In a fiery speech that has sent shockwaves through the political landscape, Udaya Gammanpila delivered a stunning admission and a bold challenge to the government, outlining the explosive momentum of a growing opposition movement.
Participating in a media conference held by the Mahajana Hada National Movement, Pivithuru Hela Urumaya leader and lawyer Udaya Gammanpila expressed his views as follows.
We were able to turn Nugegoda into a decisive turning point in history on November 21, decisively disappointing the government’s hopes and ambitions. It is our fundamental responsibility and duty to the people. Let us pay our respects to everyone who supported this historic mobilization. Accordingly, first of all, we pay our deepest respects to the great crowd, the massive sea of people, that came to Nugegoda on November 21. They arrived in the midst of heavy rains and despite the government’s numerous obstacles and insults, demonstrating their powerful will to force the government to fulfill its promises.
We would also like to express our profound gratitude to the President and the leaders of the Malaima movement who, from the day this rally was announced, insulted both the organizers and the participants and in doing so, inadvertently allowed more people to participate in the rally. Indeed, the President, who did his duty without fail, chanted ’21 Nugegoda 21 Nugegoda’ like a mantra from the moment we announced this meeting at this very place until the day before the meeting. He worked even harder than we did to publicize this gathering, becoming an unexpected megaphone for our cause.
Without the tremendous and unwavering support provided to us by the mainstream media and the vibrant social media activists, we would not have been able to make this rally the resounding success it became. We take this opportunity to express our sincere gratitude to all the media institutions and social media activists who championed the truth.
It is not an easy task for political forces that have been divided throughout history and who maintain different ideologies to work together in a grand alliance. We worked together for seven intense months and were only able to hold this historic rally because of the extraordinary patience, fierce determination and remarkable mutual understanding displayed by the leaders of each party. I would like to express my personal gratitude to the leaders of each brotherly party, including the Central Committee, the various Working Committees and the Executive Committee of the People’s Voice.
If the government thinks that it can control the rising tide of public opposition by cutting off the electricity and removing the speakers, then President Anura, you are very wrong. Today, we hold the firm belief that the fire of the protest that we started in Nugegoda on the 21st will become a great wildfire. This political fire will continue to spread relentlessly throughout the country until the enemies of this motherland flee from state rule and the people reclaim their power.
Also, these people in power used various tactics to sabotage us. Like Hitler’s Gestapo police, today’s Compass Police thought that they could use the police state apparatus to intimidate our leaders and stop them from attending this meeting. The day before the meeting, a letter was sent to the Sri Lanka Freedom Party headquarters for former Minister Duminda Dissanayake. This letter, dated November 24th, asked him to come to the police for a CID investigation. Why was it sent to the party office instead of sending it to his home address? It is because he had previously sat in our media conference and appeared publicly on this matter. This was a clear tactic to send a chilling message to others that even if they join the Nugegoda work, the consequences will be painful. The letter is sent to the Sri Lanka Freedom Party headquarters deliberately, without sending the letter to his home address, as a public spectacle. But there are no such people among us who are afraid of the Gestapo police. You all saw that Minister Duminda Dissanayake courageously came to the rally and played a big role before the rally and made it successful. He came to the rally and sat defiantly in the front row, and at this very moment he is answering questions at the CID. What is his accusation? That there was some minor delay in handing over the official weapon he received as the Deputy Minister in charge of Ports. The only purpose of investigating these trivial things by wasting public money is to scare the opposition and to intimidate the dissenting voices with these hollow gongs. Even now, Mr. Duminda Dissanayake has proven that their intimidation is a lie.
When the leaders of the compass went around the country making crude speeches, the people went to them and clapped their hands out of politeness, but no one came forward to give grass to those meetings. That is the reality of our democracy. The government, by sowing bundles of grass all over the city, should honestly tell us whether this is the system change they promised or a clean Sri Lanka. Those who cut their bellies and hung them on lampposts are now cutting grass and hanging them on lampposts instead; that could be the system change on their part.
They blamed us for organizing the Nugegoda meeting while the Advanced Level exams were being held. Our meeting was only held on one single evening. But let us remember, the government-held by-election was held at the very same time as the Ordinary Level Examination and the Fifth Scholarship Examination. A much larger number of students appeared for the Ordinary Level. Their political meetings were held from morning to evening on every examination day. That did not cause any problem for anyone according to their logic. We are simply telling the government to set an example by giving them a reason they themselves have established.
The next accusation leveled at us was that we were paid to bring people. They claimed we were given drinks to bring people. If we could bring people like that with simple payments, we would not have been able to bring such massive crowds to meetings in the Presidential Election, the Parliamentary Election, the by-election, and on May Day. The bitter truth, the undeniable political reality, is that those who voted for Malaima are now angry and feel betrayed. They came to Nugegoda on the 21st to vent that anger and to show their collective power.
The government says that drug dealers helped us bring people. Yes. Four drug dealers helped. They are the government’s lies, the government’s incompetence, the government’s corruption, and the government’s terror. If those four smugglers are thrown out of the government, we may even lose our people, for it is these very ills that drive the people to us. It has been formally proposed to hold the next massive meeting in January. The People’s Voice Executive Council will strategically decide the exact date, time and venue for the next phase of our struggle.
We cordially invite all opposition forces, including the Samagi Jana Balawegaya, who missed the Nugegoda rally that marked the beginning of the end of the government, to take to the stage of the next rally. We stand united to oppose the government’s lies, incompetence, corruption, and terror.
Also, we have decisively decided to further expand the powerful unity that we have built in this opposition alliance. We will move forward with determination and unbreakable unity until we save this country and its people from this government. Although we came together for what seemed like the first major rally in a long time, when we saw the great expectations that the people have for us, which are higher than a mountain, we have collectively decided that we will work together and carry forward this fight for political change until this government is finally sent home.
