29th December 1996

Looking back

On the path of 1996

1996 a year of ups and downs. Mostly downs actually. A year to reminisce and grieve over.....A year when the war took a particularly bloody turn, when more Sri Lankans had to seek shelter in refugee camps and the only silver lining, so as to speak, was the triumphant victory of our cricket team at the Lahore World Cup final which prompted a spontaneous outpouring of joy amongst Sri Lankans, both here and abroad.

January...

• The sparks from the New Year's fireworks were just dying down, when the Government increased the war risk insurance levy by exactly one hundred percent. While directly affecting importers and exporters, it also culminated naturally in affecting the consumer.
• The fourth of January saw the Provincial Councils of the North Central and Sabaragamuwa provinces being dissolved, amidst violent protests from UNPers.
• In the sports arena, Lankan spinner Muttiah Muralitharan was no-balled for chucking, whilst Sri Lanka lost the world series in Australia under a good deal of controversy. And in the political field Minister Richard Pathirana, Minister of Education requested yet another Commission of Inquiry to probe into financial mismanagement in Universities islandwide.
• All seemed calm until the 22nd of January, the day a Russian built M17 SLAF helicopter carrying 39 Air Force personnel was shot down on its way to Vettilaikerni from the strategic Palaly Air Base.
• The 25th saw CEB engineers threatening a blackout....based on the failure of the government to meet their demands.
• The culmination of the month resulted in one of the blackest days of the year on the 31st...when Tiger suicide bombers in an ammunition filled lorry rammed into the Central Bank building in Fort, the hub of business and commerce in the capital, killing 89, blinding over 75 people and causing immense destruction to the city's nerve centre.

February....

• the Ceylon National Chamber of Industries warned of an impending drought and possible power cuts to come.
• Valentine's Day saw the navy gaining points when an LTTE ship carrying armaments was sunk off the coast of Mullaitivu.
• President Chandrika Kumaratunga resorted to prayers to invoke blessings upon the country, with several Buddhist monks participating in ceremonies, islandwide.

March...

• along with the Malaysian government banning the LTTE, the Sri Lankan government also stopped importing beef from England following reports of the "mad cow" epidemic there. This was in line with various other countries including the Netherlands, France, Belgium, Portugal and Sweden.
• The fifth of March, saw the Maha Sangha gathered in numbers at the BMICH to protest against the devolution package.
• No confidence motion tabled against Foreign Affairs Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar in Parliament, on seventh.
• The 17 th and a cricket crazy nation went into ecstasy as Sri Lanka trounced Australia to win one day cricket's most coveted prize...The World Cup. Lankan vice-captain Aravinda de Silva wrote his name in the record books as he steered the team to victory with a brilliant century. Whilst eight million turned out in Lahore, to watch the finals a tense Lankan audience (including army officials) stayed glued to their TV sets, and then took to the streets in a mass outpouring of joy.
• The government introduced daily power cuts in a bid to avert the looming power crisis.
• This was also the month in which 10,000 Lankans residing in the US signed a joint petition against the LTTE to be sent to President Bill Clinton.
• Phase V of Operation Riviresa was launched in the North and East as well.
• Over here in Colombo, the Miss Sri Lanka '96 pageant attracted attention, with Shivanthini Dharmasiri winning the crown.

April...

• The month of peace ad harmony...heralding the Sinhala and Hindu New Year.
• The first itself saw clashes between the UNP and PA at Anamaduwa, while minor floods experienced in Colombo amidst New Year celebrations proved somewhat of a damper.
• Cricket was once more a hot topic with the Singer Cup Tournament in Singapore, although this time Sri Lanka was defeated by the Pakistanis in the final. Lankan opening batsman Sanath Jayasuriya covered himself in glory, scoring the fastest 100, the fastest 50 and the most number of sixes in a one day match during this tournament.
• President Kumaratunga postponed local government elections on the 18th and the 22nd saw 600,000 estate workers laying down their tools on a massive strike.
• 3000 Doctors reported in sick on the 27th crippling the islandwide health service , over the failure of the government to appoint 460 doctors who had just completed internships.
• President Kumaratunga accepted a proposal for live TV debate on Thawakkal affair by opposition leader Ranil Wickremesinghe which lasted 3 days starting on the 19th of March.
• President Kumaratunga called for Tamils to back the peace package and warned security forces to conduct the war against LTTE with discipline.

May...

• May Day marches took place in various sections of the country despite the government earlier banning processions.
• Doctors finally ended a nine day old strike.
• President CBK addressed Japanese businessmen on a 4 day tour to Japan, asking them to invest here.
• Army captured Valvettithurai, birth place of LTTE leader Prabhakaran and Point Pedro on the 17th.
• In the power sector, to worsen the already gloomy scenario of lengthy power cuts that had crippled the economy, the CEB staff struck work plunging the entire country into darkness for four days. The lack of electricity also saw the water supply to many parts of the island being disrupted, causing immense hardship to the people. The workers were protesting against privatising their institution. The strike was finally called off after electricity supply was declared an emergency service and the military intervened to restore supply.

June....

• The France based NGO, Medicin Sans Frontieres lashed out at the LTTE, for their fraudulent use of the Internet , and making appeals for funds via the World Wide Web.
• Concern mounted over the number of deaths, particularly of children from the spread of Dengue.
• LTTE massacred 14 innocent Sinhalese civilians residing in a small hamlet in the Puttalam district on the eleventh.

July...

• Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva escaped with injuries, on the 4th, when a woman suicide bomber rammed a motorcycle onto the minister's vehicle, minutes after he declared open a BMC outlet at Stanley Road Jaffna. 23 people died and 50 others were injured in the incident.
Reigning Miss World Jacqueline Aguilera visited Sri Lanka from July 12-15 with a message against drug abuse. She visited two orphanages and flagged off the 7th SLANA health run at the Galle Face Green.
• The LTTE flanked by Sea Tigers, over-ran the Mullaitivu camp in a mid-night attack, which resulted in the deaths of over 1600 government troops on the 18.
• The 24 th a powerful bomb exploded in the Aluthgama bound train, at the Dehiwela Railway Station killing over 60 civilians and injuring more than 300 others. The LTTE denied responsibility for the explosion.
• Forces captured the northern town of Paranthan, the gateway to Kilinochchi where the LTTE's northern fortifications were concentrated, on the 27th.

August....

• Former ambassador to France, doyen of Sinhala drama and one of the country's foremost literary figures, Professor Ediriweera Sarachchandra, passed away.

September....

• 7th - Sri Lanka beat Australia by 50 runs in the four-nation Singer World Series cricket final at the R. Premadasa Stadium.
• Government troops captured Kilinochchi, on 29th.
• Teenage girl Krishanthi Kumaraswamy was gang raped and killed by soldiers in Kaithady.

October..

• Media Censorship was finally lifted on the eighth, after 26 weeks of military news being suppressed.
• Dave Whatmore announced his resignation as national cricket coach prompting rumours of dissension in the Sri Lankan team and shocking the cricket loving public..
• Sri Lanka turned back its clock by half an hour at midnight, at a cabinet discussion, to make the local time six hours ahead of GMT on October 26.
• Shirani Bandaranayake a 37 year old professor of law at the Colombo University was named as the country's first woman Supreme Court judge. The decision sparked much controversy in legal circles, being seen as a political appointment.

November....

• Former President J. R. Jayewardene died at the age of ninety, after a battle with cancer. The government refused to award him a state funeral, when UNP members requested for it.
• Sri Lanka's second and the world's fifteenth recorded conjoined twins were born to Ms. Hemantha Rupasingha on the fourth, sparking off much interest among people. The twins were later to be flown to California for surgery, but died on the morning of the flight....
• Lankan batsman Sanath Jayasuriya attracts much attention as he judges the highly publicised Miss World contest in Bangalore, India.
• President Kumaratunga arrived in France on a 3 day visit on November 24th for discussions with the French President Jacques Chirac.

December...

• The government declared a day of action against the deadly Dengue.
• Deputy Defence Minister Anuruddha Ratwatte, Army Commander Gen. Rohan Daluwatte, IGP Rajaguru, and some other officials had a narrow escape from death or being captured by rebels, when their Helicopter crash landed into an LTTE controlled area, ten kilometres away from the forward defence lines of government troops at Vavuniya.
• The Special Task Force's Deputy Chief SSP Upali Sahabandu was killed by an LTTE suicide bomber in Ampara.

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