{"id":89046,"date":"2019-05-19T04:07:22","date_gmt":"2019-05-19T11:07:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=89046"},"modified":"2019-05-19T04:07:22","modified_gmt":"2019-05-19T11:07:22","slug":"how-sinhala-buddhists-were-made-scapegoats-for-july-83-it-is-happening-again-in-may-2019","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2019\/05\/19\/how-sinhala-buddhists-were-made-scapegoats-for-july-83-it-is-happening-again-in-may-2019\/","title":{"rendered":"How Sinhala Buddhists were made scapegoats for July \u201983 \u2013 It is happening again in May 2019!"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ratanapala<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n

17 May 19<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Easter Sunday Bombings were over in a day. Mostly thanks\nto Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith\u2019s foresight and in general the fortitude of the\nCatholics and the general populace revenge attacks on the Muslims did not take\nplace. Thanks to the Security Forces quick arrests were made of individuals,\norganizations and arms caches were discovered in a variety of places and to the\nsurprise of many but not to me, inside mosques! <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I have tried my level best to inform the general public\nof the march of Islam in Sri Lanka but found only a few takers to advance my\nconversation!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What has been found by the Security Forces include\nknives, swords, bombs, bomb making materials, army uniforms, white garment worn\nmainly by Buddhist women when visiting temples. We have many excuses for\npossessing these but we are yet to hear any that \u2018stands up to scratch\u2019 as the\nsaying goes!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now after nearly 3 weeks we have attacks on Muslim\nbusiness places. This was a time that we all thought that the worst was behind\nus and what remained was only mopping up operations hither thither.  However it seems from what we hear and see\nthrough the media that a concerted attempt has been made to divert the\nattention and the blame game on the all too familiar \u2013 Sinhala Buddhists.  What happened at Minuwangoda, Hettipola,\nBingiriya and similar places, so far brings our memories back to some unfortunate\nhappening that took nearly 3 decades ago. The overall effect is to take the\nconversation elsewhere from the dastardly crime that was perpetrated on the\nCatholics of Sri Lanka and on visitors to Sri Lanka and lump it all on the\nbacks of the Sinhala Buddhists. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The infamous 24th<\/sup> of July is on us again. It\nwas for happenings of 24 July \u201983 and on the few subsequent days that the\nSinhala Buddhists were castigated all over the world for a dastardly crime for\nwhich they were not responsible. Given below is a narrative of what took place\non that fateful week, nearly 30 years ago.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is common knowledge that it was UNP goondas who attacked and killed\nTamils in Colombo during the July \u201883 riots. It is also common knowledge that\nit was the then President J R Jayawardene who allowed the riots to continue\nunabated for a full day before a curfew was called to stop the rioting. On this\nday J R Jayawardene was under severe pressure from the army after the killing\nof the 13 soldiers in Jaffna, to take effective action against the LTTE\nterrorists in the North. His solution was to divert attention and use his Goon\nSquads to attack the Tamil residents in Colombo and other major cities and\nthereby avert the wrath of the army. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is also common knowledge that after his victory at the General Elections\nin 1977, Jayewardene wanted to remain in power for an extended period, if\nnecessary by terrorizing the general electorate. For this purpose, every\nminister in his administration was encouraged to form and develop their Goon Squads\nwith the idea of intimidating the electorate prior to any subsequent election\nin Sri Lanka. In this fashion R Premadasa his Prime Minister, Gamini\nDissanayake, Lalith Athulathmudali, Ranil Wickramasinghe the present Prime\nMinister, Ananda Tissa de Alwis, Cyril Matthew, M H Mohammed and others went on\nto form their own Goon Squads. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

These Goon Squads were used most effectively in subsequent elections to\nintimidate, terrorize, maim or kill political opponents. viz; the 1980 District\nDevelopment Council Elections, and the 1982 infamous\u201d the Pot and the Lamp\nReferendum. They were the very ones who attacked Dr Sarathchandra and also the\nthen Rev Maduluwawe Sobhitha Thero too. How the democracy in Sri Lanka\ndeteriorated during this period is also common knowledge and is a subject that\nis well researched and documented. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

These Goon Squads were equipped with electoral lists and they knew in\nadvance where their political opponents lived.\u2028It is now\ncommon knowledge that the mini riot that originated at the Borella Kanatta on\nthe day of the funeral of the 13 soldiers ended at Narahenpita around mid night\nthe same day. However the organized and systematic torching of Tamil trading\nestablishments and residences commenced the following morning at Borella\njunction. The riots and the burning continued throughout the day through Punchi\nBorella, Maradana, Pettah and finally on to Fort, and unabated till they\nreached the Ambal Caf\u00e9 in the heart of Fort at 4:00 PM \u2013 just a few meters away\nfrom where the now infamous President of Sri Lanka had his office. It took\nJayewardene 10 hrs to impose a curfew and get his Goons off the streets. Goon\nSquads armed with electoral lists went from house to house, this time looking\nfor Tamil residents. Goon Squads saved the day for Jayewardene by taking the\narmy who was breathing fire on his scrawny neck to take firm action against\nrising terrorism in the country. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once the curfew was in place, on four consecutive days, four very\nsignificant statements were made over the Television \u2013 Rupavahini Channel.\nWhile a shocked populace waited for the Executive President to address the\nnation, the UNP government and the Church plotted behind the scenes to place\nthe blame entirely on the shoulders of Sinhalese Buddhists. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is\nhow it was done. While the curfew was in place the following took place. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. Most Ven Madihe Pannaseeha Maha Nayake\nThero was asked to address the Nation first. Naturally the Mahanayake Thero\nrequested the Nation to have patience and be calm. \u2018Janathava Sansun Wanna\u2019 was\nhis call! The nation was angry but it was in no mood to go on a killing\nrampage. By getting him to address the nation J R Jayewardene got the world to\nbelieve that the Mahanayake Thero was really addressing the Sinhalese Buddhists\nand that they were responsible for the pogrom.<\/strong>\u2028<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. The second was made by J R Jayewardene\n(the man with the professional mourner\u2019s face) – DB Nihalsinghe had to dress\nhim for this occasion and it is mentioned he had a task to get his face in one\nplace for the occasion to make him look Presidential. In his address to the\nnation he justified the riots as the justifiable anger of the Sinhalese for the\nkilling of the 13 soldiers in Jaffna. Here he clearly laid the blame for the\npogrom on the Sinhalese. It must also be noted that UNP Goon Squads and every\nshade of hooligan, Sinhalese, Tamil, Muslim and other took part in the\nuniversal phenomenon of looting that followed throughout the island. In many\ninstances old scores were settled, regardless of ethnicity, taking advantage of\nthe deplorable and unfortunate situation.<\/strong>\u2028<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. The third statement was made by R\nPremadasa the Prime Minister. He said that behind the riots was a coup\norganized by a Naxalite Terror Group. This was a diversionary attempt to put\nthe blame on the pseudo socialist group led by the Catholic – Vijaya\nKumaranatunge who was masquerading as a Buddhist at that time.<\/strong>\u2028<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

4. The fourth and final statement was made\nby Ananda Tissa de Alwis the then Minister of Communications and Constitutional\nAffairs. He said the next stage of the coup would be for Sinhalese Buddhists to\nattack Sinhalese Christians. His was the voice of the Christian Church who\nwould finally go to convince the world that Sinhalese Buddhists were highest\ncommon denominator of what happened and hense responsible for the carnage. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The curfew was lifted on Friday 29 July\n1983. People who had to stay indoors came to the streets to buy essentials\ngroceries with simple bags in their hands. It was on this day the second phase\nof the conspiracy was unleashed on the populace on this day. Calls went on all\nmajor transport arteries emanating from Colombo saying that Tigers  have landed at the Fort Railway Station and\nare now on the attack. Personally I witnessed the people and the Police running\nwith dread in their eyes. What followed and the carnage that took place made 29\nJuly 1983 to be called Black Friday. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unfortunately, after 10 years to a month we\nare back at the same place we were back in July 1983. The attack on the\nCatholics of Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday 2019 is being diverted to an attack on\n\u2018innocent Muslims\u2019 by Sinhala Buddhists of Sri Lanka. This is the message that\nAl Jazeera and the BBC are conveying to the world! <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wittingly and some unwittingly foolish\nelements in our society backed by unscrupulous politicians are trying hard to\nwalk over the dead bodies of innocents to make political capital! <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shame on them!  <\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ratanapala 17 May 19 Easter Sunday Bombings were over in a day. Mostly thanks to Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith\u2019s foresight and in general the fortitude of the Catholics and the general populace revenge attacks on the Muslims did not take place. Thanks to the Security Forces quick arrests were made of individuals, organizations and arms caches […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[40],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-89046","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ratanapala"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89046","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=89046"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89046\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=89046"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=89046"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=89046"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}