PCoI had sittings for one year and five months. It summoned various persons and got their statements but it has failed to shed any light on the terror attacks. Everybody knows that the top leaders of the government and heads of security and intelligence establishments failed in their duties. Ranil Wickremesinghe was the second in command and he too is bound by the responsibility but the PCoI report fails to identify him as one of the persons against whom legal action should be instituted. The PCoI has treated Wickremesinghe and former President Maithripala Sirisena differently. We are not telling that this report is a total failure but we cannot accept this as a complete report. The PCoI handed over its report to the President on Feb 1. After 23 days it was sent to Parliament. Now, a copy of the report is there in the parliamentary library for the perusal of MPs.”
Herath said that the PCoI did not have powers to take punitive action. “It only has powers to name those responsible and recommend action to be taken against those named.
