Dr. Chula Rajapakse MNZM Spokesperson USLA.

https://www.facebook.com/srilankans.nz

Thank you for affording me the privilege of being able to reinforce for the 11th  consecutive year, our deep debt of gratitude to the Ranaviru for having liberated Sri Lanka from three decades of Tiger terror and even more for the life and limb that some lost in the process.

Sadly for five years from 2015, the sanctity , might and majesty of these achievements and sacrifices had been tarnished by an UNHCR resolution that implied acceptance of the baseless allegation initiated by the Tiger Diaspora that this liberation was achieved at a cost of an unacceptably high loss of civilian lives , anything from 40 to 100 thousand despite the overwhelming evidence to the contrary. This they claimed tantamounted to war crimes and demanded international investigation.

However, the greatest scandal  was that this resolution was co-sponsored in 2015 by Sri Lanka’s very own government of the day . This cloud hung over the achievements and sacrifices of the Ranaviru  for five years, despite the mounting evidence exposing the fallacy of the premise of this resolution. This evidence included the UN resident representative in Colombo in May 2009 at the end of the war, estimating a casualty figure of around six to seven thousand. This figure has since been corroborated by the Tamil University Teacher’s census, the Paranagama Commission’s findings & Wikileaks revealed cables from  both US & UK embassies in Colombo. In 2017 , Lord Naseby tabled many of the originals of these documents in the House of Lords in London after a hard fought battle with authorities to access them.Besides no traces have been found of graves of the claimed 40 to 100 thousand killed or the two to thee times more that should have been injured, the well established ratio of injured vs killed in warfare.

Despite these , the administration that cosponsored this scandalous resolution continued to annually reaffirm it  at the UNHCR  sessions in Geneva each March.

Thankfully, at these very same sessions  in March 2020, the newly elected administration of President Gotabaya Rajapakse, himself a Ranaviru who ensured the coordination of the tri forces war effort, that played a pivotal role in Sri Lanka’s liberation from Tiger Terror, forthwith withdrew sponsorship of this resolution , so putting to an end a most shameful phase in Sri Lanka’s over two thousand five hundred year proud history.

This was despite considerable pressure being brought on him not to do so particularly by the US, the other cosponsor of this resolution and the UK, both of whom were probably  driven by political expediency. However, leaders of both of these countries have stated publicly that they will never allow their soldiers to be hauled before war crimes tribunals, despite much more strong  evidence of these in Afganistan and Iraq respectively . One rule for them and another for little Sri Lanka!

That President Gotabaya withstood these pressures and did what he did will go down as another Golden Moment in  Sri Lanka’s history, like the moment when his brother President Mahinda withstood similar pressure from the foreign ministers of UK and France who had travelled to Sri Lanka in April 2009, to force him to withdraw the Ranaviru war effort, reminding them that Sri Lanka was no longer their colony”.     

With the glory and sanctity of the Ranaviru achievements and sacrifices now restored, we can once again pay homage to these with dignity , reminding our selves that it is because of these achievements and sacrifices that:

·      People of all ethnicitie, Tamils Sinhalese, Muslims & Burghers  can now live in Sri Lanka in peace and travel to and around Sri Lanka  without fear of a Tiger attack destroying or maiming them

·      That Mothers and Fathers and families of all ethnicities in SL can travel together in the same bus or train without the fear of  them all being wiped out by one bomb.

·      That children of all ethnicities can go to school without similar fears 

·      That SL was able to replace their pot whole ridden road network with well surfaced roads and expressways without fear of being destroyed by Tiger bombs

·      That SL  has been able to build new ports, airports, a port city in Colombo without fear of Tiger generated destruction.

·      That SL was able to beautify Colombo and make it a worthy travel destination 

·      That SL has been able to provide electricity to every corner of SL, an unparalleled achievement in South Asia

·      That the per capita income doubled and trebled in the first five years post liberation , though stagnant since 2015,

·      That SL was named the top travel destination, twice by lonely planet and once by CNN

It is for all of these and many other reasons that we reaffirm our gratitude to the Ranaviru ,   the unsung heroes and unnamed privates and corprals coming from heart land Sri lanka , whose mothers , fathers brothers, sisters, and even children released their young men to go to war to liberate SL, & even more to the 25000 that never returned home and even many more that were left maimed

We shall remember them.

The many decorated Generals and other ranked security forces leaders who planned and led the campaigns,

We shall remember them.

The many war administrators and political leaders who gave leadership and support to the war effort,

We shall remember them.

The many civilian victims of Tiger carnage , drawn from all communities, Tamil, Sinhalese, Muslims and Burghers

We shall remember them.

The many great and successful campaigns of the war , the not so successful campaigns of the war,  to the final campaign of liberation on the lagoons and shores of Nandikadal,

We shall remember them

The flame of gratitude and remembrance will never cease.

May the blessings of the Triple Gem protect the Ranaviru and  us all.

Dr.Chula Rajapakse MZM

Spokesperson

USLA

19.5.20