Ranil Wickremesinghe's government was architect of Black July - Chandrasekar

by admin
Jul 30, 2024

Former JVP MP Ramalingam Chandrasekar, a member of the Marxist National People's Power (NPP) urged Tamils to bear in mind it was Ranil Wickremesinghe’s government that was the main architect of the anti-Tamil Black July pogrom in 1983. 

“Ranil has been the Prime Minister five times yet he has not done anything for this country in 47 years of his political career,”  Chandrasekar told reporters in Jaffna.

“Let’s not forget that during one of these times when Ranil was in power, his government engineered the anti-Tamil pogrom which saw the senseless massacre of tens of thousands of Tamils.” 

Chandrasekar told reporters that when the riots took place in Colombo and across the country, a United National Party was in power, the same party that Wickremesinghe today leads. Wickremesinghe was a minister at the time.

“July is an unforgettable month for Tamils, it was the government led then by JR Jayawardena, Premadasa and Ranil Wickremesinghe to coordinate this pogrom. They abused power to the point of erasing communities and families through this massacre. Even Tamil prisoners were not spared. They were stabbed while their eyes were gouged out. We were not safe behind bars and we were not safe anywhere in this country. That is what Wickremesinghe created.” 

The former parliamentarian went on to say that Wickremesinghe was trying to stay in power so as to safeguard the Rajapaksa clan who “looted money from the country”, plunging it into an economic crisis.

“His objective is to ensure that the Rajapaksa’s are covered up and safe,” Chandrasekar said, adding that no one wishes to talk about his loyalties to the Rajapaksa.

He went on to state that Wickremesinghe was only appointed to serve the remainder of former president Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s term but is trying to hang on to power.

“Wickremesinghe is trying to commit treason by taking the country on the path that he is on. Sri Lanka is indebted and will have to repay the hefty loans with interest when our time is up.”

His remarks come ahead of Sri Lanka’s presidential polls which are set to take place in September.

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