Dramatic night at President’s House 25 years ago

DEW Gunasekera ex-MP Kalawana (Reproduced from the Daily News of June 4, 2000)

With the collapse of Elephant Pass on April 22 dramatic developments started taking place, again with talks of Indian food relief and humanitarian aid, possible mediation by friendly countries, and intervention by the UN Security Council - this time turning an internal conflict of Sri Lanka into an issue of internationalised dimension. Information Technology made it so fast. The preceding few weeks witnessed a situation highly tense and volatile.

In this background, recollections came upon me of a similar situation exactly 13 years back when Sri Lankan Naval forces blocked the Indian boats carrying food relief to Jaffna peninsula and the Indians retaliated by way of air-drops.

It was a dramatic night on June 3, 1987 till dawn on June 4. What went on there and thereafter, still remains a secret and is not known to many.

On June 3, I returned home from my electorate in Kalawana at about 11 pm when I found that President J R Jayewardene had unusually rung me up and left a message asking me to contact him over his hotline immediately.

I promptly dialled and the President himself responded and said, “Dew, can you see me now at the President's House. I can't tell what it is all about over the phone.”

I rushed to the President's House at about 11.30 pm to be received by Lalith Athulathmudali who briefed me as to the urgency of the situation.

In the upstairs of the President's House, the Inner Cabinet consisting of the President, Prime Minister Premadasa, Gamini Dissanayake, A C S Hameed, Lalith Athulathmudali was meeting and there was a lot of commotion.

The most vociferous was Premier Premadasa who appeared to be in an aggressive and angry mood.

I was invited to join them. Soon Anura Bandaranaike and Dinesh Gunawardena too joined them. It was clear by then that we were drawn into the discussion by virtue of our positions in Parliament as party leaders of the official Opposition.

The meeting was conducted so confidentially that even aides or serving staff were not allowed in. We had the privilege of being served coffee and chocolates by no less a person than H W Jayawardene QC, right through the discussion for several hours.

President Jayewardene showed us a message ('Demarche' - in diplomatic jargon) by Rajiv Gandhi which indicated his proposal to air drop food relief to Jaffna.

He sought our views separately after having briefed us on the prevailing situation and its background.

By this time between June 1 and June 3, a lot of messages had been exchanged between Natwar Singh and A C S Hameed and Bernard Tillekaratne (our High Commissioner in New Delhi) and Indian Foreign Ministry.

Taking the highly charged and tense situation into account, I took up the position and that we must try to defuse the situation and suggested to receive the food relief through the ICRC or Sri Lanka Red Cross as the only possible way out to prevent an open confrontation between the two countries. Anura and Dinesh too held the same view, if I remember correct.

After a long discussion, it was finally agreed to despatch a reply to Rajiv Gandhi. Accordingly the drafting of the reply was assigned to A C S Hameed and Lalith Athulathmudali.

President Jayewardene who normally stands like the Sigiriya rock, showed the appearance of an iceberg in the prevailing situation. It was quite understandable for he was the most conscious of any possible disastrous consequences than any of us.

Premier Premadasa insisted on a firm rejection of the Indian proposal. Perhaps, he had his own agenda.

Thereupon, the President made the following suggestions:

(i) To keep the people informed of the situation and for Parliament to be summoned immediately.

(ii) The government and the Opposition should take a common position.

(iii) To avoid a debate in Parliament and only a statement by the government to be read in Parliament by the Prime Minister.

(iv) That statement should be prepared and approved by the Cabinet.

We of the Opposition agreed to this in the broader interest of the country, provided no speeches are allowed to the government benches. The President agreed and the meeting ended at about three the following morning, the PM having left the scene much earlier.

Thereupon, Parliament met at 2.30 pm on the same day. Though the PM had been only assigned to table the statement in Parliament, he went on to attack India with all vituperations at his command.

D N Dixit (former High Commissioner for India) in his book 'Assignment Colombo' has made a particular reference to the PM's statement which reads as follows:

“There are good and bad dogs. Pariah dogs come often and uninvited to our backyard. They shit and run away.”

This statement had angered the Indians most.

The whole House was taken aback by the PM's speech. Of course his bosom loyalists were quite jubilant.

The sober-minded and level-headed members of the government were furious. One minister whispered to me, “He behaves like a bull in a China shop - What are we heading for?” For once I saw PM in his proper anger.

After adjournment, when I returned home, it was announced that the Indian aircraft AN32 escorted by Mirage fighters had arrived in Jaffna at 1700hr and dropped 25 metric tons of food and medicine.

On a subsequent occasion, I had to tell the PM quoting a Sinhala saying that 'Before we try to protect our country, we should try to guard our mouth'.

Thus ended a dramatic situation straining traditional relations between India and Sri Lanka.