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Who caused today’s crisis in Sri Lanka?

20 Jun 2022

BY S.V. Kirubaharan Whether a medical doctor, lawyer, engineer, economist, politician, or anyone else, if they do not consider the root cause of an issue/problem, they will not be able to find a durable remedy. The months-long crisis in Sri Lanka should be approached by identifying the root cause of the problem. This article aims to highlight the culprit of decades of manipulation targeted at achieving a long-term plan, which has not been considered or realised by many. The foundation of today’s crisis was laid in the 1960s, when the late Sirimavo Bandaranaike was the Prime Minister of then-Ceylon, present-day Sri Lanka. Following the assassination of her husband Premier S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike, in 1960, her political party won the election and Sirimavo Bandaranaike was sworn in as Prime Minister. She served from 1960 to 1965 and undertook reforming the island from unsettled colonial affairs onto a Leftist socialist path. This paved the way for those who were waiting to dominate the island. It was the beginning of today’s crisis in Sri Lanka. However, this article by no means intends to find fault with either Leftists or socialists in Sri Lanka. Even though Sirimavo Bandaranaike had cordial relationships with Indian Prime Ministers – Jawaharlal Nehru, Gulzarilal Nanda (Interim), Lal Bahadur Shastri and Indira Gandhi – she was gradually moving towards China and Pakistan. In 1963 and 1972, she visited the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and met with leaders like Mao Tse-tung, Chou Enlai, and others. In return, Chinese leaders visited Sri Lanka. It was the same with Pakistan and the former Soviet Union, present Russia. The Soviet Union used its power of veto twice (18 August 1948, and 13 September 1949) against Ceylon’s membership in the United Nations. This shows that the then-Soviet Union and Ceylon did not have a good relationship. The PRC’s need for Sri Lanka The PRC uses every available opportunity to dominate Sri Lanka. One of the reasons is the PRC’s longstanding hostility to India, Sri Lanka’s closest neighbour. Therefore, the PRC needed Sri Lanka by any means. The PRC made their first attempt to dominate Sri Lanka in the late 1960s. During that time, the United National Party (UNP) in power received an intelligence report that the PRC was busy trying to plant a pro-Chinese Government in Sri Lanka. Then, in late 1969 and the early 1970s, the Ceylon Police alerted the Government that a pro-Chinese group known as the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) were preparing to overthrow the then-Government. In May 1970, when Sirimavo Bandaranaike came to power, the JVP was in its final stages to start an armed revolt to capture the Government. For this purpose, arms were brought into Sri Lanka in two ways in preparation for this armed struggle. One was under the pretext of the PRC building and donating a memorial hall in the name of the late S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike (the Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall [BMICH]). Materials to build the BMICH were freely allowed without going through any formalities, and it was believed that some of the JVP arms were brought via this channel. The other route was that in May 1970, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) established relations with Ceylon and opened an Embassy in Colombo. Some publications distributed by the DPRK helped the JVP develop their armed struggle. Many incidents linking the JVP and North Koreans came under the spotlight. In March 1971, the Ceylon Police discovered that the North Korean Embassy had withdrawn approximately $ 300,000 from overseas banks. However, the Police failed to trace the original sender of these funds. Eventually, the North Koreans were forced to leave the country on 15 April 1971. The JVP revolt During this period, there was a Chinese cargo vessel bound for Tanzania, in the Colombo Harbour. This cargo vessel carried weapons for the JVP. In the same period, an unfamiliar ship was spotted in the Matara coastal area, where the JVP was very popular. These were handled by an Indian warship then patrolling the coastal areas of Ceylon. As the JVP started their armed revolution against the Government on 5 April 1971, Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike sought the help of India and other countries. The JVP’s attempted armed revolution ended in failure. However, the project of the BMICH progressed well, and the memorial building was opened in May 1973. As the first attempt by the JVP had been a failure, they began a second attempt, this time making use of the accord signed between India and Sri Lanka (Indo-Lanka Accord) in 1987. It was believed that this was also carried out with the backing of the PRC. There were many disturbances in Colombo and its surrounding areas – burning, looting, and rioting, under the pretext of opposing the accord. The JVP’s revolt continued against pro-Indian then-President J.R. Jayewardene, but his Prime Minister R. Premadasa was of an opposite stance, and later became the President of Sri Lanka. Under the guidance of Premadasa, many shameful incidents took place in Sri Lanka, including the attempted assassination of Indian Prime Minister Rajeev Gandhi.  This took place in the presence of Rajeev Gandhi’s wife Sonia Gandhi, many Indian diplomats, and President Jayewardene himself. Once again, the uprising of the JVP failed and came to an end in December 1989. This was the second attempt by the PRC to gain a Government which would be in their favour. From the 1990s onwards, the armed struggle in exercise of the right to self-determination of the Tamils intensified in the North and the East. The PRC took this opportunity to supply unlimited arms to Sri Lanka. One should keep in mind that weapons supplied by friendly or other countries, whether presently to Ukraine or earlier to Sri Lanka, are neither gifts, nor donations; eventually, the receiving country has to pay the supplying countries. Since the PRC’s earlier attempts totally failed, the PRC changed its strategy, making Sri Lanka fully dependent on their arms supply, which gradually increased by millions and billions of US dollars. Countries like the PRC prolonged the ethnic conflict for three decades in Sri Lanka with their ulterior motives. Prolonged ethnic conflict  Many, including politicians in Sri Lanka, did not realise that these affairs “behind the scenes” were happening. The protracted war resulted in many human losses and much economic damage to individuals in the island. Some political leaders in the South got fed up with the war, wondering what the next step should be. In 2005, there was a change of the presidency and Government in Sri Lanka. Here, the PRC found the weakness of the President, his family members, and the Cabinet Members, and took advantage of it. The PRC started to supply further arms and ammunition, perpetuating the war and also giving unlimited loans on various terms and conditions. In the meantime, they “looked after” the President, his family members, and others. This was the beginning of the PRC’s iron-handed involvement in Sri Lanka. With the full flow of Chinese arms and with the involvement of the international community including India, the armed struggle of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) came to an end. This is the only war on earth where enemy countries – the US does not agree with North Korea and China, while India does not agree with Pakistan and China – all united to suppress the Tamils’ armed struggle for their right to self-determination. With the end of this bloody war, people especially in the South blindly supported the Rajapaksa family without knowing the truth. Most of them thought that members of the Rajapaksa family were the “war heroes”. The PRC made use of this opportunity and signed many accords and contracts in their favour, looking after the Rajapaksa family well. The Rajapaksa family members were travelling to the PRC very often and got caught into fulfilling the PRC’s longstanding dream. With the help of the Rajapaksa family, the PRC’s influence in Sri Lanka started to flourish. With the unexpected change in the presidency and Government in Sri Lanka in 2015, the Rakapaksas became the financial advisors to the PRC, especially regarding Sri Lanka. During 2015 and 2019, both Mahinda Rajapaksa and his brother Gotabaya Rajapaksa frequently visited the PRC and advised them on how to grab territory in Sri Lanka. Hambantota on a 99-year lease As pressure mounted on the Government in power, it was obliged to give Hambantota away on a 99-year lease to the PRC as a settlement for those loans, etc. The Hambantota area includes a harbour and an airport built by the PRC and was brought under the control of the PRC in July 2017. The PRC thus obtained a foothold in one-third of southern Sri Lanka. Throughout the ethnic conflict, Sri Lanka insisted internationally on its “sovereignty and integrity”, which it “lost” to the PRC. The silence of the JVP and many others, who agitated against the Indo-Lanka Accord, deserves questioning. Here, one might laugh at Indian diplomacy. In 1974, India voluntarily donated one of its strategically important islands, Katchatheevu, to Sri Lanka, whereas the PRC grabbed a significant proportion of southern Sri Lanka. In other words, this proves that Indian diplomacy failed and is failing in many affairs in Sri Lanka. The Rajapaksas came back to power in 2019, with both the presidency and the Government. The PRC then started to take more advantage; they started to influence the replacement of the Tamil language with the Chinese Mandarin language. All over Sri Lanka, several name boards/sign boards – on roads, railways stations, airports, Government buildings, the China-backed Colombo Port City, etc. – are displayed only in Sinhala, Mandarin, and English. Tamil, a living language for thousands of years, has been systematically removed. For the mistakes and greediness of the Rajapaksa family along with the PRC, now the noble citizens of the country pay a high price without essential items like food, medicine, electricity, gasoline, etc. Democracy in Sri Lanka legalised nepotism and corruption, resulting in the Rajapaksa dynasty taking their ill-gotten wealth abroad and investing it in foreign countries. However, now it is too late to realise that the PRC’s relationship with Sri Lanka has always been fishy and has ulterior motives. British polymath Isaac Newton’s theory started to work in Sri Lanka – “whatever goes up has to come down”. As the “karma” of the Rajapaksas and the PRC’s misuse of hospitality in Sri Lanka show, their dark days have arrived. While writing this article, after going through an interview with Frontline Socialist Party (FSP) General Secretary Kumar Gunaratnam, published in an English language newspaper, I am puzzled as to whether there is another PRC agenda brewing. One has to see this interview with binoculars. There is a deeper danger lurking. The contents of this interview are covered with beautiful icing. The FSP is a breakaway group from the JVP and they are partly organisers of the protest taking place at the Galle Face Green. Veteran politicians and others should take note: Remembering Mullivaikkal in the Galle Face Green, and former President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga lighting a candle at her home, are not going to bring either equality or cohabitation in Sri Lanka. Once again, these could be tricks to divert international sympathy away from the Tamils in Sri Lanka. Tamils have suffered and learned enough. Therefore, it is not easy to cheat them again and again. (The writer is a human rights activist and freelance research analyst) ……………………………………. The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect those of this publication.  

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