{"id":104525,"date":"2020-07-15T15:46:03","date_gmt":"2020-07-15T22:46:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=104525"},"modified":"2020-07-16T16:05:12","modified_gmt":"2020-07-16T23:05:12","slug":"erasing-the-eelam-victory-part-17-b","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2020\/07\/15\/erasing-the-eelam-victory-part-17-b\/","title":{"rendered":"ERASING THE EELAM VICTORY Part 17 B"},"content":{"rendered":"

KAMALIKA PIERIS<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n

REVISED 16.7.20<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first US intervention in the 1970s, though not recognized as\nsuch, was the JVP insurgency of 1971. This was USA\u2019s first attempt at\ndestabilizing the state. It was premature and it failed.  It had jumped the gun .N.M.Perera\nstraightaway said this was a CIA activity. Apart from this, US found it\ndifficult to get a foothold in Sri Lanka while Sirimavo Bandaranaike was in\npower. But things changed when JR Jayawardene became Prime Minister in\n1977.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

JR Jayewardene, abandoned the earlier Non-Aligned policy, and\nattached himself like a limpet to the west, particularly USA. He gave the US\nextended facility for its Voice of America transmission station in Sri Lanka\nand offered the Trincomalee Oil tank farm to the US Coastal Corporation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A very significant event during the time of JR Jayawardene was the\nsigning of the India-Sri Lanka accord in 1987. India\u2019s role\nin this was very puzzling. This Accord brought no benefit to India. India was\nmuch better off with a united Sri Lanka. \nIt now appears that India was only a front.  USA has been\ninstrumental, behind the scenes. That makes sense. This Accord contained\nwhat USA wanted. It was intended to weaken the central government and remove\nthe coastal areas from central control, through the device of Provincial\nCouncils.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Upali\nWijewardana   was killed in 1983 when his\nprivate jet plunged into the sea when he was returning from Malaysia. This\nremoved from the scene, a promising political leader with a fresh approach. He\nwould have been a firm leader and the US would not have been able to push him\naround. This was probably an assassination. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During\nhis time in power, JR Jayewardene brought Ranil Wickremesinghe into politics. Ranil\nrose rapidly up the political ladder. Starting as MP for Biyagama in 1977, he\nwas appointed Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs by JR and then Minister of\nYouth Affairs and Employment, making him the youngest cabinet minister of Sri\nLanka.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As\nPrime Minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe was very pro-west and pro US. He met the\nUS President, George W Bush in 2003. It was the first time after 18 years a Sri\nLankan leader met the US leader in the White House. This visit was primarily\nfocused on building new relationships between United States and Sri Lanka.\nRanil Wickremesinghe wanted to celebrate the 500th anniversary of the arrival\nof the Portuguese in Sri Lanka, as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ranasinghe\nPremadasa was President of Sri Lanka from 1989-1993.He   started a series of Gam Udawa in various\nlocations. These were considered a waste of time and money and was abandoned\nonce Premadasa was assassinated. Did the CIA coin\n\u2018Gam udawa \u2018asked Nicky Karunaratne. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chandrika Kumaratunga was President from 1994-2005. There was an\nassassination attempt on President Chandrika Kumaratunga in December 1999.  USA\u2019s FBI was asked\nto provide the final report. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

During\nthe 2002-2006 period, US was encouraged to intervene in the Eelam war. United\nStates was designated as a Co-Chair to the Sri Lankan Peace Process of 2002,\nalong with the European Union, Japan and Norway.  Confidential US\ndiplomatic cables thrown up by Wikileaks showed that the US was far more active\nin the Peace Process that Japan or EU. Japan appeared the most prominent, but\nit was Norway and US that were handling the issues, reported analysts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Military experts from UK, USA and India,\nthree countries which opposed the war, were given an inside look at our armed\nforces. US Pacific Command invited by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremasinghe,\ncarried out a comprehensive study of the armed forces, to see whether the\ngovernment could defeat the LTTE.  They\nassured, in their top secret report that this would not happen. The army did not have the necessary\nequipment.  Air force    did not have a comprehensive air\noperational plan and lacked the equipment needed for surveillance and\nreconnaissance. US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) was invited to advise on\nSri Lanka\u2019s intelligence. They used this to sit in on intelligence\nbriefings.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Pacific Command made a series of recommendations, which if\nimplemented, would have led to defeat in the Eelam war for the government. One\nrecommendation was that the 53 Division should be removed from the Jaffna\npeninsula. Its armour, artillery   should\nbe allocated to other Divisions, its staff for other duties, including at\ntraining facilities and military school.  The\n53 division comprised Army Commandos, Special Forces and the Air Mobile\nBrigade.  It was one of the finest\nfighting formations ever deployed against the LTTE. Army headquarters ignored the recommendation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

US\nhad arranged in August 2006 for Sri Lanka army to participate in a military\nexercise together with US army. Kamal Gunaratne reported that representatives\nfrom Sri Lanka army, navy, air force and US marines were present at a meeting\nat US embassy on 7.8.2006 to discuss plans for the exercise. They were planning\nto go the next day to look at the proposed exercise compounds at Hambantota and\nKuda Oya. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

 When Eelam War IV ended in 2009, stunned by\nthe unexpected annihilation of the LTTE and fearing a grave threat to US\nsecurity interests in the region, the US Senate Committee on Foreign relations\nsent 2 members to Sri Lanka in Nov 2009, to report.\nJohn Kerry, US Secretary of State, then circulated the report to the rest of\nthe Committee. They were asked to make recommendation to increase US\nleverage in Sri Lanka and for securing long term US strategic interests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Foreign Relations committee of the US Senate then issued a report\nwhich stressed the strategic importance of Sri Lanka to the US. The report\nsaid that Sri Lanka is very important to the US. It\nis located at the nexus of crucial maritime trading routes in the Indian Ocean\nconnecting Europe and Middle East to China and the rest of Asia.\u201d An\nalliance must be maintained. It is necessary to recast the foreign policy. US was advised to adopt a less confrontational approach to\nSri Lanka.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This\nrecommendation does not appear to have been followed. Instead, USA decided on\nyet another regime change. A clear attempt at \u2018regime change\u2019 was made at the\nPresidential election of 2010. Mahinda Rajapaksa was considered an obstacle to\nUS interests in Sri Lanka. Rajapakse is considered a\nthreat to US, he is drifting towards China, said USA. Sarath Fonseka was\npersuaded to   contest Rajapakse for the\npost of President. Many said Fonseka was a tool of the US government and\nwestern interests. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fonseka\nhad been given permanent residency in USA. Fonseka went to the US in Sept 2008\nto tour Washington, while the Sri Lanka army was fighting at Muhamalai and Kilinochchi.   He\nmade another, trip to the US in 2009 with US Ambassador Blake \u2018choreographing\nthe moves\u2019.  It\nwas also rumored that USA had instructed Fonseka to give US exclusive access to\nthe   Pulmoddai sands. (Daily News\n28.1.10 p  7) . <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wikileaks leaked a classified US missive, dated 6.11.\n2009, which showed that there was US involvement in the election. Asian Tribune<\/em> said\nthat a massive USD 140 million was pumped into the country through conduits,\nincluding NGOs that were friendly to US interests. \u2018UK, US and Norway were\nsupporting Sarath Fonseka,  said analyst.\nSunday Observer<\/em> ran a headline, \u2018west\nbehind moves to regime change\u2019 and   said\nthat if Fonseka won there would be external interference in Sri Lanka on an\nunprecedented scale. (Sunday Observer 24.1.10)\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prior to the election Fonseka was moving to Colombo soldiers he\nconsidered loyal to him from the Sinha regiment and the Special Forces. He was\nalso collecting deserters. After the elections results were announced, Fonseka\nand his entourage behaved peculiarly. Fonseka took up residence in a posh\nhotel, hiring a whole floor, together with, as I recall, Karu Jayasuriya\nMangala Samaraweera and army deserters. A few slaps had been exchanged. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I thought ( Kamalika Pieris)  at the time \nthat Fonseka\u2019s American handlers had arrived to take over the country.\nNothing happened however, the defeated group eventually left the hotel.\nPresident Rajapaksa had taken the precaution of stationing the army in front of\nthis hotel. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We see a clear alignment of political forces here,   said one analyst. Those who work for foreign\nmasters are with Fonseka, while those concerned about the long term interest of\nSri Lanka are solidly behind Rajapakse. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

 Mahinda Rajapaksa won the 2010 election. After\nthe election, there was open discussion about the impending foreign\nintervention in Sri Lanka. Gunadasa Amarasekera said\nin 2010, \u2018We should now be able to see the conspiracy which had been initiated,\nhatched and executed meticulously going from stage to stage. This is the last\nstage of that conspiracy and probably the most decisive one which would\ndetermine whether we would be able to preserve our country. They would have\nworked on it for quite some time. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Jathika Sangha Sammelanaya said, at a press conference in 2012\nthat international conspiracies were being hatched to undermine the sovereignty\nand independence of Sri Lanka. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is a strong lobby within the foreign ministry among career\ndiplomats who favor collaboration with the west, reported  Sunday Island in  April 2012. Sri Lanka  has been secretly engaging with USA,  it said. An\nemail saying that Sri Lanka  was in close\nconsultation with US turned out to be true, the report concluded. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After the Eelam  victory ,\nthe US initiated a series of Resolutions against Sri Lanka at the UN Human\nRights Council in Geneva, starting in 2012. These were intended to nullify the\nEelam victory by asking for an external inquiry into the final war.  The first US resolution at Geneva 2012 is a scene\nsetter,  said Dayan Jayatilleka.  It sets the scene for an external inquiry,\nif  Sri Lanka refuses to cooperate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nUN HRC consists of persons unfamiliar with Sri Lanka  but have a passing interest in international\naffairs,  observed Kamal Wickremasinghe. Rajiva Wijesinha, who was in Geneva at\nthe time, said , one or two individuals with \nagendas regarding  Sri Lanka were\ntargeting us with a political motivation, the rest were simply idealistic. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The media warned in 2012 that protesters at\ndemonstrations should be careful that they are not being manipulated by foreign\ninterests. They should check if any of the NGOs involved are funded by foreign\nintelligence organisations. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2013 there was an explosive demonstration at Rathupaswela. Residents\nof Rathupaswela, Weliweriya, Balummahara and several other villages had been\ncomplaining for some time that their well water was contaminated, because of\nVenigros, a rubber glove factory, owned by Dipped Products Company, which was\nlocated near Weliweriya.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 This was a long standing\nissue, under discussion at the time. Action had been taken to bring about long\nterm solution. The government has already provided a temporary solution to the\ndrinking water problem reported the government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since the residents did not give consent to obtain pipe borne\nwater the Pradeshiya Sabhas in Mahara and Gampaha set up tanks of drinking\nwater free of charge. The Mahara PS has set up 14 tanks of 500 litre capacity\nand 33 tanks of 1,000 litre capacity while the Gampaha PS had distributed 200\ntanks of both 500 and 1,000 litre capacity, said the government. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rev. Lakpriya Nonis of St. Anthony\u2019s Church had told Human Rights Commission\nSri Lanka, that there had been a very successful meeting with\nSecretary\/Defence, Gotabhaya Rajapaksa and the Defence Secretary agreed to\ngrant all the assistance requested. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite\nthis from July 24 to August 2nd<\/sup> 2013, there was a spate of public\ndemonstrations in the area. In addition to demonstrations outside the factory,\ndemonstrators blocked traffic on the Kandy main road and New Kandy Road.  A demonstration at Rathupaswala Junction\nblocked Weliweriya road .There was another demonstration at  Rathupaswala playground. The demonstrators  damaged stalls at   the weekly fair in Weliweriya town and set a\nthree wheeler on fire. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nauthorities tried to settle the matter. \nThe MP for Gampaha District , the  Chairman of the Western Provincial Council ,chairmen\nof Mahara and Gampaha pradeshiya sabhas, District Secretary of Gampaha, the management\nof the factory, 45 representatives of the demonstrators and the police held a 3\nand half hour meeting  and the factory\nwas shut it down temporarily on July 31.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But this\ndid not stop the demonstration. Around 5000 people participated in the demonstration\non 02.08.2013. Water and  tear gas were\nused to disperse the crowd but the demonstrators continued their agitation. The\narmy arrived. The demonstrators  hurled\nstones and petrol bombs at the army.  Three  persons were shot and killed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Human\nRights Watch commented on the matter, so did the US embassy. The accusations were fiercely resisted by\nthe government who replied  that they\nwere going to see whether there had been any external forces  behind the incident, instigating people\nagainst the security forces personnel. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The parish\npriest of St. Anthony\u2019s Church Gampaha has described how forces stormed the\nchurch and assaulted  persons who had\ntaken refuge there.  The government\nflatly  rejected the accusation that the\nsecurity forces had fired at those who had sought refuge in a church. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Rathupaswela water \nmatter had been under discussion for some time, it was nothing new\npointed out Shenali Waduge. Why were  the\nprotesters carrying petrol bombs if it was a peaceful assembly. Were they thugs\nbrought from outside. hen the  same\npeople gang up together and come up with the same set of notions joined by the\nUS Embassy then you wonder whether there is something more than merely\nprotesting over water, she said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Who gave\nthe order to send in troops with assault rifles and body armour. Was the CIA\nbehind this asked  Dayan Jayatilleke. He pointed\nout that the demonstration took place just three weeks before UN High\nCommissioner for Human Rights was  due to\nvisits Sri Lanka. The demonstration would help to push the call for an\ninternational inquiry and for \nopening  an office of the High\nCommissioner in Sri Lanka.  Both Shenali and Dayan spoke of a possible Arab Spring\nstrategy.    But analysts observed   There is lack of interest in the part of\nthe general public to create a Sri Lanka spring.\u201d  The result was that Venigros\nrelocated  successfully to the Biyagama\nFree Trade Zone. The villagers in Rathupaswela lost their jobs at Venigro, concluded\nobservers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In\n2014, President Rajapakse said certain powerful nations with vested interest\nare trying to destabilize countries by installing puppet leaders as head of\nstate. Foreign forces which do not wish\nto see a stable government in Sri Lanka are plotting with some political\nelements to set up a puppet government, he added.  Nalin de Silva said \u2018What the west wanted is\nanother government like that of Ranil and Chandrika, between 2002 and 2004 when\nthe ceasefire agreement was signed.\u2019 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mahinda Rajapaksa did not wait till his term of office as\nPresident ended in 2016 he contested again in 2015 and lost.  He was replaced by the USA controlled puppet\ngovernment known as Yahapalana government .I have described the activities of\nthe Yahapalana government in my Yahapalana series published in Lankaweb. Here  is new information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yahapalana    government supported a resolution sponsored\nby USA at the UN Human Rights  Council,\nwhere it admitted  that  the government of Sri Lanka , its own\ngovernment had committed war crimes in the Eelam War. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mangala\nSamaraweera   who was Foreign minister at\nthe time said,  the final text of\nthe  2015 Geneva resolution was largely\nnegotiated over the telephone, with the President and I at the same hotel in\nNew York, and the Prime Minister in Colombo accompanied by the Secretary to the\nMinistry of Foreign Affairs at the time and the Ambassador of the US and High\nCommissioner of the UK. Once consensus was reached, the Secretary to the\nMinistry of Foreign Affairs, coordinated with Sri Lanka\u2019s Permanent\nRepresentative to the UN in Geneva and conveyed the decision of the Government\nof Sri Lanka to the Human Rights Council. .<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Yahapalana appointment of Mahesh Senanayake as Army Commander   shows a link to the USA. Mahesh Senanayake\nhad worked with the US Army as Senior Manager, Project Management of Afghan\nOperations and Strategic Planning for Civil Reserved Air Fleet (CRAF). (Year\nunspecified). He had left Sri Lanka after the defeat of Sarath Fonseka in 2010.\nWithin 48 hours after the change of government in January 2015, Senanayake\nreturned from overseas,  was reinstated\nand appointed  Army Commander  in 2017. Several officers above Senanayake\nwere over looked in making the appointment. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2020,\nWijeyadasa Rajapakshe said that during Yahapalana rule, Rajitha Senaratne,\nPatali Champika Ranawaka, Sarath Fonseka, Arjuna Ranatunga and JVP leader Anura\nKumara Dissanayake had tried to have Gotabaya Rajapaksa arrested over the\nAvant-Garde controversy. A Cabinet paper had  also been submitted seeking approval for\nstripping the members of Rajapaksa family of their civic rights. Their target\nwas to put at least one member of the Rajapaksa family behind bars every\nweek,” Rajapakshe said. ( Continued)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

ADDITIONS<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

  • In\n2010 USAID was planning  to take 13\ngovernment officials from Central and Provincial ministries on a seven day\nstudy tour of Timor to see how land ownership issues are being resolved in east\nTimor. Timor is yet emerging form five century of Portuguese oppression, 50\nyears of Indonesian rule and almost a decade of internal conflict; it is not\npossible to believe that this fledgling adminstration has developed such a fine\nsystem of land settlements. This tour should be viewed with suspicion and what\nis US doing in Timor which is a sort of Australian protectorate, asked critics.\n<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    • In\n2013 USA wanted  to fund two project  to the tune of 1 million dollars. One for\nincreasing support and safety or journalists and the other for facilitating\nreconciliation. In the first, they want to strengthen the independent media in\nthe area of investigative journalism. It will include journalists in Sinhala,\nTamil and English and for  journalists\nform all parts of the country, not just Colombo.  The second project they  would identify leaders, including youth and\nwomen, and would support action in \u2018pilot communities\u2019  <\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n

      Gotabaya Rajapaksa said that this was a Trojan horse. This\ncould be a long term project to help US long term objectives in Sri Lanka.  This plan to\ninitiate several programme in organizing civil society groups in Sri Lanka and\nempowering youth with a view to support the reconciliation process\u2019 sounds\nsuspiciously like a programme of funding and training of internal subversive\ngroups, said Kamal Wickremasinghe. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

      • In 2018, the  You Lead programme  of USAID and Microsoft Sri Lanka signed a partnership\nto launch the new Youth Works information technology portal at the Ministry of\nSkills Development and Vocational Training in Colombo. USAID funds Youth Works\nunder its $12 million You Lead initiative that supports youth employability,\nentrepreneurship, and skills development in Sri Lanka. <\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n

        You Lead is implemented by the International Executive Service\nCorps (IESC) and administered by the Volunteers for Economic Growth Alliance\n(VEGA) .You Lead will work with Microsoft, the Ministry of Skills Development\nand Vocational Training, and the private sector to develop and upload content\nfor the Youth Works portal in Sinhala, Tamil and English. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

        Youth Works is a flexible portal that portal will provide career\nguidance, technical and vocational courses, a mentorship platform, job\nplacements, and a variety of other tools to support Sri Lanka\u2019s young\njob-seekers and entrepreneurs. The portal is currently being used in 18\ncountries and has helped more than 26 million youth over the past two years to\nstrengthen their skills, find employment, or start their own businesses. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

        • In 2019 More than forty young Sri\nLankan leaders travelled to Colombo from across the country to take part in\nU.S. Embassy-sponsored workshops on leadership and  skill building. The participants were all\nmembers of the U.S. Embassy\u2019s Youth Forum programme, which is conducted by the\nAmerican Corners in Colombo, Kandy, Jaffna, and Matara. After the Colombo\nworkshops were over, the participants travelled to Jaffna to set up a Reading\nCorner at a local school. <\/li><\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

          KAMALIKA PIERIS REVISED 16.7.20 The first US intervention in the 1970s, though not recognized as such, was the JVP insurgency of 1971. This was USA\u2019s first attempt at destabilizing the state. It was premature and it failed.  It had jumped the gun .N.M.Perera straightaway said this was a CIA activity. Apart from this, US found […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[104],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-104525","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-kamalika-pieris"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104525","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=104525"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104525\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=104525"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=104525"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=104525"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}