Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa has re-appointed former Sri Lanka Navy Chief of Staff, Rear Admiral (Rtd) Mohan Wijewickrama as the Governor of Eastern Province for the second term on December 22. Wijewickrama’s re-appointment is considered as a move by Mr. Rajapaksa to keep the civil administration of the Eastern Provincial Council under the control of Sri Lankan military.
The former SLN officer is being in charge of implementing ‘Mahinda Chindana’ policy and ‘development’ agenda of structural genocide in the areas where Tamil speaking people live in majority.
Tamil speaking officials in the East are perturbed over the reappointment of Mohan Wijewickrema as the governor for another term of five years that he would continue his interference in their duties.
Wijewickrema is also engaged in filling all vacancies in provincial offices from minor grade to senior grade officers with Sinhalese from the South.
The sources fear the reappointment of Mohan Wijewickrema would aggravate the ill feeling among the communities in the Eastern province.
The SL military governor has been promoting encroachment of Tamil lands by the Sinhalese without heeding to protests by district parliamentarians and provincial councilors.
Mohan Wijewickrama has been sending circulars in Sinhala only.
The Sinhala-only military governor also plays a covert role in crippling the education of the province by implementing unjust teacher transfer schemes according to teacher trade union sources.
Wijewickrama was first appointed as the Governor of the merged North Eastern Province (NEPC) in January 2006. Later, he was appointed the Governor of the Eastern Province and acting governor of Northern Province following the Rajapaksa engineered de-merger of the North East Province in December the same year.