The Mahroof Factor – within “Dirty Tricks” Campaign in the CMC

We know what happened before the Colombo Municipal Council elections were held last year, when stalwart UNPer and supposedly heavy contributor to the UNP funds, Mohammed Mahroof defected to the Government side and sought election to the CMC through their ticket. It was also because he was peeved at not being given to contest for the Mayoral post under the UNP an added beef with the party and Muzzamil.

It was announced today that he has been appointed the Leader of the Opposition of the UPFA after the resignation of Milinda Moragoda. People like Azath Sally must be ruing the day he joined the UPFA. He has nowhere to go and no one to go with having lost political goodwill he created under the UNP. He would have today been far better off in the UNP with a future. Now he is a man with only a history and no future.

Coming back to Mahroof, he had made wild allegations of giving wads of cash to the tune of Rs1Billion to the UNP party coffers, and also had the temerity to accuse the UNP leader of walking off with the dough for personal use. This from a man who has hardly any money now, with his glory days of earning fat commissions from the import of Cement under the UNP regime, now only relegated to just being FAT.

So for the UPFA to appoint this person who they did not investigate for tax fraud, as he has not paid tax on the earnings of commissions, a criminal offence that is liable for extended imprisonment, is an admission that the Govt. holds crooks in high regard in their inner circle.

I fail to understand how this person holds so much power, as he has no power base, having switched sides, and having lost much of his previous wealth. He switched as there was too much mud on his hands and he was threatened with prosecution had he remained in the UNP also.

The investigative journalists in Sri Lanka have no balls to dredge up the story he put out about the huge payments, and ask if he had made these payments after paying tax on this income as it certainly was not disclosed in his tax records!! The newspaper headlines in country with freedom of expression and responsible reporting as advocated by the President, would read “highway robber appointed to senior local government position”. Instead he wants to bring a no confidence motion against Muzzamil the Mayor Colombo. 

This kind of cynical act of revenge for being jettisoned out by the UNP as not being worth a grain of salt despite the Cement commissions being siphoned off to the party coffers, is not going to do the people within the CMC any good. So the sooner he acts responsibly on behalf of the residents of Colombo and the less he thinks of himself the better it is for all of us.

So let us hope that sense prevails and not BRUISED EGOS!!!

Advocating District Based devolution – an alternative approach

I was in for criticism when I disagreed with the Tamil homeland concept. It  is because I fundamentally do not agree with any kind of partition of a small country the size of Sri Lanka. I do not believe any community has the right to reserve a stretch of land and earmark it for them alone, though traditionally people of one community, be it religious based or racial based, feel safe in one area and so tend to buy homes in and around an area leading to the Sri Lankan phenomenon of Tamil or Muslim pockets in Sinhala majority areas and in some instances the converse also holds in Tamil majority areas. That is done merely for life style expediency as also evidenced by Roman Catholic pockets based around a church, in places of overwhelming Buddhist areas.

I believe administrative devolution on a District basis will help relieve many of the grouses of especially Tamil and Muslim people. The administrative language will then be the majority language in those areas and both Government Servants and the Police will by necessity have to be tri-lingual if they are to achieve promotions. I will consider an elected District Leader!

The fear with which minority communities live is what gives them sleepless nights. We as a country owe it to all, to prevent anyone from fear if they have not broken the law. That is a fundamental HUMAN RIGHT and we must protect it at all costs. Our society will disintegrate yet again if we cannot guarantee that for all our citizens and it is in this framework that I advocate the District system of local autonomy. Many of the homeland demands will just disappear once that problem is solved.

This huge minority complex the majority community suffers from egged on by some within the Buddhist clergy, is what is at the root of the problem. This inalienable right of the Sinhala Buddhist to this land is part of the reason people fear. To reduce this fear we must take the few within the Sinhala community who advocate this hatred and name and shame them. They can then live in the safe comfort of those who choose to follow them but with no voice in the national media to air hatred.

In a similar vein I would single out those on the Tamil and Muslim communities who also engage in this kind of divisive talk and put them in the same lot with the former. It would be nice to put all of them in one prison cell to see if they will get along, or if they emerge from it changed people respecting each other’s freedom to practice their own beliefs without impinging on other peoples turf or territory.

An alternative approach to those on the table, a home grown solution of sorts is required to clear the impasse now created. We will be in a suspended state of limbo until some group has the courage to come up with a different solution and use the free Media to propagate this view as quickly as possible so it can gain traction amongst people of all communities without delay as time is not on our side in this regards.

It is the pot calling the kettle black – accusing some SLFPers as criminals – courtesy of the general secretary of the party

The concurrence by the SLFP general secretary Mr Maithripala Sirisena, who is generally fed up with the MR government as the place given to him pales in comparison to the places taken by the jumpers like Duminda and Mervin, has said that there are criminal elements in the SLFP.

Of course that is not news, it is harder to point out who is not a criminal within the Government. Now his definition of criminal and mine may be very different. However as a senior politician with regal powers in Polonnaruwa district, it is generally known that his family, as he cleverly tries to avoid the finger pointed at him, and he has numerous siblings are engaged in all the criminal activity one can engage in the district as well as the even larger scale problem of the environmental degradation, which is a long term, long lasting irreversible, crime, closely attributed to his family. If the Mahaveli reverses from the sea to Polonnaruwa his name will forever be etched as the person responsible.

We know that errors of commission as well as errors of omission are no different. So when you can stop criminal and environmental degradation and do nothing about it you are as much or more culpable of the crime.

I have pointed out that behind every serious crime hides a people’s representative also known as an elected politician. Therefore they should all take some form of blame and make every effort to change the course of politics to reverse this trend if Sri Lanka is to prosper. The people know that politicians are crooks, so the word honest politician does not even enter their minds. An honest politician therefore has a tough time proving his honesty, not his a dishonest politician proving his dishonesty!

We must therefore change the culture, where the people expect the politician to be corrupt, and then make unreasonable demands from politicians, which can only be fulfilled by corrupt politicians. The clean one cannot compete in this playing field, so he becomes corrupt!

This is an appeal to the politicians to think of the country not of yourselves as you are representatives of the people, and represent their interests first and foremost. Do it with humility expecting nothing but some happiness in the next life, as what is life about anyway!!

The ITAK constitution calls for self rule or autonomy for Tamils

Calling for a separate state is against the Constitution of this country, so a political party that espouses the cause of separatism should be banned under the constitution. In order to avoid this the constitution of ITAK calls for some kind of self rule for people of Tamil heritage.

I explained in my previous blog entry that before we go to 13th Amendments and any near versions of this we must have a time line to do away with Race or Religious based parties in Sri Lanka as they all invite division, not unity.

It will take a generation to change the mindset of the people to think as a nation and not as a community, but we must start now if we are to have a progressive, and peaceful future as as nation, without looking behind our backs not knowing what is in store for us round each bend.

In a clarification to my previous bog entry, where I said the ITAK annual meeting called for a re-merger, Mr MA Sumanthiran has clarified the semantics as they do not consider the North and East separate anyway, and only as one contiguous unit no matter what the government likes to think or implement in their administration. So the call for a re-merger does not arise as it is already one. How why they then contest the elections to the Eastern Provincial Council is then open to debate!

Further I understand from another article that it is not a separate state as in a country that is in the ITAK Constitution (which is an illegal item for a political party in Sri Lanka under the law) but calls for autonomy or self rule for Tamils and Muslims separately, as it is a translation of the Tamil. So the Sinhala population in this region will be subject to the authority of the majority  community within this tiny region. An even small minority within a small minority. It is all hallucinating with no purpose in sight.

These are all semantics to me, and I do not believe such a small presence of these ethnicities in these areas, when compared with their presence in other areas, warrants this level of autonomy that they demand.

I wish to further point out that I do not believe the Province concept as it is run today in Sri Lanka. is an appropriate means of administration, and I believe we MUST revert to the District as the administrative unit. I have no problem with an Administrative Service person, (not a political appointee) to be appointed to be the District Secretary who will administer the district and the Pradeshiya Sabhas to which people are elected can remain as is, within the District system.

In size we as a country are smaller than a state in India. Why we want to partition it further is nonsense. I ask the Tamil people, would they prefer if we really were a state within the Indian Union would they be content? Of course not they still want that absurd notion of self rule! So let us think at least about the unit not break it up further into sub units, so the District form of administering the State is a better way of local government managing local affairs as it matters just as much to the Sinhala people as it is to the Tamils that they have control over certain aspects of their lives, instead of being dictated from the center.

Apart from land and police powers, the district will be able to better manage the people under them, be accountable to them and administer them in a more coherent and cohesive unit, looking into the needs of the people. Education is the largest cost of the Provincial Councils, and the District level will be a more appropriate method of decentralization, where districts are held accountable for their management, through the existing framework.

I believe under this method, all District level empowerment will ensure a decentralized unit for management of people’s lives, which will negate the need for a huge land area to be handed to some concept of self rule, which is impractical for a small number of residents, who really will not personally benefit by this political solution that is not meaningful to them

The Absurdity of Sambanthan’s statement is lost on the Tamils

The recently concluded Annual Meeting of ITAK, or the TNA representing the people of Tamil Heritage in Sri Lanka, held in Batticaloa came up with some startling claims or wish lists!

The most preposterous of them was the desire to remerge the Northern and Eastern Provinces as it is the Historic land of the Tamil Speaking People! I do not wish to go any further on the other desires for administering this land under a Sri Lankan sovereign state, but I think even contemplating or dreaming up such an idea is itself, tantamount to compromising the cause of a United Sri Lanka in every sense of the word, which I have advocated within this blog.

I have campaigned for a religious freedom, and freedom for all people in this country to live in harmony without infringing on other people’s fundamental rights, and I believe this demand is an infringement of that. I have harped on against the Sinhala Buddhist tunnel visioned racists who have hardly a drop of Sinhala blood if their ethnicity is put to a gene test. Their retort to that is that the gene test is a Christian invention to promote racial animosity and superiority so it is not a valid basis for identifying our ancestral history! The demands of the ITAK are no different.

In a small country where the total number of Tamil heritage people in the Northern and Eastern Provinces at the latest Census amount to no more than 600,000 people, the cheek of thinking they have self determination rights is a joke. It is like saying that the Muslim suburbs of Bombay have their own self governing rights to the rest of the city. It is just not practical when most of the people of Tamil heritage of Sri Lanka live outside these confines. So I beg to differ.

On the question of the pretence of the historic land of Tamils, I ask how far back do they go? It is that history that we must define. No ethnic group has historic rights in Sri Lanka except all the citizens who live here. Just as the Aboriginals have historic rights over Australia, and Native Americans over the USA, Canada and the Incas over Peru, the original Veddas have historic rights over Sri Lanka. All that amounts to a hill of beans in 2012. So I respectfully ask these hallucinating politicians to get a life and do what they have been elected for, namely represent the interests of those who have voted for them, and not make hypothetical demands on their behalf for personal greed. These demands smack of a direct challenge to the rule of law. This is only bound to infuriate those who do not see any rights for the Tamils, further inflaming tensions in Sri Lanka, one I have desperately tried to diffuse in my writings.

I am firmly of the opinion now that these Tamil leaders trying to bask in reflected glory, have lost their marbles, and I am now forming an opinion that we should ban all religious and race based parties forever in Sri Lanka as they are a direct threat to the national Integrity of a Nation struggling to put a violent past behind us to go forward, so every citizen of Sri Lanka feels they are part of an Independent, and proud Nation first, before any other personal feelings of race or religion even come up for discussion.

The Hela Urumaya is just as nauseatingly offensive to decent peace loving people as is the SLMC or the ITAK, so do not get me wrong, I only wish for a Nation that is proud of its Nationhood, and work together as a nation. Remove all references to race or religion in any official document except perhaps in the register of births where the father and mother’s religion may be asked!

I am a patriotic nationalist first. The president and his family are racists and so are the leaders of the Tamils and Muslims and those who back the JHU. To me they are all traitors to the cause of Nationalism. I repeat the challenge about gene testing which will prove that all these racists have more blood of another race than the race to which they purport to defend, making their claim even more laughable. Only time will make fools of all these people when they are exposed as just opportunistic infidels, having more in common with an Israelite than with a son of any soil! No wonder the Jews in Israel fear the Gene test, as most will be proven to be more Arab than the Arabs!

I therefore ask the reader to consider this aspect. Who represents the interests of the 20+million people of Sri Lankan Nationality best? Will they take on the task of eliminating any race based glasses pinned on our children to form a truly united nation where we are all proud to belong to one nation called Sri Lanka? We are an integral part of the family of nations also knows as mother Earth and it is our duty to do our small bit to preserve and protect mother Earth from all that threatens its existence and sustainability. Let us unite under one flag and one nation, PLEASE

Rauff Hakeem set fire to his new office at Kattankudy – Now read why!

The newly built SLMC office in Kattankudy was set on fire. There is no ongoing investigation into the cause which is unusual. Ask the OIC Kattankudy why not? And he will say he received orders from the top not to investigate.

The real reason turns out that Rauf Hakeem through his orders has set fire to his own office. Why would he do an insane thing like that? Well it all boils down to Politics Sri Lanka style or rather MR style.

The Indian High Commissioner is on a visit to the Eastern Province to assess the situation on behalf of his Government. It is normal for all these foreigners to interfere in Sri Lanka’s activities due to the behavior of the Rajapakse government which has given every reason for this unwanted interference. I said it then and I say it again it is a traitorous act of the MR government to behave in this way giving rise to foreign meddling in our affairs. I detract from my original point.

Now for the reasons for this drastic action. Rauff Hakeem had agreed to meet the Indian High Commissioner at his new (to be formally opened) office in Kattankudy. Then MR got wind of this meeting and ordered Rauff Hakeem not to meet him ( I told you it is a dictatorship- we do not have a the freedom to meet who we want even if we are a Cabinet Minister) 

In order to save face, and not having to tell the Indian Delegation that he is not able to meet them at his office, he simply set fire to the office, so he could easily without compunction tell the Indians that due to an emergency situation at his venue he had no option but to regretfully cancel. He DID NOT HAVE THE BALLS TO TELL THE INDIANS THE TRUTH. As we know knowing the Indians they knew the truth before anyone in Sri Lanka did, as RAW the Indian Secret Service is deeply entrenched in Sri Lanka today, with many agents in the East including many in the SLMC and TNA and also in the governing UPFA in that area.

Now make up your mind what kind of spineless individual this Hakeem is who does this kind of thing? No backbone or integrity in anything he does. He is just for himself only. He will meet his waterloo shortly, all his own undoing, I am sad to say. However it is not as if he did not ask for it. That is the state of play in the kangaroo court of Hakeem or the banana republic of MR we live in today.

It is therefore important for the true sons of the soil, those who really love this country and not the racist elements in all religious and ethnic groups to take a stand and fight for peace and justice for all, simply to abide by the law of the land and not do stupid things like wasting scarce resources because you have no backbone!!

We need to move with the order of priority – Not fool around with hurt egos

Just when the country was demanding redress and fair play from the onerous battles of existence and price spirals, there was the Sarath Fonseka, remission of sentence to take the wind from our sails. That calculated political gambit, has succeeded, albeit temporarily to take the minds off our easily aroused public, courtesy of the insatiable appetite of the media for political gossip. This is I repeat at the expense of everymans’ desire to improve their standard of living.

The incessant drums of the ruling clique that play into our fear and insecurity of violence keeps the people from demonstrating on behalf of their grievances and patent injustice. The inability of the opposition to penetrate this vice like grip that the regime holds using the powerful tools of media and advertising to spread misinformation, are frustrating those who wish to see the rule of law and order prevail and many would say restored.

In this scenario, I hope the winds of the SF release will simply blow away never to return and be just wishful thinking of short sighted political opportunists like Sajith Premadasa, back by an unlikely coterie which include Buddhika Pathirana, Ranga Bandara and Harshana Rajakaruna desperate for some reflected glory on the back of SF. As if that was not shame enough, their attempt to back SF as a future leader of the UNP or worse of the country shows their lack of honesty and integrity.

The saying ‘what goes around comes around’ will fix to their rear ends, when they realize the folly of  tagging to coat tails or motorcade rides, take your pick.

The priority of all sane people who work untiringly for the good of their country, should be only to ensure that all political and democratic means are adopted to restore the rule of law and order in the Island and then secondly implement the Constitution of this country that we have undertaken to uphold, and if there are any constitutional provisions that are ill timed, and irrelevant as vestiges to be removed, they should be eviscerated from the constitution by a government that holds a two thirds majority so to do. This is a lifetime opportunity that has to be undertaken before long if the interests of the country are paramount.

The rest of us must agitate in a manner that is effective, so the particular injustices we are subjected to are removed from practice, as the law itself is usually clear on many of them, though the independence of the supreme court is suspect, and therefore the wrongdoers do not get justice, whilst like in the SF case retributive injustice was meted out to this highly flawed but hugely talented individual who nevertheless contributed significantly to winning the war against the LTTE.

‘Followers of Fonseka are Fools’ – It is a debatable opinion or is it?

We built an opinion about the General when he ran for President on the common opposition ticket of the Swan, as we wanted a change from the megalomaniacal rule that was upon us, as a good antidote. However his clear lack of political experience came to haunt him, and was made worse during the last week of the campaign, when he assumed he was about to win, and made statements that frightened the populace into wondering about his state of mind

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It was made worse by making the atrocious statement of promising all Government Service employees, an increase of Rs10,000 a month. In any sense of the word it is impossible to afford such a payment without completely turning the whole private public wage balance out of whack to say nothing of the lack of funds anywhere to do so. Similarly it emerged after the fact that the think tank that did the calculation only came up with an increase of Rs3,500. So when SF made this preposterous lie the ‘Pundits’ fell off their chairs when after Tiran Alles’s intervention it had been raised to Rs10,000 thinking it would do the trick in getting all the Govt. servants and their families to vote for him. In reality no one bought this lie, especially the Govt. servants and so only a small minority of them voted for him!

Upon reflection SF’s reliance on Tiran Alles, as someone more knowledgeable seems to have backfired. Knowing the previous track record of this individual at the double game, when he even double crossed Prabarkaran, he must have received a huge pay-off from MR for this turn of events to ensure MR’s victory. To think that it is this same person SF relies on for advice today makes my blood curdle.

As if this history in not enough, we know through the years how SF chose every opportunity to use a sound bite to get at the Govt. during his trips to hospitals and also on regular court appearances. Well this flow of words is now gushing out at a speed, I cannot even comprehend. He has something to say to anyone who wants to listen. That is a very bad sign in politics, as what you say can come to haunt you.

So think carefully! This person is soon going to run out of steam. He will be a spent force in a few months, and those who placed all their faith in him as an alternative to the current brutality, are going to be sorely disappointed in this leader. Like the Mahanayake theros in Kandy told him, take some rest go on holiday, when you are well in mind and body, then come out and prepare your comeback. It seems even this considered advice has fallen on deaf ears! So be warned this is another feather in the cap of the MR regime for releasing him. People thought the Govt. committed ‘Hara Kiri’, now we know the truth of why!

A race to political obscurity is no way to return the loyalty of your supporters

The General has barely been out of imprisonment for 48 hours, when he has made statements that are unguarded, and characteristic of the time before he was taken in. In that sense he has not changed his spots, and his undoing then will be the same as his undoing now, and this time he will have no one to blame but himself.

There are thousands of people who really believe that the General is the political answer to this dictatorship. Try as I might to explain this folly, learned men, have no doubt that he is the savior out of corruption, back to discipline and good governance. In my opinion it is NOT through representative democracy that he intends achieving his ends, but by unfounded accusations against all who HE suspects of being corrupt, whether they are or not, typical of the Premadasa pogroms when he gave carte blanche power to the forces to eliminate the JVP and as a result all those people in villages who had grudges against others who pointed out to the army as being JVP were killed! Hope we never forget what we did to our innocent civilians during that time.

There will come a time not too long hence, perhaps within 3 months, when it will become clear the opposition to the Government by the General will be more out of revenge for wrong done to him, rather than an honest attempt to bring peace and justice to this nation for all human beings who live here to look forward with optimism for a bright future for their children.

The Country certainly does not want one set of corrupt practices replaced by another set, which the perpetrators do not see as corrupt, but in a soldier’s way of looking at the world, is ‘a necessary evil to achieve the ultimate goal of winning the war’. I do not subscribe to that theory at all.

This undue haste to set up a political party and register it as the Democratic Party, a word that will haunt not just those who misuse it, but those who come to believe in it, will be its downfall. Worse as the General to head it and Arjuna and Anoma as the vice presidents and Tiran Alles that master of deceit as the General Secretary will be a right royal attempt at mass deception. Let us hope that people with common sense realize this is not a party that is built to survive, and is merely an opportunistic attempt to capitalize on a temporary popularity created by media hysteria which is calculated by the President to provide another spanner into the intention of the opposition to unite against the Government.

Watch the proceeding carefully and evaluate the why and what for s before coming to a conclusion on the progress of the General in the next few months.

So much for freedom – it should be a time of reflection – Sarath Fonseka

After all the hoopla surrounding his freedom, ex General Sarath Fonseka seems to crave all the attention he can get. As if the time in prison was not enough, where his every uttering was planned and communicated in the media, it seems that before he can ascertain what his true freedoms are he has begun a series of interviews.

In my view while he has had a lot of time to contemplate his move whilst in jail, it is not the same as that when you are out. You plan on saying so much when you get out, but he had the chance of getting his every uttering out to the world whilst he was in and on his way to hospital or to the court house, a quite unique chance.

There has been no newspaper which analytically using the legal background explained all the processes of his release from withdrawing his appeals as an impediment to the release etc. and what exactly his 7 year rule is? Is it that he cannot contest any election for this period, which runs from the time of conviction or from the time of release. There was no proper explanation as to what exact form or release he obtained and what obligations and conditions go with it.

In that sense he can be mired in court proceedings for years, sapping his morale and health and eventually killing him. An option no doubt the person giving his freedom, MR has given full thought to. After all it was mentioned by MR in the recent meeting with the heads of institutions, that SF had committed cold blooded killings and could easily be white vanned by the aggrieved parties that have not forgotten his crimes.

It was ironic that the only real help anyone could really give SF was the working committee of the UNP at its meeting yesterday, which gave the go ahead for a committee of lawyers to draft a bill in parliament to restore all his rights, including civic and pension rights as well as all the medals that were taken away from him.

I trust after the initial euphoria has subsided, he decides to take an extended rest, recharge his batteries and redraw his political philosophy with his confidants. The interview to the BBC given soon after his release was unwarranted and in my opinion smacks of the same shoot from the hip Sarath. I trust this is an isolated incident which he will not repeat. To obtain maximum impact one must take time off and reflect on one’s past as well as the contribution one can give to society using the benefit of sympathy from the unfair conviction, on trumped up charges. So try and say as little as possible, as it is difficult when he used his mouth for most of the past few years, to entertain visitors in jail and come out and be quiet!

So V day has come and gone and SF is still inside! So much for the media

I have lately on against our mainstream media in a big way accusing them of being just purveyors of lies, using the SF pardon as the current example. We should know by now, that we should take whatever the President of the country says with a pinch of salt, as he never speaks the truth, nor intends to. It is just his way. So reporting what he says as being factual, rather than just say that it was what he said and in 90% of cases what he has said has turned out to be false would be the accurate thing to report.

We are asked, and the media has been asked to report with care. So it is with care that the media MUST report that whatever the current President of Sri Lanka says does not consist of a grain of truth. His address to the nation on Saturday must also be regarded with similar light. The public of this country must be informed of this so that they can make or come to their own conclusions.

Today’s report says that he has now got to withdraw his appeal against the white flag case before he can be released, as that is an impediment to the release. Does that mean that once the appeal is withdrawn it can no longer be resubmitted in case he is NOT released on another technicality? These are the rings and knots the MR seems to enjoy entangling our foolish media and the SF supporters in, for vicarious pleasure of a sadist.

The media circus of last week is just a dance, and I have consistently in the last four days alerted the reader to this fact. The so called responsible media reports highly irresponsibly about the speculation and raises hopes in many quarters.

You must understand that SF is a proud man and seeing this game being played in the open is about to burst a blood vessel out of fury, just what MR is hoping for!

So I appeal to the media to be careful how and what you report and in what context, as you just do not seem to analyze what you are saying, and just parroting what someone who is irresponsible and proved to be so is saying.

Let this be a lesson for future reporting that Government news meant for the media is just that, and so every item of news coming from those sources must be qualified by mentioning the sources and reminding the reader of the likelihood using probability theory if one must about its authenticity. It is likely that more hurdles have to be surmounted, resulting in a very angry man who will come out guns blazing making an utter mockery of himself due to this treatment, something which the government is calculating will be for its own benefit showing him to be off!!!

It is most important that we take the challenge of insisting that Government Media channels be banned from the internet as they report irresponsibly, a charge that is unfairly made on some private media. I ask the question then who determines what is irresponsible, as it is merely an opinion of a person that can be biased in making that statement! We must first understand that attempts to ban certain reporting is in itself bad and should be rejected as we do not permit the reader to make a judgement using all the media available at his disposal.

I am appalled at the Subservience of our Government to the USA!

If what we read in our local newspapers is correct, it is appalling for a person who loves his country to see how this Government, by sending its foreign minister to the US, to report to the US what it is that they intend doing with regards the LLRC, which is a wholly internal mechanism to deal with an internal conflict, albeit set up, due to pressure from the external, or international community.

The added significance of this betrayal is that it is done at the same time another hoodwinking exercise of a Victory parade takes place on Galle Face full of promises to defend the country from overseas influences and interference. How completely scandalous is this dual policy? We have been betrayed by this Government. 

This pandering to the West or going to pay homage to some lady in Washington, without first debating the contents of the plan to implement the LLRC proposals, with the local parliament, smacks of utter deference to the US as our lords and masters. The fact that the media does not have the guts to report this fact out of fear leaves it to us mere mortals to protect the interests of Sri Lanka, that has been bartered away by this Administration for no benefit to this country.

I do not believe GLPeiris should have gone to the USA to present this without discussion. Why the USA? When the resolution was from the UNHRC to which we are a party. We have NO obligations to the US to even show what we are about to do, or have done. We DO NOT owe them any form of explanation.

So what has brought about this turn of events, after the fiasco in Geneva, when the Govt. even pretended to accept defeat as a victory, using some harebrained logic?

The double game the Rajapakses play first for local consumption as being patriotic defenders of the Sinhala Buddhist culture against any foreign interference in the internal affairs of the country, and go overseas and behave in completely the opposite way, must be laid bare for all to see. We MUST make people of the county aware of this double game, double standards or inconsistency depending on your point of view, so that the citizens of this country can make informed decisions on what is fed to them.

We do not know some of the back room work, we do not have access to the latest telegraphs from Butenis to the US state department to work out the logic of this hurriedly prepared report for the US. We do not know if the US who are just fed up with the official US bashing the Govt. has undertaken and want to stamp their true authority over the country in this surreptitious manner. It could be all or nothing above, but that still does not absolve the now discredited Foreign Minister from making a full disclosure of the promises made, agreements reached and plan to implement LLRC to the Sri Lankan Parliament, immediately on his return, and I sincerely hope the Opposition will insist on that at least and pick it apart in the national interest, as their duty to the people of this country.

“Satakaya Sarpaya” – is true to his word – the people at large were fooled

If there was a sure thing that was not to be, it was the drama surrounding the release of Ex Army General Sarath Fonseka. The Gullible Sri Lankan media, with not ONE articulate and clever journalist within its ranks, completely accepted at face value the statement made by MR about the impending release of SF. There was not one person who could read between the lines to realize what exactly he was saying. They did not look to define the word ‘release’. So they were left pondering their foolish statement, that the gullible public who slavishly follow their every word, were fed.

Now the pundits are left wondering, if it is conditional or unconditional. Then another set of pundits are wondering which case will he be granted bail on and which he won’t?  Then will he accept bail or refuse to apply for bail, refuse to show the surety, and therefore remain in jail. Then what about all the cases where he is still doing time? Will the sentence be commuted or what? There are more questions than answers.

Today is the 3^rd Anniversary of the Victory over a bunch of troublesome terrorists in an internal civil war which ended with over 100,000 citizens of Sri Lanka dying. The fact that one set of citizens celebrate victory over the death and destruction of another set of citizens means only one thing. That we wish this country to be divided, or at least the Government does by this show of strength to fight civil wars. It reminds us that there is no national sense of unity by this act, and worse it is only a TV show with few civilians present to see it live, while 20,000 service personnel are drawn into it by order only. Further, Colombo’s road system was paralyzed for a whole week, delaying commerce, for the practices at high cost.

It is under these circumstances that these political games are played out. Ulterior motives include the attempt to destabilize and divide opposition to the Government to make it easy for them to hold on to tenuous control, in the face of a severe assault on the cost of living of ordinary citizens. Against this backdrop the Victory or third anniversary thereof is hollow, as the peace dividend has flown away, been squandered, or never came despite all the promises to the contrary.

There are simple solutions to the issues of the day, which the Government does not wish to solve, as their hold on to power is on a divide and fear rule( as just a few minutes ago the President announced to the local audience as part of the V day speech  that "he will not remove military camps until all the threats have been eliminated"), not construct and unite rule. Making such a statement to the world and to the local public is part of the ploy of fear mongering to stay in power, and NOT for one second an Olive Branch for unity and peaceful coexistence within a United Sri Lanka. This traitorous approach must be called for what it is, and the fact that we do not have one journalist who can lucidly explain to the reader the game that is being played out with their minds, is a terrible indictment of the lack of an independent 4th Estate in Sri Lanka today.

It is this sole unpatriotic approach to the need to stay in control of the economy so that a few can lay claim to the spoils. THAT IS  WHAT IS HAPPENING. UNPATRIOTIC TRAITORS RULE SRI LANKA TODAY.

The Continuing Teasers – Courtesy of the biggest riddle master!

Whether or not Sarath Fonseka will be released seems to be the talk of the day. However as I have noted in both my previous blog entries, the on again off again saga of this episode is mater minded by the President who holds all the cards. As I have also said before he is playing a game, with all the puppets on his string.

Sarath Fonseka is furious, hopping mad with Anoma for going to see the President about his release, as that is just what the President wants the world to see, showing compassion! To one who does not need compassion! Then he is furious that the negotiations are even entertaining the fact that he pay accept the bail conditions laid out for releasing on conditional bail, when he wants an unconditional ( remember that means without ANY conditions) pardon.

All these games, and the latest indication is that on Saturday, that is tomorrow, an announcement will be made that he will be released on conditional bail on one case, however until all the bail applications are held for all the pending cases against him, the Govt. have to take the course of the Law and only once all BAIL applications have been granted, that they will be able to release him, and that also only on bail, where his passport will be impounded, and he will not be able to engage in any political activity etc.

So all this song and dance for nothing, and just a furious Sarath Fonseka, as only he knows what a pawn he is now with the President with the whole chess board to play with. It does not fit in with SF’s ego, and so he may even burst a blood vessel out of fury as to all goings on around him. I guess the hospital is the best place to keep him at present as the burst blood vessel will need immediate first aid which only a hospital stay will provide.

It is only too obvious that the media, his own advisors are taken for an almighty ride with the carrots dangled in front, and then taken away just as fast, and all the people under the misunderstanding that he is about to be unconditionally released.

It is also going to make a liar out of SF who only said he wants to be unconditionally released with him not even asking for a pardon or any other condition for his release. When he is forced to accept another alternative, he will sound like a liar to his followers, where his principles have been compromised by the artful way the whole episode has been handled.

As Tiran Alles is an intermediary in the double game, he will also be taking the side of the President to explain falsely to SF that he is effectively free. 

It is all in the timing for maximum effect – The release – not on your nelly!

As I noted in my previous blog entry that I suspect that the whole charade we are going through with ‘when SF will be released’ will all be a damp squib for the amusement of the President.

So it was a bit rich of him to call in all the heads of media organizations for breakfast at Temple Trees yesterday and to tell them not to be communal in reporting news as it would inflame people’s base instincts.

My opinion is that a rowdy bunch of people stormed a mosque and demanded its removal saying it was not supposed to be there. There has been no police action to this date to identify and arrest the perpetrators of the crime as it is nothing but a crime whichever way you look at it if we honor the Constitution of the country.

So for someone so communal minded as to not take action against the wrong doers to tell the media not to be communal minded is just too far out of line. Does he think he can hide under the media smokescreen to absolve himself out of responsibility for this inaction? NO he just cannot walk away from this most grave incitement to religious bigotry.

Is he just starting another war this time against a different community? We must never forget that it was the actions of the majority community that gave birth to the most feared terrorist organization in living memory. So is this déjà vu all over again? and this time MR being held wholly responsible for the next war.

We in Sri Lanka who love this country and live here owe it as a duty to chase out the traitors who by their behavior spawn differences and prejudice. It is none other than the great betrayer or traitor who loves to call others traitors who is responsible for this state of play and I ask the media in the country who really love the country and who do not have other agendas to preserve a dictatorship for their gain, to come out strongly against this action.

We MUST not get fooled by official spokesman who say in a highly militarized country that the white van syndrome, where no one has been apprehended, is NOT a government sponsored act, only engaged by criminals. How can we sit around taking this garbage on a daily basis, when common sense, decency and morality are thrown out of the window in favor of lies deception and deliberate falsification of the facts? The citizens of the country must stand up for their rights against the regime that purports to defend them, as clearly this is just smoke and mirrors. I appeal to citizens to preserve the law of the land and ensure Justice for all.

The Release of Sarath Fonseka – it is all a game for the President

The President loves to hold the cards close to his chest, and from time to time for some personal sense of vicarious amusement at other people’s misfortune, he attempts to spice the lives of newspapers by speculating that Sarath Fonseka may be released. This game has resurfaced and Newspapers have been given something to keep the editors busy, whilst the Country is going rapidly downhill through a series of disastrous policy decisions and wholesale rape of every asset.

He tells one set of people yesterday that he will not release him under any circumstances, and then tells another set that he may with preconditions. So which side of his warped sense of humor should we believe?

Tiran Alles is in this double game. From when he stole hundreds of millions that the Govt. agreed to give Prabarkaran for preventing the Tamils from voting in the 2005 Presidential Elections for Ranil Wickremasinghe, he has been at it. It is well known that Marvil Aru incident was predicated by Prabarkaran out of anger that the Govt. had not given him the blood money promised, and the rest is history.

Now that Tiran Alles is on the surface in SF’s party, with a newspaper launched with fanfare on the President’s last birthday, he is playing a double game of basically seeming to side with Sajith and Sarath to take apart the party and divide the UNP, and then on the other side under that working with Mahinda, as it all boils down to “dough” at his beck and call, playing to MR’s tune.

One is now led to believe that SF is so ill he is even unable to attend court. If that is the case, it will suit Mahinda, that if he releases him one day, it will be purely on humanitarian grounds so he can recuperate in the US, where he hope’s SF will be ultimately bound if he is unable to actively campaign in SL against the Govt.

Games! Whilst people in the Country face daily hardships, a sure indication that leaders do not care a toss for the people who live here is apparent. It is therefore important that we grab the mantle and really try and understand who we trust and entrust the country to someone who will not leave and take all the family silver with him or her and instead work hard for the interests of the country and its people, the only purpose left in Sri Lanka for any self respecting politician. To think what he can do only for SL and not for our own asses. Let us find him!

Do not forget that leaders come and go. All of them are replete with faults and these faults carry on to mismanagement in Government. Only we the people remain.

The attempt to revive the SLFP – It has completely been destroyed

While attack is usually known as the best line of defense, a strategy adopted with success by the MR government, it now appears to be a lost cause. In this weekend’s attempt at reviving a dormant SLFP, completely destroyed by the Government of Parachutists, it was a bit rich of the President to look at the woes of the current Opposition and lament that they are not effective enough.

What are the facts in reality? The fractious ruling family has completely destroyed the party they claim to have come from! With only DM Jayeratne and Alavi Moulana of the old guard remaining, just ask any of the party faithful, what Maithripala Sirisena has been reduced to. He is just a sand mining environmental degrader and an enemy of the farmer, representing the capitalist miller class rather than anyone with any following amongst a reduced strength SLFP trying to find his own, under the influence of the NAMAL corps that most young politicians seem to want to belong seeing that as the way to future greatness, and NOT through the SLFP.

No matter all the internal squabbles common in any opposition, the UNP is by far the largest single political party in the Country. SLFP is a very distant second. It is ironic that many of the gullible public does not realize it because they are part of the 16 party Governing Coalition. If anyone wondered why there was this need to revive the party in the weekend meeting in Anuradhapura, you only have to ask the Local Thug Bertie Premalal Dissanayake, now completely sidelined by MR, and whose cohorts could not bag even on single contract at the recent share of billions of rupees of spoils from the Oyamaduwa Deyata Kirula pomfest, in Bertie’s own backyard. It was an attempt to make peace with Bertie, to hold it in Anuradhapura, and it failed miserably, while a different face was put into the media.

What is apparent, the UNP should avoid taking in too many of these so called crooks in Government who are lining up to join them. They will destroy the morale of the UNP faithful, when they see interlopers who have made money, sensing the current lot has reached their peak, wish to use their financial influence to get into the UNP and take the thunder away and get plum positions. I appeal to the UNP leadership to be mindful of some die hard supporters who will feel disgusted if some riff raff try and make a play for the party, only for personal gain.

It is a good sign that MR in all his media trickery has missed this sign of a complete breakdown in the SLFP, which will deal a body blow to his chances of showing a unified face when facing the next series of elections.

The third anniversary, Victory Parade – on Saturday 19th May – what for?

The march past and parade order and number of officers and soldiers of the Tri Forces and Police have been announced in advance. The usual fanfare and panoply with aircraft from the Air Force overhead, and naval craft from the Navy on the high seas will be all part of this event at Galle Face Green.

There will be compulsory TV on all main Channels to show this strength and for us not to forget who won the Civil War. Whilst we eliminated one of the most ruthless terrorist outfits that have ever been created, it was nevertheless the citizens of one country killing the citizens of the same country. It is generally not something that one celebrates when some citizens suffer at the expense of other citizens. It is merely time to reflect on those who sacrificed their lives on both sides for a futile cause of a few megalomaniacal people.

There is no celebration as such of the winners in the American Civil War, merely a remembrance and reflection never to get into a situation like that again. I do not like to use examples as we should have our own home grown solutions, but a large swathe of the country who are kith and kin of the vanquished DO NOT want to be reminded of the terror and torture they had to undergo, first under the LTTE and then as suspects incarcerated until they could be re settled.

It is therefore merely a celebration of the victors over the vanquished, both communities of which live in Sri Lanka. This is not a good gesture for unity of the country. It is a populist move to enhance the strength of the regime, that prides itself in reminding the people of their achievement in the war, whilst the person singularly responsible for winning the war languishes in jail or in a hospital!!

There ironies are not lost on the people. Karuna who is directly responsible for killing 600 Sinhala Policemen in the East, has not sought forgiveness, but has been given a prominent place in the Government. KP who was responsible for keeping the LTTE funds, has forfeited much of it to the Government individuals, (nothing has been accounted for to the State and included in State Revenue to date)

The amounts spirited away by the senior govt. officials in overseas bank accounts are substantial from this account, and for that privilege they have effectively given KP unconditional freedom. These events do not add credibility for holding such events, as it is merely for propaganda purposes of our people, and does not serve any purpose except to keep people in the forces, occupied, when they are not busy as 24hr workers in construction sites or agriculture or even landscape labor. We must pity our countrymen for being taken for such an almighty ride.

I only just heard how people were forced to ‘MARCH’ on May Day!

The level to which people were forced to attend the Government May Day rally was not made clear to me until I heard this from one who was forced to attend.

The government recently gave temporary positions for unemployed graduates in local government offices, known as District Secretariats. About 10,000 were placed there with a monthly stipend of Rs10,000, on a temporary basis, with a review of extension depending on their performance.

These people were chosen from each GN (Grama Niladari) Division, where the GN was asked to present names, and only those who are with the Government would receive such letters as the GN positions are also now politicized.

These people do not have a job, and District Secretariat which is already overstaffed with political appointees, is at a loss as to what to do with them. In any case they were instructed that as part of their employment they HAD to attend the May Day rallies in Colombo, on the Govt. side.

Similarly the Teachers Union had also protested that those recently appointed to the teaching service, where there are many vacancies for qualified teachers in certain subjects, also had to attend the May Day rally if they wanted to keep their jobs and get recommendations in the future. This sort of covert pressure of threats and intimidation is carried out nationwide by the Government in contravention of all norms and procedures, making a mockery of the statements that are made in public.

It seems to me therefore few people came to the May Day rally on the government part out of their own free will and most of the people were coaxed to come owing to a threat that would affect their future in the service or the vocation they had chosen.

It is important the reader appreciates that this kind of action, by a Government is tantamount to interference in one’s life and a human rights violation. This obnoxious practice is reprehensible, and more people must speak out and let the people understand what is going on to mislead the people.

I trust a rational reader of the blog will come to his/her own conclusion on the merits of such an order and the fact that being forced to do something against one’s will if one wants to hold onto one’s job, is the vilest form of intimidation at the workplace.

The Debate in Parliament – 8th May 2012 – on the COPE report

The UNP demanded and got a debate in Parliament on the implementation of the recommendations of the COPE committee of parliamentarians on their investigation of the public enterprises that come under the purview of the COPE.

The Government members on the COPE committee failed to even turn up for the debate, and what was worse those government members slated to speak did not turn up to Parliament either. They treat this Governance attempt with contempt displaying both their ignorance and arrogance of the importance of the debate to help in good governance. This gave the opposition more of an opportunity to talk as the time of the Govt. members were given to the Opposition, where Mr Wijedasa Rajapakse and Mr Eran Wickremaratne conducted themselves with merit, but which was not well reported in the media whose staff at the Parliament do not understand COPE from COPY.

To be fair to Senior Minister DEW Gunesekera with a history of being a leftist, socialist or whatnot, he has lambasted his own government for the failures in instituting immediate reforms to a litany of corrupt and inefficient practices of these companies which are costing the country untold billions. However he is a lone voice on the government benches fighting a losing battle. Remember when Mr Wijedasa Rajapakse chaired the Committee a few years back he resigned and joined the opposition in disgust of the Govt. lack of interest in the COPE findings, and need to be more constructive in the way the Nation spends its scarce resources.

It is the waste that the JVP claims that can pay the Rs40/kg for the farmers for their paddy. A nonsensical argument, but nevertheless believable in light of Govt. inspired waste. This govt. does nothing in theory or practice to reduce waste in spending. It is the govt. that has presided over the record of waste, that in cumulative history of Sri Lanka to this date has not happened. For example the Cumutlative public debt when this administration took over was less than the public debt that has increased JUST during this administration.

It is easy to borrow and waste, but difficult to pay back. It is a future government that will have to make unpopular decisions to pay back the waste of this Govt. This argument however is lost amongst the people, as few people know how to manage their own finances, and resort to extortion and all other means available to them to fill the void, just as this government also appears to do.

The debate therefore achieved very little, as the Govt. side are not interested in debating the facts, but bent on pointing out failures of the opposition today in their infighting and in the past during their previous administration, none of which are part of the current debate. This kind of incompetence of the state machinery to face the elected representatives on the other side whose duty it is to question the lack of governance, make parliament irrelevant and all our democratic rights non-existent.

We must demand better attendance at Parliament. The government MPs are busy lining their pockets with shady deals, to waste time coming to parliament. How can this be achieved, without sounding too harsh. Let the public know the facts.

The subject of the debate is relevant, and steps must be taken to address this subject. However we have an administration that allocates time, just for the sake of exterior veneer, and has no intention of taking any corrective action, as all within the government are culpable of the crimes that are laid forth in the COPE report.

How can we get people of Sri Lanka to understand that their lives are manipulated by a state apparatus designed only to FOOL and to cream off the assets of this country for personal gain? This difficult objective is down to you and me by way of communication medium to attempt to educate the public to the TRUTH.

It is the duty of the Media to properly explain what it is that the COPE committee is attempting to do and why its recommendations are important and must be implemented if waste and corruption is to be reduced or prevented. If the people can understand the meaning of this, they will be better able to make up their minds about the performance and trust they have in the govt.

At Royal they start young! – a night of frolicking at an away Rugby game

It is incredible what a bunch of rich spoilt schoolboys with an unlimited budget seem to get up to today. So when the Royal College rugby team went up to Kandy to play a rival at the intercollegiate under 19 team, they did not let the evening go without trivial pursuits.

Remember that Royal College is a government non-fee-levying school, that is one of the largest secondary schools in the world. However it enjoys lavish facilities courtesy of the generosity of their OLD BOYS who are illustrious captains of industry and politics. So the generosity extended to the budget for Rugby as well.

These young guys flashed a couple of US$100 bills, which only rich kids have access to and hooked in the services of two Eastern European Hookers, not of the rugby scrum type. Once about five of the boys had filled the women up with their energy, others were turned away, as the women did not feel what was given was enough to service the whole team.

Those who were not serviced got most upset, that some of the juniors got the privilege that they could not obtain and started a rumpus that got out of hand, and so the secret was out due to greed and sour grapes, it seems, a Royalists nightmare!

So one might ask where were the parents? Where was the master in charge of Rugby? and where were the chaperones of the boys? Was it done with the approval of the people in charge? A lot of questions remain unanswered.

What disciplinary action would the Principal take? Should he fire the students, ban them from Rugby playing for the school or fine them for breach of ethics in sport!

Now we know there is nothing amiss with teenage libido in the team, but is it the example that is created, one to follow or emulate. If this is to be a warning for future generations, then all the players implicated along with those who were unlucky and were not able to participate must all be disciplined and at least removed from playing Rugby this year. It may sound harsh and destructive to the team’s performance this year, but that will then prevent a future occurrence this year or hereafter. It must be taken and discipline within the team restored.

The word discipline amongst school boys is what is at stake, and the whole country is watching to see, what punishment they will get. It will be a crying shame for the future of the game, and the respect we all have for schools rugby if one of the most respected teams engages in conduct unbecoming of a rugby team!

Sri Lanka’s Foreign Policy – the management of diplomacy – Acts of Traitors

It is no secret that the whole subject of Foreign Policy and the way the Diplomatic Missions receive stepmotherly treatment is a disgrace. I firmly believe it is bordering on being traitorous in the sense that the whole policy objective of defending the country from external forces, who threaten to destabilize it, gives all the ammunition our enemies desire.

That said, the responsibility and the persons who must answer to this disgraceful performance are the Foreign Minister and the President. In reality they can overrule most sane decisions in favor of the insane ones currently being adopted.

If one takes this argument to its conclusion, it is the mental stability of both the above that requires questioning. There is no doubt, and overwhelming evidence that even the recently adopted resolution that slapped Sri Lanka as being a bunch of incompetent buffoons unable to implement their own decisions could easily have been avoided if we had people of sound mind in the seat of power.

It is time a resolution calling for the impeachment of the President be brought to Parliament, so that history will look kindly at those who vote for and those who vote against will forever be doomed as contributors to the destruction of the state.

We who are genuinely patriotic, those who only wish to sacrifice our lives, so that those who come after us will benefit from what we leave for them, cannot stomach the traitors who in the name of patriotism rule us. After all Patriotism it is well accepted is the refuge of the “Soundrel” and in this context I would add the plural.

The latest fiasco, of switching the important post of the Ambassador in Geneva, when so much counts is an instance. After all 4 Ambassadors in 4 years to Geneva is unprecedented and a clear indication if ever we wish to find any of the incompetence, impotence and the insanity of the Administration in Colombo. I hasten to add that I know new replacement Ravinath, who is a dedicated, honest and competent career diplomat, who is up to the job. However that does not deny the point above, as it is impossible to present a consistent face, to defend the country from unreasonable accusations, showing schizophrenia of the worst kind.

The only saving grace the administration has is that it has no desire to win in the global stakes, as it is good for local politics, to be seen as defending the indefensible. That fools the populace that the Govt. is defending the country against an imperialist order hell bent on destroying Sri Lanka, while they are doing a super job destroying the country for personal greed. That is a patriotic traitor!!!