Sea Tiger, Lankadeepa & lies in political prisoner case
- Oct 01, 2017
The October 24 issue of ‘Irida Lankadeepa’ published an article in its ‘Rasavitha’ supplement titled ‘Secrets revealed by the second in command of Sea Tigers’ to promote certain law enforcement officers and to carry the arrogance of the ‘former Sea Tiger.’ However, it is clear what ‘Lankadeepa’ intended by that article written by Srinath Prasanna Balasuriya. It was to give the Sinhala majority the joy of its pride that comes automatically when the tamed enemy becomes boastful. It contained a tragedy and evidence about the absurdity of the cases against political prisoners.
The story was about former LTTE member Gopal Yogeswararaja alias Seelan, said to be the second in command of Sea Tigers. The most important part is in the middle of the article, about the attack on Galle port.
It quotes him as saying that on Soosai’s instructions, he had gone to Mirijjawila in Hambantota and stayed in the house of one Bandula, whose father was a Sinhalese and mother a Tamil. Bandula was introduced to him by Akkarapattu political leader Baba.
Bandula was given a lorry, and another villager Ajith too, helped in the attack, Gopal said, adding that he was given a trawler and a small fishing craft in return. Both were arrested by the police later.
In a series of articles titled ‘Confession’, Lanka News Web and Sathhanda exposed the tragedies of political prisoners, arrested under the PTA, tortured and kept in prison for years without court action being filed. What Gopal relates is the distorted version of the fourth article on Ajith Nishantha.
What Gopal doesn’t say
The 46 year old Ajith says he got the boat from the government as a tsunami relief. A catholic father gave him an engine for the boat. The lorry he obtained on lease from a financial institution.
Gopal seems unaware that Ajith is the brother-in-law of Bandula Gajaweera. Readers do not know that the persons who were arrested from the home where he had stayed still remain under arrest.
He says that the Galle port attack took place on 16 October 2006. But, it happened on Octobet 18. Can his memory be correct when he gives other details too? Ajith was arrested while returning from sea at Hambantota beach on 07 August 2009. On the same day, the parents of his wife, also the parents of Bandula, were arrested for harbouring the second in command of the Sea Tigers. Gunaratne Gajaweera was 62 and Vairamuttu Saroja 57.
Gunaratne died in prison
If we assume what Gopal says to be correct, under what justice the elderly parents can be detained for their son’s having aided a Sea Tiger. Gunaratne was tortured and his signature obtained for a ‘confession’ and he died a prisoner recently. He had to face such a fate merely because of unproven allegation that a son of his had aided a Sea Tiger. How can the law explain such a tragedy?
Bandula was taken on 12 September 2011 as he was returning from Iraq where he had been employed as a driver. The 44 year old has two daughters and a son. He remains in prison for six years, while the Sea Tiger who claims to have planned to attack the Galle port remains a free man, fondling his daughter, aged one and a half years. Ajith too, has a son and three daughters, who are denied a father’s love, enjoyed by the second in command of Sea Tigers.
Saroja, a dangerous terrorist?
Bandula’s mother Saroja is 65 years of age and suffers as a widow. She is spending her seventh year behind bars, after being kept at Boosa for 20 months. When we call for the release of political prisoners arrested under the PTA, the majority Sinhalese accuse us of endangering national security by releasing dangerous terrorists. Is Saroja a dangerous terrorist? Will her freedom endanger national security? Will the LTTE revive if she is freed?
Although the writer tries to boost the racist balloons, for us it means only that racists’ arguments and the legal basis for the cases filed against releasing those arrested under the PTA holds no ground.
Gopal takes full responsibility for the attack, and says he led the team of eight suicide Black Tigers armed with RPGs, LMGs and came in five explosives-laiden boats from Akkarappattu to attack the Galle port.
Once near the target, he says he jumped into the sea and swam ashore, got into Bandula’s lorry and left.
Why Ajith has no freedom enjoyed by the mastermind?
He might have related all these to the writer, who should have added things and wrote it to provoke racist feelings. The question here is the person who should be the main suspect in the attack lives in freedom, while those who had been accessories are being tried in courts. Even if everything he says is to be believed, what Bandula had done was only to help him to flee after the attack. For that, he remains in prison without bail for six years now. Gopal remains a free man and runs a dairy business. Ajith too, is behind bars. Gunaratne who had nothing to do with any of these had to die in prison. The crime committed by Saroja should be having given birth to Bandula. Can all these be explained as the ‘water flows from the lowest level’ theory?
As we have been highlighting, this is the nature of a majority of cases against the political prisoners. They are not directly responsible, and some not responsible at all, for the acts of terrorism cited in these cases. Most of them are not LTTE members either. Those responsible remain free. What we want to know is what the government expects to gain by keeping innocent persons behind bars and playing with their lives.
Media gives racism something to celebrate
It is clear the media intends giving its racist readers something to celebrate. The media did that very well when Sivaraja Jenivan was arrested as the suicide Tiger who had come to kill president Sirisena. At the time he was arrested, Sirisena was not even a prominent minister. But, the media wanted a scary terrorist. The president’s image was uplifted by the scariness of the terrorist. In the end, the southern media gave him a place in history of which not even he was aware of.
The second in command of Sea Tigers too, should be someone like that. When his history was investigated, knowledgeable quarters gave very hilarious answers. Rather than his self-styled claim of the the second in command of Sea Tigers, I prefer to call him Gopal Yogeswararaja. I also like his freedom. What is wrong in that the others are not enjoying that freedom. The around 135 political prisoners are not being freed due to the pressure by the southern racism. The government has no justifiable argument to detain them, except for keeping them as a mental bribe to the Sinhala racists. For the government, this is merely keeping some humans as a symbol of revenge. The warning to Tamil society is a bonus.
How can govt. build national reconciliation?
All these are going on under a government which came to power with a promise to resolve the national question and to create reconciliation among communities. Also, it comes under an executive president whom the northern Tamils trusted and voted for. The president remains silent over the other political prisoners, while releasing just one implicated with him, for political gains. The politicians who tried to profit from Sinhala racism can only raise a voice, like the voice they raise now over the Rohingya issue. Tomorrow, they will find another reason. What is questionable here is the president and the government are afraid of them and do nothing. It is pointless to find solutions from the law to the issue of political prisoners. It is only a pipe dream that a government and a president who cannot take a driect political decision to release these 135 can solve the national issue.
The government showed it has a two-third parliamentary majority when it adopted the provincial council elections amendment act. It did not heed the voice raised by the joint opposition, as it badly wanted to put off holding the elections. If the government can tell the truth to society and take a firm decision to free these prisoners, it is an indication the government is honest in its reconciliation efforts and will be a relief for 135 families too. The question is if the government wants to take that small step.
Ruwan Nelugolla
