There has been an increase in negative perceptionsabout Sri Lanka throughout the world in recent years. In particular, the 1983 campaign against ethnic Tamils became more violent and uncontrollable.
The killing of 13 soldiers in Thinnaveli in the North on July 23, 1983, had a direct impact on the violent campaign against the Tamil minority living throughout the country.
The country’s image was smeared and tarnished owing to the inhuman treatment meted out to them in a three-decade-long fight seeking self-determination. The campaign has forced thousands of Tamils to leave the country, seeking greener pastures elsewhere in the world.
Thereafter, Sri Lanka acquired yet another bad reputation as a country with some of the deadliest and most corrupt politicians. Politicians have even robbed the nation and its people to satisfy their whims and fancies. People lament that Sri Lanka is faltering in every sphere, be it politics, finance, international relations, sports, or anything else.
Last week it was time once again for yet another embarrassing story to break involving a cricketerrepresenting Sri Lanka at the T20 world cup in Australia.
The Australian authorities remanded DanushkaGunathilaka following a complaint made by an Australian woman who claimed she was sexually abused by the cricketer. The cricketer was arrested on the driveway of a Sydney hotel when the Sri Lankan cricket team was about to leave Australia after failing to secure a place in the semi-finals. Gunathilakaremains imprisoned, charged with four counts of sexual intercourse without consent. Danushaka’s teammates arrived in the country, without him. The Sri Lankan High Commission, Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) which is the governing body for cricket in the country, and his friends in Australia will look after his interests there by retaining legal counsel.
Some people have been quick to absolve the cricketer of the crime on the pretext that he was framed by the woman in question. The case against him may be difficult to prove, but we must wait and see how Australia’s system of justice turns out. This is not to absolve him of tarnishing the image of Sri Lanka with his alleged obnoxious behaviour. Instead, it is to ensure justice is done to both the complainant and the accused.
It is appropriate to quote Lord Hewart, then Lord Chief Justice of England, who stated that “justice must not only be done but must also be seen to be done.”
As global wires started to buzz with news of Gunathilaka’s sexploits, the graphic details in a statement released by News South Wales police reading like a Rosemary Rogers fiction, the antecedents which started to surface made him look like a serial offender. Sports commentator Marlon Ferreira had this to say about some of Gunathilaka’s off pitch performances, which have gone beyond the pale.
In 2018, Gunathilaka was embroiled in a similar rape case where a Norwegian woman accused his friend of rape. The incident took place in the room of a hotel the team were staying in and Gunathilaka too had been in the same room as his friend and the woman. But local police did not charge Gunathilaka after he claimed he was fast asleep when the incident took place.
Gunathilaka was also a part of the infamous Durham trio that was sent back to Colombo mid–way when the team was touring the UK. They had violated Covid-19 protocols by breaking the bio bubble and breached team rules. After an inquiry by SLC, they were found guilty and banned from taking part in any form of cricket for one year with a further two year suspended sentence. They were given a reprieve by SLC with the sentences reduced and permission to recommence playing cricket after six months.
During another scrape, Gunathilaka got into a fight in a guesthouse located in the southern coastal belt of Sri Lanka. Video recordings and CCTV footage were mysteriously not made available when the investigations began.
Despite his escapades, Gunathilaka appears to have got off unscathed, begging he question who his godfathers are, political or otherwise. Gunathilaka’s ‘do and don’t be damned ‘attitude smacks of the inescapable truth of the pervasive impunity and cronyism that Sri Lanka is in the grip of. The Gunathilaka affair is more an indictment of Sri Lanka and the system which nurtures the creation of creatures the likes of Gunathalika. But, although law enforcement in Sri Lanka may have been kind to Gunathilaka, he will not have the same privilege with law enforcement in Australia.
Gunathilaka was ruled out of the tournament after he sustained a hamstring injury. The decision to let him stay on with the team reeks of political if not bureaucratic heavy-handedness. According to Ferreira, when SLC was asked why Gunathilaka was not sent back to Colombo after he was declared unfit for the rest of tour following the injury, a SLC official in Australia had said that ‘the SLC’s ex co did inform the touring officials to send him down but for reasons best known to them they decided to keep him with the team on tour. We will have to wait for the manager’s report to investigate this matter separately’.
As far as Dhanushka Gunatillak’s case is concerned, an Australian magistrate heard the details of the matter and confined him to the remand prison for the next two months.
Extracts from the Sydney Morning Herald, described as the oldest continuously published newspaper and most widely read masthead in Australia, are as follows:
Sri Lankan international cricketer DanushkaGunathilaka is accused of choking a Sydney woman during an alleged sexual assault after he met her on Tinder, leaving her “fearing for her life” and requiring a brain scan, documents released by the court reveal.
Sri Lankan international cricketer DanushkaGunathilaka could spend his summer staring at the walls of a Sydney prison cell. He is in custody for the alleged sexual assault of a woman after he was refused bail by a magistrate and had his case adjourned to January.
His lawyer has indicated he is considering urgently applying for bail in the NSW Supreme Court.
He was arrested on Sunday while packing his bags at the team hotel on Sussex Street. He was packing for a 3.30 a.m. flight to Sri Lanka after the team’s Twenty20 World Cup loss to England at the SCG on Saturday night.
Gunathilaka has been charged with four counts of sexual intercourse without consent and spent Sunday night in custody. The Sri Lanka squad flew home without him.
Gunathilaka travelled to Australia with Sri Lanka’s T20 World Cup team. However, he only played in their first game, a loss against Namibia, before being ruled out of the competition with a hamstring tear. He has played nearly 100 one-day and Twenty20 internationals for Sri Lanka, as well as a handful of Tests.
Gunathilaka appeared via video link in Downing Center Local Court on Monday from Surry Hills cells, handcuffed and wearing a grey T-shirt, blue jeans, and thongs, as his lawyer Ananda Amaranath made a bail application.
At the woman’s home, Gunathilaka is accused of engaging in “forceful” sexual intercourse, during which he allegedly “put one hand around her neck for 20–30 seconds and choked her.”
“The complainant was too afraid to do anything,” the police facts state, alleging that he had choked her twice more.
On the third occasion, he allegedly restricted her breathing for six seconds before she “tried to remove the accused’s hand by grabbing his wrist, but the accused squeezed tighter around her neck for a further 10 seconds.”
“The complainant was clear that she did not consent to engage in sexual intercourse without a condom.” “Further, the complainant did not consent to sexual intercourse that involved choking.”
Removing a condom during sex without consent is known as “stealthing.”
“The accused confirms some aspects of the complainant’s story but denies any violence or lack of consent.”
‘Police say she provided a statement and photographs of the messages to the accused. She also attended a hospital, where she underwent a sexual assault investigation kit and a brain scan to check for any injuries resulting from the alleged repeated choking’.
‘Gunathilaka was arrested in the lift area of the hotel and consented to a search of his room and luggage. He participated in a recorded police interview, assisted by an interpreter’.
SLC has a greater responsibility to investigate and carry out an impartial inquiry. Stern action should be taken against errant cricketers, whoever they may be, without downplaying the issues involving them. Cricketers who violate the code of conduct may be handed a life ban for bringing the country into disrepute in the international arena. This should be done even if the country stands to lose in the long run.
It has since formed a three-member panel that includes a retired high court judge to probe the alleged sexual assault case. Lawyer Ananda Amaranath, who represented Gunathilaka in court on Monday, has withdrawn from the case. He said he had been retained by Sri Lanka Cricket and the Sri Lanka High Commission.
Defence barrister Sam Pararajasingham and solicitor Sara Black represented the player at the suppression hearing.
Meanwhile, the decision taken by the executive committee of SLC to suspend Gunathilaka and impose a ban on him playing domestic and international cricket may have come too late to save him from his fall from grace.
President Ranil Wickremesinghe addressed the annual climate change conference (COP 27) in Cairo. He made a passionate appeal to set up an international climate change university.
Lack of capacity is the biggest obstacle to the implementation of climate action plans. Therefore, capacity building is vital in this regard.
To overcome this obstacle, the Sri Lankan President proposed the establishment of an International Climate Change University in Sri Lanka with an ancillary institution in the Maldives. This would be the first of its kind.
‘This seat of learning can be a trans-disciplinary global centre for green and blue studies—for scientists, environmentalists, researchers, policymakers, development practitioners, and, of course, students the world over—to exchange knowledge transcending national and disciplinary boundaries’, he said. ‘It will be the vehicle to enlighten domestic climate change challenges and prospects.’
The president went on to explain that the collaboration of multilateral institutions and organizations, such as the Commonwealth, the World Bank, and the ADB, among others, will be sought for the establishment of this institution of higher learning, making it a multi-stakeholder partnership transcending national boundaries.
‘I hope Sri Lanka’s proposal will receive extensive support and endorsement from the international community. Since the prescriptions for addressing climate change have to be implemented globally, we will meet again next year, charged with high hopes.
However, the uneven implementation of previous decisions, including those of COP 26, is extremely disheartening.
Regrettably, the ground reality is that the fossil fuel-based industrialised countries of the G7 and G20 that have been the main promoters of green hydrogen are now backtracking to the use of fossil fuels.
Carbon dioxide emissions increased by two billion metric tonnes last year, from 34.3 billion to 36.3 billion metric tons.
Such double standards are unacceptable. Developed nations should be given leadership roles to overcome climate challenges rather than abdicating their responsibilities.
It is no secret that climate finance has missed its target.
‘It is ironic that the 100 billion dollars pledged annually have not been available in the coffers to finance climate challenges. This is because many developed nations deem it fit to renege on their climate financing contributions’, the President said
As the president was bringing international attention to some of the crucial issues concerning climate change, SLPP seniors led by S.B. Dissanayake discussed ways to force him to include their nominees in the cabinet before the budget 2023. The seniors want to include some of the rejected ministers in senior cabinet positions in the government.
Because the president failed to reply positively, scheming began to derail the budget. The group openly told the president that if he does not re-appoint the ousted seniors as ministers, the budget will be defeated in a vote. The president had told them that parliament will stand to lose if the budget was defeated but that it wouldn’t affect him. What the president hinted at was that he will be compelled to dissolve parliament if members decided to vote against the budget.
The group is inclined to defeat the votes of the ministries it is opposed to at the committee stage of the budget debate. However, most of the juniors favour the Ranil Wickremesinghe administration over the Rajapaksa administration, making it difficult for the group to convince them. Hence, they may use the opposition benches, the SJB, and breakaway groups of the government to achieve their ends. The group is also making a valiant effort to make Mahinda Rajapaksa the prime minister temporarily so that he may exit politics in a dignified manner. Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardene has also agreed to the move, but he is in a quandary since it can never be brought back to him. It is more likely than not that if Mahinda Rajapaksa is reappointed Prime Minister, he will postpone his retirement. This may be the reason that the Chief Government Whip and Chief Organizer for the Gampaha district have recused themselves from organising a special event to revive the political fortunes of Mahinda Rajapaksa, themed Mahinda Samaga Nagitimu (reinvigorate Mahinda and root him firmly in the ground).
S.B. Dissanayake is trying hard to be active in politics, though his opinion hardly makes an impact any longer. He is a politically spent force, and the former Sports Minister once again become a subject of ridicule when he referred to the Dhanushka Gunatilleke episode and said, “the boy will be able to get out of it.” “We should allow him to play again.”
Dissanayake is trying his luck at being in the limelight through various media stunts, but people are more likely to ignore him.
What is more interesting is the revelation made in parliament by SJB parliamentarian Nalin Bandara about match-fixing in Galle when the Pakistani team arrived in Sri Lanka. It should be a matter of serious concern for the government and Sri Lanka Cricket. He blames the cricket administration for mishandling the cricket team, which has brought irreversible disrepute to Sri Lanka.
Meanwhile, there are rumours that certain SJB members will join the Ranil Wickremesinghe administration before he finalises the upcoming cabinet.
Among the names mentioned, Rajitha Senaratne is almost certain to join hands with Wickremesinghe, which will destabilise the opposition.
Besides, SJB parliamentarian Harsha De Silva brought the staff-level agreement between the government and the IMF, to parliament. He raised concerns about how such a confidential document was leaked. He said that it was handed to members of various presidential committees even before it reached the Parliamentary Finance Committee. The agreement specifies what must be done sequentially. For some, getting this information in advance may be a windfall. Harsha de Silva however said that as a responsible legislator, he will not table the document in parliament.
The government group is also having differences and squabbles among its members due to various reasons. This was so intense that there were near fisticuffs between SLPP General Secretary Sagara Kariyawasam and Prasanna Ranaweera, known for his chilli powder diplomacy. The meeting occurred shortly after Wednesday’s group meeting due to differences between groups. Splinter groups within the government and the opposition may provide the president with ample opportunity to further his program since most of these groups are looking forward in some way to being on the good side of the president.
Divide and rule, the famous dictum by which President Ranil Wickremesinghe achieves his goal, always works to his advantage.–ALAKESWARA
