Memories Dissolved in Tears: The Torture Chambers of State Terrorism and the Endless Hell of Tamil Political Prisoners
Foreword: This heart-wrenching post, originally published on the Facebook page 'Voice of a Nation' (Inamondrin Kural), strips away the deceptive mask of law, democracy, and equality worn by the Sri Lankan state, exposing its brutal chauvinistic face. Ezhugathir presents this powerful documentation to our readers as a historic testament to the ruined lives of Tamil political prisoners and the blatant double standards of the ruling regime.
The life of Raghupathi Sharma, a Saiva Hindu priest arrested in 1999 on mere suspicion regarding the assassination attempt on then-President Chandrika Kumaratunga, is a tragic history of a man caught in the ruthless grip of majoritarian state power. Sri Lanka's draconian Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) pushed him into a living hell, dragging him into torture chambers that would make human civilization hang its head in shame.
The plight of Tamil political prisoners under the Prevention of Terrorism Act. (Image: placeholder)
Without an iota of basic humanitarian consideration for his spiritual status, horrific violence was unleashed upon him. As an orthodox Hindu priest who strictly observed a lifetime of vegetarianism, his sacred thread (Poonool) was brutally torn apart. Trampling upon his religious convictions, the perpetrators desecrated his spiritual purity by forcefully coercing him to consume meat and alcohol.
Furthermore, he was hung upside down and mercilessly beaten. In an act of sheer sadism, a pipe wrapped in barbed wire was forcefully inserted into his rectum and pulled out. His genitals were crushed inside a desk drawer for the perpetrators' amusement. Ultimately, trembling under the absolute fear of death and broken by unendurable torture, he was forced to sign confession statements written entirely in Sinhala—a language he did not understand in the slightest.
Although the Judicial Medical Officer's (JMO) report conclusively documented the severe burn marks, scars, and deep physical trauma inflicted on his body, justice remained elusive. For the first 18 months of his detention, he was denied the fundamental right to be represented by a lawyer. To crown this monumental injustice, a staggering 300-year prison sentence was eventually slammed upon him.
Shattered by the permanent physical damage of torture, he lost the ability to walk properly. He languished inside the prison cell, his frail body broken by severe diabetes and chronic hypertension. The prison authorities, fueled by institutional racism, callously denied his request for a wheelchair. When the COVID-19 pandemic swept through the prison, he was left crying out in agonizing pain on his bed, completely deprived of proper medical care.
This hellish nightmare was not confined to Raghupathi Sharma alone; his wife, Vasanthi Raghupathi Sharma, was also arrested on identical groundless suspicions. Following brutal interrogation and torture, she lost 15 precious years of her youth behind bars. When she was finally acquitted as "innocent" by the court in 2015, no one could restore her stolen life or compensate the ruined family.
While both parents were locked away in prison cells, their helpless six and eight-year-old children were left abandoned. The agonizing trauma experienced by those innocent siblings, longing for parental love while staying in an orphanage in Batticaloa, defies any linguistic description. More than twenty-two years of youth, the peace of an entire family, and the future of innocent children were completely decimated by this state-sponsored tyranny.
Following an exhausting legal battle, Mr. Raghupathi Sharma was finally released in November 2022 under a presidential pardon by Ranil Wickremesinghe. But who will answer for his shattered existence?
The grim reality is that this tragedy is not unique to Priest Raghupathi Sharma. The agonizing cries of hundreds of Tamil political prisoners like Anandasudhakaran—who remains locked away under a life sentence while his motherless children weep outside the prison gates—and the endless tears of their families have never managed to open the heavy doors of this country's chauvinistic establishment.
Yet, in stark contrast, when it comes to Galagoda Atthe Gnanasara Thero—the extremist monk who systematically sowed hatred and racial animosity across society, possessed a violent criminal track record, and was imprisoned specifically for contempt of court—the supposedly progressive Executive President, Mr. Anura Kumara Dissanayake, became ready to throw all legal regulations to the wind within a mere forty-eight hours to facilitate his release!
This single incident serves as an undeniable, monumental proof to unmask the venomous majoritarian chauvinism and the hypocritical rhetoric of the JVP-led National People's Power (NPP) government, whose hollow slogans of "equal law for all" stand completely exposed.
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