{"id":121649,"date":"2021-12-30T18:06:26","date_gmt":"2021-12-31T01:06:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=121649"},"modified":"2021-12-30T18:06:26","modified_gmt":"2021-12-31T01:06:26","slug":"douglas-wickramaratne-the-perpetual-patriot-is-no-more","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2021\/12\/30\/douglas-wickramaratne-the-perpetual-patriot-is-no-more\/","title":{"rendered":"Douglas Wickramaratne: The Perpetual Patriot is no more!"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Dr. Tilak S. Fernando<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n
\"Douglas<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Douglas Wickramaratne\nanswered the final call from above to leave this world on 1 December 2021. He\nwas born on 9 April 1938 in Colombo and lived in North London. Educated at\nAnanda College, Colombo, he was the leader of the debating team for both\nSinhala and English until Dr Buddhadasa Bodhinayake succeeded him. He was an\ninterminable patriot.He always argued with the international community to\nsafeguard the reputation of Sri Lanka. His funeral took place on 14 December at\nWest Chapel of Golders Green Crematorium in London.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After leaving Ananda\nCollege, he worked at the Bank of Ceylon and later at the National Savings\nBank. Douglas arrived in London in 1970 to pursue further studies. After\ncompleting his studies in London, from1983 onwards, he joined the Lloyd\u2019s Bank\nof London.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He had an enormous\nlove for his motherland. He bravely fought single-handedly to counter the\ninternational disinformation campaign when the LTTE and other Media-manufactured\nfalse information on Sri Lanka. He became the voice of the voiceless Sinhala\nfolk overseas to combat the LTTE propaganda in the hour of its greatest need.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Courageous Douglas\nWickramaratne impressed the Sinhala folk for his stand-alone to combat the\nfalse propaganda against the LTTE.He received unlimited support from Sinhala\nfolk in many parts of the world on national unity, territorial integrity, and\nan undivided Sri Lanka.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Activities in\nLondon <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Douglas Wickramaratne\nconfronted the LTTE advocates fearlessly during the separatist war, which\nlasted for 30 years. The LTTE managed to brainwash the entire world with false\npropaganda by manufacturing pseudo-history and fabricated news that prejudiced\nthe international community. There were hardly any competent speakers at the\nSri Lanka High Commission in London during the epoch to confront the LTTE\nbackers on T.V. or Radio.The Sri Lanka Government initially employed Douglas\nWickramaratne as the only Sri Lankan spokesman to shield the vacuum at the High\nCommission. No diplomatic officer had the nerve or the courage to face the\nstrident LTTE enthusiasts of the West.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Douglas spent all his\nLondon life dedicated to his motherland and formed the Sinhala Association in\nLondon.Being the President of the Sinhala Association, he ensured that Sinhala\nexpatriates could maintain close cultural links with the homeland. With this in\nview, theSinhala Association introduced the first-ever cultural show in London\nduring the Sinhala New Year festivity. The Association volunteered by bringing\nprominent musicians from Sri Lanka to London; also, Sinhala film shows annually\nto bring about Sri Lankan nostalgia to expatriates in London.In addition, The\nSinhala Association funded and dispatched provisions to the Department of Health\nin Sri Lanka to help the flood victims and financed the repairs of old water\ntanks in Sri Lanka.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sri Lankan patriotic\ncitizens were behind Douglas when he took single-handedly 1983 in fighting the\nfalse propaganda campaign of the country\u2019s detractors, LTTE. During his life in\nLondon, he spent his time countering the false propaganda manufactured by the\nLTTE for almost four decades. He contributed his uppermost leadership to his\nself-styled course by exhibiting his readiness to evade danger. Consequently,\nan Overseas Sri Lankan\u2019s Organisation for National Unity (OSLOUNU) was formed\nin Australia, under the leadership of Professor C.G.Weeramamantry, as its first\nPresident in Melbourne, with Dr Ranjith Hettiarachchi and H.L.D. Mahindapala as\njoint secretaries. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Later OSLOUNU expanded\nimmensely to become the most reputable and significant organisation to counter\nfalse propaganda on Sri Lanka the world over. OSLOUNU hailed Douglas\nWickramaratne as a hero who had personal and moral courage of absolute\ncommitment to national unity, territorial integrity, and an undivided Sri\nLanka. The Sinhala Association invited Ven. Madihe Pannasiha Nayaka Thera, Elle\nGunawansa Thera, Professor (Dr.) Nalin de Silva, among others to address\ngatherings in London on national unity, territorial integrity, and an undivided\nSri Lanka. He was a genuine Buddhist closely associated with the London\nBuddhist Vihara.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Douglas Wickramaratne\nwas the brains behind the formation of the World Federation of Sinhala. He\ncoordinated with dedicated members of other Associations in the USA, Canada,\nAustralia, and France to bring the World Federation of Sinhala to culmination.\nThe World Federation of Sinhala held the second Conference in 1985 at the\nHilton Hotel in London, with the late Minister Lalith Athulath Mudali and the\nlate Anura Bandaranaike, and representatives of various other countries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Douglas Wickramaratne\nspent his funds on air tickets to travel to various destinations such as Paris,\nGermany, Sweden, Belgium, Italy, the United States and Canada (Toronto) to\nattend LTTE forums. He confronted the persuasive and forceful speakers of the\nLTTE bravely because he had the nerve and had facts in his head. His brain was\nakin to a computer \u2018hard-disc\u2019 about \u2018Ceylon\u2019s ancient history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Debating skills<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Naturally, his\ndebating skills at Ananda College, Colombo, helped him in London to confront\nnumerous fanatics of the LTTE. The LTTE was a ruthless terrorist organisation\nrecognised by the F.B.I and proscribed by several countries across the globe\nbecause of employing the under-aged children as combatants and sending them as\ncannon fodder. The LTTE fought a guerrilla war claiming to fight for an\nindependent homeland for Tamils in the East and North. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Numerous interviews of\nDouglas Wickramaratne held on B.B.C, and Channel 4, Aljazeera, CNN and Sky News\nare on YouTube from 15 July 2008, which are self-explanatory. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tissa Madawela\u2019s video\nproductions of Douglas Wickramaratne\u2019s interviews on B.B.C, Channel 4 with\ncritical and ferocious thrusts of Douglas Wickramaratne in confronting the LTTE\nbackers in London remain indisputable evidence of Douglas\u2019s persuasive\neloquence that needs to be recognised by the Sri Lanka Government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In one of the T.V.\ninterviews, a professional doctor, an LTTE supporter, came out saying there was\ncontinuous genocide from 1983! Immediately, Douglas Wickramaratne cut in during\nthe conversation to educate the LTTE supporter to what extent the LTTE\nfabricated Ceylon\u2019s history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In another Channel 4\ninterview with Peter Snow and the editor of Channel 4 news, Douglas emphasised\nhow Channel 4 avoided the word Tamil. Had they used the term Tamil in the\ndocumentary, the world would have realised the whole BBC documentary was\npartisan and purposely against Sri Lanka. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He continually\nstressed the Inspector General of Police in Sri Lanka, Rudra Rajasingham was a\nTamil with his five Deputies under the I.G.P. who were also Tamils; Ambassadors\nin London, Germany, France, China, and Indonesia were all Tamils. Hence,\nDouglas Wickramaratne wanted to know what they meant by discrimination from the\nLTTE cohorts! He also pointed out that the Sri Lanka Government appointed many\nhigh-ranking officials to the Administration Service. He also mentioned the\nestate workers leader, the late Savumiamoorthy Thondaman, a Member of\nParliament and a Sri Lankan politician, who represented the Indian Tamils of\nSri Lanka from the Nuwara Eliya District. He advocated for the Indian Tamils,\ntea estate workers who were of Indian origin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He continued there\nwere two kinds of Tamils in Sri Lanka. One group was called Jaffna Tamils, and\nthe second group was Indian Tamils, who were brought by the British for tea\nplantation work. Although they speak the same language and share the same\nculture, there is no intermingling between the two groups because the Tamils in\nJaffna treat the group in the East of Sri Lanka as low-caste Indians, including\nthe Leader Prabhakaran, who killed 60,000 Tamils civilians. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Douglas\nWickramaratne\u2019s debates on T.V. were factual and came out fluently in English\nfrom his memory without a scrap of paper. His faculty of the brain by which\ndata or information about Ceylon\u2019s history was encoded, stored, and retrieved\nwhen needed was full of Ceylon\u2019s historical facts to counter the LTTE cohorts.\nHe was always on the ball with precise details, such as the carnage caused by\nthe LTTE attacks on unarmed civilians, and even novice monks at Arantalawa. He\nalways came out with specific answers to detractors\u2019 questions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Senaka Weeratana at\nOSLOUNU states how Douglas Wickramaratne \u2018deserves a National Salute\u2019 for\nhaving the courage and determination to face the LTTE supporters in London. He\nwishes the Government would find the strength to appreciate all his arduous\nwork to show some gratitude publicly to this national hero. However, it is such\na shame that neither a single Media nor the Government paid any tribute to this\nperpetual Patriot, who fought a battle single-handed during the LTTE separatist\nwar! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

National T.V. can\nannounce birthday greetings and deaths of all cherished personnel daily at 6\npm. Still, it is an obnoxious characteristic of all concerned to disregard what\nthis patriot did for his motherland within 12 years, after the separatist war,\nwhen Sri Lankan forces completely crushed the LTTE in 2009.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

May he attain the supreme\nbliss of Nirvana!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

tilakfernando@gmail.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Dr. Tilak S. Fernando Douglas Wickramaratne answered the final call from above to leave this world on 1 December 2021. He was born on 9 April 1938 in Colombo and lived in North London. Educated at Ananda College, Colombo, he was the leader of the debating team for both Sinhala and English until Dr […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-121649","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-by-drtilak-s-fernando"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121649","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=121649"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121649\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=121649"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=121649"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=121649"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}