Take tough decisions - Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa

GAGANI WEERAKOON- MAY 19 2019

Former President and incumbent Opposition Leader Mahinda Rajapaksa in an interview with Ceylon Today said, a terrorist of religious extremism doesn’t really have a religion. His beliefs don’t represent a religion or a race.

EXCERPTS:

The country is yet to return to a state of normalcy following the Easter Sunday attacks. As former President, do you see at least some sort of a peaceful state?

This is a very unfortunate situation. Even weeks after the unfortunate incident, the fear and the doubt among the people of the country still loom. The country is not stable. There are no proper political leaders of the country a person can turn to. No matter how often you say the schools are open, tuition classes are in operation and the country is safe, people still doubt it. This is the kind of situation in the country now.

Hasn’t what started as religious extremism now taken a racist trend?

A terrorist of religious extremism doesn’t really have a religion. His beliefs don’t represent a religion or a race. The only aim of them is to reach targets through suicide. In this case, the terrorists don’t even have a proper target. When religious extremist terrorists have gone that far, they themselves don’t even know what they are doing, any more.

The Opposition is accused of using the current turmoil for their political gains

I completely reject that accusation. Our Opposition has supported the Government like no other Opposition has supported a Government before.
When we were fighting LTTE terrorists and wanted to take a loan from a bank, the then Opposition forced banks to not give us loans told foreign countries not to give us loans.
That was the situation back then. But we have clearly told the Government that we will support to end this terrorism unconditionally. We took no political gain out of this. Not for anything else but for fighting terrorism, we have rendered our full support to the Government. The Government has not perceived our message the correct way.

It is reported that the NTJ was founded as early as 2012/2013. As the President back then, shouldn’t you be the one who is responsible for their armed uprising?

That is not true. We only came to a proper realisation of this organisation in 2014. By then, we were in the midst of rebuilding the country after the internal conflict was ended.
We immediately sent an intelligence team abroad for training and instructed them to receive necessary training. That was not something we could have solved willy-nilly. It was not a war where we could have shot at each other like we have done with the LTTE.
We had to gather intelligence. In order to do so, we had to infiltrate the organisation. We sent two officers to USA for a special training. The duo came back after training, entered the organisation, took residence there, gained their trust and the intelligence gathering was going on smoothly. Then, the Government was toppled. The new Government shut down the whole operation.

You admit to gathering intelligence about the NTJ. Doesn’t it prove that the organisation posed a threat to country?

Yes. Where does an extremist end up? In terrorism! We have witnessed it in many extremist groups. Our Government had the capability to foresee it and admitting it. That’s why we kept on monitoring them. Now take Easter Sunday attacks. The intelligence got the secret information about the attack, with names, places and times. What more was needed? If the information was read in time, the eight suicide bombers could have been apprehended within hours.

Not only the President and the Prime Minister, but as the Leader of the Opposition, you too received that intelligence report, didn’t you?

The intelligence report has been sent to every parliamentarian but no one seems to have seen it.

Why didn’t you receive the intelligence report?

I saw the report after the bombings. My security officer came to me and told me about the reports which had come for me.

So, hasn’t your security officer committed a serious offence by not giving you the report in time?

Yes, it is an offence.

Are you going to take action against him? Because this ended up in such carnage and the whole country suffered.

I am not the Government now, am I?

But that is your security officer?

I thoroughly advised the security officer about the gravity of it. I went to my hometown on 9 April... Went on the train the following day with the crowd... There were even Muslims in the train... Went from Matara to Tangalle, then to Kataragama and Nuwara Eliya...Went to a kovil and to a church in Nuwara Eliya. Walked around a lot... Had I known about the attacks I wouldn’t have done those, would I? If I had known beforehand, the first thing I would have done is to stay at home for my own safety.

What I am trying to point here is the seriousness of this intelligence report not reaching your hands...

The intelligence report sent to the President came to the IGP through the Defence Secretary. The IGP sent it to the DIGs and the other officers received the report through DIGs. These officers ill-performed their duty, by not telling us about it. They claim the security was provided individually. However, I think it is the duty of these officers to inform us about the report.

There is an allegation that Rajapaksas fed and raised the extremist organisations like NTJ, BBS and Shiv Sena...

There are allegations that Rajapaksas create a Buddhist fundamentalist force and on the other hand now say they created a Muslim fundamental force too.
 They say so because it is the easiest thing to do. When something happens it is always the Rajapkasas that should be responsible.

But there are pictures circulating in the internet showing you and your brother Gotabaya Rajapaksa with the leaders of those organisations...

This is a misunderstanding. The pictures were not taken with the leaders of the NTJ. Ones in the picture are the ones who broke off from the NTJ.
Come and see how many people come to my house in the mornings. Do they come after booking appointments? No. People come and when they come, I go and meet them. Among them was this group of people who had come to hand over a Quran. They did so, took a picture and went.
That was what happened and that was the only connection. They said that they are against covering faces as it doesn’t go well with the culture, among other things. They wanted us to intervene and arrange a meeting with the Mahanayaka Theras as they wanted to apologise for insulting Buddhism.

The one who disgraced Lord Buddha still acts as a hero in media. Why isn’t anyone questioning this?

It is not my job to do so.

But as the Opposition, can’t you take legal action against this?

For that, we need to go to courts with lawyers. If the Government want to conduct an investigation, there are plenty of Police Officers at their disposal.

But the people are looking up to the Opposition when the Government is not taking any action...

That is wrong. The Opposition can make a voice but we can’t take action. The Government should be willing to listen to that voice. We are ready to even take to the streets with the public if that’s what takes to make our voice heard. The Government has so far watched every happening but has not taken action.
 We are ready to take to the streets with people but we also have to realise the situation the public is currently in. At a time when people are afraid to send their children to school, we really can’t ask them to hit the streets and protest. We have a responsibility too. But at some point even we, as political leaders, might have to come out.
The Sharia University was established during your regime. Do you now regret about that decision?

Sharia University was not established during our time. It was formed as a vocational training centre through the Vocational Training Authority.
There are various tertiary education level vocational training institutes and most of these operate through Temples.
 The first was Kataragama Temple and then, Beliaththa Getamanna Temple, and Kirivehara and so on. We operated centring religious places because we initially didn’t have funds to make our own establishments.
We used conference halls and dining halls in temples for vocational training. We gave the training opportunity to Muslims as well, to Christians and Hindus even. I am the former President, not the former Minister under whose purview vocational training fell... that was Dullas Alahapperuma.
When the permission was requested, we gave it, only to build a Vocational Training Centre. This is what now has been turned into a Sharia University. The Government clearly has the power to take over this university.

When going through the information about this university, it was reported that there are no sanitary facilities for women built in this university. Isn’t that alarming?

This kind of situation should be dealt with executing the law of the country. The Government has a responsibility to serve each and every individual of the country under the same law. The existing Government should do these things, not the former Government.

Zahran Hashim himself has conducted multiple classes islandwide to spread extremism. Didn’t your Government get even the slightest of hints about these?

Yes, I have been told. Senthil Thondaman told me that there is an Arabic University called Al Mustafa in the estates and Political Science is being taught there. Work of a religious organisation has been in action, but it was not established under our Government.
 But we sensed other factors and that’s why we infiltrated the organisation and gathered intelligence. We spent a good amount of money and gathered intelligence not to sit and wait idly, but because we wanted to take action against these organisations. The issue is the Government wants their votes. That’s why no action was taken even with good intelligence at hand.
 The result is three or four hundreds innocent lives lost. Today, the death toll is 300 and next it becomes 250 and then 280. We still don’t know the exact number of deaths. Who is to blame...clearly, the Government.
The Government cannot evade responsibility by saying they didn’t know or they weren’t there. When the two leaders were accused, they systematically turned it towards all 225 of parliamentarians. Social media was used to carry out their plans. Everybody is now blaming the 225 and the main duo escaped the scrutiny. It is clear to us.

You are directly blaming the Government, but this Government is only four years old. The Government is blaming you for letting this issue grow when you had the opportunity to eliminate it when the threat was just emerging?

We completely deny it. The Government can’t really make accusations like that. We would have dealt with it if we could have. It requires reliable intelligence. If we had acted hastily, we would have been accused of using ‘white vans’. A proper procedure based on evidence needed to be followed.
That’s why we gave it to intelligence to handle. Then, an election came and the people wanted a change. That change was made to solve all this.

You talked about white vans. Western Province Governor Azath Salley directly accused Gotabaya Rajapaksa saying he only calls the Security Council to decide whom to abduct the next day?

It’s a blatant lie. We never talked about abducting people there. Our Security Council hadn’t stooped that low. Only professionals were there. There were about seven intelligence units. Military intelligence was the strongest. The intelligence was all over the place.
The Defence Secretary gathered all of them, processed and assigned each and everyone with responsibilities. Then I was given a report. Every day at six in the morning I was briefed on what has happened and what is about to happen. It was only after briefing me that DIG Wakishta went on to do his daily duties.

The Government should ensure national security. The President and the Prime Minister have neglected that responsibility. Can’t legal actions be taken against them?

We need to resolve this conflict before taking any legal action. The utmost priority should be to rid people of fear and doubt, prevent terrorist threats and return people to a life of normalcy. After these priorities are fulfilled, we can always seek legal assistance through Civil and Criminal Courts.
Has the Opposition taken such decision to take legal action?

The discussions are being held as to how we should act.

How do you perceive the Government sending IGP on compulsory leave?

I don’t like to discuss a decision taken by the President of the country. He was unable to remove a person directly from a position because of the 19th Amendment. Within that, the President’s power to fire IGP and AG has been taken from him. Prime Minister meticulously made it happen.
It didn’t affect me, so I had no problem with it. When I asked the IGP to go, he resigned on the day itself.

The IGP is not resigning even after he has been asked to. Isn’t this an ethical issue?

 The IGP didn’t resign when he was asked to and the President can’t really do anything about it. That’s why he was sent on compulsory leave. An investigation should be held after the IGP was sent on mandatory leave.
 If the IGP goes to Courts, reasons should be adduced. Courts will be handling it from there. I think a President should be able to fire anyone.
 That power is taken from him and now it is as if his hands are tied behind his back.

The President said he got to know about the attack at 10 a.m. Singapore time. But when converted to local time, it is only 7:30 in the morning. The attacks took place at 8:45 a.m. Why haven’t you questioned about this?

Sometimes, there are small issues regarding time...

But at a serious time like this?

I think the President made that statement without really knowing what he was saying.

Some see signs of international intervention behind these bombings. How do you see this?

The majority of us say that this could be a result of international intervention. Vasudeva states very clearly that this is an agenda of a foreign country to fulfil their needs.

Your Government extended a defence agreement signed by Chandrika Kumaratunga with the USA. The current Government too extended it last month. With this agreement and the current situation in the country, the likelihood of the American Army entering the country is high, isn’t it?

During our time I think the agreement was signed only for ten years. We made it mutually beneficial. But this Government extended it for a longer period of time. It is at the hands of the Government. No foreign Army can enter our country without our Government intervening in it.

According to you, is this defence agreement good for our country?

We wanted to end the war and the agreement we signed had crucial benefits to us. We received a large net of intelligence. When SL Navy attacked terrorist weapons ships, that intelligence came in handy. That type of benefits was there.

Do you agree with Government blocking social media and the people’s right to information?

No.

Is it really a solution for the issue?

First, understand the technology. Facebook can be accessed through VPN even it it’s blocked. Even children do this now. We can’t change it.              
Not only social media platforms being restricted, there are restrictions on reporting on recovered weapons, swords and knives and other items in media in general. What is your take on this?

It is simply a joke. After this restriction, now people have started circulating wrong information. Even if the security forces find swords or knives, people assume and spread that sniper guns were found. The ban will only give life to speculations and misinformation.

You are a seasoned politician and a mature leader. What do you see as the motive behind this social media ban?

I think the decision to ban social media merely is motivated by personal reasons. When the President, Prime Minister or Minister is being ridiculed in social media over a statement or their conduct, these people think such can be stopped by imposing a ban. You should be mature enough to realise you cannot stop these things by forcing a ban on social media.

When reviewed what has happened in the last few weeks, it seems like the country is slowly going towards military rule or a dictatorship. How do you review this situation?

I don’t think it is possible to go for a dictatorial rule. If that is going to happen the public will most certainly intervene and prevent it. I also don’t think the country will go under a military rule. Our military forces are well disciplined and conduct themselves honourably.  Otherwise, with anyone else in that situation, with such powers and strength, there would be a major change.

Some allege that Rajapaksas are eyeing to go for such tyranny amidst all this chaos?

I have not heard anything about such allegations. In fact, this is the first time I am hearing this. On the other hand, is it only Rajapaksas that should get the blame for every wrong this government does!

Even though you say so, Ven. Wendaruwe Upali Anunayake Thera was quoted as saying there should be a dictatorial administration in the country?

No. What Venerable Thera said was completely different and his statement was taken out of context.

That explanation was given only later...

The Venerable Thera clearly said one thing. He said that the country needs a steadfast policy.
A leader must be straightforward and should have a steadfast policy to rule the country. If the leadership is not strong and straightforward it created lots of other problems.
Every community, every religion has a right to live in harmony in society. It is fundamental that every citizen of this country can live without fear and a leader who is incapable of taking straightforward decision cannot assure that.

Two stalwarts in your camp, MPs Wimal Weerawansa and Udaya Gammanpila have said that they will not stand in the same camp with Minister Rishad Bathiudeen or Governors A.L.M. Hizbullah and  Azath Salley. Are they echoing your sentiments?

Now, Rishad will not come with us. We will not go with Rishad and his allies. Now we have brought forward a No Confidence Motion (NCM) against Rishad. Last time when we moved an NCM there was an allegation that we did not discuss it in the Parliamentary Group. So, we are planning to discuss it at the group meeting.

You said you will not stand in the same camp with Bathiudeen. History has proven that he has acquired the most crucial ministries and institutions in any Government. Can you give an assurance none of these Muslim political leaders who are accused of their involvement in various misdeeds, including sponsoring radicalisation will not be included in your future Government?

Most certainly... now we have already mobilised a new Muslim political leadership to work with. This new leadership will equally be accepted by moderate Muslims, Tamils and Sinhalese.

Are you suggesting that Muslim politicians like Salley, Bathiudeen and Hizbullah will get swept away from politics?

I can’t point a finger, at all Muslim political leaders. The government must act where there is evidence. In my opinion Hizbullah has only the Sharia University against him. He clearly stated that he has no connection. When Hizbullah was campaigning for me during last Presidential Election, suicide bomber Zahran was campaigning for President Sirisena.

Now there is a discussion among various parties whether to hold an election or not?   What is your opinion?

We must go for an immediate election. Only a new Government, irrespective of which party, will be able to give an assurance to the people that they are safe to lead a normal life. Be it General Election or Presidential, the Opposition is ready to face it.

Do you have a message to give to the Government?

Yes. The President is the Head of Government. He should act like the President and should not try to wash his hands off from responsibilities by saying this is not his Government. We will also not be able to say that it is not his Government. It is true that he is acting more in favour of the Opposition against the Prime Minister on certain occasions as this Government has reached a certain situation. However, based on the situation we will be compelled to criticise both.