In an unusual turn of events, Jaffna District MP Ramanathan Archchuna found himself rescued by Sri Lankan military personnel — just hours after attending Maaveerar Naal commemorations honouring fallen LTTE cadres the previous night. Adding to the irony, he appeared to be wearing the same shirt he had worn at the Maaveerar event, indicating he was likely returning from the previous night’s ceremony when the army stepped in to rescue him around midday.
Speaking in Parliament, Archchuna described how his vehicle was swept away by rapidly rising floodwaters. The car was later found in a nearby paddy field.
“I was caught in the floods along with the car. My car was washed away in the floods,” he told the House. “My car was recovered in a paddy field.”
He went on to recount how Sri Lankan military personnel intervened and brought him to safety.
“I was rescued by Sinhalese war heroes,” the MP said, adding that he had been sheltered in a military camp following the incident. “A Colonel provided me with his own room to sleep for two days.”
Archchuna said he was later taken to a Navy camp, where officers provided him with assistance and shelter as the floods continued to worsen in several districts across the North and East.
In Parliament, the MP appeared visibly moved by the military’s assistance and called for greater budgetary allocations for the armed forces.
“You called them soldiers. I call them war heroes,” he said in Parliament. “Please allocate a large amount of money for them in the budget.”
A video juxtaposing Archchuna’s appearance at the Maaveerar Naal remembrance event the previous day with footage of his rescue by the Sri Lankan military the next day has since gone viral on social media, particularly among Sinhala users.
