Former minister and Sinhala nationalist Udaya Gammanpila has fled to Thailand as he faces arrest in Sri Lanka over remarks in which he used the word “kotiya” — a term widely recognised as a derogatory slur against Tamils.
On 1 September, Gammanpila filed a petition from Thailand before Sri Lanka’s Court of Appeal seeking writs of prohibition and certiorari to prevent the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) from detaining him under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) Act. He claims the act is being misused against him with the hidden purpose of subjecting him to prolonged detention, possibly up to a year in remand custody without trial.
Gammanpila, who has long positioned himself as a Sinhala nationalist hardliner, argued in his filing that his comments were mischaracterised as incitement. He insisted that the word “kotiya” in his media remarks referred exclusively to members of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and not to Tamils as an ethnic group.
The term, which translates from Sinhala to “tiger”, has for decades been used as a racist slur against Tamils.
The former minister also claimed that his remarks were directed at criticising the arrest of former navy commander Nishantha Ulugetanna, which was based on testimony from a former LTTE leader. He maintained that his intent was to highlight the “impropriety” of relying on such testimony to implicate senior military officers.
The petition further notes that the CID has recorded statements from several journalists regarding Gammanpila’s media briefing and interviews, which he alleges are being used to build a case against him. He contends that this amounts to harassment and an attempt to silence his political commentary.
The Court of Appeal is expected to take up the petition in the coming days, even as Gammanpila remains abroad.
