The Hon. (Dr.) Ramanathan Archchuna

¶ 01 I spoke because of this. I even raised my hand to say Rohana Wijeweera is not a terrorist. I can say that. The reason is that in the North we voted for you because you called yourselves the Sinhala Prabhakarans. Remember that.

¶ 02 Whatever you did — you, Ilankumaran, Minister Chandrasekar, each of you — people do not know. We trusted you. I am speaking from my heart. I have no quarrel with any of you personally; I am not angry with you. That is why I say this.

¶ 03 We voted for you because of this: in 1988 people in the North believed that, like us, you too opposed the then Government and its repressive actions. But I am saddened. Today in this Parliament, there are, let me say, 159 Sinhala MPs. I am Tamil; my mother is Tamil; my father is Tamil. I spoke Tamil from birth. The first word I said to my mother was in Tamil. When you were born you also said “Amma.” But today you speak only Sinhala. Then, for the sake of Prabhakaran who stood for us, today you have 159 MPs and a Government, everything. Yet have I ever said in this Parliament that I have no heroes? Have I ever said that? After 35 years, if one Tamil person enters this Parliament and says those killed are his heroes, that person is me.

¶ 04 Let me say this in Sinhala too. We regard your Rohana Wijeweera also as a hero in our way because he died not thinking of himself but for his kith and kin. We feel sorrow for that. We even allowed four of your “110%” — your top leaders — to come into Parliament. Think about what your MPs in Jaffna are doing. I can submit it; I have a video. In it, the current BOS Minister says, “We have grabbed five acres of the coastal shallows; keep one and a half for yourselves, but pay a share to the Government.” I can play that video to show how much fraud and corruption there is.

¶ 05 Second, I said there is corruption in the North. But despite all the shouting about the North, you have not caught a single major fraud there. Whom did you catch? Ranil. If you had killed Ranil, in the Tamil way, a person who says “Prabhakaran is my hero” would feel a certain satisfaction. We would be happy. But I will never agree with killing individuals or blowing up Parliament like in Nepal. Four of your MPs came and said from outside Parliament, “Dissolve this Parliament.” Yet you ride in vehicles given by this Parliament, you draw its salary, and you live in its official residences with rent paid by this Parliament. We never do that.

¶ 06 Let a single MP stand up and say “I — Ramanathan Archchuna — am guilty; I have committed fraud and corruption; I have stolen money.” Let anyone say that. All you said to me was “LTTE.” The reason was that I spoke about Prabhakaran. You should be ashamed. You wear trousers, shirts and ties and stand here because, during the war, your leaders saved you. At that time you were hiding under beds. Remember that. Your MPs all hid under beds then. Who went to the frontline and saved you? Your soldiers. You have filed cases against all of them and are dragging them through courts, even stripping their MP-ships and expelling them from Parliament. Now you say “Kudu Namal” too. Fine.

¶ 07 When I exposed corruption in Jaffna, this Government filed 25 cases against me. None of them are private cases. I have not insulted or assaulted anyone. From my birth till today I have had no case concluded against me. But after I entered Parliament, your police filed 25 cases against me. You should be ashamed. A B-Report was filed after nine months without even a named accused. The Magistrate asked the Jaffna police, “Against whom is this case?” They had no answer. Then people from Deputy Minister Sunil Watagala’s group told me, “Doctor, don’t take that case to court.” But I filed a private plaint. That is how rotten your acts are. You arrested me saying I drove with the signal light on. But Wasantha Samarasinghe goes to Anuradhapura for his ablutions daily; someone wrote about it; I won’t name him. I tabled that document too. What have you done about it? Nothing. You should be ashamed. You bring a law like this to beat those who saved you. I believe I am perhaps the only one here who has not taken bribes; the rest have. I will never take bribes. I stand, even at personal risk, for those who died. Even if you kill me, I will say this in Parliament. Do I need to fear so much to speak the truth? There are 22.5 million people in this country. I am not afraid to say this outside either. You have not given me protection. I am telling the truth.

¶ 08 However, if ever needed, I will stand for the Sinhala people too. I respect them. After giving you votes and bringing you to Parliament, what have you done? You came here and betrayed those who saved you — the soldiers — and finally removed even this.

¶ 09 Arresting Namal? Fine. Arrest him if that is the way. Do not heckle. Someone give that child a milk bottle. He cannot even speak properly in Tamil or Sinhala. Do not disturb.

¶ 10 The President went to Jaffna. For what? To build a cricket stadium. Did we ask for a cricket stadium? He went to open a passport office. Did we ask for that? What we asked for was to resolve the national question. Has your Government said even a single word that it will resolve the national question? I am going to Geneva. The IPU wrote asking for a statement; I will go and speak on what happened to our people. Do not heckle.

¶ 11 I appear in Geneva for our people. Arrest me when I return if you wish. But I will not do what you did — defeat your enemies and then cut and bury those who saved you. Even today you say Prabhakaran set off bombs. I accept that. If wrong, I apologise. But can anyone of you say that everything Rohana Wijeweera did was right? You killed him; it is over. Now you enjoy.

¶ 12 Now about the cabs. Some of your backbenchers told me, “If you speak about cabs in Parliament, we too will get cabs.” I did not come here to ask for cabs or security. If I need security, it is not because of public issues, but because I fear some Members behind me might even stab me in the abdomen thinking I am their ‘wife’.

¶ 13 Hon. Deputy Chairperson of Committees: Hon. Member, your time is up.

¶ 14 Give me 10 seconds. In Geneva I will say how our people were killed in our own country. File any case you want; arrest me at the airport when I return, Deputy Minister Sunil Watagala. I stand for those who voted for me. I love the Sinhalese. Go and see the hospitals I worked in. Our staff once struck so I would not be transferred; I worked at Peradeniya and Kalubowila. One day I will ask votes even from Sinhala areas and then we will see how many of you remain.

¶ 15 Thank you.