Retired diplomat Howard Debenham reflects on tumultuous years in Sri Lanka

Updated July 27 2020 - 10:22am, first published July 26 2020 - 9:30am
ON THE SPOT: Batemans Bay resident Howard Debenham with President Premadasa at Sucharita, Colombo.
ON THE SPOT: Batemans Bay resident Howard Debenham with President Premadasa at Sucharita, Colombo.

He was a delusional tyrant damaging the good name of Sri Lanka. Sure, he had out-terrorized the terrorist Singhalese Marxist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) which had brought the country to its knees, but he was using this success and the bloody fight with the powerful separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) to excuse harsh methods of dealing with his opponents. The judiciary had been cowed and his visionary economic and infrastructure reforms were being used to enrich himself and his cronies.

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