Lohan Evindra Ratwatte (born 22 June 1968) is a

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

n politician. He was the

State Minister Minister of state is a designation for a government minister, with varying meanings in different jurisdictions. In a number of European countries, the title is given as an honorific conferring a higher rank, often bestowed upon senior ministers ...

of gem and jewelry and a Member of Parliament from the

Kandy District Kandy District (, ) is a district of the Central Province of Sri Lanka. Its area is 1,940 km2 (750 sq mi). Administrative divisions Ethnic groups and religion Major cities Suburbs of city of Kandy * Peradeniya * Katugasto ...

. He is the eldest son of

General A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...

Anuruddha Ratwatte General Anuruddha Leuke Ratwatte (14 July 1938 – 24 November 2011), frequently referred to as Anuruddha Ratwatte, was a Sri Lankan politician and a retired army officer. He was a Cabinet Minister and Deputy Minister of Defence. Early life ...

, former cabinet minister and deputy defense minister.

Early life and education

Born on 22 June 1968 in Kandy to Captain Anuruddha Ratwatte and Carman Ratwatte ''nee'' Rangala, he was the eldest with one younger brother,

Mahendra Ratwatte Mahendra Ratwatte was a Sri Lankan politician and former Mayor of Kandy, from 2011 to 2015. He is the current Basnayake Nilame of Sri Maha Vishnu Devalaya of Kandy & Dedi Munda Devalaya of Aluthnuwara. Early life He is the second son of General ...

. The Ratwattes were an old

Radala Radala refers to a small minority group in Sri Lanka in the former provinces of the Kingdom of Kandy, who are either descendants of chiefs and courtiers of the King of Kandy of Nayaks of Kandy or descendants of native headmen appointed by the ...

family descending from the courtiers of the

Kingdom of Kandy The Kingdom of Kandy was a monarchy on the Sri Lanka, island of Sri Lanka, located in the central and eastern portion of the island. It was founded in the late 15th century and endured until the early 19th century. Initially a client kingdom ...

, with Ratwatte, Dissawa of Matale singing the

Kandyan Convention In the history of Sri Lanka, the Kandyan Convention () was a treaty signed on 2 March 1815 between the British governor of Ceylon, Sir Robert Brownrigg, and the chiefs of the Kandyan Kingdom, British Ceylon, whereas, according to the Sinhala ...

. His grandfather Harris Leuke Ratwatte was a colonial era legislator. Lohan Ratwatte was educated at

Trinity College, Kandy Trinity College, Kandy is a private Anglican boys' school located in Kandy, Sri Lanka. It offers both day and boarding facilities. It was founded in 1872 by British Anglican missionaries of the Church Missionary Society, modelled on Britis ...

, where he played

rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby union: 15 players per side *** American flag rugby *** Beach rugby *** Mini rugby *** Rugby sevens, 7 players per side *** Rugby tens, 10 players per side *** Snow rugby *** Tou ...

and represented the Kandy Sports Club and Upcountry.

Political career

Ratwatte was elected to the Central Provincial Council in 2009 and was elected to parliament in the

2010 Sri Lankan parliamentary election Parliamentary elections were held in Sri Lanka on 8 and 20 April 2010, to elect 225 members to Sri Lanka's 14th Parliament. 14,088,500 Sri Lankans were eligible to vote in the election at 11,102 polling stations. It was the first general election ...

from Kandy representing the

Sri Lanka Freedom Party The Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP; ; ) is a centre-left political party in Sri Lanka. Founded by S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike in 1951, the party was one of Sri Lanka's two main parties from the 1950s to the 2010s, serving as the main rival of the c ...

(SLFP). In 2012, he was appointed SLFP chief organizer of Pathadumbara by President

Mahinda Rajapaksa Mahinda Rajapaksa (; ; born Percy Mahendra Rajapaksa; 18 November 1945) is a Sri Lankan politician. He served as the sixth President of Sri Lanka from 2005 to 2015; the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka from 2004 to 2005, 2018, and 2019 to 2022; the ...

, succeeding his father General Anuruddha Ratwatta. He served as State Minister of Road Development. He was re-elected in the

2015 Sri Lankan parliamentary election Parliamentary elections were held in Sri Lanka on 17 August 2015, ten months ahead of schedule, to elect 225 members to Sri Lanka's 15th Parliament. The United National Party (UNP) led United National Front for Good Governance (UNFGG) won 106 s ...

and the

2020 Sri Lankan parliamentary election Parliamentary elections were held in Sri Lanka on 5 August 2020 to elect 225 members to Sri Lanka's 16th Parliament. 16,263,885 people were eligible to vote in the election, 31.95% of whom were young voters. The incumbent Sri Lanka People's ...

. In 2020, he was appointed State Minister of gem and jewelry related industries and in December 2020 he was given the additional appointed State Minister of Prison Management and Prisoners Rehabilitation.

Controversies

Lohan Ratwatte was charged for the murder of ten supporters of the

Sri Lanka Muslim Congress The Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (; ) is a political party in Sri Lanka. Presently led by Rauff Hakeem, it is currently the largest party representing the Muslim community of Sri Lanka. History The party was formed at a meeting held at Kattankudy ...

in Udathalawinna during the

2001 Sri Lankan parliamentary election Parliamentary elections were held in Sri Lanka on 5 December 2001, just a little over a year after the previous elections in October 2000. Background The People's Alliance (PA) government faced a blow when most of the SLMC MPs left the coaliti ...

when his father was deputy defense minister. He was acquitted of all charges by the High Court of Colombo in 2006. Five body guards of the Ratwatte family were convicted and sentenced to death. In September 2021 Lohan Ratwatte received negative publicity over an incident where he reportedly threatened

Tamil Tamil may refer to: People, culture and language * Tamils, an ethno-linguistic group native to India, Sri Lanka, and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka ** Myanmar or Burmese Tamils, Tamil people of Ind ...

political prisoners. It was reported that on 12 September an inebriated Ratwatte, the then State Minister of Prison Management and Prisoners' Rehabilitation, had stormed into the

Anuradhapura Anuradhapura (, ; , ) is a major city located in the north central plain of Sri Lanka. It is the capital city of North Central Province, Sri Lanka, North Central Province and the capital of Anuradhapura District. The city lies north of the cur ...

prison and demanded to meet Tamil prisoners being held under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA). When 10 Tamil prisoners were brought to Ratwatte, he addressed them in the

Sinhala language Sinhala ( ; Sinhala: , , ), sometimes called Sinhalese ( ), is an Indo-Aryan language primarily spoken by the Sinhalese people of Sri Lanka, who make up the largest ethnic group on the island, numbering about 16 million. It is also the first ...

; and when one prisoner protested that they did not know Sinhala, an enraged Ratwatte began verbally abusing the prisoners for not knowing the language despite living in a “Sinhala country”, using the ethnic slur “''Para Demala''”, and told them to go to India for not understanding Sinhala. Using interpreters, he warned the prisoners not to betray the country to the UN or the

Tamil diaspora The Tamil diaspora refers to descendants of the Tamil people, Tamil speaking Emigration, immigrants who emigrated from their native lands in the southern Indian subcontinent (Tamil Nadu, Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry and Sri Lanka) to ...

since the UN was set to take up the island's human rights issues the following week. Ratwatte then brandished his pistol and ordered the Tamil prisoners to kneel before him at gunpoint and subjected them to further verbal abuse. While interrogating the prisoners, he asked them if they had killed any soldiers and threatened to kill one of them by placing the pistol on his forehead. Ratwatte allegedly stated that the president had authorized him to do whatever he wanted to the Tamil political prisoners and that he could either release them or kill them. Following public outcry, Ratwatte tendered his resignation on 15 September and acknowledged his responsibility for the incidents. On 8 June 2023, based on the report of the Justice Ministry’s Committee which found credible evidence of serious human rights violations during Ratwatte’s visit to the prison, the Centre for Society and Religion (CSR) called for Ratwatte to be investigated and prosecuted under the UNCAT for mistreatment of prisoners and under the

ICCPR The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) is a multilateral treaty that commits nations to respect the civil and political rights of individuals, including the right to life, freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom ...

for “advocating national hatred constituting incitement to discrimination by harassment of Tamil detainees”. On 26 October 2024, Police seized an unregistered luxury vehicle from a residence belonging to Ratwatte's wife in Mirihana. Both Ratwatte and his wife was later arrested and remanded.

References

External links

Hon. Lohan Ratwatte, M.P.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ratwatte, Lohan 1968 births Alumni of Trinity College, Kandy Living people Members of the 14th Parliament of Sri Lanka Members of the 15th Parliament of Sri Lanka Members of the 16th Parliament of Sri Lanka Members of the Central Provincial Council Provincial councillors of Sri Lanka Lohan Sri Lankan Buddhists Sri Lanka Freedom Party politicians Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna politicians United People's Freedom Alliance politicians

Early life and education

Political career

Controversies

See also

References

External links