Sri Lanka, March 16 -- Former President Ranil Wickremesinghe has rejected the Batalanda Commission report, claiming it was intended to smear him politically.

"I wholly reject the report. It was published as a sessional paper in 2000, but no one, including the JVP, requested a debate," Wickremesinghe said in a special video statement.

He added that there is no precedent for debating a sessional paper 25 years after its publication.

Explaining the background, Wickremesinghe said that following the Indo-Lanka Accord in 1987, the JVP launched a violent campaign. He said President J.R. Jayewardene assigned ministers to protect vital state installations, and the Sapugaskanda area required military protection due to key infrastructure.

He re...