By Dayan Jayatilleka –
Dr. Dayan Jayatilleka
I have no intention of even implicitly commenting on the legality of the ongoing incarceration of Douglas Devananda.
I’ve no legal background, and that’s because, having been selected for the Law Faculty at the University of Colombo on the basis of my A level results, I opted to study Political Science instead. I did so because I had an acute sense of the asymmetry between the law and justice and had developed a growing compulsion on issues of ethics—issues of right and wrong, good and evil.
However, as someone who has had a book published in the UK on political ethics, I have no compunction is saying that as a country, as a society, there has to be a better way than what’s befalling Douglas Devananda.
It is morally and ethically wrong, indeed a travesty, that Douglas, a wounded hero of the anti-LTTE war, should spend New Year 2026 in the dreaded Mahara prison.
Douglas should be honoured as a rare example of a young man, who having quite understandably taken up arms to fight against Sinhala racism and for the Tamil people, decided while still a young man to opt to fight on the side of the democratic Sri Lankan state and to campaign for devolution for the North and East within the framework of a united Sri Lanka and its Constitution.
Douglas was an admired young leader of the PLA, the military wing of the Marxist EPRLF when he began to be known. That’s when I first knew him and the capacity in which I first knew him.
Nothing is more ironic than the historical fact that in July 1983 he survived the horrifying Welikada prison massacres, during which Sinhala prisoners, instigated and incentivized from outside (Gonawela Sunil is a name that transpired), slaughtered Tamil prisoners and gauged out their eyes.
Having escaped from jail in Batticaloa, Douglas came back to Sri Lanka in 1989, having had a change of heart after hundreds of youngsters belonging to the EPRLF, PLOT, and TELO had been massacred from 1986 onwards by the hardcore separatist, totalitarian Tigers. He was welcomed by President Premadasa and Minister Ranjan Wijeratne who took him and his ‘boys’ under their wing. There are photos of Douglas in shorts and carrying an automatic weapon, accompanying Ranjan Wijeratne and the Sri Lankan armed forces after the liberation of the islands off Jaffna from the Tiger grip.
It is Douglas who kept those vital islands safe, together with the Navy, throughout the war.
Douglas stayed with the democratic Sri Lankan state, remaining loyal to the elected president of the day, without ever turning on his or her predecessor. He probably still wears, as he did for decades, the fountain pen that President Premadasa gifted him.
During the LTTE’s offensive on Jaffna after the fall of Elephant Pass, the mass base built up by Douglas which gave the EPDP many municipal seats, helped keep Jaffna itself safe, with more Tamil civilians fleeing into Jaffna than out of it. I recall President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga giving him a satellite phone. Army Chief Lionel Balagalle gave him a pair of mini-Uzis for his safety.
Douglas was no paramilitary leader, pure and simple. His public speech on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party, delivered without a teleprompter, is an excellent roadmap for the graduated implementation of the 13th amendment and the attainment of maximum devolution within a unitary state.
Like Chandrika, Douglas has had his sight severely impaired by the LTTE. As a Minister he had visited Tamil detainees imprisoned in wartime, and been set upon by a group of LTTE prisoners who had planned for his visit, concealing sharpened handles of steel buckets in the ceiling, and slammed the pointed metal through his skull. Douglas still needs repeated daily medication for his eyes which were miraculously saved by the Sri Lankan surgeons who repaired his skull, but at a subsequent stage, he was also treated by surgeons overseas.
No Sri Lankan, Sinhala or Tamil, civilian politician or military brass, has survived as many attempted assassinations by the Tigers as has Douglas. I believe the count is eleven. There’s a video somewhere of a suicide bomber blasting herself in his office, yards away from him.
Under no previous Sri Lankan administration since the early 1980s has Douglas found himself behind bars. He has served and/or supported seven democratic Presidents: Premadasa, Wijetunga, Chandrika, Mahinda, Sirisena, Gotabaya and Wickremesinghe. He has been a Minister over decades and a parliamentarian for longer.
He was a firm frontline ally of the Sri Lankan state and its armed forces during the worst challenge the country faced from the worst enemy it had since Independence.
During my tenure as Sri Lanka’s ambassador/Permanent representative to the UN Geneva, Douglas Devananda came from Colombo to defend Sri Lanka in discussions with high level UN officials including UN Human Rights High Commissioner Navanethem Pillay. This was in April 23, mere weeks before the decisive battle of the UN HRC Special session on Sri Lanka which we won handsomely. The media release on his visit reads as follows:
‘A high-level delegation led by the Hon. Minister Douglas Devananda, Minister of Social Services and Social Welfare, which also included the Hon. Rishad Bathiudeen, Minister of Resettlement and Disaster Relief Services, H.E. Dr. Dayan Jayatilleka, Ambassador/ Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the United Nations Office in Geneva, Prof. Rajiva Wijesinha, Secretary to the Ministry of Disaster Management and Human Rights, and Mr. Yasantha Kodagoda, Deputy Solicitor General, Attorney General’s Department, represented Sri Lanka at the Durban Review Conference.
Organized by the United Nations, the Durban Review Conference provides an opportunity to assess and accelerate progress on implementation of measures adopted at the 2001 World Conference against Racism, including assessment of contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance. On the opening day of this conference, Hon. Douglas Devananda made a statement behalf of the Government of Sri Lanka.
On the sidelines of the Durban Review Conference which is being held from 20th to 24th of April 2009, the Sri Lankan delegation met with senior UN officials, and a number of dignitaries from diverse countries and updated them on the current situation in Sri Lanka against the backdrop of Sri Lanka’s fight against separatism and terrorism.
Hon. Devananda and Hon. Bathiudeen, along with the rest of the delegation, held meetings with Ms. Navanethem Pillai, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mr. Antonio Guterres, UN High Commissioner for Refugees (and a former Prime Minister of Portugal) and Mr. Anders Johnsson, Secretary-General of the Inter-Parliamentary Union.’
In contemporary world history, a leader from a minority community who defends the unity of his country against a separatist terrorist force deriving from that minority is hailed as a hero. A leader who takes the side of the democratic state, arms in hand, against a totalitarian fascistic foe, is hailed as a hero. Evidently, not so in current-day Sri Lanka.
I know the JVP and I know Douglas. He can be killed, or his health can be made to kill him through criminal neglect, inattention, and conditions of incarceration. But he won’t, can’t be broken.
Rajan / January 1, 2026
It is not too late to study law and go for his defence
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Agnos / January 1, 2026
“I know the JVP and I know Douglas.”
And that means you were privy to the murders and rapes of innocents in the name of counter-insurgency, the illegal sand business, etc., in the North. Moreover, as Premadasa’s wonder boy, you also knew about the killings of alleged JVP members in the South. Maybe the NPP ought to put you in jail as well. In good company with DD.
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Native Vedda / January 1, 2026
Agnos
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“Moreover, as Premadasa’s wonder boy, you also knew about the killings of alleged JVP members in the South. “
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You can’t blame him for the massacres of Sinhala innocent youth, actually that was the time he was striving to be part of the Sinhala/Buddhist establishment.
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My elders used to tell me about Premadasa’s two rottweilers one barked in Tamil and the other in English.
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“Maybe the NPP ought to put you in jail as well. “
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If anything he should be charged for denial of war crimes and crimes against humanity if at all Sri Lanka has the relevant laws.
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Intellectual dishonesty is another matter.
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leelagemalli / January 4, 2026
Agnos,
The Sri Lankan attitude (in general) causes them to overestimate their knowledge.
Had the self-proclaimed political anayst, DJ been clever, should he have advised better the MaRa government while their administration was going wrong?
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MaRa’s second tenure is claimed to have allowed for widespread corruption after the conflict was declared won in May 2009. Good counsel might keep MaRa from falling for his supporters’ tactics and misusing the acclaim bestowed upon him during the war win. Unfortunately, his power intoxication allowed former BARBARIANS to construct a favorable picture for themselves. People nowadays are ripped apart, unable to perceive things clearly. All of Jeppos’ exaggerations about enormous allegations against past leaders fade away one by one; yet, the AKD has exploited public funds for useless investigations.
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Today, the country is on the verge of becoming another Venisula, having chosen a man who knows nothing but payback for his exaggerations and more lies to the gallery. Corruption and abuse cannot be eliminated completely, but they can be mitigated by implementing stronger processes. If ANURO (like Zelenski and Madhuro) does not recognize it and continues to mislead the gallerie, any foreign power might violate our motherland’s sovereignty in the same way that the US did to Venezula yesterday. Ours is squeezed by India, the United States, and China.
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Singar A. Velan / January 1, 2026
I heard the arrest was over unaccounted for guns. CID might now add to that (a) a pen; (b) a satellite phone; and (c) a pair of mini-Uzis (whatever that is) :-)
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Ajith / January 1, 2026
“Douglas stayed with the democratic Sri Lankan state, remaining loyal to the elected president of the day, without ever turning on his or her predecessor.”
What a wonderful description of democracy. Unfortunately NPP/AKD is also a democratic government and democratic president and its decision fall in the same democratic Sri Lankan style. Douglas Devanda was not only loyal to elected President Gotabaya but also for unelected President. Wonderful democratic Sri Lanka.
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Ajith / January 2, 2026
“Are you seriously suggesting though, that he should be given a free pass when there are allegations that he had supplied weapons to the underworld?”
The answer is “NO” if the intention of the arrest was for finding all the criminals who have done the same crimes. If the intention is true you have to investigate first the fast Presidents and Prime ministers of the governments who governed the country. So far, AKD/NPP have not touched Rajappaksa Family, JR Jeyawardena Family, SWRD Family or Ranil Family. AKD was very close with Rajapaksa Family and Chandrika Family. Almost all judiciary failed to take action against the crimes. Almost all the Military was wrong. The selective approach, particularly targeting Tamil groups only under PTA may get the support of some Tamils or looks that this government is doing right but if it is to protect the violent Buddhism and those leaders who committed crimes against Tamil speaking people, then it will bring back another disaster to this country and people.
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Pundit / January 1, 2026
Douglas Devananda may have been a great ally of the South and a “patriot” in later years. Are you seriously suggesting though, that he should be given a free pass when there are allegations that he had supplied weapons to the underworld?
No matter whose side you were on, karma will always come back to bite you if you have lived a life of violence.
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Native Vedda / January 2, 2026
Pundit
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“Are you seriously suggesting though, that he should be given a free pass when there are allegations that he had supplied weapons to the underworld?”
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Some Tamils and Sinhalese believe that, since he consistently supported the state rather than any particular ruling government or party, he should be given some leeway—depending on how wisely he uses that opportunity.
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However, serious questions remain about the resources he accumulated since 1990. Will he fully disclose and declare all of them? Now that he has been arrested, what about his associates who also committed multiple crimes, escaped accountability, and financially benefited from their close association with him?
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Is nimal fernando looking for a hanging judge?
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Jit / January 2, 2026
“…I opted to study Political Science instead…”
Then political science should demand a refund! What you’ve practiced all your life isn’t political science but a cynical, opportunistic parody of it — crooked when convenient, evasive when necessary, and always in service of whoever happens to be useful to you at the moment.
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“…I had an acute sense of the asymmetry between the law and justice…”
If you ever had such a sense, you lost it long ago man! No one with even a basic moral compass would write this drivel defending Devananda. Your inability to distinguish right from wrong has been on display since the 1980s, and this piece only confirms it.
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Honestly, Dayan, grow up!
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Rajash / January 3, 2026
oh Dayan
you penning this article is a proof that Douglas is shrewd operator and literally gets away with murder, drug trafficking, land grabbing, prostitution, people smuggling and mesmerising the likes of Dayan
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Balanced View / January 3, 2026
If what matters to DJ is loyalty to an elected state with no questions asked, why is that loyalty to the current democratically elected president lagging in DJ. Why doesn’t DJ admit what matter to him are the majoritarianism and ethnocracy and it is at its best when it suits DJ to practice his naked opportunism.
Were the Uzis used to gun down innocent civilians and to kidnap youth for ransom? DJ seems to know a lot of things that could help the investigators.
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old codger / January 3, 2026
BV,
Dr. DJ is an opportunist par excellence. His best times were with Premadasa Snr, who took him quite seriously . That ended badly with his disrobing at Kanatta. His attempt to infiltrate the SJB failed because Sajith takes himself more seriously than any other.
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leelagemalli / January 3, 2026
BV,
Former leaders, whether labeled as “corrupted” or not, had certain strategic tactics to collaborating with northern leaders to achieve some peace.
Now, the AKD leadership assaults everyone with half-baked information and bluntness, without considering the consequences of spreading the wounds. Half-baked information leads to new disputes, as the ethnic and other concerns arising in this country require more extensive investigation than the AKD leadership has ever finished. Whether it’s educational reform, transportation, or anything else, they’ve become “teenagers” as of today. Premier is now stunned on her juvenile actions in terms of “LGBTQ” justice.
Imprisonment of Douglas Devananda will have severe implications, requiring the entire nation to engage in new forms of terror and racist atrocities. If ordinary people can elect former southern rebels and canibalists as leaders, the same logic should apply to former northern insurgents turned democratic leaders. Why the AKD leadership is acting so inconsistently is beyond comprehension. May the representatives of the varied people be endowed with brains in order to avert further divides extending the wounds and producing next terror actions.
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Govi / January 5, 2026
I never thought you would stoop to this low. Once again, you have proved yourself to be a typical racist.
Govi
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