Self inflicted wounds – distortion of the truth – Western Conspiracies

At the expense of being boring, repetitive, and seemingly unpatriotic, I have to keep returning to this subject time and time again, on why I believe this Government is bent on convincing the public that all the problems they are faced with are NOT of their own making but of imperialist and LTTE rump (I like that word ‘rump’ – it actually reminds me of a backside! Or even rump steak!)

A Government that is truly visionary and bent on improving the quality of life of all its citizens would in my view NEVER engage in such vitriol. It matters not one IOTA what the US and others think, if this country is governed under norms of civilized behavior, and good governance. In that instant no matter what accusations are made for past transgressions, the benefit of the doubt always goes to the present. It is the lack of this that is at the heart of the problem, and due to the jingoistic posturing of the Buddhist and dare I say it even the Catholic Clergy to gain political mileage (shame on both groups) we as a nation is held to ransom by those who are opposed to a utopian future for our country and its long suffering people.

This Govt. by its actions today, NOT of the past, continues to feed the LTTE Diaspora instead of starving it which it MUST. So who are the traitors to this country? It is first the Government, including all those who mouth out this view, and now the leaders of Buddhist and Catholic Clergy are complicit in this treachery. When we have people blaming others for their failings of being able to reach amicable objectives amongst the citizens of our own country, then we know it is our inability to solve our own problems, where we look for SCAPEGOATS. This is human nature being acted out in the world stage and it is farcical as the whole world sees through it but the inward looking myopic citizenry of the country, who currently are the majority, are either blind or also paralyzed.

When we do not understand that our wounds are self inflicted, the world takes pleasure at seeing us squirming and demonstrating, as it is the action of a spoilt child and not of an intelligent adversary.

This myopia has not been exposed due to the lack of the skill of the Opposition to take the moral high ground, and fear of vested interests that DO NOT understand the ‘CON’ they are embroiled in. We do not have any true leaders in the country at present. MR is just a war hero, who made a wise and excellent decision to give our soldiers all they needed to eviscerate terrorism forever. If he carries on like this the forever part is called into question. We must also be fully aware of the part played by the US in the assistance they provided to the Government of Sri Lanka over many years to be able to win this war, with high technology as well as arms and ammunition. The US does not sit around trumping that card, as it is not diplomatic to talk about secret assistance given in time of war. THE US DID NOT PREVENT ISRAEL FROM SELLING SL THE UAVS WITH SECRET US TECHNOLOGY THAT WERE IMMENSELY HELPFUL IN WINNING THE FINAL STAGES OF THE WAR WITH MINIMAL CASUALTIES TO OUR SOLDIERS.

We MUST understand therefore that MR despite his mastering of PR, has NO ability to manage the intricacies of government, the finance of the country or even its defense, and despite that lack of skill continues to hold those portfolios refusing to heed sound advice, much in the way single issue leaders believe they can also be statesmen. Any student of history will be able to say that no one in the current leadership has shown any statesmanship qualities and there I rest this case.

When one reads today’s newspapers we are told that this US backed resolution will be an obstacle to LASTING PEACE. What does that tell you? The leadership by this very statement has admitted there is NO lasting peace at present. Any child will tell you peace does not need overseas intervention to be lasting. All we need is a home grown understanding. Both the opposition and Govt. despite posturing have not been able to come up with one. It is simply a compromise by two parties to a platform of behavior and contracts which will enable both parties to thrive in peace, without threat. This WE CANNOT SEEM TO DO. So do not blame outside parties, who for reasons of their own are attempting to interfere in the inner workings of our Sovereign State.

A strong Government with a 2/3 majority, to change the Constitution, acts like a minority. That is the indictment. Thus seeming inability to draw strength from this electoral base reflects the shaky foundations they find themselves in and has appealed to the baser instincts of the people and the fear factor and the misuse of the word patriotism to illustrate the level of treachery against the state itself.

If only we can illustrate this dichotomy to convince the people how and why the truth has been distorted, they will not permit these charlatans a day’s grace to flee this country. I hope they do realize that even China will NOT accept their asylum, showing how isolated they will be, when they have turned on their friends, those who put them in this position, and those who trusted them implicitly.

It does not take a rocket scientist to understand why we are in this situation. They have nowhere else to go, no better alternative to follow and so act in this selfish manner. We the people must understand that our future contentment depends on the removal of the current leadership from their ability to harm the nation.

The LLRC Recommendations and the Government’s vacillation

It is very sad that the current impasse with regard to Foreign Pressure on the accountability issue of alleged war crimes is played two ways for different audiences and one has no idea of the other due to the breakdown in language.

The Sinhala press now blames everything on a US conspiracy to attack Sri Lankan people as the US is against the fact that SL was able to overcome the most feared terrorist organizations that inhabited the earth. This was after a 30 year conflict with over 100,000 people losing their lives directly as a result of the hostilities.

Now that the resolution is on the table, the Govt has sent a 50+ delegation to defend itself for a period of 4 weeks as the vote on the resolution is on March 23^rd. It is ridiculous to do counterproductive things, though it looks good to the local audience. It would have been better if the Sri Lanka Ambassador in Geneva was left alone to present the country’s case. I believe if she was left alone she single handedly will defeat the resolution, by using her female charm as a minority of one fighting goliath. The Govt. does NOT want the resolution defeated.

For political gain at home, which is all it cares about it wants the resolution carried so that unpopular Rajapakse who is facing insurmountable problems at home, as his miracle of Asia is sinking into a sink hole, will use the UN as his savior to explain to the nation that the world is against us and that we can fight all comers, and let no one take our sovereignty from us. This is hugely populist for minority complexed Sri Lankans who are currently a majority.

This double game that is being played is a cleverly crafted punch line ready to be unleashed within Sri Lanka when any external threat, be it India, USA or international pressure can be woven and created out of nothing. It is very important that the canard is understood, but as yet the Sinhala press does not attempt to give the people a true picture for fear of having the name traitor attached to them.

This state of schizophrenia is intentional due to the double game. The opposition in Sri Lanka is stumped in explaining night and day to the people who can only see night and therefore expect night to follow night and never see daylight. All journalists are complicit in this lie, and wish that this lie continues so they have something to write about. Sometimes it is not easy to write the truth, as it either sounds unbelievable to an unthinking audience or it elicits shouts of traitor, that people especially journalist seem not to want attached to their names. Let it be remembered that traitors are the first to be forgotten and patriots will be remembered for their gutsy defense of the truth, long after they leave.

Now that we have focused the Sinhala Press on to a minority complex of unreasonable attack by duplicitous foreign powers, without actually looking inwards into the very real issues relating to the lack of closure of the hostilities (as compared with the closure of the Apartheid issue in South Africa which was a much longer struggle) How do we emerge unscathed and with the nation's colors flying?

It is incumbent on the present administration, and a duty to the people to finish this chapter of our history, and move forward, without blaming external factors for all the ills of the internal quagmire.

I am convinced that this Govt. does NOT want closure, so that they are able to keep their constituency permanently engaged in a conspiracy by 'Western Powers' that has prevented the peace dividend and resultant growth.

Is this our best? – Mahinda Samarasinghe’s words written by a toddler!

Sri Lanka is given 10 minutes to make a speech at the UNHRC and we just go through a list of irrelevant issues that no one will question! This gives the onus on to the prosecution, to say that SL still does not realize, namely what is at stake, by either pretending not to understand or deliberately sidestepping the issues at hand. This may be fine for the local audience where the papers will be replete with kudos for a speech well made, where the writers have no clue as to what all this fuss is about, but not for an international organization whose mandate is to seek accountability for questionable actions of violations of international law.

Now it is accepted in the recently released statistic that excess of 8,000 lost their lives in the last month of the conflict, it merely requires the explanation as why it occurred in the greater good of the war, rather than continue to pretend it never happened. The speech should have been more accommodating and magnanimous taking account of the concerns and either deftly explaining them away or telling them that it is not within their ambit to even question the internal actions of a sovereign state that was just protecting itself from internal terrorism. Neither of which was done. It was stated that SL is acting on the LLRC recommendations, something that has not genuinely commenced. This kind of bald faced lies in the face of such pressure is not good diplomacy meant at deflection, but instead draws a red rag to a bull.

I fail to understand why this government is drawing this country through the proverbial ‘kunu goda’ when they could have solved this issue years ago without as much as a whimper if it was handled by professionals and not amateurs, a weakness and responsibility that is solely the President’s.

I cannot help feel that the President has no intention of clearing this up, preferring to have it drag on ad infinita so that goodwill this generates at home allows him to plunder the people (daylight robbery) without being accused of any of the misdeeds of the regime. It is a clever ploy if it is not a traitorous act of greed and personal arrogance that is holding the country to ransom, when we could have obtained all the credit internationally for a period of peace and development, which is only a mirage that is now much harder to believe let alone accept.

We are spending so much time and effort to say nothing of money to keep up this charade, so the motley cast of characters who we euphemistically call the country’s leaders continue to pull the wool over our eyes in their quest to hold on to power and gain the sympathy of a nation that has been fooled, exploited and cheated.

There is no shame in the misinformation game by the Government

Will you believe if I told you that serious people are asking me that the President will be spirited off by the US troops to the ICC to face genocide charges and they must go and defend him at Temple Trees with a human - shield. Obviously there are those who have fed this information around the country using various means including loud speakers (noise pollution) on three wheelers, paid for by local politicians which go and announce this fact and ask people to gather in a central spot to agitate against US aggression. No one is given a chance to explain this nonsense, and those that succeed are vilified as US spies and traitors.

When one reads the US resolution on the table, it is simple a small rap on the knuckles that asks the Government to implement the recommendations of the LLRC and that the International body would appoint a few observers to witness the implementation thereof. Whilst the latter point is a little demeaning, it must be remembered that Sri Lanka gave assurances at the last UNHRC meeting that they have appointed the LLRC and would implement their recommendations, once received. It is the latter that they have failed to do and hence the rap. Whilst the Govt. maintains that they have had no time to implement the recommendations, and have asked for a further year till next year’s sessions to implement this, the Western Bloc, namely US and UK will not buy time due to the interim recommendation 6 months ago, asking the govt. to remove paramilitaries especially from the Northern Province without delay.

If one reads the proceedings of the LLRC and attended the sessions which were in most part held in public, one would realize that little can be done until the paramilitaries who are sponsored by the government are neutralized. There has been NO intention on their part to do so and why should we accept any more excuses from the Govt. in this regard. It has NOTHING to do with international pressure. We in Sri Lanka, its Citizens are facing onerous and life threatening action by paramilitaries and the Govt. of Sri Lanka has done NOTHING to stop these goons. We can only SURMISE that they are state sponsored, as otherwise the Govt. has all the power to immediately put an end to their terror.

I implore this Government as an immediate act to get rid of the paramilitaries so people can live without fear, and go about their day to day activities and desist from politicizing a largely self inflicted wound. They have lied and misled the citizens of Sri Lanka and the fact that the citizens can be so fooled is out of my control. It is vital the State if it really has the interests of its citizens at heart, stop this expensive nonsense of misinformation and get on with managing the economy.

The Rulers hide their misdeeds by getting the people to demonstrate against UNHRC – Campaign in 150 places in the country ordered by the President

We forget that all of the problems Sri Lanka faces at the International Level have nothing to do with the people of Sri Lanka. The country is a quasi dictatorship. It is completely to do with the alleged misdeeds of the Leaders of the Country and that too is restricted to at most about 4 or 5 people. So the country is dragged into this mess due to the faults of a few, and the rest are assumed to be complicit only because they happened to make the mistake of putting them in power.

To be fair if the people are demonstrating spontaneously against any International pressure against their elected leader, I do not have a problem as they have the right to support their leader, when he or she is implicated, if they believe he or she is innocent. I however disagree when the leader calls a meeting at Temple Trees and orders his ministers to organize demonstrations in 150 places across the country against the resolutions brought against SL, whatever they might be. (The substance of the allegations is purely academic) In true SL politics, when you are ordered you do as you are told, and not question the rights and wrongs. Further those on the ground doing the agitation are told it is a patriotic thing to defend the country against foreign interference, without explaining what exactly it is about.

This confusion is part of the contrived mass media effort at misinformation. When the UNP leader calls for full implementation of the recommendations of the LLRC Commission he is branded a traitor. He is only doing the patriotic as Opp. Leader in holding the rulers accountable for their mistakes against the people of Sri Lanka. One must understand it is the patriotic thing to improve the quality of life of all in this land and not subject some to fear and intimidation of paramilitary types.

We know that the LLRC is a govt. appointed body with many of its nominees taking the side of the government, which resulted in many in the international arena questioning its credibility. Assuming it is then independent and NOT biased as most of the Pro Rajapakse side would contend, then at least when it made an interim recommendation, in the interests of urgency, before the final recommendations came out, against the proliferation of paramilitaries under government blessing, demanding they be removed the Govt. then as well as till now (over 8 months) has done NOTHING about it.

How can one have Douglas Devananda’s pro Govt. goons run about terrorizing people and then agitate against the UNHRC, who are merely pointing this out? This traitorous action against the people outside the law cannot be condoned.