Chanaka Bandarage

True Dr NM Perera was an old Anandian, but it is doubtful whether or not as an adult he had ever attended a Buddhist temple with the true sense of worshipping the Lord Buddha. The LSSP never fought for Sinhala, Buddhist rights. It’s other Marxist partner, the Communist Party was the same.

When DS Senanayake and Dudley Senanayake were busy establishing ‘colonies’ in the North, North Central Province (Rajarata) and the East, these Marxists strenuously opposed it. NM pleaded with the Southerners not to relocate to the North, Rajarata and the East. He fearmongered them stating they will contract Malaria. He stated that in the North and Rajarata there are mosquitos the size of crows.

We all know it is thanks to DS’s and later Dudley’s colonies that the country was saved from Prabhakaran’s terror. During the Elam wars, the agricultural settlements that DS and Dudley established – Padaviya, Sri Pura, Weli Oya, Gal Oya, Aranthalawa, Kanthale etc provided the much-needed buffer for big cities like Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa and Ampara.

If not for these ‘ marginal villages’ Prabhakaran would have easily roamed into Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa etc and killed most of its inhabitants.

NM and few others were briefly in jail during the World War 2. But, that was not for engaging in freedom struggle. They opposed the 1942 budget. As the country was at war, they were naturally sent to prison. NM and the clan escaped from the jail and fled to India. Upon their return, they were pardoned and allowed to resume their MP seats.

It is important to mention that like India, Sri Lanka never had a strong anti-imperialistic movement. Independence was served to us on a platter.

Anagarika Dharmapala conducted a lone battle against the British. For being anti-British, he was imprisoned in India for a long period of time. It was Dharmapala’s brother, a medical doctor, who fought with immense dedication to obtain his release.

DR Wijewardane’s Lake House attacked Dharmapala fiercely, even making the false allegation that Dharmapala was a rogue. DS, FR Senanayake, Sir DB Jayathillake et al did not acknowledge his service but ridiculed him secretly. These were the reasons why Dharmapala left Sri Lanka. At the massive ceremony to intern his ashes in Colombo, DS, FR and Sir DB played a major role. They ‘sang hosannas’ for him.

It is sad that when living, Dharmapala was not given high regard and dignity. The elite despised him. The common masses always loved him.

Without kneeling down to the British, young Edward Henry Pediris bravely gave his life. He was shot dead in the Colombo jail for a crime that he never committed.

In the early 70’s and late 80’s Rohana Wijeweera conducted two brutal insurrections in Sri Lanka. His name is written down in history as the man who introduced terrorism to modern Sri Lanka. Even Prabhakaran learned the trade from him.

Both JVP struggles were utter failures. As a result, many thousands of people lost lives and limbs. The damage caused to public and private property is unprecedented.

Both JVP struggles were not for the safeguarding of Sinhala, Buddhist rights.

Wijeweera’s were selfish and jealous insurrections. He had a hatred against the democratically elected governments of the time. He saw that the country’s security was weak; he decided to take advantage of that.

Through his superb organisational skill and mockery, he mobilised disadvantaged youth to take up arms to topple the governments.

He deceived them too. When hiding in the Ulapane estate, he lived like a ‘king’ in utmost luxury. Drinking whisky and playing chess was his pastime. While in hiding, he produced five children. At the time of capture, his wife was expecting the 6th.

The state looked after this whole family.

In 1987/88, Wijeweera was fond of Prabhakaran. Wijeweera knew that because of the latter’s war, the South was militarily weak. He took advantage of that to wage his terror campaign.

Wijeweera had an unwritten pact with Prabhakaran about fighting against the government – LTTE to attack from the North/East and the JVP to attack from the South.

This is not the thinking of a patriot but a traitor.

One may argue that during this time the IPKF was in Sri Lanka thus the Sri Lankan Army was not in full military combat. This is not fully true.

There was a major war being fought in the North and the East. The Army’s constant focus was on it. The Army was not having much faith on the IPKF.

They were always ready to save the country from the Tamil Tiger terror (that is why R Premadasa demanded the IPKF leave Sri Lanka within a matter of weeks).

The Army never wanted that focus to be broken.

The last thing the government wanted was another war to erupt in the South. That is exactly what Wijeweera wanted; and, he did it.

Basically both Prabhakaran and Wijeweera had the same mindset – destroy and annihilate Sri Lanka.

If Sri Lanka collapsed (came very close to that), Wijeweera and Prabhakaran would have divided Sri Lanka among themselves.

But what happened in Batalanda, Sooriyakanda etc cannot be condoned.

Wijeweera’s cadres (ඉල් මහ විරුවෝ) cannot be described as patriots.

A patriot would never kill government soldiers, the Police or destroy public property.

These terrorists detonated hundreds of CEB transformers, set fire to thousands of SLTB buses/public vehicles, attacked military targets; even the magnificent Health Ministry building in Colombo Fort (in 1987 Sunethra Ranasinghe was the minister) was set on fire by them.

Why did they kill such innocents like Rex De Costa, Vijaya Kumaranathunga, Professor Stanley Wijesundera, Premakeethi De Alwis, Dr Gladys Jayawardane, Sagarika Gomes, Ven Kotikawatte Saddhathissa Thero, Ranjith Wickramarathne et al?

People who have committed such heinous crimes, perhaps crimes against humanity – it is impossible to think that they will ever be good.

It is strange how some JVP veterans relate their crimes now like heroic acts. Some openly state how they attacked military posts and rob banks etc. Under the law, if they were not then prosecuted, they could be prosecuted now. Serious Criminal law acts have no statute of limitation. Those who had been in jail must make a candid disclosure as to why they were so jailed.

In any case, such people can never be patriots.

They may do improvements to stay in power, but they do not have the real ‘passion’ to build Sri Lanka.

When they were the proletariat (the downtrodden) they had a hatred against the bourgeoisie (the ‘upper class’). But, when they become the elite themselves (eg. after winning the 2025 elections), they seem to have forgotten the proletariat.

Marx failed to explain this frequently occurring anomaly.

Because the Marxist JVP leaders do not genuinely love Sri Lanka (otherwise the past JVP members could not have committed such atrocious acts), they can easily form the mind to split this country into pieces. Their inbuilt hatred towards the country that they were born and bred must still be there.

That is why they are ever willing to work with those who have separatist and other vengeful agendas.

Wijeweera was never a practising Buddhist. He married a Catholic woman, but there is no record that he was a practising Christian either.

Prima facie, the JVP is an atheist political party. Being Marxists, we must expect this from them.

The major difference between NM and Wijeweera is that the former was a gentleman par excellence. Though a Marxist, he believed in democracy. Unlike Wijeweera NM (and his cohorts) never possessed murderous intentions.

Wijeweera was cruel and had extreme/bizarre ideas. He believed that old people were a burden to the country. He once stated that tea must be removed from the upcountry estates and grass grown instead. He stated that in that way the country could become self-sufficient in milk.

Marxist Pol Pot killed almost all the elderly people of Cambodia. He even killed those who wore spectacles stating that they were intellectuals. A similar rhetoric prevailed in North Vietnam, thankfully not anymore.

Marxist Stalin shot dead or sent to labour camps almost of every Russian Orthodox clergy member and that faith’s believers.

Marxist Mao Tse Tung destroyed many Buddhist temples in China. It is believed that during the Cultural Revolution (1966 – 1976) about 6,000 Buddhist monasteries and temples were destroyed in Tibet.

Though he had a Christian education and upbringing, Marxist Castro worked to counter the Catholic Church’s influence in Cuba.

Prior to September 2025 election, the current NPP leaders advocated an anti-Sinhala, anti-Buddhist sentiment. Some of the things that they stated are as follows:

• We must get rid of tradition. Tradition is not good as it inhibits economic progress.
• The state must separate itself from religion. The state should not provide assistance/patronage to any religion.
• They stated they were ashamed that for 76 years Sri Lanka was not able to produce a Tamil PM.

Tutsis comprised of about 9% of Rwanda’s population, more than 90% are Hutus. Since the current Tutsi Presidency, Rwanda’s top positions are stacked with Tutsis.

Rwanda is blamed for helping M23 Tutsi insurgents to mount a war against the Hutus in Eastern DR of Congo.

For any person, mental freedom, freedom of expression and freedom to live without fear from anyone including the state are far more important than economic freedom

The writer is not against having a Tamil PM, but we must be careful not to fall into a Rwanda type situation.

Tamil or Muslim President or PM for this country is most welcome as long as they get elected on merit. High positions must not be afforded based on quotas.

The current PM Harini did not come to that position because of being a woman; but because of her talent and skill.

• Article 9 of the Constitution that gives preferential treatment to Buddhism must be abolished.

The NPP has been in power for over 10 months. Thankfully they have not caused major damage to Sinhala and Buddhism during this period. But the future is uncertain, no one knows what sort of outcomes are forthcoming.

The following incidents are reasons for concern:

• They disbanded the Buddhasasana Ministry.
• They removed Jaya Mangala Gatha from an important public event
• They failed to appoint a Sinhalese as the Governor of the Northern Province
• They are planning to hand the newly built Presidential Palace in Jaffna (KKS – 27 rooms, 200 acres) for some other purpose. Where would a future President reside safely when in Jaffna?
• The NPP hierarchy shows an extraordinary keenness to establish close links with the Tamil Diaspora. We all know most of them have not given up on the idea of Tamil Eelam.
• The government plans to give precious Northern land to Tamil Diaspora. Again, most of them believe in the Elam.
• No roadmap has been created for all people to live in all parts of the country. In this regard, the Sinhalese who desire to live in most parts of the North and the East are receiving stepmotherly treatment from government bureaucrats.
• Through education reforms, the NPP seems to have a plan to curtail the teaching of history in schools.
• With the government’s decision to shut down schools that have less than 50 students, does this mean the recently established Sinhala schools (thanks to Ranil’s government) in Mannar and Vavuniya are destined to be shut down?
• People who fake the proud Sinhala Buddhist history have been given prominence and undue recognition.
• The NPP government’s Civil Aviation Department has been entrusted to locate Ravana’s alleged ‘aircraft’ (planes) at extraordinary cost. It is believed that carbon dating costs for this project alone would be in millions of US dollars. A notorious archelogy professor that is famous for producing fake history is alleged to have been involved in this project.
• The NPP government seems continuing with Ranil’s policy of arming farmers to kill wild animals that cause crop damage. If this is true, this cruel policy must be stopped. It is these guns that are used to kill wild elephants.
• No action has been taken to correct the fake history that is produced in our current school history books and other forums, especially in the internet. Eg – Nil or very limited attention given to:

• Vijaya’s arrival from North India more than 2500 years ago. Instead an African Homo Sapiens is being promoted.
• Ven Mahinda’s arrival made the entire country Buddhist (except for few Veddhas).
• the Great Sinhala Buddhist civilization that commenced during King Devanam Piyathissa’s time. Instead a fake civilization that did not exist about 7,000 – 40,000 years ago is being promoted. This is done to dilute the Greatness of the Sinhala Buddhist civilization.
• the Great Kings – Dutu Gamunu, Dhathusena, Vijaya Bahu etc (nothing is mentioned about their Greatness in the current books/history talks)
• the Great Kings Pandukabhaya, Devanam Piyatissa (a suspicion has been created that they may be Tamil; also that Kuveni may be Tamil)
• the Great King Parakrama Bahu who even exported rice to other countries
• Sigiriya that was King Kashyapa’s creation
• the original inhabitants of this land are Hela people not Tamil. The books discreetly state that they are Tamil. Hela people (eg. Balangoda Manawakaya) mixed with Vijaya’s Sinha clan (700) and formed the Sinhala race.

Furthermore;

• Lies have been propagated that rice and iron were first discovered in Sri Lanka (no, in China).
• Lies have been propagated that Barley and Oates were discovered in Sri Lanka (no, in Israel and the Middle East).
• Lies have been propagated that Lions had roamed in Sri Lanka (this lie is to counter the Great Sinhabahu legend).
• Lies have been propagated that the mythology King Ravana was a Tamil (if he existed, he was a Hela).
• Tamil Kings in Jaffna are being promoted; did they really exist? Owing to some prominent historians/scholars No. Sankili, if existed, seems to have been a sub King of the King of Kotte.

As outlined before, historically, the JVP has shown no empathy for Sinhala and/or Buddhism. Let us hope that the NPP will be different.

The NPP is better bear in mind that Sri Lanka is a conservative society that places a high onus on tradition, values, discipline, custom, religion, culture and history. They ought not try to meddle with them.

Leaving aside the treatment of Sinhalese and Buddhism reasonably, let us hope that the NPP will at least not indulge in any discriminatory acts towards the Sinhalese and Buddhism.

Conclusion – the NPP may develop Sri Lanka’s economy. They are likely to do it (SJB too will do it). Given the IMF assistance, it is not much of a difficult task. Our location is crucial – Sri Lanka is sandwiched between the two fastest growing economies of the world – China and India. Also, tourism is booming. Trump, Xi, Modi, EU, Japan – all are supporting Sri Lanka fully. And, NPP must be praised for not indulging in bribery and corruption. This is a great thing that has happened to the country in 76 years. But, this is what is most important for the citizen – ‘Mental freedom, freedom of expression, and freedom to live without fear from anyone including the state. They are more important than economic freedom.’