Siva Parameswaran, Senior International Journalist London
He is gone! Disgraced and out.
A man who made thousands stateless and uprooted them forcibly from their homeland is now literally stateless.
During the final phase of the brutal civil war Nanadasena Gotabaya Rajapaksa was a much feared and dreaded man who is accused of ‘war crimes and being responsible for the disappearance of thousands of minority Tamils’. Now, after renouncing his US citizenship, he is finding it hard to secure a place for him to stay.
After a brief stay in Maldives, where locals and diaspora Sri Lankans protested his visit and stay, the man who was defence secretary and subsequently president arrived in Singapore on a ‘private visit’.
The government of Singapore has made it clear “He has not sought, nor has he been offered any asylum,” the statement reiterated”Singapore does not generally offer asylums.”
It further added: “Police ask that the public, Singaporeans, residents, work pass holders and social visitors alike, abide by our local laws. Action will be taken against anyone participating in a public assembly that is illegal.”
Known for his draconian style of working during the war and post war period whom the minority Tamil feared and dreaded very much, was said to be so scared to travel by a passenger flight from Colombo to Male and then to Singapore. He was transported to Male by a Sri Lankan Air force plane and then a ‘chartered’ Saudi airlines plane which touched down at the Changi airport in Singapore.
Probably this was the not the end he was expecting. The writing on the wall was very clear since the beginning of the year as the country plunged into an economic crisis with reserve foreign exchange draining fast, he was accused of ‘sitting in an ivory tower’ under the impression that people could be easily hoodwinked as during the war and things will become alright by itself. The Rajapaksa brothers were so confident that ‘as long as China was with them’ there was nothing to fear. Alas! That was not the case to be.
Dollars draining faster than expected he took many unwise decisionsto ban imports, which included the all-important fertiliser crucial to the struggling agriculture in the country. A country sans any major industries or a financial hub like many island nations, nor a service economy the writing on the wall was very clear.
Prices skyrocketed punching big holes in the pocket of even the above average Sri Lankans and the US dollar vs Sri Lankan rupee exchange was going up day by day even touching LKR 400 to a dollar. Trouble was brewing for the Rajapaksa regime ever since the ruthless Gotabaya came to power,who claimed publicly he was elected by the majority Sinhalese, and he was ‘their president’.
And that alienated him from the minority Tamil and Muslims. His Presidency was also marred by the way he handled the Covid crisis. Lacking a will to listening to professional advice he resorted to ‘local unscientific advice’ and was adamant in cremating those Muslim dead rather than burying them as per the Islamic tradition. As protests increased locally, his regime went to the extent of requesting Maldives for support seeking to ‘export the bodies’ for burial there.
Never in my career so far, I have ever come across a concept of exporting dead bodies to another country for burial. The Rajapaksa’s were ill advised by hard-line Sinhala lobby that by burying Covid dead Muslims, the underwater table would be contaminated. However, international condemnation and the pressure of the local scientific community prevailed and the idea was stopped. Now, it is the same Maldives to which he fled on his first leg before flying off to Singapore from there.
Caught in the crossfireis the former president of Maldives and the current speaker of Maldives Mohamed Nasheed who is accused of facilitating his flee via Male. It’s a known fact that Nasheed is a friend of the Rajapaksa’s, and he was co-opted to facilitate international support for Sri Lanka which is facing an enormous economic and existential crisis.
Gotabaya Rajapaksa had failed on all fronts. The economy plummeted during his regime, communal harmony hit a rock bottom, international relations severelydamaged due to his hobnobbing with the Chinese like his older brother and former President and Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa who has appears to be presiding over the decline of the Rajapaksa regime.
Extravagant spending under the guise of development, over dependence on Chinese and handing over civilian administration to ‘war accused and war mongering’ top brass like Gen Kamal Gunaratna, Admiral SarathWeerasekara led to the downfall of the Rajapaksa regime and clan. It was an overtly militarised administration throughout the country, right from defence to upkeep of local sanitation facilities and farming.
Large swathes of lands belonging to the Tamil people that was forcefully taken by the military during the war is yet to be returned to the rightful owners and the Gotabaya Rajapaksa regime showed scant respect of the sufferings of those who lost their land and lives of their near anddear. Even after 13 years since the civil war came to an end not even a single person either handed over or surrendered to the security forces have been seen again.
Serving officers of the Sri Lankan Administrative Services were side lined and plum civilian posts like Heads of department like Defence, Internal Security, Public distribution, Civil supplies, urban development, and others were handed over as doles to his erstwhile colleagues in the armed forces. The culture of impunity gained root under Gotabaya and despite strong evidence against those military officers in power it was simply brushed aside. General (retd) Kamal Gunaratna and Admiral (retd) SarathWeerasekara acted like extra constitutional authorities like the war days and even the national task force for Covid management was led by another Rajapaksa crony Gen. Shavendra Silva rather than an experienced doctor in public health and policy.
Coupled with mismanagement and lack of long-term vision for the overall development of the nation the now ousted embattled President turned to the Buddhist prelates for anything and everything in the country holding regular durbars with them and apprising them of national issues and action plan to solve them seeking their inputs and guidance.By appointing a rabid monk GnanasaraThero as head of the ‘one nation one law’ task force, Gotabaya Rajapaksa made a mockery of democracy and communal harmony.
As the future of the nation is uncertain, either Karma or Newtons third law has decisively played a part in the life and times of Gotabaya Rajapaksa.
It’s reliably learnt that Singapore is not his final destination, and he is there for a medical check-up. And as fate had its last laugh the ousted president remains stateless as of now having given up his priceless US citizenship.
Now one wicket down, the political game in Sri Lanka is now poised for interesting times ahead.