Selected Writings
V.Thangavelu, Canada

On Ranil Wickremasinghe & the UNP

8 June 2007

"...There are a few Tamils who seem to have an insatiable love for Ranil Wickremesinghe and who accuse the LTTE/LTTE advisors for not allowing Thamil voters to caste their votes for Ranil Wickremesinghe. They conveniently forget what the Thamil people suffered under UNP governments. The attacks of 1977, 1979, 1981 and 1983 took place under the UNP. The colonization of the Northeast is the brainchild of DS Senanayake, Dudley Senanayake and Gamini Dissanayake. (In January 2002)... Prime Minister (Ranil Wikremasinghe) responded (to a Buddhist Bhikkhu delegation) saying "We have never accepted the homeland concept... the homeland concept will never be accepted...We have always clearly expressed our stand on this issue.”... I reiterate what I have been  saying many years. It is slow death or death in instalments for Thamils under the UNP. The SLFP is an open enemy. Mahinda Rajapakse as president is unwittingly helping the division of the country as today's expulsion of hundreds of Thamils from Colombo to North and East shows."

Comment by tamilnation.org 

1. Prime Minister Ranil Wickremasinghe in Sri Lanka Parliament defending his government's approach on 5 December 1993 quoted in  Sri Lanka's Unwinnable War, December 1993 - ''... I happened to be reading  the book written by General Thompson who handled the ground operations (in Malaysia). For the benefit of the House, I will read some extracts regarding the different facets of an overall plan:

'This plan must cover not just security measures and military operations. It must include all political, social, economic, administrative, police and other measures which have a bearing on insurgencies. ... It is essential that there should be a proper balance between the military and the civil efforts with complete coordination in all field. Otherwise a situation will arise in which military operations produce no lasting results, because they are unsupported by civil follow up action. Similarly civilian measures, particularly in areas disputed with the insurgents are a waste of time and money if they are unsupported by military operations to provide the necessary protection.' 

This is what the Government is doing - an overall objective and an overall plan...''

2. Barry Gardiner, UK Member of Parliament in Anton Balasingham: Chief negotiator for the Tamil Tigers, 2 January 2007 - "I recall telling Bala (Anton Balasingham)  a year before of (Ranil) Wickremasinghe's boast to me: 'They (LTTE) want government? I'll bog them down with government.'

[see also  Sinhala Sri Lanka  Opposition competes with Sinhala Sri Lanka President Rajapakse  & makes its own naked  appeal to Sinhala chauvinism ]

They conveniently forget what the Thamil people suffered under UNP governments. The attacks of 1977, 1979, 1981 and 1983 took place under the UNP. The colonization of the Northeast is the brainchild of DS Senanayake, Dudley Senanayake and Gamini Dissanayake.

The state sponsored  Sinhala colonization of Allai, Kantalai, Morawewa, Padaviya in Trincomalee district and Gal Oya and Maduru Oya were carried out under the UNP regimes. These colonization schemes drastically altered the demography of Northeast. 

In the Eastern province the Thamils were reduced to a hopeless minority. The exception is Batticaloa district.

Let me elaborate on the Manal Aru  Sinhala colonization that took place under the very nose of the IPKF.

It was Gamini Dissanayake  who named  Manal Aru  as Weli Oya and  ethnically cleansed the  Thamils from  Manal Aru. By an extraordinary gazette notification dated 16th April, 1988, Manal Aru area in the Mullaitivu and Vavunia Districts was proclaimed the 26th District of Sri Lanka and for administrative purpose brought under the jurisdiction of the Government Agent, Anuradhapura. For election purpose it was included in the Vavuniya Electoral District.

A total of 13,288 Tamil families living in 42 villages for generations including Kokkulai Grama Sevakar Division (1516 Tamil families), Kokku –Thoduvai Grama Sevakar Division (3306 Tamil families), Vavunia North Grama Sevakar Division (1342 Tamil families), Other Divisions of Mullaitivu District including Naiyaru and Kumulamunai ( 2011 Tamil families) were asked to vacate their homes and farmlands within 48 hours on pain of eviction by force in case of default. This threat was issued by the army over the public address system.

Simultaneously land given to 14 Tamil entrepreneurs, including Kent Farm and Dollar Farm, on 99 years lease was also cancelled and taken over by the government. Settlements in the Weli Oya began in 1984 as a dry zone farmer colony under the land Commission, but it was later acquired by the Mahaweli Economic Agency in 1988 and declared as the Mahaweli ‘L’ zone.

The Mahaweli ‘L’ zone was established specially for coconut cultivation and each Sinhalese family was given 5 acres of land consisting of ½ acre for residence, one-acre of irrigated land and 3 ½ acres for coconut.

The Mahaweli Economic Agency (MEA) financed all development projects while Mahaweli Engineering and Construction Agency (MECA) handled all the construction works such as roads, electricity, houses etc. In 1998 alone Rs. 72 million was allocated for construction of roads.

The Sinhalese army did translate its threat and used force as promised. Thousands of Tamil villagers, some of them Hill country Tamil refugees victims of earlier Sinhalese violence in 1983, were driven out or they on their own fled in terror. Some were murdered by the army. One night alone 29 Tamil villagers were killed at Othiyamalai, a hamlet situated north of the Weli Oya colony.

The evil-minds and the driving force behind the Weli Oya Sinhalese colonization were Messrs. Gamini Dissanayake, Minister for Mahaweli Development, Lalith Athulathmudali, Minister of National Security, Cyril Mathew, Minister of Industries and Scientific Affairs and N.G.P. Panditaratne, Chairman Mahaweli Development Board.

The ‘gang of four’ openly advocated the colonization of the North and East in general and Weli Oya in particular by Sinhalese settlers after driving the Tamils out by using the Sinhalese army.

Industries Minister Cyril Mathew diverted millions of rupees allocated to various Corporations under his Ministry to finance Weli Oya colonization scheme. In addition institutions like All Ceylon Buddhist Congress, Bhikku Peramuna etc. helped in providing financial and other material aid to the Sinhalese settlers.

From 1988-89 Sinhala colonization of Weli Oya was put on a war-footing. A total of 3364 families, most of them ex-convicts brought straight from prisons, were settled in Weli Oya. A further 35,000 persons comprising 5, 925 families were also settled under the same scheme. It is in recognition of the ‘yeoman services’ rendered by the top elite of the Sinhala army, especially that of Major General Janaka Perera, the Tamil village of Thannimurippu was re-named Janakapura in his honour.

This is the same Janaka Perera,  Ranil Wickremesinghe wants to be appointed the Defence Secretary.

Today, as mentioned earlier,  the Thamils have been reduced to a hopless minority in the East. Batticaloa is the only district that still has Thamil majority. In addition under Ranil Wickremesinghe's  dispensation  -

1) UNP MPs engineered the break up of the LTTE.

2) After the LTTE agreed for autonomy to Northeast under the principle of internal self-determination Ranil did not come with any proposals anytime that will satisfy the aspirations of the Thamil people.

3) It was Ranil Wickremesinghe who attended the Washington conference that by passed the LTTE.

4) It was Ranil Wickremesisnghe or still better his  handpicked deputy Milinda Moragoda who negotiated with USA to buy a war ship.

5) It was Ranil Wickremesinghe who spoke of international safety net to contain to the LTTE.

6) It was the UNP under Ranil Wickremesinghe which burnt the constitutional proposals submitted by Chandrika Kumaratunga in parliament.

7) Ranil Wickremesinghe never accepted the concept of Thamil Homeland. He always spoke of  additional devolution  under 13th Amendment and no more. This means the current unitary constitution  to remain intact.

8) The UNP reformists group that jumped ship are behaving worse than the SLFP parliamentarians and Ministers. Keheliya Rambukwella is worse than the Nazi propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels! Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollogama is outperforming Rambukwella.

Today, 7 June 2007,  in Parliament he said

“Among them, 260 people including 63 women were found to be staying in Colombo even after attending to their businesses here. They volunteered to go back to their homes. We are now facilitating their departure.”. 

UNP reformist-turned-government Minister Dr. Rajitha Senaratne accepted in Parliament and said human rights violations were inevitable in war.