Sri Lanka’s former president who oversaw a military invasion of the North-East in the 1990’s was the recipient of the 2019 Common Ground Award in London last month, just weeks before Tamils gathered to mourn the death of those killed in an offensive she ordered.
Chandrika Kumaratunga, who was Sri Lanka’s president from 1994 until 2005, received her award at the House of Lords in London last month. The Common Ground Awards are reportedly handed to “honor outstanding accomplishments in conflict resolution, negotiation, community building, and peacebuilding” stated the organisers. “Recipients have made significant contributions toward bridging divides and finding solutions to seemingly intractable problems.”
Just weeks after Kumaratunga received her award, the Church of St Peter at Navaly in Jaffna commemorated over 140 Tamil civilians killed in its premises by Sri Lankan Air Force bombs 24 years ago. On 9th July 1995, the Sri Lankan Air Force bombed the St Peter’s Church and the nearby Sri Kathirgama Murugan Kovil, which were both sheltering displaced Tamils from army bombardment.
A total of 13 bombs were dropped on the sheltering shrines, killing 147 on the spot with many more succumbing to injuries later.
Mourners at Navaly church earlier this month.
Initially, Kumaratunga’s government denied reports of the Church bombing before eventually pledging to establish an inquiry into the incident.
In 2015, Kumaratunga stated, "I have not done anything wrong… I don’t have blood on our hands”, as she marked her 70th birthday.
Speaking in London last month she spoke of the fight against “terrorism” and called for “weapons of understanding, discourse and negotiation”.
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