‘I am a police officer performing my duty for 33 years. The JVP members set my house on fire. My mother, my younger brother, my younger brother’s wife, and my younger brother’s two young children were all at home at the time of the fire. The JVP members put them all inside the house and set the house on fire. I could not bear to see my mother’s charred body. My mother’s death gave me strength…’
This is the story told by the Deputy Inspector General of Police in charge of the Southern Province, Premadasa Udugampola, in an interview with Professor Rohan Gunaratne, author of the book The Lost Revolution. At that time, the whole country trembled with fear when Udugampola’s name was mentioned. He was a leader in the operation to suppress the JVP.
The entire nation spoke of his ruthless suppression while international human rights organizations documented his brutality. Allegations of human rights violations against him accumulated at the United Nations Human Rights Commission in Geneva. These organizations repeatedly petitioned then-President Premadasa, urging action against Udugampola.
Udugampola was a big headache for Premadasa. Udugampola thought that Premadasa would make him the Inspector General of Police for his service in suppressing the JVP. The Paris Aid Conference was scheduled to meet on February 7, and the United Nations Human Rights Commission was scheduled to meet in March. In the meantime, the letter extending Udugampola’s service had arrived on Premadasa’s desk.
On the other side of the desk, there were piles of indictments sent by international human rights organizations against Udugampola to the countries of the Paris Aid Conference and the indictments against Udugampola by the United Nations Human Rights Commission. Premadasa did not sign the letter extending Udugampola’s service. He appointed an investigation committee to investigate Udugampola’s involvement in the murder of lawyer Wijayadasa Liyanarachchi.
Udugampola was deeply affected by Premadasa’s two decisions and ultimately fled the country. Ironically, it was SLFP leader and opposition leader, Mrs. Bandaranaike, who both assisted in his escape and had previously lodged complaints against him with the Paris Aid Conference, international human rights organizations, and the United Nations Human Rights Organization.
When Udugampola was suppressing the JVP, it was the SLFP, including Mrs. Bandaranaike, who branded him a brutal murderer and shouted not to make him the IGP. When President Premadasa initiated an investigation against Udugampola and terminated his service, Udugampola became a hero to the SLFP, including Mrs. Bandaranaike.
When Premadasa terminated Udugampola’s service and appointed a committee to investigate his brutal murders, Ranil was the Leader of the House and Minister of Industries in Premadasa’s government.
‘Even though Udugampola strengthened him by suppressing JVP terror, just as Premadasa decided to punish his brutal acts, Ranil should not have made Deshabandu, who was accused of human rights, as the IGP…?’
After Deshabandu went to the Galle face to attack the ‘aragalaya’, then President Gotabaya also abandoned Deshabandu. When allegations were made against Deshabandu, he did not come forward to defend himself. Despite this, Ranil’s followers could not believe that Ranil appointed Deshabandu as the IGP.
The name Deshabandu was a symbol of suppressing the ‘aragalaya. ‘ The Sri Lankans, international human rights organizations, and Western embassies in the country generally accepted the view that Deshabandu should not be appointed as the IGP due to his human rights violations. When Deshabandu’s name was presented to the Constituent Assembly by Ranil as the acting IGP, Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa and Opposition Leader’s Representative Kabir Hashim voted against the proposal.
However, Deshabandu was appointed as the acting IGP by a majority vote. Although Sajith voted against Deshabandu’s appointment and made a public statement against this appointment, neither JVP leader Anura Kumara nor other JVP leaders spoke a word about Deshabandu’s appointment as the acting IGP.
When Ranil presented the proposal to appoint IGP Desabandu to the Constituent Assembly, it was Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa who launched an operation to defeat it. Sajith and two members of the Constituent Assembly did not vote to his advantage and prevented Deshabandu from being appointed. If the votes in favor of Deshabandu and the opposition were equal, the Speaker could have cast his vote. But there was no tie here. What happened was an abstention.
If the members had abstained from voting, the Speaker could not have cast his vote. After the Constituent Assembly meeting, the Speaker gave Ranil a letter stating that he had voted in favor of Deshabandu, violating these Constituent Assembly rules. Ranil nominated Deshabandu as the IGP. Although the decisions of the Constitutional Council cannot be discussed publicly, Opposition Leader Sajith made a special statement in Parliament about this conspiracy. Civil society organizations came forward against Deshabandu’s appointment only after Sajith’s revelation.
Even when Sajith revealed that Deshabandu’s appointment was a conspiracy, Anura Kumara or the JVP did not utter a word about it.
‘Does that mean there was a deal between Deshabandu and the JVP?’
There was a secret agreement between Ranil, the JVP, and the Pohottuwa to prevent Sajith from becoming president. The JVP supported anyone who opposed Sajith. During the Samagi Jana Balawegaya protest against Ranil at Town Hall, Deshabandu’s police attacked Sajith, who came to the protest, and fired tear gas in his face, all by that agreement. Deshabandu became the IGP as a result of that agreement.
Anura did not make any statement during the presidential election or the general election that he would remove Deshabandu when he became president or formed the government. Anura became president and summoned the Chairman of the Court of Appeal, Bandula Nissanka Karunaratne, and warned him that if he did not resign, a no-confidence motion would be brought against him. Anura should have first warned Deshabandu. He appointed an acting IGP without even touching Deshabandu. In short, if the JVP’s topic was police, the forbidden word was Deshabandu.
The JVP government kept its eyes, ears, and nose closed until the Matara court issued a warrant for Deshabandu. When Deshabandu went into hiding, only the Deputy Minister of Public Security, Sunil Watagala, spoke about it.
When Deshabandu surrendered to the court, the Minister of Public Security said that he surrendered out of fear because he was told that Deshabandu’s property would be confiscated. However, the Attorney General’s Department told the court that Deshabandu did not own any property.
This shows that the JVP had no interest in arresting Deshabandu or removing him from the post of IGP. The activists who voted for Malaima wanted to arrest Deshabandu and remove him from the post of IGP. Now, the JVP is preparing to become heroes and bring no-confidence motions against Deshabandu. But if Sajith had not protested Deshabandu’s appointment in the Constituent Assembly, Anura Kumara would have been sworn in as President with Deshabandu as the IGP behind him.
