-By Lieutenant Commander PBS Hemachandra
(Lanka-e-News -28.March.2025, 10.45 PM) On 14 June 1985 I filed a Fundamental Rights (FR) application in the Supreme Court making the Minister of Education RW one of the respondents to find a government school for my son after having kept him at home for nearly six months without a school. My legal action did not violate good order and navy discipline. I am firmly convinced that RW used his influence to have the Ministry of Defence and Navy command to place me on compulsory leave the very next day, without providing any reason, and expel me from the Trincomalee navy camp, endangering my life when I was unwell. There was no transport to leave Trincomalee. All evening transports had been rescheduled to leave earlier due to the Yala Devi bomb blast, the Sri Maha Bodhi attack, and attacks on navy and army camps, police stations, and several border villages in early 1985.
At the time, my family lived in Navy Married Quarters at 27D Summit Flats, Keppetipola Mawatha, Colombo 7. In 1985, as my son was set to begin schooling, I applied for his admission to Royal College, D.S. Senanayake College, Mahanama College, Nalanda College, and Ananda College. To support my application, I included a letter from the Commander of the Navy (C of N) addressed to all five schools. The letter explained that, due to the nature of my duties and frequent transfers, I could not fulfill the two-year residency requirement. We were just one month short.
Between 1980 and 1984, Indian Prime Minister Mrs. Indira Gandhi approved and facilitated the training of over 5,000 Tamil militants in approximately 40 training camps across India. In 1984, the Sri Lankan government abruptly recognized the severity of the situation and decided to establish a Northern Surveillance Zone between India and Sri Lanka. The plan involved stationing 12 to 14 naval patrol boats at equal intervals from Talaimannar to Championpattu to prevent the movement of militants and arms smuggling.
Recognizing the inadequacy of our fleet, the Navy Command persistently urged the government to procure fast attack patrol boats for deployment in the Northern Surveillance Zone. In May 1984, the Minister of National Security, Hon. Mr. Lalith Athulathmudali (LA), purchased three container ships Francisca, and Delicia With the purchase of these ships, the Navy was forced to introduce the "mother ship-daughter craft" concept, in which these container ships carried fiberglass dinghies fitted with two powerful high-performance outboard motors. Upon sighting terrorist boats, the mothership lowered the dinghies via crane, enabling a high-speed chase and interception of terrorist boats. The concept was purely designed to purchase the laid-up container ships.
These vessels were subsequently commissioned into the Sri Lanka Navy as SLNS Abeetha, SLNS Edithara, and SLNS Wickrama. I was honoured to be appointed as the commissioning Commanding Officer of SLNS Wickrama.
During the handover of the ships, Mr. Jaff Long, Engineering Superintendent of Sea Containers London Ltd, hosted a dinner at the Oberoi Hotel (now Cinnamon Grand) for the officers of the three ships and senior officers from Naval Headquarters. At the gathering, I casually inquired about the purchase price of the vessels. In the presence of several officers, Mr. Long mentioned that our representatives from the Ministry of National Security had negotiated and acquired the ships for about USD half a million over the sale price.
To the best of my recollection, around August 1984, the Minister of National Security LA came aboard my ship with Rupavahini and ITN TV crews to demonstrate to the public how terrorists would be apprehended using fast boats lowered from the ship. On that day, the sea was very rough, and the ship was rolling heavily. Despite my advice against it, the Minister insisted on lowering the dinghy for the TV crews to film.
Halfway through, the crane stopped working due to a safety feature. We never had the opportunity to test all the equipment in rough sea conditions. Due to the ship’s rolling motion, the dinghy repeatedly struck the hull and sustained damage. Fortunately, we managed to recover both the dinghy and the crew safely.
During this visit of the Minister of National Security LA, I also had the opportunity to show the Minister the limitations of the ship’s radar. I demonstrated how it failed to detect even a large fishing boat nearby due to rough sea conditions and told him that the radar would be ineffective in detecting the small dinghies used by terrorists. Additionally, I reminded him of what Mr. Jeff Long had mentioned regarding potential corruption, implying that someone had taken a commission or a bribe in the procurement process.
The C of N summoned me to discuss my report. After the meeting, I told him that five schools in Colombo had rejected my son’s application for admission to Year One. He called the Secretary of Education and arranged an interview with the Royal College admission board. However, the Royal College rejected my son’s application to year one due to a one-month shortfall in the residency requirement.
After spending four to five weeks at sea in the northern surveillance zone, I would bring my ship Jayasagara into Trincomalee Harbour for rest, leave, refuelling, and resupplying. Each time I returned home from the Jaffna surveillance zone, I spent most of my time visiting the Ministry of Education, Education Director's office to secure a school for my son.
During my visit to the Director’s office, I noticed a man dressed like a Member of Parliament enter the office, and everyone stood up in his presence and spoke to him. When I asked the office peon about him, he told me the man was RW’s bodyguard “Gonawal Sunil” and advised me to approach him if I wanted to find a school for my son. That was the first time I encountered this individual.
This experience convinced me that RW was a heartless and deceitful man who had no empathy for a father serving on the front line to prevent terrorist activities when his government failed to provide his son with a basic education.
On June 14, 1985, after exhausting all available avenues, I filed a Fundamental Rights (FR) application to secure admission for my son to a government school. My lawyer, Mr. Nimal Siripala De Silva, advised me to name the Minister of Education RW as one of the respondents. The senior lawyer handling the case was Mr. R.K.W. Gunasekara.
The very next day, on June 15, 1985, after filing the FR application, I am firmly convinced that RW used his influence to have me placed on compulsory leave and escorted out of the Trincomalee Navy camp despite my illness and the absence of proper transport options. I was effectively thrown out of the camp, putting my life in danger as terrorists roamed the area after dark. RW and the Navy command were well aware that all evening transport from Trincomalee was rescheduled to leave early to reach Habarana before nightfall. No servicemen went out alone after dark. I firmly believe that I was expelled from the Trincomalee Navy camp with the intent to expose me to a terrorist attack. Fortunately, I managed to secure a lift in a lorry transporting fish to Colombo.
On June 16, 1985, still very ill, I reported to Navy Headquarters as instructed. The Commander of the Navy, Rear Admiral Asoka de Silva, took me to meet the then Secretary of Defence, General Sepala Attygalle. He threatened and advised me to withdraw the FR application if I wanted my job back in the Navy. He accused me of attempting to discredit the government and the Minister of Education by naming RW as a respondent. Neither of them showed any interest in helping me to secure a school for my son, the sole reason for my legal action.
By this time, Summit Flats were guarded by the Army. However, before the next court hearing around July 15 or 16, 1985, RW’s bodyguard, Gonawala Sunil, visited me and warned me to withdraw the case against his Minister RW if I wanted my son to ever attend a school. This was a cruel threat, implying that my son's life was in danger if I continued my legal battle. I was fully convinced our lives and my career were threatened to coerce me into withdrawing the FR application to prevent negative publicity against Minister of Education RW.
I immediately contacted the Commander of the Navy and informed him of the threats to our lives. He once again took me to the Secretary of Defence, who then spoke to someone over the phone and arranged for my son’s admission to Mahanama College, assuring me that he would be transferred to Royal College within a month. During this meeting, I inquired whether my legal action would affect my promotion, as I was the senior-most Lieutenant Commander at the time. Both the Commander of the Navy and the Secretary of Defence assured me that my promotion would proceed as planned. I was then advised to meet the Additional Solicitor General to formally withdraw my Fundamental Rights (FR) application. There was an official record of this meeting. After withdrawing the case, I returned to Summit Flats, where I found a letter confirming my son’s school admission.
The day after withdrawing legal action and admitting my son to school, I reported back to the Navy. However, I was not allowed to return to my command of SLNS Jayasagara to collect my uniforms or personal belongings. Initially, I was appointed to take over command of SLNS Ruhuna, then the only Navy Command in the South, a position designated for the next higher rank. However, after I reported back, my appointment was abruptly cancelled with a thick black pen. Instead, I was placed in a junior position typically held by a Lieutenant.
This was not just an injustice to me as an officer but an orchestrated effort to silence me, endanger my life, and suppress my fundamental right to seek education for my son. Even though I withdrew my legal action under extreme duress, the trauma of these events remains with me to this day.
However, after the Supreme Court action and just a few weeks after my reporting back to duty, I was overlooked for promotion, with five junior officers promoted over me. The President of the Promotions Board, C of S, informed me that I no longer had a future in the Navy because I had named RW as a respondent in my FR application, thereby bringing discredit to the Minister of Education RW and the government. He advised me that my best option was to retire and that I could receive my pension after 15 years of service under Paragraph 5 of the Navy Pensions and Gratuities Code 1950 with a special recommendation from the C of N. However, I had to remove all references to my FR application from my retirement request. I complied, hoping to secure my pension and move my family out of Sri Lanka.
Despite my compliance, I did not receive my pension. Even after retirement, the Ministry of Shipping refused to issue my Crew Discharge Certificate (CDC), preventing me from taking over a job as the captain of a small oil tanker, a position arranged by Rear Admiral Asoka De Silva, C of N, who sympathized with my situation. The C of S refused to forward my name as the directing officer of an apprehension of a smuggler depriving me of customs reward money. Fortunately, the Australian government allowed my family to migrate.
In 1985 there was a severe shortage of officers of my seniority and experience. Had I not named RW as a respondent in my FR application, I firmly believe I would not have faced threats to my job and life. I could have continued my service and retired as a very senior Navy officer. From 1992 onwards, three of my course mates from the 1971/72 Sub Lieutenant course in India, Admiral DAMR Samarasekera, Admiral HCAC Tissera, and Admiral DW Sandagiri became the Commander of the Navy, while two others, Rear Admirals DK Dassanayake and AHM Razeek, became Chiefs of Staff. Next in line would have been Rear Admiral JTG Sundaram and me.
In 2015, under RW’s tenure as Prime Minister, several military officers most of them who had been forced out without promoting to the next higher rank under similar conditions including Admiral T.J.L. Sinniah, General M. Senanayake, and Rear Admirals T.M.J. Mendis and S.M.B. Weerasekera and many other service officers were reinstated and promoted. Some of them had even been found guilty by Navy tribunals, yet they were still allowed to retire on their due dates or continue their service. In some cases, officers had not been in the service for over five years, but these periods were counted towards their retirement benefits. However, my appeals for justice continued to be ignored.
After receiving no response from President RW, I formally requested certified copies of my file from the Navy and the Secretary of Defence in October 2023. A legal professional had advised me to obtain these documents to explore the possibility of presenting my case before the UN Human Rights Commission or even the International Criminal Court (ICC), given that RW enjoys immunity within Sri Lanka as President. Had I received these documents in 2023, long before RW’s interview with Al Jazeera, I might have had the opportunity to submit the Batalanda Commission report as evidence of human rights abuses and crimes against humanity. However, Defence Secretary General Kamal Gunaratne and Navy Commander Vice Admiral Priyantha Perera have repeatedly ignored my requests.
The denial of justice has caused immense emotional and mental distress for over 40 years. The trauma of the threats to my family, especially my children, after my Fundamental Rights Application in 1985 has left lasting scars. Whenever RW was in power, I always made sure to inform the Australian High Commissioner before traveling to Sri Lanka, out of a continued fear of RW and his network of thugs.
I continue to seek justice, not for financial gain, but for fairness and accountability. If I ever receive any financial compensation, I will donate it back.
My appeal is to the current President, requesting that my long-denied promotion and pension be granted under the same provisions that were extended to Admiral T.J.L. Sinniah, General M. Senanayake, and more than 30 other service officers in 2015, as well as Lieutenant (NP) NAPMW Senanayaka in 2023. I hope that the Defence Ministry and the Navy command will carefully review my new appeal and give due consideration to my request when making their recommendations and responses to the president.
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by (2025-03-28 17:33:35)
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