COLOMBO —A controversial Sinhala nationalist Buddhist monk invoked Velupillai Prabhakaran, the slain leader of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, to rebuke Sinhala voters for what he described as their tendency to quickly forget the past and repeatedly make poor political choices.
Ittekande Saddhatissa Thera, general secretary of the Sinhala nationalist organisation Ravana Balaya, said Sinhala voters had proved correct a remark he attributed to Prabhakaran: that they remember events for only “a week or two” before forgetting them.
Saddhatissa Thera made the remarks recently at a Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna, or SLPP, meeting in Polonnaruwa, where he called for the current government to be defeated and for Namal Rajapaksa to be elected president in 2029.
“Prabhakaran said that the Sinhala people forget everything easily,” he said, pointing to Mahinda Rajapaksa’s defeat in the 2015 presidential election as evidence.
Saddhatissa Thera said voters had removed Rajapaksa from power despite his leadership during the final military campaign that defeated the LTTE in 2009. He described the LTTE as a “barbaric terrorist” organisation and accused it of atrocities against civilians in the Polonnaruwa area, including attacks that killed children and pregnant women.
He said Sinhala voters had nevertheless rejected Rajapaksa, whom he credited with defeating the LTTE, restoring peace and providing fertiliser subsidies to farmers, and instead elected Maithripala Sirisena in 2015.
Saddhatissa Thera also criticised the government’s handling of agriculture, saying farmers in Polonnaruwa were struggling to sell their paddy. He claimed the government had decided to purchase only 3,000 metric tonnes of an estimated 2 million metric tonnes produced by farmers, describing the policy as a betrayal of the farming community.
He also accused the government of undermining the judiciary, disrespecting the Maha Sangha and placing obstacles in the way of traditional cultural events such as the Kandy Esala Perahera.
Saddhatissa Thera said voters should use the next election to punish the government and called for a political campaign centred on protecting agriculture, nationalism and religion.
“Our main objective is to defeat this government in 2029 and establish a new government under the leadership of Namal Rajapaksa,” he said.
He urged supporters to unite behind Namal Rajapaksa, the son of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, and elect him president in 2029.
