Issuing a special statement on 16 March, former President Ranil Wickremesinghe categorically rejected the findings of the ‘Batalanda’ Commission report.
Wickremesinghe made this statement after the Government tabled Batalanda Commission Report in Parliament on Friday (14 March).
Full Statement:
“After the signing of the Indo-Lanka Accord, the JVP launched a campaign of terror across the country. At that time, President J. R. Jayewardene delegated the responsibility of securing key areas to cabinet ministers. The Biyagama region housed several critical economic locations, including the oil refinery, the diesel power plant, the centre supplying Mahaweli electricity to Colombo, and the export processing zone. The army was called in to ensure security in this area.
To facilitate this, several abandoned houses belonging to the Ceylon Fertilizer Manufacturing Company were allocated for the security forces. Some houses were already occupied by Ceylon Electricity Board officials. Amidst the violence, the Officer-in-Charge (OIC) of the Sapugaskanda Police Station was killed. At that time, Deputy Defence Minister Ranjan Wijeratne personally requested me to provide the vacant houses to police and military personnel for security purposes.
Accordingly, the liquidator at the time transferred the relevant houses to Kelaniya Superintendent of Police Nalin Delgoda. Meanwhile, several individuals, including a Provincial Council member, a Cooperative Council member, and a police sergeant, were murdered, and the house of another Provincial Council member was attacked.
The government at the time took steps to restore national security, rebuild the economy, and stabilise the country. However, after 1994, President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga appointed a commission to investigate claims of a torture chamber in Batalanda. Many individuals were summoned before the commission, and I was called only as a witness—at the time, I was the Leader of the Opposition.
The Batalanda Commission was established as part of a politically motivated smear campaign, but this attempt failed. The report merely states that it was inappropriate for a minister to allocate houses to police officers and that such transfers should have been handled by the Inspector General of Police (IGP). The Commission’s conclusion that Superintendent Nalin Delgoda and I were ‘indirectly responsible’ for this act is the only mention of my involvement. None of the other claims in the report apply to me.
The Commission report also outlines in detail the brutal terrorist acts committed by the JVP between 1988 and 1990, including a comprehensive history of these events in Chapter 3. Other than acknowledging these facts, I completely reject the report’s findings.
No one can claim that the Batalanda Commission report was hidden. It was completed in 2000, yet no one— including the JVP— requested a parliamentary debate on it. Many did not accept the report’s conclusions, which is why no steps were taken to discuss it in Parliament.
Furthermore, no government has ever used this report for narrow political gains. There is also no precedent— in Sri Lanka or any other democracy— for debating a commission report in Parliament 25 years after its publication.”
