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| Friday, 11 February 2005 |
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| Udatalawinna massacre case: Ratwatte says he was prime target of LTTE by Sandasen Marasinghe Former Deputy Defence Minister General Anuruddha Ratwatte said yesterday he was a prime target of the LTTE since 1995 when the Jaffna peninsula was recaptured by the Army under his political directions. General Ratwatte was giving evidence before the Trial-at-Bar hearing the Udathalawinna massacre case when he was examined by President's Counsel Wijedasa Rajapakse. The former Deputy Minister is the first accused in the case. The Trial-at-Bar comprises High Court Judge Deepali Wijesundara and High Court Judge Sunil Rajapakse. General Rawatte said he was born in Kandy in 1938. His father was a planter and member of the Senate from 1936 to 1947 where he represented the Kegalle seat. He said his father was elected Member of Parliament in the election held in 1947 just prior to independence in 1948 and held office since 1952. He was also the Diyawadana Nilame of the Temple of the Tooth-Relic, Kandy from 1960 to 1964 when he expired. Gen. Ratwatte had eight siblings. He said he was a product of Trinity College, Kandy and sat for his Advance Level in 1959. Later, he found employment as an executive secretary in an NGO which had links with the Asia Foundation from 1960 to 1966 and worked for the development of youth in the Central Province. He joined the Voluntary Regiment of the Sri Lanka Army and was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in 1963. He had to work in camps in Jaffna three or four months a year since then. General Ratwatte said he was the acting Diyawadana Nilame of the Temple of the Tooth Relic for nine months after his father's demise. He became a Kandy UNP town counsellor in 1966 since his father was also a UNPer. He remained a Town Council member until he became a Member of Parliament in 1989 except in the period when the Town Council was dissolved. Gen. Ratwatte said he joined the SLFP in 1968 and became the party organiser for the Kandy district and contested the Senkadagala seat in 1970. He also contested at the General Election in 1977. Later, he became the Administrative Secretary and the Executive Secretary of the party. Several by-elections were held after 1977 and he participated in all these campaigns and also helped Hector Kobbekaduwa in the Presidential Election. Later a referendum was held. He said he could not engage in party politics in the climate that prevailed in the 1988-89 period but he continued with his political career. He did not contest at the 1989 general election since he was involved in organising the party. He became SLFP National Organiser in 1990. Continuing under examination, Gen. Ratwatte said according to intelligence reports, it was revealed that an uprising would occur in 1970 and he was drafted into the Army as a Lieutenant Colonel and became the Defence Co-ordinating Secretary of the then Prime Minister and held office since 1977. In 1989, he became a Member of Parliament from the National List till 1994. A general election was held in 1994 and the SLFP established a government. He too contested for the Kandy District while being the SLFP National Organiser and won a seat with 92,000 preferential votes. He was sworn as the Irrigation and Energy Development Minister and Deputy Defence Minister. By then, the Government did not have the control of the North and East because those areas were under the control of the LTTE. The ceasefire agreement between the Government and the LTTE was violated by the LTTE in April 1995 where a few ships of the Sri Lankan Navy were destroyed. The Sri Lankan Army was in a sorry plight by that time and later on the President's instructions the Army was provided with new weapons and all other requirements. The control of the Jaffna Peninsula was regained by the Forces and he was raised to rank of General by the Commander-in-Chief. Later, he had many death threats from the LTTE. President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga was attacked by a suicide bomber on the day before the Presidential Election in 1999. C. V. Gooneratne of the Cabinet was killed and Neelan Thiruchelvam was also assassinated at the time. He (Gen. Ratwatte) was the Deputy Defence Minister. The Central Bank, the Temple of the Tooth-Relic, the Bandaranaike International Airport and Kolonnawa oil tanks were attacked by the LTTE while he was the Deputy Defence Minister. At the 2000 General Election he won the Kandy District with a 152,000 preferential votes. He was again appointed Deputy Defence Minister and also Minister of Land, Irrigation, Power and Energy. "Although the security situation had improved, there were death threats on me so much so I declined to contest the 2001 General Election". However he was compelled to change his mind amidst the pleadings by his party stalwarts and also by the President and he handed over his nominations on October 27, 2001. Since he was the SLFP National Organiser, he handed over his propaganda work in the Kandy district to the Committee he had appointed. Deputy Solicitor General Palitha Fernando appeared for the Attorney General while President's Counsel Wijedasa Rajapakse and Anil Silva appeared for the Defence. Further hearings were put off for February 14. |
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