A Brief Colonial History Of Ceylon(SriLanka)
Sri Lanka: One Island Two Nations
A Brief Colonial History Of Ceylon(SriLanka)
Sri Lanka: One Island Two Nations
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Thiranjala Weerasinghe sj.- One Island Two Nations
?????????????????????????????????????????????????Sunday, June 4, 2017
Three Killed, But Brigadier In Turkey For ‘Bravery’
Rathupaswela Shooting Incident
by Nirmala Kannangara-JUNE 3, 2017
The
Brigadier who has allegedly ordered the contingent of army personnel to
fire live bullets to disperse the Rathupaswela peaceful demonstrators
had been sent to the Sri Lankan mission in Turkey two months after the
incident, as a reward for his ‘bravery’ in aiding and abetting the then
administrators, it has been revealed.
Brigadier Suriya Arachchige Don Anura Deshapriya Gunawardena alias
Deshapriya Gunawardena was sent to Turkey in October 2013 for two years
in order to ‘protect’ him from the Rathupaswela shooting incident which
killed three civilians including two school boys and caused grave
injuries to more than fifteen including one retired army officer.
During the Rajapaksa regime, it became a trend to post those who helped
the regime to suppress the parties that rose against them to Sri Lankan
foreign missions abroad. To name a few, Warrant Officer 1, Premananda
Udalagama from the Directorate of Military Intelligence (DMI) who was
accused in Lasantha Wickrematunge’s murder was posted to the Sri Lankan
Mission in Germany while army intelligence operative Major Bandara
Bulathwatte was posted to the Sri Lankan mission in Bangkok in 2010 but
was later withdrawn. Former IGP Mahinda Balsooriya who was accused in
Katunayake Free Trade Zone shooting incident which killed Roshen Chanaka
was posted to Brazil soon after the incident.
The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) re-opened the Rathupaswala
case after the fall of the Rajapaksa regime, took three army employees a
sergeant, a corporal and a soldier – Dingiri Arunage Sirisena,
Jayasundara Mudiyanselage Thillakaratne and Lalith Gray into custody in
April for their alleged involvement in the Rathupaswela shooting. It is
now learnt how a contingent of army personnel fired live bullets to
disperse a crowd who demonstrated asking for pure drinking water and the
closure of a factory that discharged untreated chemical waste which
caused the contamination of the ground water. “The army cannot come to
disperse a crowd unless there is a request from the Divisional
Superintendent of Police (SP) or above that rank, the respective
District Secretary or the President of the country. When the Divisional
SP and his superiors and the Divisional Secretary says that they did not
request the army to come to Weliweriya to disperse the Rathupaswela
demonstrators then who had asked the army to come there?” defence
sources who wished to remain anonymous queried.
Control a riot
According to the sources, although the suspects claim that they came to
control a riot, there was no riot at Rathupaswela. “As claimed by the
Sri Lanka Army (SLA), if there was a riot the protestors should have
caused damages to public property or killed civilians for the army to
shoot at them. What the protestors did was to block the road but still
allowed the vehicular traffic and demanded pure drinking water. Even if
there was a riot, the army can only fire below the waist but not to the
head. Two of the three that died had sustained injuries in their heads.
The third victim died due to assault injuries. Who gave orders to
Brigadier Deshapriya Gunawardena to order his men to fire live bullets
towards the demonstrators? If Brigadier Gunawardena really wanted to
control the situation, he should have called the Weliweriya police that
was only a few metres away from the area of incident to come with tear
gas and water cannons to disperse the protestors. They should have used
rubber bullets to scare the people but not live bullets. The army now
claims that they took action against these protestors under Section 138
of the Penal Code. Section 138 of the Penal Code does not call a
peaceful protest that did not carry any deadly weapons, a riot, but only
an unlawful gathering that is not armed with deadly weapons or with
anything which can be used as a weapon of offence that can cause death,”
sources said.
Under Section 138 of the Penal Code, an assembly of five or more persons
is designated an ‘unlawful assembly’ if the common object of the
persons composing that assembly is –
(i) to overawe by criminal force or show of criminal force, the
government of the republic or the parliament or any public servant in
the exercise of the unlawful power of such public servant or
(ii) to resist the execution of any law or of any legal process or
(iii) to commit any mischief or criminal trespass or
(iv) by means of criminal force or show of criminal force to any
person, t take or obtain of any possession of any property or to deprive
any person or the public of the enjoyment of a right of way or of the
use of water or other incorporeal right of which such person or public
is in possession or enjoyment or to enforce any right of supposed right
or
(v) by means of criminal force or show of criminal force to compel any
person to do what he is not legally bound to do or to omit to do what
he is legally entitled to do or
(vi) That the persons assembled or any of them may train or drill
themselves or be trained or drilled to the use of arms or practicing
military movements or evolutions without the consent of the President of
the Republic.
It is alleged that the order to silence the protestors who protested
against a rubber glove factory owned by the then Secretary Transport
Ministry and Rajapaksa confidant Dhammika Perera was given by those who
were ruling the country.
Dipped Products PLC a subsidiary of the Hayleys Group was accused of
discharging their chemical waste to the trench untreated. As a result
the ground water over the years became contaminated and according to the
villagers, the area public health inspectors (PHI) have wanted the
villagers not to use the well water as it causes many severe diseases.
The water contamination deprived more than 10,000 families any access to
clean drinking water.
Well water contaminated
“The area PHI warned the people not to use well water even for cleaning
purposes. The PH level in water has dropped beyond 4.4 which are harmful
to the body. When residents in and around Rathupaswela consumed this
water the throat and the esophagus got irritated and when used for
cleaning purposes the people got skin rashes s,” a resident in the area
said.
Meanwhile Jayasuriya, another resident of Nendungamuwa said how the army
arrived after dispersing the Belummahara protest and stated firing at
them at Rathupaswela on August 1, 2017. “There were two large protests –
one in Balummahara and the other at Rathupaswela in Weliweriya. The
army had first gone to Balummahara protest that was blocking the Kandy
Road. While we were protesting in Weliweriya, we came to know that the
army was assaulting the protestors in Belummahara. It was around 5.30pm.
A few army officers came in motor bikes and army vehicles. They were
accompanied by a senior officer whom we did not identify at that time
but later came to know that he was Brigadier Desahapriya Gunawardena. No
sooner they came, they started firing into the air and without any
warning started shooting at the street lamps to bring the entire area
into darkness,” Jayasuriya a villager alleged.
According to Jaysuriya when the army started firing, most of the
protestors had run to the nearby St Anthony’s Church where the army had
followed the protestors and had started firing live ammunition to those
who were taking refuge there. They threatened the people and forced the
people to kneel down on the church grounds and started assaulting them
with bicycle chains, clubs and rifle butts. Meanwhile the army had
prevented the people from taking the injured to the hospital. “We have
seen how military personnel attack people in films but saw a real
military assault only on August 1, 2013,” Jayasuriya said.
According to the ‘B’ report the CID submitted to the Gampaha Magistrate
Court, Koralagamage Melan Chinthaka Perera a retired army corporal in
his statement given to the CID had stated as to how the then OIC
Weliweriya and the other police officers wanted the demonstrators to
hold the protest peacefully but not to disturb the traffic and the
police officers bears testimony as to how they protested peacefully till
afternoon.
Attack by the Army
Chinthaka Perera’s statement further stated as thus, ‘When we were
protesting, few villagers came and said that the army was attacking the
protesters near Belummahara Junction to which I said that it cannot
happen as the army has no authority to assault peaceful protestors.
Around 5.30pm an army platoon arrived with Brigadier Gunawardena and had
threatened the journalists who were covering the incident to switch off
the cameras. When the Brigadier asked the people to stop the protest
the protestors had stated that they will not stop it unless a solution
was given to the people. That made the army personnel to fire at a tiled
roof in the close proximity. This prompted the people to stone the army
and in return the army had fired towards lamp posts to bring the area
into complete darkness. Since I assumed that army will never shoot
unarmed men I went further ahead and raised my hands and wanted them not
to shoot at us. When I was pleading with the army not to shoot us, I
was shot at my right thigh. The people in the area took me to the
Gampaha hospital and had to undergo an emergency operation. After five
days I was transferred to the National Hospital and had to undergo a
thigh bone transplant. I was hospitalised for four months. If the army
goes to control a riot, they should take a doctor and a lawyer with
them. Unless the army personnel are given approval, they never shoot at
civilians and I believe these shooting took place on the instruction of
the officer who accompanied the army. It is regrettable to say how the
SLA on August 1, 2013 treated me. I am yet another army personnel on
premature retirement due to injuries sustained in the battle field and
the army made me a disabled person on that day ’.
Meanwhile Jayasuriya said as to how the army chased 17-year-old Akila
Dinesh who was about 200 metres away from the main Kaduwela- Balummahara
main road and shot at him.
“While they were chasing Akila they broke a CCTV camera fixed to a house
knowing that their ‘brave’ actions would be recorded. After breaking
the CCTV camera, they fired at the street lights and then chased away
the people shooting all over,” Jayasuriya claimed. Shamil Ravishan
Perera had been shot about one hour after the protestors were dispersed.
“Now the army claims that they used the minimum force to disperse the
crowd. If so what would have been if they used the maximum force on that
day,” Jayasuriya added. According to the ‘B’ report filed in courts,
there was no evidence to prove Brigadier had ordered the army personnel
to stop firing at the civilians.
The villagers meanwhile accused the army for attacking the unarmed
villagers who were protesting for their rights but not taking any action
against the Dipped Product PLC for releasing chemical waste from the
factory. “Because it was owned by a Rajapaksa confidant the factory was
given protection while the unarmed civilians were shot at,” he added.
Meanwhile in his statement, Romesh Sanjeewa Peiris had stated how the
army was seen collecting the used cartridges the following morning to
clear the area. “When I went towards Weliweriya around 7.30am, the
following day I saw how the army personnel were collecting the used
cartridges in shopping bags while another group was cleaning the blood
stains that were all over the road. What made the army to remove the
used cartridges and wash off the blood stains that were all over the
area?” Peiris has said in his statement.
Sriyantha Udara Perera a former UPFA member of the Gampaha Pradeshiya
Sabhawa and Nilantha Perera a former UNP member of the Gampaha
Pradeshiya Sabahwa in their respective statements to the CID also had
stated that it was Brigadier Desahpriya Gunawardena who ordered his men
to shoot at the crowd when they asked time to leave the locale they were
holding protest from morning.
Although the eyewitnesses say as such, Brigadier Gunawardena had told
another media institution that he was not in the scene when the firing
took place as he was at the Weliweriya police to get his mobile charged.
Signaled the Army to fire
“There is evidence to prove how Gunawardena received a call on his
mobile a few minutes before the shooting started and how he signaled the
army men who were carrying guns with live ammunition to fire. Now the
army claims that the CID is carrying out witch hunting. If there is no
evidence to prove how can the CID take action against the army officers
or even against civilians. It was the army under Brigadier Gunawardena
who had made a Rtd. Army personnel a disable on August 1, 2013 at
Rathupaswela. If the CID are conducting investigations and arrest ‘war
heroes’ on a personal agenda, why cannot the accused come and file
action against the CID. Most of the suspects who were taken into custody
by the CID in the recent past are now on bail. Why don’t they instigate
legal action against the CID for arresting them for allegations in
which they were not involved. They cannot do it as they know the CID is
well armed with the necessary evidence against these ‘war heroes’ the
defence sources said.