28 March, 2024

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The Resurrection Of Wasim Thajudeen Raises Questions-Deep Questions

By Shyamon Jayasinghe – 

Shyamon Jayasinghe

Shyamon Jayasinghe

… like a long-lost person suddenly discovered floating in the ocean-as a cadaver.”

The single and personal saga of popular young ruggerite Wasim Thajudeen’s mysterious death is bound to push election news aside in this last week of the General Election period. News stands already abound with stories of his death. The grapevines and gossip lines have gotten busy. Truth is getting mixed with fiction but the resultant public narrative is getting juicier by the hour.

What was deemed an inconsequential issue and was thought buried for good under a regime that had acquired the power to hush anything that became uncomfortable to it, has now surfaced like a long lost person suddenly discovered floating in the ocean-as a cadaver.

In the old days, we had the Kavi Kola Karaya who invasively steps into public transport and recites eloquently his version of a sordid narrative. I remember how during the sixties, when I was in Galle, the Dayman Kularatne murder news spread like wild fire via informal and formal channels. I was a youngster then working at the Galle Katchcheri. I rushed to the scene of the murder. In the case of the Thajudeen story, the naming of the then ruling family has material that has an infinite combustive potential. The eventual turnout of the various charges and accusations will depend on the results of the General Elections.

Yoshitha ShiranthiThe following news story that appeared online on the 9th of August gives the outlines of what other published and unpublished stories have been giving the reader during the past few days after the investigation was resurrected.

Here’s the news story:

“Economynext (Daily Brief) Gruesome details have emerged of the murder of Sri Lanka rugger player Wasim Thajudeen ahead of the exhumation of his body, official sources said today.

The killers are said to have made a former girlfriend of Wasim’s listen to him being tortured, the sources said, adding that the horrific account of the events will form part of the evidence in the case.

A dossier has already been prepared by the CID which has questioned the former girl friend who had served a brief stint as a Sri Lankan diplomat, a position given apparently to buy her silence.
However, with the collapse of the Rajapaksa regime in January this year, she was recalled along with all other political appointees.

The authorities have identified sexual jealousy of a VVIP as the motive for the torture and murder which according to minister Rajitha Senaratne was carried out by three members of the Presidential Security Division.

The new president has already ordered a major shakeup of the PSD following Senaratne’s claim as well as for several other lapses that may have even risked the life of President Maithripala Sirisena.

What is most ironic is that Thajudeen is believed to have been abducted in a vehicle said to belong to the Red Cross Society of Sri Lanka, an organisation which by charter is obliged to stand against arbitrary arrest, detention, torture and murder.

The local head of the Red Cross Society, Jagath Abeysinghe, has remained silent although police sources said he had been questioned about the use of a Red Cross vehicle to abduct Thajudeen.

The Red Cross boss is reported to have maintained that the vehicle at the time had been “gifted” to the Siriliya Foundation of former First Lady Shiranthi Rajapaksa.”

These are, of course, charges but it is a fact that they are serious charges. My question is: Could we believe such horror? Can a killer get a lover of the victim listen while the brutal attack is being made? The killing process of Sunday Leader editor, Laasantha Wickrematunge before a morning crowd in crowded area proximate to a security zone had similar gruesome accounts. Lasantha was butchered-his brain shattered into smithereens and he was hacked to death. To date, the government of the day has not demonstrated that they did their best to bring culprits to book. I remember how the Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa appeared quite blithe over TV when interviewed by BBC about the episode.

Frankly, I had not heard of this kind of macabre stuff occurring in Sri Lanka ever. Our people have not been that black, I thought. The closest was the CTC robbery that occurred decades ago. Of course, there are pending tales of the massacre of civilians during the last stages of the war which cries for investigation. There have been individual cases like that of Richard De Zoysa during the Premadasa regime and the rape of the European tourist lass down South. Although Sarath Fonseka was not murdered, his incarceration in jail smacks of the same deficiency of lack of respect for human dignity. Even a softer illustration was the unlawful impeachment of the 43rd Chief Justice. these incidents all represent a scant disregard for human life and dignity.

At this stage, one cannot make any conclusions about the guilt of those accused of the deliberate slaughter of Thajudeen. Let’s hope the justice system, now restored, will look into that. However, it becomes in the vital public interest for us, Sri Lankans, to ask ourselves serious hypothetical questions that bear on this growing culture of disrespect for life that had been fostered during the recent past. When these things did happen to Lasantha and (hypothetically) if it could have happened to Thajudeen, then where are we heading as a nation? To a Dark Age from which nobody will come out unscathed? Isn’t this the surest sign of the breakdown of the law and order process under the Rajapaksa Regime as a result of totalitarianism politicization? The two processes are internally linked.

Hand in hand with that collapse was a burgeoning supportive culture of “minding one’s business.” And this is, perhaps, the worser thing that happened. Our intellectuals, our academics and our artists tended to join the disastrous bandwagon of indifferent people. When I observe a venerable and respected litterateur, now in a ‘patriotic movement,’ jump up and make a great hue and cry about a proposal for a bridge linking our country with India but say nothing of the recurring episodes of crimes to humanity taking place in the island, my heart bleeds. When I hear a most talented actor recreate a new history that shows Mahinda Rajapaksa as a coming in a line of descent from the Buddha my disbelief loses bounds.

It doesn’t become one’s business until it does become one’s business-someday, sometime. These constitute central issues for the country. Believe me, nothing else matters. You and I and our kids must have a governance environment that gives us protection of the law. We seem to have lost our priorities as simple human beings and so we fight among ourselves to save our tribe. The tribe can flourish only if humanity flourishes. And if we look at our common humanity we can also solve our tribal problems more intelligently.

sjturaus@optusnet.com.au

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Latest comments

  • 13
    1

    SYLVIYA’S story about Saddam Hussein’s son is similar to what appears to have happened in Thajudeen’s case. If MR gets back well we are in for real life events like that of Saddam Huussein’s son

  • 3
    38

    shyamon Jayasinghe and friends

    you bloody fellows, as there is no good reason and see this time also mahinda will come to power with the votes of truesons and daughters of soil, try to tarnish image of our beloved mahinda and his family who eliminated most ruthless terrorist organisation who by forcibly recruited poor tamil (so called low caste) and used as suicide bombers and destroyed sri lanka,’
    have you fellow forgotten that it was UNP govt of JR and Ranil (uncle and nephew) that killed thousands of innocent tamils and burnt down houses and business premises of tamils thus largely giving birth to present problems

    then again in 1989 who tortured ,killed and burnt on streets more than 60,000 poor rural sinhala youth .it was not certainly mahinda Rajapakse or his family members.But UNP govt where Ranil wickramasinghe was prime minister in 1988-1989.
    then who is the murderer, who is responsible for killing of sinhalese and tamils is thousands.

  • 13
    5

    Mr Jayasinghe declares: “our people have not been that black”. Very strange for a man coming from the South who remembers a kaki kola karaya but not the fact that 70,000 young Sinhalese were exterminated by a brutalized army during the JVP uprising. Homicide in South Ceylon, the title of a book by CHS Jayawardene, a forensic scientist accounts for the fact that the murder rates in South Ceylon are among the highest in the world. The SInhala Buddhist will say “aney pauw aney” when a worm is killed but this does not apply to people being killed. Your amnesia is what undoes you as a people without empathy for killing of other human beings. You forget other Sinhalese who got killed by being carted off in white vans, the less powerful ones like Ekneligoda, who will be forgotten if not for the strength of a good woman who keeps fighting for him.Do not forget them. They all have to be accounted for. Until then, do not exonerate your people from blackness.

    I write as a Tamil who went through riots in 1956, 1958, the Black July riots and other killings, culminating in Mullivaikal in the killing of over 70,000 Tamils. No one was punished for those killings. Now you have one Muslim young man about whom a lot of fuss is made because of political expediency when it was not too long ago that there were riots in Aluthgama against the Muslims, quietly hushed up.

    I must say that the Tamil diaspora is unlikely to forget the genocide of the Tamils that has taken place. I suggest that you not try to vindicate “your people” but ensure that persons responsible are punished through the holding of an international inquiry.

    It is only then that collectively our people can come together and make peace in the country. Accountability is a necessary precondition for such peace.

  • 12
    1

    Matharage has got Mahinda Pisu like Mahinda!

  • 2
    25

    Shaymon Jayasainghe is carrying the exhumed corpse of a dead Muslim on his shoulder,to help the Batalanada Torture Chamber Operators get over the line…

    Must be desperate times for the UNP JVP and new converts Chamapika & Rajitha….

    • 22
      2

      is that the best you can do to defend MR ?

      how about throwing some more key words like ‘a dollar a day,diasporians,the elites,smabandan,dalits,vellalas…..get lost sumanasekera you sound like a broken record

  • 12
    1

    It is a bad time for Mahinda. All his ghosts of the past are following him. Lasantha was one. Now Thajudeen! The living hurt like Fonseka and Shirani are waiting for their last laugh at a dictator who felt he must be above the law and do anything to anyone-at will. His stooges have fallen off.Only KA Sumanasekera lives and writes.

  • 6
    0

    The culture of killing, murder, kidnapping, torture, rape etc., in Lanka is only thriving as time goes. It’s never ending but increasing due to the government’s attitude and the lack of punishments. Due accountability or appropriate punishments are a very rare phenomenon in Lanka.
    All the so called political leaders(?) encourage or just don’t want to take appropriate measures to curb these crimes for reasons of their own. It’s all their uncultured attitude and improper upbringing.
    Every government, law makers, minsters and all politicos irrespective of party politics wants to safe guard MR & the culprits from international investigations. Every one knows what MR, Gota and their forces did to people.
    But every one including RW,My3 et el are totally against any investigation. Why ? This is how they discriminate and encourage crimes in the country.

    This is the sad Lankan history all along with every thing. Specially, crimes against minorities are never ever punished. That’s the political culture developed all along by every leader of the country, after independence(?)
    What’s the point in crying foul now ? You guys encouraged all the evil things and the country is gone to dogs. Talking of Buddhism and doing everything against humanity, religion,and safeguarding thugs , thuggery will only ruin every ones existence, peace and prosperity.
    Racism, jealousy, hatred are taught right from the beginning of every child.
    Every evil things are allowed to flourish. Rule of law abandoned. How could a society ever grow up as good citizen ?
    We are digging our own graves, always, without ever stopping it.

  • 1
    0

    First of all our voters must realize the value of their votes. Had they carefully voted in 2006 Preseidential Election ,Horrible Mahinda Rajapakse couldn’t have come to power. All the corruptions are attributable to our voters’ mistake.

    • 0
      1

      Really? Batalanda toture cmamber; appointment of a convicted arapist and terroriser of the local community,Gonawala Sunil as a Justice of the Peace; siphoning of 59 Biion Rupees in the biggest fraud in one single day in Asia. ; precting and promoting corrupt politicians to high office

  • 1
    1

    Will Shaymon resurrect Rohana Wijeweera, Vijaya Kumaranatunga and even Athlathmudali to Raise Questions , really deep Questions ?.

    Who shot Rohana? Did the bullet enter from the back . sides or front of the head?.

    Or Rohana just jumped off the Jeep, which would have been in the Police Unit which was similar to Bataland’s new F,,,,,,CID.

    Who fixed Vijaya . Was it full frontal Gal Katass attack?..

    That was the standard issue weapon our “Che Guieveras” used when I was running around in Huggies.

    Or was it a more sophisticated Police issue or even Army issue weapon because Batalanada Ranil’s uncle was best buds with Anura Kumara’s predecessors, including the boss Dude, Somawansa who got the ass from the “Prince”.

    Whisky Madam was adamant that it was a JVP hit.

    My elders tell me she even had a Royal Commission , when she became a Yahapalana Boss to fix the JVP. but nothing happened.

    With Yahapalana original in place then, under Uncle Junius of course , JVP Terrorists, , sorry reformed ones couldn’t have just blended in to the thin air, after eliminating the most formidable opponent of the UNP.

    These two resurrections are more important and more relevant to the Election than the Muslim youth who just played Rugger not Politics.

    Because Batalanda Ranil , Prince Anura Kumara and the Madam are sharing the same bed , metaphorically speaking of course, to give us Yahapalanaya…Get it Guys.

    Athulathmudali murder, according to my Elders was a family matter between the UNP and the LTTE .

    And Batalanada Ranil , I am told was a young Minister then.

    Perhaps cutting his teeth in Yahapalanaya..

  • 3
    2

    This man must be having selective amnesia.To all those Unp people who are gunning for MR do some research on Sri Lanka Past and then comment.Black July83
    riots that killed thousands of innocent hard working tamils did not happen under
    Mahinda.It happened under UNP in which Ranil Wikremasinge was a senior minister.Batalanda Torture chambers in which more than sixty thousand sinhalese youths who was tortured and burnt alive did not happen under Mahinda.It happened
    under the Batalanda Ranil who was the chief guru.Giving arms to LTTE to fight
    IPKF did not happen under Mahinda.These are undisputable facts.We certainly do not want to go back that Beeshanaya Yugaya ever

  • 2
    1

    Sumanesekera where is your mind gone? What has Roahana Wijeweera have to do with Thajudeen. Have you got your screws lose because Mara is collapsing?

  • 1
    0

    Shiranthi is in possession of all the LTTE gold and the poor tamil peoples gold that was robbed. It is all in her possession.

    She is one big time rogue. Why is she out and about , roaming around in every place of religious worship kissing all the statutes..Arrest and jail her.

    • 1
      0

      Evidence please : we ve been searching for evidence to go against her.

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