During a visit to Vavuniya last week, accused war criminal Gotabaya Rajapaksa expressed the need to “protect” the “ideology” and “force” that made him Sri Lanka's president and claimed that groups were used to “spread lies about white vans, crocodiles and sharks”. His comments came in the same week in which the elected Mayor of Jaffna V. Mannivannan was arrested by Sri Lanka’s Terrorism Investigation Division (TID) and amongst intense military harassment of Tamil and Muslim civil society members.

Rajapaksa visited Vavuniya to hold his 17th “Discussion with the Village”, in one of the few talks to be held in the Northern Province. The programme which began running in September 2020, supposedly aims to meet people in remote villages and inquire into their problems and discuss solutions. In previous discussions, the President has claimed that he does know what human rights abuses he has committed.

During this discussion in Vavuniya, Rajapaksa stressed the importance to protect the ideology that brought him into power and criticised hostile forces towards this “ideology” claiming that they are spreading “false propaganda” and trying to destroy it.

“I always maintain that, the individual Gotabaya Rajapaksa is not important. What matters is the ideology and force that brought me here. We should protect that ideology. The aim of the false propaganda now being carried out by the hostile forces is to defeat this ideology. What I do is fulfilling the promises I made to the people” 

Gotabaya Rajapaksa then went onto say that “groups used to spread lies about white vans, crocodiles and sharks” are now trying to propagate lies relating to environmental destruction, an issue which has led to protest in the South and across the North-East.

^{Accused war criminal and Sri Lankan president Gotabaya Rajapaksa} 

During his address on Independence day in February earlier this year, Rajapaksa in his opening paragraphs stated “I am a Sinhala Buddhist leader and I will never hesitate to state so. I govern this country in accordance with Buddhist teachings”. 

In recent weeks the following the vote on a resolution at the UN Human Rights Council, Sri Lanka has intensified its harassment and intimidation of government critics, journalists and civil society members reflecting the violent Sinhala-Buddhist nature of the state. The government issued a gazette announcing the proscription of hundreds of Tamils and several diaspora organisations, in a move designed to criminalise, intimidate and terrorise dissenting voices. The proscription was condemned widely. In addition to this, the proposed closure of 1,000 Islamic schools and a ban of the Burka is said to be in government discussion, a move that would further marginalise the Muslim community. This week 11 Islamic organisations were banned by the Sri Lankan government under accusations that they are linked to “extremist activities”. Amongst the listed organisation is “Save the Pearls”, a charity that supports the education of underprivileged children. Writing in The Diplomat, Tasnim Nazeer notes the climate of fear which exists amongst Sri Lankan Muslims, stating that they will “face punishment for speaking out”.

Tamil and Muslim civil society members continue to face intimidation and harassment from Sri Lankan state forces. Though elected officials also face harassment and arrest. Last Friday the Mayor of Jaffna, Viswalingam Manivannan was arrested by Sri Lanka’s Terrorism Investigation Division (TID). The arrest was internationally condemned and slammed by Tamil Parliamentarians across the North-East.

Read the full transcript of the speech at the President's Media Division.