Vidarshana Kannangara, a leader of the *Jana Aragala Vyaparaya* who defected from the movement to support President Anura Kumara Dissanayake in the recently held presidential election, has voiced strong dissatisfaction over a recent police appointment. Kannangara, who backed Dissanayake instead of the movement’s candidate Nuwan Bopage in the September 21 presidential election, criticized the appointment of Superintendent of Police T.M. Ajantha Rodrigo as the Acting Director of the Public Order Management Division by Acting Inspector General of Police (IGP) Priyantha Weerasooriya.
Kannangara, once a leading figure in the movement for democratic reform, expressed his dismay, claiming that Rodrigo is notorious for his involvement in violent crackdowns on peaceful protestors during the mass public protests. He alleged that Rodrigo had repeatedly overstepped his duties, and several complaints have been lodged against him at both the police headquarters and the Human Rights Commission. As a victim of these actions, Kannangara recalls a specific incident on February 3, 2023, near the Elphinstone Theatre, where Rodrigo allegedly played a leading role in the brutal dispersal of a peaceful protest, which resulted in Kannangara suffering a fractured arm.
Rodrigo, who was seen as one of the key enforcers during the ‘Ranil-Tiran-Deshabandu regime’, has now been reinstated by the ‘Dissanayake-Harini administration’, much to the dismay of Kannangara. He expressed concern that this controversial appointment directly contradicts the values of justice and democracy that President Dissanayake and his government claimed to stand for during the election campaign.
Kannangara called for an immediate clarification from President Dissanayake or a representative regarding the appointment. He stressed that if this issue is not addressed, it would raise serious questions about the administration’s commitment to the essential democratic changes they promised. “How are we to interpret this? Is the president, whom we supported for the sake of necessary democratic reforms, now preparing to betray us and align with the very forces we fought against?” Kannangara asked.
