Dr Chula Rajapakse MNZM Spokesperson USLA.

The 8^th annual Ranaviru commemoration was observed by USLA Wellington at it’s premises in Lak Madura , Tawa  Wellington, at 7pm on the 19thof May 2017,  with over one hundred in attendance at  the packed hall.

Ms Manori Hettiarachi , President USLA, inaugurating the commemoration observed that USLA Wellington may be the only organization  world wide that had held an annual Ranaviru commemoration  without a break since Sri Lanka’s liberation from Tiger Terror eight years ago to the date and reaffirmed USLA’s commitment to continuing to do so based on  that of her predecessors and her personal commitment based on considerable family associations with the security forces.

Following the singing of the National Anthem , she led the observance of  a two minute silence in memory of the fallen heroes and invited attendees to partake of a simple candle lighting ceremony.

This was followed by the President sighting some of the many activities done by USLA,  since the Ranairu  liberation of SL, to support the fallen heroes , their families and done as ongoing support for  war disabled members of  the security forces.

A video prepared by the USLA committee on the Ranaviru followed. This showed some of the supporting activities by the rehabilitation services and at the several Seth Madura’s” spread throughout Sri Lanka, .

Dr. Chula Rajapakse , Spokesperson USLA  speaking next acknowledged  the privilege of being able to contribute to USLA Ranaviru Remembrance yet again and began by remembering all of the security services persons who paid the ultimate price  or were left maimed, in the Liberation of Sri Lanka from Tiger Terror for all, irrespective of race, creed or religion. He recalled the beginning of the war with the ambush of the 13 soldiers in 1983 , and the service persons who were victims of the  many successful and unsuccessful campaigns of the liberation thereafter , including those of the campaigns at Vadamarachi, Elephant Pass, Jaffna fort, Eastern Province, Western flank of the Northern province, Vavunia and finally at the Nadikudal Lagoon in Mulativu where the liberation was completed.

He said , to us  in New Zealand, the ANZAC day commemoration, coming exactly 23 days before Ranviru Day, gratefully remembering fallen soldiers from over one hundred years ago at Gillapoli and Anzac cove in far away Turkey, served as a timely reminder of why we should not forget our fallen heroes of just eight years ago and how we could remember them”.

He observed that the numbers of those attending these events in NZ like dawn services  and services  in Turkey at Gillapoli and Anzac cove annually have increased year by year and even more the number of young people attending have also gone up. This was because the NZ government and media have made  efforts to keep alive the debt of gratitude they owe to the ANZACs in the minds of  the  present generation . Unfortunately, in SL quite the converse seem to be happening with attempts to make people forget their debt to the Ranaviru, almost sweeping it under the carpet. When   he scoured the net for plans for Ranaviru commemoration in SL he found one small reference to it in the Lanka page but the more prominent reference in the same page was a call by the northern province chief minister to call for a day of mourning on the 18^th.

He said that when some relatives  from Sri Lanka visited him recently  in Wellington he took them to the ANZAC memorial park recently opened in Wellington and to the Gilapoli exhibition at Tepapa and detailed how New Zealanders gratefully remembered  the debt of gratitude they owed to the ANZAC’s even a century after the events while Sri Lanka seemed to be in a real hurry to forget it all. The relatives  response was that any remembrances had to be tempered by the fear of upsetting the Tamil people. Dr. Rajapakse  had then recommended the New Zealand model of ANZAC day remembrances consisting of wreath laying , silent contemplation , religious services with expressions of gratitude and recalling of various events of the campaigns , in ceremonies spread right through the country, in cities large and small.  This seemed to fall on more receptive ears.

Going on further Dr Rajapakse stressed that we owe it to the Ranaviru, to counter  vigorously attempts to denigrate the dignity and sanctity of the liberation by the Ranaviru, with allegations that it was  achieved at the cost of HR violations and an unacceptably high civilian casualty rates . He said , that this was happening as he spoke right here in Wellington with the screaming of the documentary  entitled Tamil Tears” in a film  festival. Going by previous films of the same ilk, it would be hype up of these same unsubstantiated and now clearly disproven allegations. This possibility was further enhanced by the internet trailer of this film which claimed that harassment, kidnappings  and bombings of Tamils  was still common place in SL making therefore making a  case for ease of passage for Tamil refugees into New Zealand.

He thanked those who joined him in refuting these claims as being baseless, pointing out that since the end of the SL liberation on the 19^th of May 2009 not a single terrorist bomb had been exploded, that the Tamil disappearances were also a thing of the past since the end of the liberation and these only happened during the war & it was the Tiger’s that were responsible for many of these . He asked if Tamils were in such danger from the Sinhalese, why did over sixty percent of them chose to live in Colombo among the Sinhalese, as they are doing now.

He also emphasized that queue jumping economic refugees posing as political refugees seeking entry into the west helped by devious people smugglers would go to any length to secure their objectives. He sighted a recent case in London UK,  of a person who attempted to   support a claim for refugee status with allegations of torture by the Sri Lankan security forces personnel. On investigation it was established that the burn marks on various parts of the body and lash marks on the back, used as evidence of torture to support the  refugee status claim  had been inflicted not by SL security personnel as claimed but  had been inflicted under anesthesia in London on payment of a fee. Since then other similar cases have come to light.

The other monkey on the back that is attempting to detract from the dignity and sanctity of SL liberation from Tiger Terror  by the Ranaviru is the ongoing call by UNHCR in Geneva for more investigations into these unsubstantiated allegations of unacceptably high casualty  rate and targeting of civilians during the liberation. He expressed regret that despite the Paranagama Commission tasked with investigating missing persons supervised by overseas legal luminaries,  having clearly established that such things did not happen, this commission report was neither accepted by the government nor tabled at UNHCR. He also drew attention to the new US administration’s declared disinterest in being the policeman of the world. Supporting this  was the attendance only by a low ranked member of the  current US administration,  at the UNHCR  annual  sessions in March 2017. Dr. Rajapakse, called on the SL government to exploit this lack interest on the part of the US to secure a withdrawal of  their resolutions.

Finally, Dr. R acknowledging with joy the high attendance especially of younger members at today’s commemoration and also acknowledging the pool of expertise in various fields amongst them. He called upon USLA to be proactive rather than reactive by perhaps doing a documentary film  for next  years festival on the subject of Frustrations of the Sinhala people or The Frustrations of a Forgotten People”  , embodying our frustrations at the on going allegations of  HR violation despite lack of any evidence to support such a claim and plenty of evidence against it.

This speech was followed by a skype interview, arranged by Sec. Yasoda Jayawardana   with Colonel Sujeewa Rajakaruna of the Mihidiu  Seth Madura  to identify any way USLA could help their ongoing activities. Help with purchase of computer and music facilities were identified as possible projects for USLA  to undertake through fundraising.

Mr. Channa Ranasinghe , a former President speaking next drew attention to the financial support so far rendered by USLA to support the Ranaviru at around $ 40,000 and called for proactive measures to raise he profile of the Sinhalese in NZ by securing Sinhala New Year celebrations at the Parliamentary premises as the Tamils had done this year.

Another former President  Mr.Don Wijewardana called for acknowledgement of the sacrifices of the Ranaviru not just once a year but every day by having for example a reference to it on the USLA website.

The meeting was followed by a session of mix and mingling over finger food and soft drinks.

Dr Chula Rajapakse MNZM

Spokesperson,

USLA.