Black July: Alle Gunawanse – A Missing Link?

By Rajan Hoole -September 30, 2013 |

Rajan Hoole

Sri Lanka’s Black July – Part 32

While Ratnatunga is very silent on the ac- tions of ministers, he gives us a good deal of information about the actions of a particular Buddhist monk, Alle Gunawanse. It is clear that Ratnatunga highlights the role of Gunawanse (and Mathew) in the events of 1983 in order to diminish the culpability of the core UNP leadership. Gunawanse was known to be a maverick with a tendency to go out of control once he began to speak. There were several monks like Gunawanse, who began their careers by encroaching on state land and putting up a small structure. Their success depended on po- litical patronage. Gunawanse too encroached on crown land in Colombo 7 (Cinnamon Gardens) opposite the BMICH on Bullers Road.

It was well known to contemporaries that Gunawanse had strong links with Gamini Dissanayake and was a recipient of patronage from the Mahaveli Ministry. His humble struc- ture was replaced by an impressive one from state funds, and in honour of the Maheveli Project received the grand name of Maheveli Maha Seya. He also acquired a Pajero Jeep – the symbol of the new rich of the Jayewardene era. As an extremist he was very much in tune with Gamini Dissanayake’s politics of that period. Gunawanse was known to organise karate classes for his Buddhist Front and ministers had participated in black-belt awarding ceremonies. It is clear that in this (as in any other) opportu- nistic alliance between politician and monk, it was the politician who reaped the long-term advantages. Gunawanse came in a long line of monks who occupied such positions (e.g. Bud- dha Rakkitha Thero of the S.W.R.D Bandaranaike era who later featured in the latter’s murder trial). All of them eventually fell into obscurity.

Ratnatunga ascribes to Gunawanse an im- portant role in the events of July 1983. He first appears (p.12) trying to whip up the emotions of the crowd at Kanatte cemetery. The monk, who was the leader of the Sinhala Mahajana Peramuna is presented on the evening of the 24th of July asking the Army funeral authori- ties to show the bodies of the dead soldiers be- fore they are interred. There is an oblique ref- erence to him (p.16) as the monk who had come uninvited to the cemetery, who, that same evening, led a mob down Cotta Road, Borella, with a list in hand. He was subsequently re- ported being seen at the Cinnamon Gardens Police station, having come in a jeep with a pis- tol tucked under his robes, demanding curfew passes.

The longest reference to Gunawanse’s activi- ties appears on page 32 regarding the events fol- lowing the late night cabinet meeting on 27th July. Here we find the President actually negotiating with Gunawanse. Although Ratnatunga’s ac- count is very detailed, the main point and con- text are left out. The context was the telephone call from Indira Gandhi to President Jayewardene on the evening of the 27th. We will return to this in the sequel.

The Events at Kanatte on the Evening of 24th July                              Read More