History in flames: remembering the burning of Jaffna Library

31 May 2020

At midnight on May 31, 1981, the Jaffna Public Library, the crucible of Tamil literature and heritage, was set ablaze by Sri Lankan security forces and state-sponsored mobs. The burning has since been marked by Eelam Tamils as an act of genocide.

Over 95,000 unique and irreplaceable Tamil palm leaves (ola), manuscripts, parchments, books, magazines and newspapers, housed within an impressive building inspired by ancient Dravidian architecture, were destroyed during the burning. Some texts that were kept in the library, such as the Yalpanam Vaipavamalai (a history of Jaffna), were literally irreplaceable, being the only copies in existence. It was one of the largest libraries in Asia.

The destruction took place under the rule of the UNP at a time when District Development Council elections were underway, and two notorious Sinhala chauvinist cabinet ministers - Cyril Mathew and Gamini Dissanayake - were in Jaffna. Earlier on in the day, three Sinhalese police officers were killed during a rally by the TULF (Tamil United Liberation Front).

Nancy Murray, a western author, wrote at the time ''uniformed security men and plainclothes thugs carried out some well organised acts of destruction”.

"They burned to the ground certain chosen targets - including the Jaffna Public Library, with its 95,000 volumes and priceless manuscripts…no mention of this appeared in the national newspapers, not even the burning of the library, the symbol of Tamils' cultural identity. The government delayed bringing in emergency rule until 2 June, by which time the key targets had been destroyed."

The burning continued unchecked for two nights.

Homes and shops across Jaffna town were also set alight by the mob, including the TULF headquarters and the offices of the Eelanadu newspaper.

Virginia Leary wrote in Ethnic Conflict and Violence in Sri Lanka - Report of a Mission to Sri Lanka on behalf of the International Commission of Jurists, July/August 1981, that “the destruction of the Jaffna Public Library was the incident, which appeared to cause the most distress to the people of Jaffna."

The Movement for Inter-racial Justice and Equality said in a report, after sending a delegation to Jaffna,

"If the Delegation were asked which act of destruction had the greatest impact on the people of Jaffna, the answer would be the savage attack on this monument to the learning and culture and the desire for learning and culture of the people of Jaffna... There is no doubt that the destruction of the Library will leave bitter memories behind for many years."

The scholar and community leader, Reverend Father David reportedly died from shock days after the incineration of his beloved institution. While his statue in the library courtyard is surrounded now by the spirit-soothing greens of local flora, his demise epitomises the loss suffered by every member of the Tamil nation alive on that day, and each generation born afterwards: the irrevocable loss of memories, of the lives and deaths of our predecessors, of the beauty they created as well as of the destruction they may have wreaked.

In 2001, then mayor of Jaffna Nadarajah Raviraj stated that the burning “is in my memory”. ''Still I feel like crying after 20 years,'' he said. Mr Raviraj was assassinated in Colombo in November 2006. Still no-one has been held accountable for his murder.

Despite Tamil attempts to memorialise the catastrophic event, by keeping part of the burnt wreckage preserved, the Sri Lankan government allegedly insisted on ensuring all areas of the building were completely rebuilt, leaving no signs of the damage done.

Yet, in 2010 the library was once again vandalised by a group of Sinhalese tourists. The Sinhalese group had attempted to gain access to the library whilst it was closed for an All Ceylon Medical Association seminar that weekend. Denied entry the “tourists reacted by running amok” said the BBC, “breaking some of the shelves and throwing books on the ground”.

They also went on to vandalise a statue of veteran Tamil politician S J V Chelvanayagam, remembered across the Tamil nation for spear heading the Vaddukoddai resolution.

In December 2016, an ‘apology’ for the burning, by current Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, was criticised - after initially receiving praise as a step towards reconciliation; the offhand manner in which it was delivered revealing a marked disregard for how deeply Tamils on the island continue to mourn the burning.

Hejaaz Hizbullah, The Shining Young Attorney Held Incommunicado

By Mass L. Usuf –MAY 31, 2020

Mass Usuf

The dreaded Prevention of Terrorism (Temporary Provisions) Act No. 48 of 1979 (PTA) has been in public discussion ever since it was enacted.  It was initially introduced in Parliament as ‘Temporary Provisions’ vide Section 29 of the Act which read:

“The provisions of this Act shall be in operation for a period of three years from the date of its commencement.”

Thereafter, this Temporary Provision paradoxically found a permanent abode, approximating four decades, by virtue of an amendment; “Prevention of Terrorism (Temporary Provisions) Amendment Act, No. 10 of 1982.  It now reads:

“Section 29 of the principal enactment is hereby repealed.”

Widely condemned as an equivalent of Draco’s law, this statute was passed under the watch of the JR Jayewardene Presidency. It was specifically designed to confer on the police wide powers relating to search, arrest and detention of suspects. United Nations and International Human Rights organisations have been campaigning for long calling the State to institute reforms to this abusive Act.

This column should not be construed as an effort or campaign supporting Hejaz or any others who had been arrested at different times since 1979.

Lawyer Hejaaz Hizbullah

Rule Of Law Or Rule By Law

Sri Lanka is known to be a democratic country. In keeping with that spirit, she has inter alia, judicial institutions, where it is ideally expected that the rule of law Supremes. At a High-level Meeting of the General Assembly on the Rule of Law on 19 September 2012, it reaffirmed that “human rights, the rule of law and democracy are interlinked and mutually reinforcing and that they belong to the universal and indivisible core values and principles of the United Nations.” The diktat is for world governments to ensure that accountability, equality and justice are upheld and promoted in order to protect and secure the rights of citizens. These comprise the utilitarian aspects of strengthening democracy.

Sri Lanka has showcased its idea of the rule of law in Chapter III of the constitution, dedicating it to Fundamental Rights. The universal norm is that no law can supersede the Constitution of the country. It is said, ‘The judiciary, which applies the law to individual cases, acts as the guardian of the rule of law. Thus, the need for an independent and properly functioning judiciary becomes a prerequisite for the rule of law which requires a just legal system, the right to a fair hearing and access to justice.’ 

Consequence Of Rule By Law

Statutes, Rules and Regulations, executive actions and policies of a government must be regimented to function under the rule of law. Where there is unconstrained substantive or procedural abuse disregarding law such exploits cease to be governed by this precept.  In these instances, the doctrine of rule of law dissipates giving way to the repressive and cruel rule by law.  The beginning of abuse is from this point.

In the background of the aforesaid, to quote a dictum from the British Legal Philosopher, H.L.A. Hart is appropriate.  It illustrates the timeless limbo of persons like Hejaaz Hizbullah and the many others who have been incarcerated under the dreaded PTA, at different times:

“A paralysed man watching a thief’s hand close over his gold watch is properly said to have a right to retain it as against the thief, though he has neither expectation nor power in any ordinary sense of these words.” (Hart, Essays in Jurisprudence and Philosophy, 1983).

Hart using the analogy of a paralytic draws attention to the condition of a person who has a right but cannot expect to assert that right and, the same person having  no power to proclaim his right. How many such ‘paralysed’ persons are languishing in custody? The distressed family members are asking where are the democratic minded citizens who are supposed to act to strengthen equity and justice?

Communication, A Basic Right 

This column does not intend to traverse the gamut of the right to communicate. It would suffice to suggest a few markers to get an understanding.

Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights:

“Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.” (United Nations, 1948).

Our Constitution, 14. (1) (a), states:

“Every citizen is entitled to the freedom of speech and expression including publication”.

This is a restricted right by virtue of Article 15 (7) (2) of the Constitution:

“The exercise and operation of the fundamental right declared and recognized by Article 14(1)(a) shall be subject to such restrictions as may be prescribed by law in the interests of racial and religious harmony or in relation to parliamentary privilege, contempt of court, defamation or incitement to an offence.”

It is clear as daylight that this restriction does not contemplate a situation where a detainee wants to consult with his or her Attorney.

Role of the Judiciary

It is well known, at least theoretically, that the pillars of democracy consist of the Legislature, the Executive and the Judiciary and the strict separation of their functions. The objective is to ensure proper checks and balances and to prevent the concentration of power. Due to novel developments in the political landscape, there has evolved hybrid versions of this foundation. For example, the separation of powers has significantly become diluted between the legislature and the executive. It is only the judiciary that has been able to stand alone and maintain its independence although, several attempts have been made in the past to inhibit its authority.

At the Finland’s Presidency of the Council of the European Union conference held in Helsinki in September 2019, much emphasis was placed on the protection of the rule of law with special responsibility placed on the judiciary. It resolved:

“Rule of law is the cornerstone of all democratic societies. A proper system of checks and balances maintains the separation of powers, ensures accountability and enhances resilience. In order to maintain trust in public institutions, the principles of legality, legal certainty, prohibition of arbitrariness of the executive powers, judicial independence, impartiality, and equality before the law need to be respected. The role of national and European courts is crucial for ensuring effective judicial protection.”

Animal Rights

With regard to the Rights of Animals, Mahatma Gandhi said: “The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way in which its animals are treated.”  Interestingly, he juxtaposes the way animals are treated as a measurement of value to judge the greatness and moral progress of a nation. What characteristics of a nation can be judged based on the way humans are treated?

The rights of freedom and liberty of any person are too sacred to be sacrificed at the drop of a hat. American Jurist Ronald Dworkin argues, “If someone has a right to moral independence, this means that it is for some reason wrong for officials to act in violation of that right, even if they (correctly) believe that the community as a whole would be better off if they did.” (Lloyds Jurisprudence, 6th Edition, P. 434).

At a time when man is being silenced by man, it is strange to see and hear some people talking in the following terms, as seen in a poster with a picture of a dog:

“Animals have no voice.

They can’t ask for help.

They can’t ask for freedom.

They can’t ask for protection.

HUMANITY MUST BE THEIR VOICE.”

How confused can we be between the imperatives of treating animals and human beings?  It is ironic to note that in Sri Lanka, we are excessively worried about the rights of animals than the rights of human beings. 

State Of Limbo Unethical

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Repression of Dissent in Sri Lanka: Before and during COVID19 curfew (1st Feb. - 30th April 2020)

Compiled by INFORM

(Lanka-e-News -31.May.2020, 12.45PM) This report records 95 incidents that had been reported during the 90 days period. The average number of incidents per day reported prior to the covid-19 curfew is slightly higher than the number of incidents reported during the curfew. There were a high number of incidents related to legal, institutional and policy changes prior to the curfew. During the curfew, the number of physical attacks, arrests, verbal threats and hate speech related incidents were high. Before curfew many incidents were reported from Colombo in the Western Province. During the curfew period, more than 50% of incidents were reported from districts outside Western Province and Northern and Eastern provinces. In previous reports, the number of incidents were high in North and East. Most of the victims were government officials, journalists, civil society activists and protesters respectively. During both periods, most of alleged perpetrators were either police or military, followed by government officers and politicians and business persons. Majority of victims were men.

Journalists faced questioning at home, by phone and summoning to offices of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the police. There were also death threats against journalists by a son of a politician and a shop owner. A journalist and a source were also arrested, while another journalist was assaulted. A private TV station had expelled journalists who had exposed a special event organized by the institution violating curfew laws and for requesting protective equipment.

Two prisoners were shot dead in tensions that had arisen in context of covid19 related protests in a prison in Anuradhapura. In Colombo, protesters were assaulted and threatened with arrest by police and a temporary hut of protesters were taken down by police. Persons protesting on covid19 related issues were also arrested in Batticaloa and Kandy districts. A court order was issued to stop a student protest in Colombo and students in Jaffna University were stopped from entering the University to have a protest.

On 1st April police announced that those criticizing and pointing shortcomings of government officials will be arrested. At least 17 persons had been arrested by 19th April for fake news and the Human Rights Commission had expressed concerns about legal basis for some of the arrests. Amongst those arrested was Ramzy Razeek, a commentator who regularly posts on his Facebook profile on topics related to ethnic harmony, minority rights, gender etc. At least two persons were arrested for publishing online content criticizing the government’s covid19 response. A student activist’s house was visited by the police after he had posted a Facebook comment questioning the government. A former MP of an opposition political party and LGBTIQ community, including one activist were subjected to online hate speech campaigns. Two potential Tamil female candidates, for upcoming parliamentary elections faced vicious personal attacks online. Such attacks, as well as a number of fake news and hate speech content, mostly against minorities, published or broadcasted by mainstream media with large outreach, didn’t seem to result in legal actions.

In other incidents, a leader of an indigenous community (Vedda) was attacked after he spoke to the media criticizing sand mining in the local area and its damages to the environment. A businessman was assaulted and CCTV camera equipment at his house were damaged by Police after he questioned about Police violence against two other persons in his neighborhood. A lawyer who had appeared in significant cases related to rights and democracy and vocal on minority rights, was arrested on suspicion of terrorism and he has not been provided proper access to lawyers nor been produced before a Magistrate. Visits by intelligence agencies to offices of NGOs, houses of NGO staff and phone calls continued. A female activist vocal in demanding investigations into a child abuse case was threatened that her nude photographs will be made public. Police also held an inquiry against an information technology activist after he pointed security loopholes in an ATM machine of a private bank.

A number of legal and policy changes, including appointments, looked ominous for dissent. The Government declared it was withdrawing from the co-sponsorship of the UN Human Rights Council resolutions on reconciliation and accountability. The President’s office and Parliament Committee on National Security indicated restrictions on civil society and NGOs. A senior district level government official issued a letter asking NGOs to de-prioritize human rights, women’s empowerment and land rights. Activists who defied the decision to sing the national anthem only in Sinhalese at the official Independence Day function faced online threats and vilification. An Army officer being prosecuted for killings of protesters in 2013 was promoted. The police chief requested to temporarily suspend some ongoing legal cases and an investigation officer who handled a key corruption case for several years was suddenly replaced with a new officer. And President Gotabaya said that the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, which had reduced presidential powers and strengthened independent oversight bodies, are a hindrance in fulfilling the aspirations of the people, at a meeting with heads of media.

Government officials trying to do their duties, including police officers, public health officials, village officers (Grama Niladharis) excise officers, forest conservation officers, coastal conservation officer, and a school principal faced reprisals. These included verbal attacks with obscene language, physical assaults, and threats including a death threat at gun point. Politicians, a Buddhist Monk and agitated villagers were amongst those responsible. Many of these incidents were related to environmental issues and covid19.

Especially during the curfew period, restrictions and limited court work made it difficult for victims to seek protection, legal remedies. It was also difficult to seek and offer support from other defenders, lawyers, journalists diplomats etc. Detainees faced more challenges.

The detailed report includes chapters detailing

• Executive Summary

• methodology,
• context,
Major incidents and trends related to dissent

• Repression of journalists
• Repression of freedom of assembly
• Arrests related to facebook posts, threats and risks online
• Legal and policy changes, problematic appointments, and undue influences on the judiciary
• Repression against government officers
• Other incidents
• Updates on previous legal cases related to dissent
• Statistical Analysis
• List of incidents related to dissent from 1st February 2020 –30thApril 2020

ROD_Feb-Apr_2020.pdf by Thavam Ratna on Scribd

Click here to download full report

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by     (2020-05-31 07:34:47)

Murdered Tamil journalist remembered despite Sri Lankan police surveillance

Jaffna journalists marked the 16th anniversary of the assassination of Tamil journalist Aiyathurai Nadesan, despite Sri Lankan police surveillance.

 31 May 2020

Members of Jaffna Press Club laid flowers to honour Mr Nadesan who was murdered in Batticaloa in 2004.  

Sri Lankan police took note of the names of participants, their motorcycle registrations and other details of the event, as a part of ongoing intimidation in the North-East.

Mr Nadesan, commonly known as ‘Nellai Nadesan,’ was shot dead by a paramilitary group when he was on his way to his office in 2004. As a profile journalist and a columnist, he worked for local Tamil dailies and international news agencies. 

SRI LANKAN GOVERNMENT RESPONDS TO RISING COVID-19 INFECTIONS BY ABANDONING EXPATRIATE WORKERS – SAMAN GUNADASA

File photo of Sri Lankan migrant workers arriving home.

31/05/2020

This week, the Sri Lankan government stopped planned air flights to bring Sri Lankan migrant workers back home from the Middle East. The decision was made after it was discovered that many were infected with the coronavirus.

On May 26, President Gotabhaya Rajapakse’s media division announced that a “new mechanism is to be formulated to repatriate Sri Lankans.” Information about the “new mechanism” has not yet been released.

On Wednesday, Army Commander Shavendra Silva, head of the National Operation Centre for the Prevention of COVID-19, told the media that 157 coronavirus cases had resulted from workers returning from abroad. “If more Sri Lankans were repatriated from Middle Eastern (ME) countries,” he said, “there’s the possibility of more infected patients.”

Workers jostle to get seat in bus at Kottawa (Credit: WSWS)

Between May 24 and 28, the number of confirmed infections in Sri Lanka spiked by 383, to a total of 1,524. The increase was a new record and saw the government allocate two additional hospitals—in Hambantota and Teldeniya—to deal with the growing number of cases. The surge was a result virus-infected migrant workers returning from Kuwait, Dubai and Qatar, along with increased cases among Sri Lankan sailors.

The migrant workers have correctly pointed out that they became infected because Colombo refused to organise their prompt repatriation. There are still more than 16,000 migrant workers stranded with lapsed visas in Kuwait alone.

On April 21, the Kuwaiti government granted a “general amnesty period” so these workers could leave the country. The Sri Lankan government, however, failed to immediately organise their return, even as the pandemic rapidly spread in Kuwait.

The Sri Lankan workers, many of whom are destitute and currently staying in unsafe and overcrowded accommodation, even staged a protest outside the Sri Lankan embassy in Kuwait. Several workers spoke out on a YouTube video calling on Colombo to get them back home.

R. Wickremanayake, a Sri Lankan printer in Sharjah, a city in the United Arab Emirates, told the WSWS that his salary was cut by 50 percent last month and then reduced by 40 percent in May. His previous 1,600 dirhams ($US435) monthly salary is now just 640 dirhams.

Social-distancing not possible as workers board bus in Kottawa (Credit: WSWS)

The government hospitals were full of patients and migrant workers were instructed to remain where they were even if they became ill, he said. The Sri Lankan government had done nothing more than advising the migrant workers to be careful and register their locations.

There are over one million Sri Lankan migrant workers in the Middle East, one component of the multi-million-strong South Asian workforce toiling in that region for low wages and in horrible working conditions.

The cash-strapped Sri Lankan government depends on up to $7 billion in annual remittances from these workers. Successive Colombo governments have hypocritically praised these workers as the “lifeblood of the country,” but the real attitude of Sri Lanka’s ruling elite was blurted out by Mahindananda Aluthgamage, a former minister and ruling Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna leader. Appearing on the Derana talk show this week, he referred to the infected workers as “bombs.”

While Middle Eastern governments want to send back the migrant workers, Colombo is not interested. Discouraging expatriate workers from returning home, Ravinatha Ariyasinha, Sri Lanka’s foreign ministry secretary, said: “Our plea to these employees, as we did to students some time ago, is to ask them to carefully calibrate the possible loss of jobs or loss of educational opportunity or major delays which can occur with their return.”

The attitude of the Sri Lankan capitalist class towards these workers echoes observations made by Friedrich Engels about the British bourgeoisie in his 1845 book The Condition of the Working Class in England: “For it [the bourgeoisie] nothing exists in this world, except for the sake of money, itself not excluded. It knows no bliss save that of rapid gain, no pain save that of losing gold. In the presence of this avarice and lust of gain, it is not possible for a single human sentiment or opinion to remain untainted.”

On May 26, as it was rejecting the stranded Sri Lankan migrant workers’ appeals, Colombo continued its reckless reopening of the economy, ending the daytime lockdown for all districts, including the country’s most virus-affected commercial centres in Colombo and Gampaha.

Army Commander Silva, however, cynically declared: “We are winning the war against the deadly virus. What I expect from the public is to bear with us for another few weeks by strictly adhering to health and security advisories, paramount being physical distancing and hygiene.”

These health directives cannot be observed by workers, who have to travel on overcrowded buses or railways and endure workplaces where social distancing is impossible.

The Rajapakse government’s callous indifference towards the plight of the stranded migrants is the same as its attitude towards workers inside Sri Lanka. The government has not bothered to even issue an estimate on national job losses or the numbers of people with no income. There is no official information on whose wages and pensions have been slashed, and whose working hours have increased.

Like its counterparts around the world, the Sri Lankan government, with the support of a compliant media, is covertly practicing “herd immunity” policies that allow the virus to spread unhindered and infect the most vulnerable sections of society.

From the outset, the Rajapakse government downplayed the deadly disease when the first case was discovered in January and claimed that the problem was “under control.”

Colombo is disregarding World Health Organization (WHO) advice and attempting to paint a rosy picture of the situation, asserting that Sri Lanka is “open for business.”

WHO emergencies head Dr. Mike Ryan said on May 25 that COVID-19 cases were still “increasing in Central and South America, South Asia and Africa,” and that “infection rates could rise again more quickly if measures to halt the first wave were lifted too soon.”

According to figures released yesterday by the national health bureau, daily average tests conducted in Sri Lanka between February 18 and May 27 were just 883, one of the lowest rates in the world.

WSWS

Gota’s ‘One Country One Law’ Doctrine In Shambles: Outrage Over Thonda’s 6 Day Funeral And VIP Pilgrimages

MAY 31, 2020

A six day funeral for CWC leader Arumugam Thondaman, the SLPP aligned upcountry politico has sparked outrage with thousands of people violating curfew and flouting social distancing regulations in the Hill Country and Colombo to pay respects with the police turning a blind eye to the fiasco.

According to official police figures more than 65,000 people have been arrested throughout the island for violating the quarantine curfew. Scores have been arrested for failing to wear face-masks outdoors since the quarantine ended.

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s Government has actively propagated the doctrine “one country-one law” through its private media wing and police department in response to calls to end the forcible cremation of Muslims even when they have not been diagnosed with coronavirus. Howls of protests by Muslims and activists over the use of the coronavirus crisis to crackdown on dissent and discriminate against minorities have been ignored by President Gotabaya and his team on the basis that all Sri Lankans must make sacrifices to battle the virus.

However Thondaman’s funeral has continued to draw large crowds in the plantations as the cortege travels from hill country station to station. The deceased politico’s son has also used the funeral procession to launch his political career from the sun-roof of a SUV. Thondaman Junior has already been replaced as the CWC candidate on the SLPP nomination list. In Kotagala a police car was seen escorting the procession which was a mass gathering in violation of quarantine regulations.

The Center for Monitoring Election Violence has lodged a formal complaint with the Elections Commission saying the funeral had been used by the SLPP replacement candidate as a campaign parade. The Elections Commission has been largely silent over multiple election violations taking place in the guise of fighting corona virus. When it does crack down on complaints, the Government reacts by blaming the Commission for the difficulty to distribute relief.

Meanwhile in a further display of blatantly discriminatory application of the law President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa and Hambantota District MP Namal Rajapaksa visited historic Buddhist temples for Poson Poya ceremonies, proudly posting photos of the religious events on their official social media accounts. However all mosques remained shut for the Eid festival and an islandwide curfew has been declared on Poson Poya preventing the gathering of pilgrims at religious places.

Namal Rajapaksa took part in the Aloka Pooja at Tissamaharama Rajamahavihara on Saturday while President Gotabaya Rajapaksa participated in religious ceremonies at Somawathiya in Polonnaruwa. Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa attended religious ceremonies at the Temple of the Tooth in Kandy.

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50 years of Rajapaksa – A collective failure

31 May 2020

This week has seen a series of political leaders congratulate Sri Lanka’s Prime Minister, alleged war criminal Mahinda Rajapaksa, for his 50 years in parliament. His political career is marked by the entrenchment of a corrupt military establishment; virulent Sinhala Buddhist nationalism; and a genocidal campaign against the Tamil people.

Yet, these feats are not solely due to one man’s political aspiration but rather the results of an entire system which has consistently failed the Tamil people. The international community turned a blind eye to the genocide at Mullivaikkal; Sri Lankan parties of all stripes collaborate to protect war criminals; and supposed Tamil leaders legitimise the authoritarian rule of the government. Nevertheless, at the centre of all this carnage, Mahinda Rajapaksa stands.

Empty words

"If the government is going to deny human rights, we should go not only go to Geneva, but to any place in the world, or to hell if necessary, and act against the government. The lamentation of this country’s innocents should be raised anywhere".

These are the words that Mahinda said on 25 October 1990. On this year he was arrested at Colombo airport as he attempted to smuggle documents on the “disappeared” to the UN in Geneva. It has been reported that over 16,000 people went missing during the JVP 1988-89 insurrection.

Rajapaksa claimed that it was necessary to seek support from the international community in pursuit of justice and advocated for conditions to be placed on aid to Sri Lanka. Yet in little over a decade this same man was leading a brutal war against the Tamil people which led to mass human rights violations. An estimated 20,000 people disappeared at the end of the war. Many were seen taken into military custody never to be seen again.

Despite over a decade of protests from family members desperate to know what happened to their loved ones, as well as outcries from the humanitarian organisations Rajapaksa claimed to appreciate, there has been no accountability for those forcibly disappeared. The Office of Missing Persons (OMP) has consistently failed in its ability to follow up on leads as it does not have the power to challenge Sri Lanka’s military.

Reflecting on his visit to Jaffna, former British Prime Minister, David Cameron stated:

“I went to a refugee camp, whose existence the regime denied. I’ll never forget the crowds of women, holding up photos of young men, desperate to tell us their stories. We all had letters thrust towards us about these sons, husbands, fathers and brothers who had surrendered to the military and not been seen since. What had happened to them?”

Rajapaksa’s call for international support to improve Sri Lanka’s human right situation has vanished and there are now only accusations of institutional bias. In September 2015, Mahinda Rajapaksa called on the Sirisena government to reject a UN report calling for a hybrid court to investigate war crimes.

“All the important staff positions in this body are held by Westerners who make up half the cadre of the OHCHR... Given the composition of the OHCHR, it would not be possible to expect an impartial inquiry from them", Rajapaksa claimed.

A Sinhala King 

Contemporary supporters of Mahinda Rajapaksa often draw a comparison of him to the ancient Sinhalese King, Dutugemunu, who defeated the Tamil king Ellalan. A distinction to be drawn however is that Dutugemunu made peace with the Tamils and honoured the memory of Ellalan, who was beloved by his people. Instead, the Rajapaksas have chosen a different path, occupying the Tamil homeland in their quest to eradicate Tamil claims to sovereignty.

This project was not invented by the Rajapaksas. On the contrary, it has been the cornerstone of Sri Lankan politics for generations. But the Rajapaksa regime is perhaps marked out by the brazenness with which the brothers carried out their abuses.

Mahinda Rajapaksa was first elected President on 17 November 2005, where he gained a narrow majority of 190,000 votes. Once he came into office, Rajapaksa willingly aligned with the most fervent Sinhala nationalist voices and gained the support of the majority of the Sinhala community. He was able to satiate concerns by the international community by maintaining the pretence that he supported peace.

Rajapaksa would manage this by setting strict timeframes for the LTTE to "renounce separatism, demilitarize, enter into the democratic process and discussion of a final solution and implementation of such a solution”.

All of this was premised on a fundamental rejection of the Tamil desire for self-determination and an insistence on a “unitary” state. Such a project would undeniably be accompanied by attempts to dilute Tamil claims to a traditional homeland through means of colonisation, ethnic cleansing and the redrawing of boundaries.

As Jan Jananayagam wrote in 2007;

“almost every decade since the 1950’s has seen such state-aided colonization projects being implemented, supported by official and paramilitary violence against the Tamils […] But it is the first time it is being done with the international community in close attendance”.

Today such demographic engineering is managed through the overt seizure of land and undermining of Tamil fishing rights as well as covertly through the imposition of Buddhist shrines, heritage sites and archaeological ‘discoveries’.

Read more from Pearl: Sinhalization of Pulmoaddai

It is not only that Tamil land is being stolen and occupied but that the remaining land is heavily militarised. In Mullaitivu, there are an estimated two soldiers for every civilian. Rajapaksa has said he will leave “no room for extremism to surface again” and he means to enforce this through a brutal military occupation.

Rajapaksa's legacy

Rajapaksa’s legacy will forever be stained by the blood of those killed in Mullivaikkal. Whilst an exact figure on the number of deaths during the final months is not possible, the UN has estimated 70,000 whereas local census records indicate at least 146,679.

The final stages of the war were met with a litany of human rights violations. The shelling of hospitals; the execution of the surrendered; and rampant torture and sexual violence. The perpetrators of such crimes have not been held to account; instead, notorious figures such as Shavendra Silva command the army.

It is important to recognise that this is not solely the feat of one individual, but of successive governments. The massacres that took place during the final stages of the war demanded the collaboration of all main political parties and the country’s press so as to ensure that such crimes were never brought to justice.

During those final stages, despite overwhelming UN evidence of these atrocities the UNP and JVP rallied to support Rajapaksa’s regime and represented a united front against accountability for state war crimes - a united front of Sinhala Buddhist nationalism.

Fifty years on and Sri Lankan politics has continued down a path of Sinhala nationalism.

Thousands have disappeared; war criminals command the government, and Rajapaksa stands again at the helm of it all with his brother.