Victor Ivan, a reputed Sri Lankan journalist and author has produced a book entitled ‘Choura Regina – the Rogue Queen’, regarding the former Sri Lankan president, Chandrika Bandaranaike.
This book makes very serious allegations against events that occurred during the period of the presidency of Mrs. Bandaranaike. The series of events revealed in the book is also a serious indictment against the criminal investigation system in Sri Lanka that fails to properly probe crimes such as murder (including the murder of large numbers of persons), well arranged political murders, and the politically directed arson of houses and other forms of political intimidation including the stupendous corruption of state resources for personal use.
The investigation process is shown by the author as being so politicised that it does not only exculpate perpetrators but also engages in intense media work to create the wrong impression of crimes. The book is also an indication of how dangerous the system of the Executive Presidency has become to the country.
This book requires a response from the state by way of a public statement from the government about the allegations that have been made against the former head of state and what the government will do to investigate the allegations in order to bring the alleged culprits, including the former president to justice. The book also requires a response from all sectors of civil society as, not to take an interest in the serious allegations that have been made, would amount to sitting, waiting and watching as what is left of the political and social fabric of society is destroyed.
The author makes the allegation that the well known incident of the bombing which resulted in the loss of Mrs. Bandaranaike’s eye was a possible political stunt, done for the purpose of gaining public sympathy on the eve of an election. The incident took place on the 18th December 1994; the election was due to be held just a few days later on the 21st of the month. The author places a long list of circumstances and statements from others suggesting the possibility that this was not a suicide bombing by the LTTE as reported by the state media. The author also states that the investigation into the bombing was deliberately halted due to interventions from the top. Sadly, the bomb blast also killed 26 onlookers. The author requests the reopening of the criminal investigation into this matter in order to create the opportunity for the country to have the facts about what really happened.
The author also makes the allegation that the president was involved in several well known murders and that these were carried out through a unit known as the Presidential Special Security Unit based in the Presidential Palace itself. The murders referred to are those of Kumar Ponnambalam, a well known lawyer and Tamil politician and Rohana Kumara a journalist. Both murders received local and international publicity. Other criminal acts of intimidation mentioned are the assault of Lasantha Vickramatunge, the editor of the Sunday Leader, the attack on the house of Sarath Kongahage, the burning of the house containing the archives and personal effects of Anoja Weerasinghe, a locally and internationally well known actress and the harassment caused on Rukantha and Chandraleka, a husband and wife team of musicians. All these crimes are attributed to the Presidential Special Security Unit. This special unit, had among its leaders, well known criminals such as Baddagene Sanjeewa and the details of how groups lead by him, and sent from the Presidential Palace, engaged in various crimes is detailed in the book.
Also detailed in the book are how some persons who were close to the president instigated such crimes and how the media was manipulated to misinform the public about what really happened.
The book gives graphic details of corruption at the Palace. It describes how the former president herself, who was facing rather dire circumstances before she became president, became quite wealthy in a very short time.
The author names the members of a small group of persons who were in the president’s inner circle and who also acquired enormous wealth during this period. Some of the names mentioned are Sanath Gunathilaka, Ronnie Pieris, Rajan Britto, Tara De Mel, Rajan Arsiriwarden, Kusumsari Balapetabandi and Udaya Nanayakkra.
Among the material published in this book one of the most touching and moving is a letter from Anoja Weerasinghe, who won many international awards for her performances in films. In this letter she tells of how all her belongings, including copies of films, the certificates and awards she had received and many items she had collected for future generations regarding the film work of her time, was destroyed when her house was burned. The question that she raises from society as a whole is as to why she was punished in this way. It was just for participating in a few opposition political rallies as a protest against the ill treatment of artistes by the government. Answering the accusations made by her requires much more than mere criminal investigations, which incidentally never took place in a proper manner; it requires a societal response as to how the Sri Lankan society has degenerated to the extent so as to allow such things to happen.
The book illustrates the catastrophic nature of the Executive Presidential system introduced in 1978 by a former president, J.R. Jayawardene. It was a system of absolute power being placed in the hands of a single individual without any controls. The revelations of this book regarding Chandrika Bandaranaike’s deeds during her occupancy of this post graphically illustrates the common saying that power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. There are other books illustrating the disasters of other presidents like V.P. Vitachi’s book on Jayawardene’s just society – What Went Wrong in Sri Lanka, and Sirisena Cooray’s book on R. Premadasa. Victor Ivan’s book is more detailed in its revelations. However, it is the same story of the destruction made possible by the political institution of the Executive Presidency that is being told once again.
The author begins his book with the following paragraph: “The Sri Lankan state, in which I live, appears to me not as a civilised state but as a rogue state. The leaders of this state possess rogue qualities in high or low degrees.”
The Asian Human Rights Commission states that no government can be held credible if accusations of this nature are not thoroughly investigated by authentic criminal investigating bodies and appropriate action is taken to bring justice. Already Sri Lanka appears as a frightening place in which to live and if such revelations, as made in this book, are not investigated and remedied the situation is bound to produce social catastrophes beyond imagination.
