-Anubhavananda writes - Translated by Sanjaya Dassanayake
(Lanka-e-News -03.March.2025, 9.30 PM) Date: 13th July 2022.
The people's struggle (Aragalaya) against the Rajapaksa regime was raging. The activists were protesting that day near the Prime Minister's office. Ranil Wickramasinghe had grabbed the post after Mahinda Rajapaksa left the Prime Ministership and fled. The protesters forced Prime Minister Wickremesinghe to resign. Brigadier Anil Somaweera, Commander of 112 Brigade of the Sri Lanka Army, came there with a large military force. Lt. Col. PHGP Gunawardena, Commander of the 12th Sinha Regiment, came to assist him.
The order they received from the political power authority was to shoot the peaceful protestors dead with live bullets. But. Brigadier Anil Somaweera did not implement that decision. Instead of shooting the youths who came to raid the Prime Minister's office and drive them away, he started a dialogue with the youth agitators. Brigadier Anil Somaweera, who addressed the youths there at that time, emphasized that he would not shoot at them and that the youths should not harm the Prime Minister's office. Accordingly, an agreement was reached between the two parties. If Brigadier Anil Somaweera had given the order to shoot the young militants, then there would have been a risk of loss of many lives. Lieutenant Colonel PHGP Gunawardena also supported his decision. (See image shown here)
Brigadier Anil Somaweera is a distinguished officer who served in the United Nations Peacekeeping Force and led a battalion of its troops. While serving in the United Nations peacekeeping force, such civilian protests provide special training on how to act in the face of conflict. The primary focus is to resolve issues by minimizing conflicts with the civilian population without violating human rights. Brigadier Anil Somaweera used that experience in the protest near the Prime Minister's office. He did not take the “red-and-white” approach.
Ranil Wickramasinghe was sworn in as the Acting Executive President after the escape of President Gotabhaya Rajapaksa. His first decision as the country's Commander-in-Chief was to remove Brigadier Anil Somaweera, Commander of Sri Lanka Army's 112 Brigade, who declared that he would not fire on the peaceful protesters who participated in the raid on the Prime Minister's Office on July 13. Lieutenant Colonel PHGP Gunawardena, the commander of the 12th Battalion of the Sinha Regiment, who was next to Brigadier Somaweera, was removed from duty. Military Service Secretary Major General Chandana Wickramasinghe, who questioned the Acting President's decision to remove Brigadier Somaweera and Lt. Col. Gunawardena from duty, was removed from his post and subjected to a transfer of punishment.
Brigadier Somaweera and Lt. Col. Gunawardena were not only removed from duty, but the Ranil Rajapaksa government also destroyed their military careers. He took revenge on them by not giving them the promotions they deserved. Timely promotion and seniority in military life are key factors in getting to a higher position. Brigadier Somaweera is an officer who would have been qualified to be the Army Commander if he had not been retaliated against by the Ranil Rajapaksa government. He lost that opportunity due to the Ranil Rajapaksa government's humiliating reprisals. The only mistake that Brigadier Somaweera and Lt. Col. Gunawardena committed was not shooting and killing unarmed civilians. It was the fault of Major General Chandana Wickramasinghe, the Secretary of Military Services, that he was not ready to implement the decision to remove them from duty at the same time.
It has been more than three months since the National People's Force government came to power. But till now, the new government has not done justice to Brigadier Somaweera and Lieutenant Colonel Gunawardena. As Minister Bimal Ratnayake often says, there is no need for "rocket science" knowledge to act on these matters. The National People's Power government should be ashamed of its inability to do justice to the Ranil Rajapaksa government's political revenge. Such officials who prevented a large genocide and protected the honour of the army as well as the country should be promoted because they are an example to other officials. It is the hope and wish of all citizens who respect democracy that President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, as the Commander-in-Chief, will immediately do justice to these officers.
The public response to the attack by the Rajapaksa thugs on the Galle face activists on May 9, 2022, was high. There, the Ranil Rajapaksa government has given 1221 million rupees as compensation to the ministers and parliamentarians of Pohottuwa. 1125 million rupees have been paid to the local political thugs and ‘Gnana Akka’ the infamous astrologer of Rajapaksa family.
Dr. Nalinda Jayatissa, the cabinet minister of NPP, revealed the statistics and the millions of rupees received by the concerned persons. But what steps will the government take in that regard? No action has been taken till date. These are just Nalinda Jayatissa's whistles. There should be an immediate inquiry into how such huge amounts of compensation were obtained and the people who sanctioned them. Secondly, it is necessary to find out how the relevant assets were acquired to receive such huge compensations.
In the people's struggle of 2022, more than twelve youths were martyred, and hundreds of others were injured. The families of these youths did not receive any compensation from the Ranil Rajapaksa government. Take Chaminda Lakshan, for example, who was killed by the police on April 19, 2022, during a protest in Rambukkana. Ranil Wickramasinghe, who was an opposition member of Parliament at that time, proudly declared that Chaminda Lakshan, who was murdered in Rambukkana, was an active member of UNP.
You may think that the family of Chaminda Lakshan, who was a father of two children, has been given a huge compensation under the Ranil Rajapaksa government. But Ranil Wickramasinghe did not give a single rupee compensation to the UNP member's family.
Prasanna Ranatunga, Johnston Fernando, Keheliya Rambukwella, and other Ministers of Pohottuwa were paid millions as compensation, but Chaminda Lakshan has been ignored. All that mattered to him was the security and welfare of the elite political class.
The Ranil Rajapaksa government unjustly arrested thousands of young people across the country for joining the Gall face people's struggle. These young men and women were arrested based on the lists of names given to the police by ministers and local leaders in Pohottuwa. At the insistence of the Ranil Rajapaksa government, the "independent" attorney general prosecuted these young men and women under various absurd charges. These young men and women are helpless today because they participate in the people's struggle. These cases are a big hurdle for them in applying for jobs and traveling abroad. This situation has had a decisive effect in obtaining police reports, especially for foreign education and employment.
Due to joining the people's struggle, many of those who took revenge from these youths are still at large. Rajapaksa's thug, known as 'Sata Nalaka' or 'Arabi Wasantha' is one example of this. The "independent" Attorney General of the President, Ranil Wickremesinghe, withdrew all the charges against 'Sata Nalaka', who was accused of burning buses and attacking youths involved in the struggle with iron rods in Mirihana. Rajapakse's family official thug, 'Satha Nalaka, ' can be seen working as a bodyguard of Yoshita Rajapaksa these days.
Recently, the Law and Society Trust sent a letter to the current Minister of Justice, requesting justice for more than three thousand youths who have been arrested and prosecuted for joining the people's struggle. The Law and Social Trust has explained in detail in its letter addressed to the present Minister of Justice, Harshana Nanayakkara, that the police of the Ranil Rajapaksa government filed these cases under political interests and arbitrary measures, clearly with the intention of revenge.
President Anura Kumara Dissanayake should intervene to do justice to the young people who were illegally prosecuted by the Ranil Rajapaksa government for political revenge. The current Justice Minister. Harshana Nanayakkara does not have the political strength to make such a decision. He is one of the weakest ministers in the current cabinet. For Parinda Ranasinghe, the "independent" Attorney General who can withdraw the charges against the suspects in the Lasanta Wickramasinghe murder case, it is a very easy task to withdraw the cases assigned to these young people under absurd charges due to their involvement in the people's struggle.
The National People's Power government has passed its hundred days. Most of the time, we heard only whistles. No Balti. For example, the president and the government made a lot of noise about the removal of Mahinda Rajapaksa from the government house. But till today, the National People's Power Government has not been able to send the official letter to Mahinda Rajapaksa! Just stories, no work. President Anura Kumara Dissanayake's stories are interesting. Relationship But the people of our country no longer need stories. The work needed now. Stop whistling now and start working. Give immediate justice to the youth who joined the people's struggle and the military officers who protected the people. These are not hard and complex subjects like "rocket science". All that is required is sincere desire and determination.
Translated by Sanjaya Dassanayake
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by (2025-03-03 15:59:16)
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