{"id":109259,"date":"2013-10-08T11:18:43","date_gmt":"2013-10-08T05:48:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?p=109259"},"modified":"2013-10-13T16:21:28","modified_gmt":"2013-10-13T10:51:28","slug":"black-july-indira-gandhi-gunawanse-and-the-left","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/black-july-indira-gandhi-gunawanse-and-the-left\/","title":{"rendered":"Black July: Indira Gandhi, Gunawanse And The Left"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

By\u00a0Rajan Hoole<\/a><\/span>\u00a0–<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Rajan Hoole<\/p><\/div>\n

Sri Lanka\u2019s Black July\u00a0\u2013 Part 35<\/strong><\/strong><\/em><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

One piece of testimony came from IGP Rudra Rajasingham. When asked about the Left being accused of the July 1983\u00a0violence, he said that he was surprised when the accusation was made, adding that the Left was definitely not involved. This seemed a matter-of-fact statement made without any cal-culation. But when told that Ratnatunga and T.D.S.A. Dissanayaka had made him party to the accusation, he was disturbed and later even annoyed. Yet his silence all these years seems unaccountable if the President misquoted something that took place in his presence to which he was party.<\/p>\n

\n
\n

The truth has a funny side to it, and tells us something about Jayewardene. It comes from placing the key elements of Ratnatunga\u2019s testi- mony in a different perspective. An informant came to Ernest Perera on Wednesday night, the story goes, with information about the plot. The informant appeared to have had this informa- tion on Sunday (24th), but the reasons for the delay in communicating it are not comprehen- sible. (The informant reportedly put this down to Perera being at Kanatte till late on the 24th and there being a curfew on the 25th and 26th.) Rajasingham and Perera left the President at 9.00 PM on the 28th. Then according to Ratnatunga, Jayewardene summoned Ernest Perera to his private residence at 6.00 AM the following morn- ing and got him to dictate a statement to his pri- vate stenographer J.A. Paulasz.<\/p>\n

Jayewardene then made photocopies of the statement and gave it to his service chiefs and later in the morning to the visiting Indian For- eign Minister, Mr. Rao. This statement was about the said leftist plot to overthrow the Government and was in print with the signa- ture of an official for the first time. Ratnatunga says: \u201cIGP Rudra Rajasingham, although unaware of this new development, was however the least sur- prised.\u201d Ratnatunga appears to be saying something that he does not wish to elaborate. Jayewardene could have asked Perera to record a statement when he and Rajasingham were with him the previous evening, which he did not. Did Rajasingham too learn about the leftist plot for the first time when the state- ment was handed over to him the following (29th) morning?<\/p>\n

Certain truths stand out from this re- markable episode. There had been a wider constellation of forces of the extreme Right which the UNP had been trying to bring under its umbrella, that had lent their sup- port to the violence of July 1983. This has been suspected but not fully explored. Many of the links were informal and remained un- recorded. But there had been tell-tale signs for some time. Among them was the attempt to drive the Tamil students out of Peradeniya in May 1983 where the core organisers had strong UNP connections.<\/p>\n

It is also known that Gunawanse had met Jayewardene before the July violence and a more uncompromising approach to the Tamil ques- tion was also in evidence during the weeks lead- ing to it (e.g. Jayewardene\u2019s interview to the\u00a0Daily Telegraph). Although the problem was os- tensibly in the North, it suited others in the South (e.g. Sinhalese business interests which are rep- resented by the Press) to extend it to all the Tamils. According to local information, a good part of the loot from Black July too was acquired by Sinhalese mudalalis (businessmen). There had also been talk around about levelling down the Bambalapitiya and Anderson Flats, and chas- ing Tamils out of Wellawatte. Chasing out Tamils from border areas of the North-East and plant- ing Sinhalese colonies was a chief preoccupa- tion of Dissanayake\u2019s at that time. Gunawanse, his protege, too, according to Ratnatunge, re- minded Jayewardene of this during their meet- ing on 28th July.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Another fact that stands out is that it was principally the firm interest then shown by In- dia that helped to end the violence sooner, limit the damage suffered by the Tamils and give them a fighting chance of asserting their rights. (Those who do not wish to admit it, avoid the issue by cataloguing a long list of social evils of India.) The sovereignty of this country was thus im- paired by forcing India to intervene on behalf of the Tamils and in turn by pushing the Tamils to look to India for their security. Thus the greatest damage to this country\u2019s sovereignty was caused by the forces of the extreme Right who ironically make the most of sovereignty.<\/p>\n

Throughout his account of the July 1983 vio- lence, Ratnatunga holds out tantalisingly (as in the Migara column) the prospect of Left involve- ment. He speaks of a meeting of ministers with Jayewardene at his residence on the 26th evening, and again at the cabinet meeting the next morn- ing, where a suggestion to declare the Soviet (Russian) Ambassador persona non grata, close down the embassy and expel the staff, was dis- cussed and abandoned. This was no doubt dis- cussed as a means to find a scapegoat and pacify the West from where concern was being voiced. He however finds that his evidence cannot sus- tain a Left conspiracy as the cause, and at the end of Chapter 2 opts for \u2018disgruntled soldiery and wounded Sinhalese pride\u2019 (p.69).<\/p>\n

Yet on page 404 of his 408 page book, Ratnatunga returns to speculate on the July \u201983 violence being a joint plot between \u2018Tamil Marx- ist guerrillas and Sinhalese Marxist parties\u2019 to destabilise and overthrow the pro-Western Gov- ernment. This was while completing his book in early 1988. But Jayewardene had already claimed this in his address to the UNP parlia-<\/p>\n

\n

mentary group on 4th August 1983 and disowned it in his interview with the Manchester Guardian three days later (see Sect.13.3). Again, Ratnatunga has absolutely no evidence to show for a Marxist plot after the passage of four and a half years. He adds rather lamely, \u201cSome evidence has been found not of direct links, but possible links through middle men. Was the burning of factories…a method of throwing the hammer and sickle into the capitalist works?\u201d<\/p>\n

There was perhaps a pressing reason for Ratnatunga to have returned to this theme. When he began writing the book, the JVP was a marginal force. Between April 1987 and the sign-ing of the Accord at the end of July the same year, it had mushroomed into a major force. At the time the book was being finished, the JVP had become the Government\u2019s major pre-occu- pation. In the book titled Politics of Terrorism: The Sri Lankan Experience released in 1988, there is no discussion of the JVP! More than the author\u2019s fault, it points to a serious lacuna in Southern debate and perceptions about the July 1983 vio- lence, after which the JVP was banned and com- placently cast aside as a scapegoat. There was scant thought of the deadly mushrooms that would spring from beneath the rubble and ashes of July 1983.<\/p>\n

To be continued..<\/em><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/em><\/strong>Part one –\u00a0Sri Lanka\u2019s Black July: Borella, 24th Evening<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Part two –\u00a0<\/strong>Sri Lanka\u2019s Black July: What Really Happened At Kanatte?<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Part three –\u00a0<\/strong>Black July: \u2018Api Suddha Kara\u2019 \u2013 JR\u2019s Failure To Declare Curfew<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Part four –\u00a0Sri Lanka\u2019s Black July: The Cover Up<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Part five –<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a030th July 1983: The Second Naxalite Plot<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Part six \u00a0–<\/strong>\u00a0Black July: The Testimony Of Lionel Bopage, Then General Secretary Of The JVP<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Part seven –<\/strong>\u00a0Black July: Thondaman & Muttetuwegama<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Part eight –<\/strong>\u00a0What Was Behind Tiger Friday \u2013 29th July? -The Significance Of The Pettah<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Part nine –\u00a0<\/strong>Tamil Merchants In The Pettah \u2013 Post July 1983<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Part ten \u2013 \u00a0Sri Lanka\u2019s Black July: A Family\u2019s Tragedy In Colombo<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Part eleven –<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0Sri Lanka\u2019s Black July: The Question Of Numbers<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Part twelve \u2013 \u00a0<\/strong>Welikade Prison Massacres: The First Massacre: 25th July 1983<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Part thirteen \u2013 \u00a0Welikade Prison Massacres: Testimonies Given At The Magistrate\u2019s Inquest<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Part fourteen –<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0Circumstances Leading To The Magistrate\u2019s Inquest<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Part fifteen –\u00a0Welikade Prison: The Second Massacre: 27th July 1983<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Part sixteen –\u00a0Welikade Prison Massacres: Chief Jailor Observed Army Commandos Coming In<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Part seventeen –\u00a0Welikade Prison Massacres: Postscript<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Part eighteen –\u00a0July 1983: Planned By The State Or Spontaneous Mob Action?<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Part nineteen –\u00a0July 1983: Ranil Wickremasinghe Followed Cyril Mathew<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Part twenty –\u00a0Events Of 24th July \u2013 The Eve Of The Holocaust: Who Wanted A Military Funeral?<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Part twenty one \u2013 \u00a0Events Of 24th July: What Were The Army\u2019s Orders?<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Part twenty two –\u00a0Black July: Further Evidence Of Advance Planning<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Part twenty three –\u00a0Black July: The JSS Goon Squad Regime<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Part twenty four –\u00a0Institutional Implications Of The JSS And Black July<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Part twenty five –\u00a0Black July: Ranil Wickremesinghe, Gonalwela Sunil And The Kelaniya University<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Part twenty six –\u00a0Black July: Army Hathurusinghe Prevented Police From Assisting Prison Victims Under Attack<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Part twenty seven –<\/strong>\u00a0Black July: Justice Of Peace Gonawela Sunil And The Killings In Prison<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Part twenty eight –\u00a0Prison Massacre And The Alitalia Hijacker Sepala Ekanayake<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Part twenty nine \u2013 \u00a0Black July: Further Indirect Evidence Of State Involvement<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Part thirty –\u00a0Blak July: Remarks & Testimonies In Retrospect<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Part thirty one –\u00a0Black July: Some Missing Threads<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Part thirty two –\u00a0Black July: Alle Gunawanse \u2013 A Missing Link?<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Part thirty three \u2013 \u00a0Black July: Relation Of Events At Kanatte And The Tiger Friday<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Part thirty four –\u00a0Black July: JR Confers With Alle Gunawanse And The Search For A Scapegoat<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

*<\/strong>From\u00a0Rajan Hoole<\/a>\u2018s \u201cSri Lanka: Arrogance of Power<\/em>\u00a0\u00a0– Myth, Decadence and Murder\u201d.\u00a0Thanks\u00a0to Rajan for\u00a0giving\u00a0us\u00a0permission to republish.\u00a0<\/em>To be continued..<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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