2013-06-08
In a dramatic turn of events, outspoken Puttalam District UPFA MP, Arundika Fernando, yesterday told Parliament that writer and journalist, Manjula Wediwardena, living in self-exile, introduced journalist Prageeth Ekneligoda to him in France.
Raising a privilege issue in Parliament, MP Fernando said, Ekneligoda had shaven his hair and was in disguise, but others were able to recognize him. Ekneligoda had also participated in an anti-Sri Lanka protest in Geneva with Sunanda Deshapriya, the MP claimed.
He also said, "In my address to this august assembly on 5.6.2013, during the debate on regulations under Sri Lanka Press Council Act, I stated that I had met a person suspected to be journalist Prageeth Ekneligoda, who is said have gone missing in 2010. Following this statement, print, electronic and online media, including several websites have criticized me, levelled accusations and various allegations against me and the government.
“One such statement was made by Sandhya Ekneligoda, the wife of Prageeth, who says the government has made her husband disappear and if the latter is alive, the government should bring him back to the country.
“I really feel sorry for the statement and had she been a woman that really loves her husband and respects the values of Asian women, she should have met me following my revelation and should have asked further details about her husband’s whereabouts instead of becoming a tool in the hands of persons with various vested interests.
“The statements she made after my statement and the ones she had made previously indicate that she is aware of the fact that her husband is alive and knows his whereabouts. She has made use of this issue to work against this country.
“For example, she had once told BBC that her husband had been abducted by the government as Prageeth had provided some information to the diplomatic missions in Colombo claiming that during certain military operations chemical weapons were used against the people in the North. She had also written letters to some foreign writers, who had arrived in Galle to attend a literary festival not to visit Sri Lanka where she said the murders and abductions are prevalent.
“Following are the statements she made:
1. ‘In 2008, Prageeth wrote and informed the diplomats about Sri Lankan Government’s usage of chemical weapons against the people in the North,’ she told the BBC.
2. ‘I welcome you, to a country, where thousands of women and children weep silent tears for a nation of innocent civilians who have been killed or disappeared on account of their ethnicity. Welcome to Sri Lanka’ – Sandhya Ekneligoda’s letter to international writers.
“I have no trust in the words of a woman who works and issues statements against her motherland.
“Today the technology has improved that there is no need to have direct telephone connections to maintain contacts. There are various alternatives such as Chat, Skype, Facebook and satellite phones and the possibility of using various assumed names and accounts. I would like to mention to this House the fact that such accounts can never be monitored successfully.
“She also says her husband does not have a passport. It is not a secret to our countrymen that there are various methods used by a large number of people to leave the country without a valid passport. There are many who had fled this country violating immigration rules and procedures.
“I made my exposure on the basis of facts I received from one of my classmates, Manjula Wediwardena, now living in France, when I visited him recently. Wediwardena introduced me to a short person with a shaven head and said he was Prageeth Ekneligoda. This person then evaded me and left the place without speaking to me. A large number of persons, who were there, had identified him as Prageeth Ekneligoda.
“In another occasion, people have identified Sunanda Deshapriya wearing a turban had participated in an anti-Sri Lankan demonstration opposite the United Nations building in Geneva recently. Along with Deshapriya, there had been another person, who had shaven off his hair and people have identified the latter as Prageeth Ekneligoda.
“It is my opinion that those who campaign against their motherland in exile and those who aid and abet them should be told that they can come back to this country the way they left it. If they are forcibly held or detained by some persons or organizations against their will, our government would bring them home, acting within the existing laws and regulations. It is my feeling that our security forces and intelligence units are working to achieve this target.
“I would like to mention that it was not I who caused mental agony to the children of Prageeth Ekneligoda, but those who keep his existence and whereabouts a secret.
“The propaganda and media mudslinging against me, making use of what I had said in the Assembly amount to the breach of my privileges and I request that your attention be paid to this.”
Presiding Member Janaka Bandara referred the matter to the Privileges Committee.
(GW)
Journalist Manjula Wediwardane, who is living in France has denied UPFA MP Arundhika Fernando's claims that he had introduced disappeared journalist Prageeth Eknaligoda to the politician in France. 
