Ranil Denies Batalanda Allegations, Calls Report a Political Attack

Former President Ranil Wickremesinghe has strongly rejected the Batalanda Commission report, stating that it was created with the sole purpose of politically tarnishing his reputation.

“I completely reject this report. No one can claim it was hidden. It was published as a sessional paper in 2000, yet not even the JVP requested a debate on it,” Wickremesinghe said in a special video statement today.

He also pointed out that debating a sessional paper 25 years after its publication is unprecedented, both in Sri Lanka and globally.

Providing context to the Batalanda Housing Scheme’s allocation to the armed forces, Wickremesinghe recalled the events following the Indo-Lanka Accord in 1987, when the JVP launched a violent campaign across the country.

“At that time, President J.R. Jayewardene assigned ministers the responsibility of safeguarding key state installations. Sapugaskanda, which housed vital fuel, electricity, and free trade zone infrastructure, was among these areas. The army was called in to provide security,” he explained.

He further noted that during this period, the Sapugaskanda police station was attacked, resulting in the murder of the Officer-in-Charge. Following this, then-State Minister for Defence Ranjan Wijeratne requested him to allocate houses for the armed forces, which was done accordingly.

Wickremesinghe also highlighted the violence of the time, stating that a Provincial Council member, a cooperative chairman, and a police sergeant were killed, while another PC member’s home was torched.

“The government had to take measures to protect the country,” he stated.

He accused former President Chandrika Kumaratunga of appointing the Batalanda Commission purely as a political weapon in 1994, but said it failed to achieve its intended goal.

“I was called only as a witness. I was the Leader of the Opposition at the time,” he noted.

While acknowledging that the Commission found flaws in how the housing allocations were handled, Wickremesinghe emphasized that it did not directly accuse him of any wrongdoing.

He also pointed out that the report extensively details the acts of terrorism carried out by the JVP during that period.