The main Opposition, the Samagi Jana Balawegaya’s (SJB) Parliamentarian, attorney Sujeewa Senasinghe claimed the Government has been bringing up various “dramas” from time to time and then going silent on them, adding the Batalanda issue is one such example.

Speaking in the Parliament yesterday (10), he said: “The Batalanda issue was brought in. When it was being talked about, the Government kept lashing out at former President Ranil Wickremesinghe, and then went silent. Now, there is no talk about Batalanda again.”

His remarks come in the wake of the Parliamentary debate on the Presidential Commission of Inquiry (CoI) report into the alleged youth killings at the Batalanda housing scheme by the Government of that period, which was held earlier this year. Although the debate took place, there has been no indication of any action taken by the Government since then.

The CoI report, originally prepared during the tenure of former President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga, investigated alleged youth killings and human rights violations that are said to have occurred at the Batalanda housing scheme during the 1988–1989 Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) insurrection, a violent uprising led by the JVP against the then Government. It is believed to have been driven by growing dissatisfaction with economic hardships, political instability, and the Indo-Lanka Accord, which allowed Indian Peace-Keeping Forces into the country. The JVP allegedly launched armed attacks, assassinations, and strikes to destabilise the Government, while the State also responded with countermeasures, including the alleged operation of unofficial torture chambers in the Batalanda housing scheme. It is believed that an unofficial detention and torture centre operated there, targeting suspected members of the JVP during the Government’s crackdown on the insurgency.