• To prevail on Ranil to submit Cabinet paper on 1818 Uva-Wellassa Rebellion national heroes exiled to Mauritius by British Crown  

Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena is to prevail upon President Ranil Wickremesinghe to submit a proposal to the Cabinet of Ministers to rectify a historic decision taken by the British Crown to exile Ceylon’s national heroes of the “Udarata Maha Kerella” (the Great Rebellion of 1817-1818/1818 Uva Wellassa Rebellion) to the Island of Mauritius.

He also stated that even though there are State Counsels and President’s Counsels (PCs), no one has come forward to correct the decision of the Crown which betrayed the country’s national heroes.

He stated thus while addressing the second session of the Sankathana Mandapaya academic discourse held at Temple Trees on Monday (13).

Premier Gunawardena highlighted that the most devastating effect of the proclamation issued against our national heroes who were arrested during that time was that the British rulers took over entire lands in Kandy while the lands that belonged to these prisoners and their families were later confiscated. “That was a serious issue that has not been rectified yet”.

“Then, a Bill called the Land Reforms Commission came into effect. It was followed by another called the Nationalisation Act of Estates valued in foreign Sterling Pounds. When the Sterling Pound estates were nationalised, an acre of land mentioned in the said historical event was sold for not even a Sterling Pound but just for a shilling which was the lowest amount of money at the time. We could not correct this yet. It is very important to correct the second gazette notification,” he emphasised.

“There is a question as to whether it is possible to announce punishments for these people who were sent as prisoners to Mauritius during that period of time. None of us have filed a case. That's why I said that we have attorneys, PCs and so on but no legal action has been taken yet to correct the Crown's decision that made them traitors. I think that it is worth considering the legal side of things and the current situation. If we intervene as much as we can, the future generation will carry it forward. They admit that they have to fix it today”.

Therefore, he requested the history faculties of universities to show special interest in the destiny of the prisoners who were exiled to Mauritius and regarding the people involved in these events.