The Strains On Judicial Integrity
By Rajan Hoole –July 16, 2016
Dr. Rajan Hoole
Former Chief Justice M.C. Sansoni was clearly a man acting under pressure. The Commission itself became a forum for organised perjury against Tamil leaders, while the Report avoids any mention of the activities of the Sinhalese leaders.
A number of witnesses trooped in and claimed that Mrs. Amirthalingam had said at several meetings that she would make slippers out of the skins of Sinhalese and she cannot rest until she swims in the blood of the Sinhalese. One such witness was the Ven. Nandarama Thero, the chief priest of the Naga Vihare, Jaffna, who claimed that the statement was made at an election meeting close to his temple on 4th July 1977. The police report of that meeting was called, and it showed that Mrs. Amirthalingam did not speak at the meeting. Pointing out that not in a single meeting has this charge against Mrs. Amirthalingam been backed up by a police report, Sansoni dismissed these charges as a ‘dangerous and evil conspiracy’.
Former Chief Justice Milliani Claude Sansoni
Yet, time and again excerpts from these allegations have been reproduced in the Press, without mentioning that Sansoni convincingly refuted and dismissed them. The impression that is sought to be conveyed is that the Tamils are fond of leaders who make gory, threatening speeches.
These claims about speakers wanting to swim in Sinhalese blood and make shoes out of Sinhalese skins have been repeated by T.D.S.A. Dissanayaka in his War or Peace in Sri Lanka (p. 20). He says that these speeches were made by ‘callow youth’ from TULF platforms, but rumour attributed them to Mrs. Amirthalingam, and such reports triggered off the violence. He does not mention his source, but not a single police report has been cited in the Sansoni Report to show that such statements were at all made by anyone.
This is one of those instances where Sansoni showed the competent judge in him. He resisted attempts to frame and character-assassinate individuals and was sympathetic to individual victims. Another instance concerned Dr. J.T. Xavier, then surgeon at Trincomalee Hospital. His case illustrates the general vulnerability of Tamils in this system.
