Abusing the goddess of law – a disaster pending?

A nation must treat the judiciary with utmost respect and as an institution second to none

By S.J. Amarasiriwardana

Until the leftover piece of the Presidency of Gotabaya Rajapaksa who was unceremoniously expelled by the Aragalaya activists in July 2022 was fallen abruptly into the lap of Ranil Wickremesinghe (RW) the public opinion was that the biggest harm to democracy in this country was done by the late President and leader of the UNP, J.R. Jayewardene. 

Writers, journalists, academics and politicians have explained in graphic detail how JR destroyed democracy and democratic establishments of this country in a calculated manner with the sole purpose of remaining in power and perpetuate the UNP rule as long as possible that finally led to deleterious and enduring consequences. I would fully agree if and when someone says that the current economic, political and spiritual mess in the country that finally led to the bankruptcy is a ruinous effect of the liberalised economy or so-called open economy JR introduced in 1977. Thus, the unbridled and unchecked open economic policy has done more harm than good to this country. 

The complete destruction of the local industry and total dependency of the national economy on imports from the seed of a green gram to super luxury vehicles, joss sticks to Vesak lanterns and to kites are a direct result of the opening of the economy to robber barons by JR.  

Sri Lanka was plunged into a bottomless precipice after the pogrom unleashed against Tamils in July 1983 watched by an unresponsive regime. 

Over 4,000 innocent Tamils who lived among Sinhalese and Muslims in various parts of the country peacefully for generations were brutally massacred by Sinhala mobs – many of them burned alive – while President Jayewardene (the first executive President) remained unheard of unseen of and untold of the carnage for days without taking action to stop the killing spree and thereby giving a free hand to UNP thugs instigated by certain members of his own cabinet and other criminals diverting the course direction of this country to a perilous cliff from which all Sri Lankans living in the country are affected to date. 

He was fully aided and abetted by powerful cabinet ministers like Cyril Mathew and his nephew Ranil Wickremesinghe. After July 1983, it was total mistrust, hate and revenge that prevailed not only among the Tamils but among Muslims and Sinhalese which eventually led to a full scale civil war of 26 years in the country.

The independent observers put the death toll at 4,000 and the number of Tamils who became homeless at 150,000 during the Black July week between 24 and 30 July 1983 alone.

The total and accurate amount of loss of lives, the value of state and private property and the damage caused to the national economy are still to be estimated.

For his credit, the Prime Minister R. Premadasa tried hard to prevent JR from giving orders to the army commander Lt. General T.I. Weerathunga to bring bodies of an officer and 13 soldiers ambushed and killed by the LTTE (on the night of 23 July 1983 at Thirunelveli, Jaffna) as he may have foreseen a disaster. 

That wicked and vile decision

Late Minister, Mayor of Colombo and close confidante of Premadasa, B. Sirisena Cooray in his autobiography “President Premadasa and I – our story” vividly explains how JR hoodwinked them and took that wicked and vile decision and ordered the army commander Lt. General Weerathunga to fly the dead bodies to Colombo to be buried at Kanatte.

“The day we heard about the killing of 13 soldiers in Jaffna, I went to see Mr. Premadasa. He was on the phone to the President. There was a lot of tension in the country and we were extremely worried about the way things were moving. Mr. Premadasa turned to me and informed me that the President is planning to bring the bodies to Colombo to be cremated at Kanatte. Mr. Premadasa had been trying to get the President to change his mind when I walked in. When he saw me, Mr. Premadasa said ‘Sir, Sirisena is here; you ask him’. And he put me on. The President told me: ‘Cooray, these people want to bring these bodies to Colombo and cremate them at Kanatte, what do you think? I said, Sir why do you want to bring these bodies to Colombo? These are not people from Colombo. If you bring the bodies here, there will be problems’. This was precisely what Mr. Premadasa had been telling the President before I walked in. Afterwards, Mr. Premadasa told me that they had decided against bringing the bodies to Colombo. I remember we both were extremely relieved. 

That afternoon, I went for a wedding at the Shalika Hall in Narahenpita. Mrs. Jayewardene was also there. I was talking to her when she suddenly said, ‘Mr. Coray, you know that they are bringing those 13 bodies to Colombo today’. I was thunderstruck. I said: Madam, the President promised the Prime Minister only a little while ago that the bodies will not be brought to Colombo’. She responded: ‘I do not know whose ideas it is’. I had the impression that she too was unhappy about it”. 

If JR listened to Premadasa and did not give orders to bring the bodies of dead soldiers to Colombo, Sri Lanka’s history would have been much different. The country would not have faced the current economic, political and spiritual degradation, not branded a bankrupt nation, a pariah state or a failed state today. 

The executive Presidency introduced under the 1978 Constitution, a more powerful JR resorted to an extremely arrogant, destructive and dictatorial rule.

The arson attack on 1 June 1981 on the precious public library in Jaffna by Government aided goons is another unforgivable crime committed by the JR regime. 

Why on earth JR ruled this country in such selfish, arrogant and dictatorial manner? This is why? JR had tasted power since 1947 when he was appointed the Finance Minister by Prime Minister D.S. Senanayake in the cabinet of the government formed under the Soulbury Constitution on the results of the 1947 general election. But he had to wait until 1977, good 30 years to become the Prime Minister. Not satisfied, he introduced the second Republican Constitution in 1978, abrogated titular Presidency and became the all-powerful Executive President. 

Since the very beginning in his political career, JR had a big ambition, which was to become the Prime Minister or the head of state in the country. JR had to impatiently wait throughout the regimes of Dudley Senanayake, Sir John Kotelawala, S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike and Sirimavo Bandaranaike to meet that goal. Finally in 1977 he got a massive people’s mandate at the age of 71. He was not ready to fizzle out his power easily which was obtained with much pain and wait. 

Reign of terror of the underworld began

The reign of terror of the underworld began in the south under JR’s regime. Earlier there were no gangs of underworld criminals who raised billions of rupees and dollars involved in organised crimes, abductions, robberies and drug trade like today. Famous IRC thugs were Choppe and Maru – Sira and the likes. 

Almost all members of the underworld in the last few decades of the 20th century such as Gonawala Sunil, Soththi Upali, Chintaka Amarasinghe, Dhammika Amarasinghe, Olcott, Kalu Ajith, Kaduwela Wasantha, Nawala Nihal, Wambotta and many other hardcore criminals rose to prominence during the late 80s. 

The most heinous and contemptuous act committed by JR to promote the underworld was giving a presidential pardon to Gonawala Sunil the convicted rapist who had sexually abused a 15-year-old girl. Not enough, JR not only freed him from prison but offered him a Justice of the Peace (JP) honorary title to appease the criminal. What would have been the mental agony of the family of the victim after this disdainful and egregious act of the head of state?

Sirimavo Bandaranaike was the first female Prime Minister of the world. Sri Lankans are calling her Madam Sirimavo or ‘Sirima Mathiniya’ as she is one of the highly respected and adored politicians notwithstanding her political, religious or ethnic affiliations. She was the biggest rival in politics to President JR. She was the former PM and leader of the SLFP. She was hauled up before a presidential commission on trumped up charges, convicted and removed her civic rights for seven years by JR in September 1980. After all, this was done by the so called champion of democracy of the day in Sri Lanka. 

The next target of JR was the rising star in politics and one of the extremely popular film icons, Vijaya Kumaratunga. He was incarcerated for several months for alleged links to Naxalites (a pro Mavo militant group now defunct who fought the Indian government).

However, JR retired after two stints as the Executive President in 1980.

Ranil Wickremesinghe, being one of the closest allies and a relative of President Jayewardene and also a powerful minister of his cabinet aided and abetted and gave full blessings to whatever anti-democratic, anti-national and anti-people agendas of JR. The space constraints prevent me from explaining in full details of these sordid events that brought this blessed country to the current predicament – a virtual hell on earth – after 1983 – that we are in today. 

Now, it is up to his nephew Ranil Wickremesinghe, trained by him to continue the fallacious job of his uncle. Interestingly, RW also had to be on tenterhooks until he met his target after 45 years in 2022. He was at the right place at the right time when the presidency fell into his lap. So, he finally achieved his childhood ambition without a people’s mandate but after waiting in suspense for several decades. In that case will he let it go easily? No way, at any cost.

He now enjoys in full the luxury of the executive power he was ascended to under a serendipitous encounter. Now he attends to funerals of queens and prime ministers, coronations of kings, world summits, global conferences and tamashas while rubbing shoulders with top international elites. Yes, he is the head of state. So he never shuns any military and police ceremony or similar events how much insignificant or unimportant they are because he is welcomed with pomp and pageantry with military honours, gun salute, accepts the salute from military and police top brass and taken to the venue of the ceremony in convoys. What a jolly good life at the public expense despite the fact that he is a President not elected by the people? This is what he dreamed of since his childhood.  

Chip off the old block

If the popular English proverb ‘a chip of the old block’ could be applied to the uncle replacing father, RW is a real chip off the old block – JR, the uncle.

During the second insurrection of the JVP in 1987 – 90 period, there was a torture chamber established at the Housing Scheme at Batalanda in Gampaha district by the Sri Lanka army where thousands of captured youths were reportedly tortured and murdered in a sadistic manner. 

Before the three-member Batalanda Presidential Commission appointed by President Chandrika Kumaratunga led by Court of Appeal Judge D. Jayawickrama, it was disclosed how Ranil paid regular visits to Batalanda housing scheme and instructed the army officers on the running of the torture chamber. 

The two senior state counsels, one a Supreme Court judge right now and the other a top rank President’s Counsel of the private bar and a Secretary General of the Bribery Commission, cross examined in detail RW at the commission on the allegations levelled against him. 

His regular visits to Batalanda torture chamber, blissfully listening to cries of victims, instructions given to officers on the running of the camp were exposed during the emphatic interrogation of witnesses by the duo. 

I was an eyewitness covering the commission’s proceedings on behalf of the SLBC, ITN and Rupavahini.

One of the biggest issues that trouble the citizenry is the collapse of the law and order in the country today. The lives of people have become very cheap as the underworld rules the roosts. The rise of the underworld today to uncontrollable proportions is a direct result of the support given by the JR regime and some members of his cabinet. 

The Chief organiser of the SLPP, Namal Rajapaksa has described how RW has disintegrated almost all main political parties in the country, the mainstay of democracy. 

In 2015, RW with the help of Chandrika activated a putsch to split the SLFP and bring Maithripala Sirisena to power. The modus operandi was to keep Maithri as a pawn or an underdog and in real terms to keep the power in RW and his fellow travellers’ hands. 

President Sirisena went on an official visit to Malaysia in December 2016. 

This writer, was in the presidential press corps and accompanied him to cover the state visit of Sri Lankan President for the English Daily which I was attached to. 

During the official visit, there was a state banquet on behalf of the Sri Lankan President by the Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Tun Abdul Razak. The Sri Lankan journalists and the presidential entourage were waiting in the lobby for the President to come down from his Presidential suite on the 34th floor of the Kuala Lumpur Hilton. Then, President Sirisena’s press secretary Dharmasri Bandara Ekanayaka approached me and said ‘… Aiya, there is a call from the private physician of the President and he wants you to go up and meet him and handed the phone to me. I told the doctor that if he wanted to meet me he must come down to the lobby. He promptly climbed down and told me that the President was waiting for me for some important matter. Then I told him that he should have told me that first and I would have come up if the President wanted to meet me. On this particular day, President Sirisena’s personal security officer, senior DIG S.M. Wickramasingha had been released by the President on a personal emergency as the caretaker of DIG Wicramasingha’s Polonnaruwa private residence had been killed by a robber. That was why the doctor acted as the emissary. Then after, both of us went up to the Presidential suite. There was no one in the suite other than President Sirisena when I met him. 

We sat down together and President Sirisena began confiding to me on the treatment meted out to him by Prime Minister Wickremesinghe.

Revengeful dictator

“…, Ranil acts as a revengeful dictator. I don’t know why. He has no any respect toward me. He never gives me any cabinet paper for my perusal before submitting it to the cabinet. He appoints officials of his choice to many a top job at key state establishments without my knowledge. He never discusses the government policies or any steps to be taken by the government on important issues. I am totally disappointed, dejected and hurt working with this man. I don’t know what to do. He sets up various commissions and boards and appoints officials without my knowledge. How long I can go like this?” he lamented.

These were the crux of this nationally important issue at the discussion I had with President Sirisena for about a good 40 minutes. 

I realised that the situation was extremely precarious. But I advised him to maintain restraint and not to rock the boat as the Government was hardly two years old. In fact, I was highly disturbed, but saner counsel had to be prevailed. 

The exclusive information from the head of state was a top level lead story to any national daily. On my return, I confided the powwow I had with President Sirisena with my Editor and told him that I had no intention to write it. He fully agreed. I kept it as a secret up to this day. Both of us were of the view that if we exposed the split between the top two heads of the Yahapalana regime, it was inevitable that a far too grave situation would have cropped up. 

The Prime Minister wanted to keep President Sirisena under his thumb. After assuming duties as the Prime Minister of the Yahapalana government in January 2015, RW took over the ministries of Policy Planning, Economic Affairs, Child, Youth and Cultural Affairs. He brought the Central Bank under his purview, appointed a Singapore national Arjuna Mahendran a close ally and friend of him ignoring the protest of President Sirisena and many other cabinet colleagues such as Patali Champika Ranawaka and Dr. Rajitha Senaratne. Arjuna Mahendran with the help of his son’s brokerage company robbed the Central Bank to the tune of billions of rupees and fled the country. Ranil is still to bring him back as he promised to face the charges. 

Among all his sins and misdeeds committed, the violation of the Constitution and the contempt of the highest court in the country – the Supreme Court – stands aloft. 

The judiciary, among four pillars of democracy stands tall, most respected and honoured than three other pillars, the legislature, the executive and the media in any country that practices participatory democracy. The judges of the Supreme Court in particular are held in high esteem as they make many sacrifices to maintain the freedom of judiciary, safeguard the law and order, protect and interpret the Constitution, safeguard the multiple freedoms of the people and also maintain their own dignity and respect. 

Supreme Court judges

The judges, especially those in the higher and superior courts don’t attend parties, weddings, thamashas or other ceremonies other than of a close relative. They don’t engage in political, social, religious or any other discourse, debate or argument that would ruffle the feathers of the society. What could be the situation if an accused of a court case appears before a judge in the morning after having a drink at the night before at a party? Judges don’t go after politicians demanding personal favours such as a promotion to him or his siblings, enter a child to a national school, get a transfer to wife, etc. That is why superior court judges lead a reclusive life. They don’t seek any publicity and their life is fully dedicated to protect the freedom of a nation, rule of law in a country and the basic law. That is why the society in one voice respects and treats them as unquestionable saviours of a country, a religion and a nation. At the same time a nation must treat the judiciary with utmost respect and as an institution second to none. 

Superior court judges are looked up to be similar to the status of a Muni or Irshi as their service and dedication to a nation are priceless. But many are not much aware of their sacrifices, dedication and commitment. Belittling, insulting, ignoring or refusing to abide by a ruling given by the Supreme Court is the first step of a ruler who is obsessed with dictatorial tendencies and has gone insane with power. If the power is not given by the people, the greediness to remain in power is highly destructive. 

Members of the legislature or lawmakers are politicians. They have numerous political, social, religious and ethnical agendas to remain in power. They follow party politics and throw them to the dustbin when their personal interests and agendas are affected. All lawmakers in the legislature mainly those in power are biased in one way or the other. The two pillars, the executive and the legislature are comprised of politicians. Both are constantly criticised, condemned and castigated by the people for their corruption, misdeeds, crimes and illegal acts.

That is why the judiciary is likened to a lotus flower emerged from muddy water in a democracy. 

Under these circumstances, I wouldn’t intend on enlightening the reader about the behaviour of the media, the fourth pillar. All are crystal clear. 

The legal fraternity, I believe is still reminiscent of the stoning of residences of judges who delivered judgments not to the satisfaction of the regime of JR.

Early last year the Election Commission (EC) took steps to conduct the much delayed local government polls and nominations were accepted in mid-January, 2023. The EC expected Rs. 10 billion allocated by Budget 2023 for the LG polls – I repeat allocated under Budget 2023 with the approval of the legislature – as election expenses. 

President RW refused to release necessary funds from the Treasury. The Supreme Court ordered the Finance Ministry to release funds a couple of times but RW was adamant not to obey the highest court’s ruling even after the EC said at least Rs. 3 billion was sufficient for the time being if the Government was in a financial difficulty. The LG polls are still pending. By flatly refusing to follow the Supreme Court order, RW deliberately ridiculed and insulted the Supreme Court and thereby abused the goddess of law and desecrated the Devala. 

The executive’s attempt to protect a convicted policeman from declaring unfit to be appointed as the police chief by the highest court in the country is unbelievably dictatorial, contemptuous and degrading. 

A three judge bench of the Supreme Court ruled that President RW must replace IGP Deshabandu Thennakoon with a qualified senior police officer as the former was unsuitable for the job. The uncontrollable arrogance, megalomaniac inclinations and hunger for power prevented RW from following the ruling given to protect the democracy and rights of the people. 

Not only that. He proposed that the Speaker – who is a collaborator in contempt of the highest court in the country – to discuss the issue with the Chief Justice and resolve it. Both, President RW, Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena and Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardana purposely insulted, the judges of the Supreme Court. The three aided and abetted by the Government group in parliament insulted and belittled the Supreme Court and the entire judiciary for that matter covering under the parliamentary privilege. 

The founding father of separation of power, the French philosopher De Montesquieu (1689-1755) has said that: ‘Each and every organ of the state will exercise its own power and function and no one organ will interfere into the function of another organ. The Executive must administer the made law. But neither influences the legislature in the making of laws nor stand in judgments of the same’. 

Many political pundits, philosophers, academics and analysts over the years have noted that an attempt to concentrate power in his hand by any despotic ruler while violating the concept of check and balances will be a disaster to any country and any nation. Sooner than later these destructive tendencies have to be crushed by the people themselves approved and supported by the law of the land. 

Only relief is that Opposition and Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) leader Sajith Premadasa has vowed that those who violated the Constitution, deprived the rights of the voter and insulted the highest court in the country, the Supreme Court will be duly punished under a government formed by him in the near future.