“We are not celebrating the death of LTTE leader Prabhakaran or any other person, but the unity of Sri Lanka and the unlimited human freedom that the entire country gained with the end of the LTTE,” says United Republic Front Leader and Parliamentarian Patali Champika Ranawaka.
He said this on May 18, 2009, on the occasion of the 15th anniversary of the end of the 30-year war, during the ‘Warrior Celebration’ organized by the Ranaviru Guna Samaru Foundation at the Borella Public Cemetery.
Many war hero leaders who bravely led their troops to end the 30-year war, including the Chairman of the Ranaviru Guna Samaru Foundation, retired Major General Tilak Ubhayawardena, retired Major General Sumit Athapattu, ex-army press spokesperson Captain Gayan Withanage, and the president of the Viru Paura organization, joined the occasion.
Mr. Patali Champika Ranawaka further stated:
“Since 1974, there has been a significant discussion about how to suppress Prabhakaran. In 1987, the Indian Army came to Sri Lanka, and over 100,000 people worked in the name of a peacekeeping force in the northern and eastern provinces. When Prabhakaran announced that the LTTE had given up its arms, accepted the provincial councils, and declared that peace had come, President Jayawardene addressed the nation on July 29, stating, ‘Today, Wednesday and next Monday, the country’s weapons will be in the hands of the security forces only.’ He said that the country would enter a great peaceful era after this, and we all felt great happiness. But President Jayawardena did not come on Monday. Prabhakaran declared war on the Indian Army for handing over arms. More than 1,200 Indian soldiers died here. Accordingly, the operation in which the head of the RAW intelligence service, Kenkavo, took advantage of Sri Lanka ended in tragedy. Its end was the assassination of Mr. Rajiv Gandhi in 1991.”
“We saw that even though Jaffna was liberated by Operation Riviresa, there was a terrible disaster in Kilinochchi. They also surrounded and attacked the Mullaitivu camp. A situation arose where this kind of violence could not be controlled. That is why we stand. We gave them the opportunity in every way. India was given a chance. Ranasinghe Premadasa gave an opportunity to the President. Chandrika Kumaratunga was given a chance. Mr. Rohana Wijeweera was also given a chance.
What did they do? They formed the Patriotic People’s Movement, which said, ‘No motherland or death.’ The Indian army was also driven out. To protect the unity of the country, more than 600 soldiers were killed, more than 6,000 civilians were killed, and more than 60,000 people were killed by the army as well as by paramilitary forces. Rohana Wijeweera’s fate was finally decided on November 13, 1989, when he was shot and burned to death at the Borella cemetery.
“Today, the people of the north of this country can live freely. The Muslim people who fled to the east have been working in their farmlands and fishing grounds for fifteen years now. Many Sinhalese did not go back, but they live peacefully in these provinces. A large number of Tamil people migrated abroad. They are now working freely and democratically.”
“Also, those who talk about this economic crisis as a 75-year curse should know that the country lost 200 billion dollars due to this rebellion. This is said by an Indian statesman, Shivshankar Menon. In a book he wrote, there is a separate chapter on the LTTE. It is said in that chapter that because of this conflict, Sri Lanka, which was supposed to become Singapore, was destroyed. Those who intervened in this conflict should be fully responsible for the fact that the economy grew by 7%-8% between 1978-1981 and fell by 1% by 1987. Two hundred billion dollars means five times the total debt of our country today. That is why we must remember that our politicians, as well as the leaders of the LTTE, the leaders of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna, and the intelligence services of India, are equally responsible for this crisis.“
“If we seek to punish the past, these wounds will be reopened. If we are punishing the past, we will make Kumaran Pathmanathan, the political leaders of the security forces, the JVP, and the Indian Intelligence Service defendants in one court. There is no possibility of hearing such cases in the country today. That’s why we should forget this and move toward the future.
There is no point in maintaining the Sri Lanka Army as an army of hundreds of thousands while justice is being served. The Sri Lanka Army should gradually be transformed into a friendly army. And we need to create an army that can face modern warfare. Our soldiers who went to Ukraine thought it was like the Vanni battle. It was not. They had to face drone attacks. That is the future war of the world. That is why we need to have an army, navy, air force, and police that are suitable for it.
There is no point in talking about the police. A very shameful situation has been achieved by the leadership of our Sri Lanka Police. Our police have become prisoners of corrupt politics. Day by day, they are tempted by social hatred. We are committed to saving all those people and creating a society where justice is done in every corner of this country and respect for the dead is maintained.”