Leader of the House and Minister Bimal Ratnayake made an emotional speech when he tabled the report in the House on 14 March. His speech was so emotional that Speaker Dr. Jagath Wickramaratne, the good doctor that he is, was on the verge of tears. Many who listened to Ratnayake too were moved, especially those fortunate enough not to have experienced the brutality of the JVP. Terrible things happened during those dark years in the country and thousands of innocents died, a majority at the hands of State agents acting on behalf of a Government pushed to the wall by a group of insurgents hell bent on toppling a democratically elected Government.

The country was in the throes of a second attempt by the JVP led by Rohana Wijeweera who, having failed in 1971 to topple the Government, returned with more brutality. As young men and women died each day, Wijeweera lived hidden in the salubrious climes of the hill country with his family but his luck ran out eventually but not before he paved the way for thousands of youth of this country to go to an early grave in the belief that overthrowing an elected Government and installing their leader as the country’s ruler would open the door to a utopian society.

However, Wijeweera’s crimes cannot offset the crimes committed by the Government. There has been little or no accountability for those who suffered and continue to suffer due to the brutality with which the Government cracked down on the JVP. Batalanda was but one of the many horror houses that operated during the period.

But impassioned speeches aside, this is not an issue that can be looked at in isolation. What is important is to tell the whole story of the times to the country and the world so that a correct picture is drawn of the dark days instead of one that the JVP wants told in a way that it white washes the group and paints only the Government as the villain.

The NPP Government has the right to do what it wishes with the Batalanda Commission report given that the JVP-led NPP are now the elected rulers of the country, unlike how it would be even if Wijeweera had succeeded in 1971 or 1988-1990 and taken power by bullet instead of the ballot.

Ranil Wickremesinghe is a non-entity in Sri Lankan politics today and the JVP strangely considers him enemy number one. If Wickremesinghe is found guilty of the many crimes he stands accused of, the full weight of the law must be used to punish him according to the law.

But the Government will also have to do the same with the many crimes that the JVP stands accused of which include the killings of many prominent Sri Lankans such as Vijaya Kumaratunga, Thevis Guruge, Sagarika Gomes, to name a few. The way that family members of those killed by the State suffer and grieve, so do the loved ones of those who were killed by the JVP.

When Chandrika Kumaratunga became President in 1994, she spent the early months of her term in office digging grave sites and appointing commissions to uncover the sins of the UNP. The first six months of this presidency has been spent bringing up bodies the same way, of Lasantha Wickrematunge, of the Easter attack victims and now Batalanda. It is almost a repeat performance of 1994.

It’s clear the Government wants to milk Batalanda as much as possible ahead of the Local Authorities election, but this can lead to a dangerous situation awakening upon old enmities, pitching villager against villager, neighbour against neighbour and opening old wounds that will fester long after the election results have been announced.