Pradeep Jayewardene, grandson of the late President J.R. Jayewardene, used a ceremony marking his grandfather’s 120th birth anniversary to argue that those who allege corruption should first examine their own side, the Daily Mirror reported.

The ceremony was held in Colombo on Wednesday.

The 1987 exchange

Jayewardene recounted accompanying his grandfather to a meeting with businessmen in 1987, at which one of them raised corruption in the government.

“My grandfather then asked whether there were any businessmen in the gathering who had either given or accepted a bribe. He asked anyone who had done so to raise his hand. No businessman in the gathering raised a hand,” he said.

“My grandfather then said that one should not point a finger at another person because four fingers point back at you when you do so. What we see today is allegations of corruption being hurled at each other.”

Former President Ranil Wickremesinghe responded to questions from youth at a separate event held at his office in Colombo to mark the anniversary, the Daily Mirror reported. The paper did not report what was asked or answered.

The week the remark lands in

The argument that corruption allegations are traded rather than proved is being made in a week when several are being tested in court.

The Colombo High Court fixed a pre-trial conference for October 13 in the CIABOC case against former Navy Commander Wasantha Karannagoda and Yoshitha Rajapaksa. The FCID has summoned former First Lady Shiranthi Rajapaksa for September 24 over Rs. 10 million raised for a CT scanner that investigators say was never bought. SLPP member Renuka Perera was arrested by the bribery commission, and four bank officials were granted bail in an alleged money laundering case.

Pradeep Jayewardene did not name any party, case or politician, and the Daily Mirror does not report him being asked about any of them.

Context

J.R. Jayewardene was Sri Lanka’s first executive president, serving from 1978 to 1989 after becoming prime minister in 1977. His grandson is not a member of parliament and holds no party office; his remarks were made in a family capacity at a commemorative event, not as a political statement on behalf of the UNP.

Not reported

No outlet other than the Daily Mirror appears to have covered the ceremony, and the paper does not say who organised it, who else spoke, or how many attended. It gives no account of Wickremesinghe’s answers to the youth questions.