The Voice of Reason gives way to the Voice of Treason – Denial of access in SL for Colombo Page, Colombo Telegraph! What next?

The Precipitous Decline in Individual Freedoms has take a turn for the worse with the denial of access to SL surfers of both Colombo Telegraph and Colombo Page and we do not know what else as yet!

This means that only treasonable information is now available, as the Govt. appears to be bent on destroying this Country. Unfortunately a foreigner is in charge of our Defense, an US Citizen by the name of Ghotabaya Rajapakse who is playing to the tune of External influences, and thus denying basic rights to the people of Sri Lanka.

In any other country such treasonable activity would give rise to the firing squad, but in Sri Lanka the particular individual appears to be at the head of the stone throwing MOB even escorting  ( by giving security ) those heathens dressed in Monk robes who were throwing the stones at Private Property in openly challenging the laws of the nation.

Further succor was given by a police force fearful of offending the traitor, as they are led by such a person, throwing the dynamics of Sri Lanka on its head.

It is ironic that we underwent severe hardship, fought and died to defeat a brutal terrorist group only to have it replaced by even more of a frightening form of terror, when you never know who is going to be targeted next, and who will be at the receiving end of the white van treatment.

As the traditional terror has been eliminated by a huge presence of security, now the replacement of terror is by the security forces themselves as there can be no other force that can carry out such blatant acts of aggression in such a public and worry free manner.

I do not buy the argument that is now being made that the Govt. actually caused the current backlash against all things not Buddhist, so that they can in a short while before the spark of the inferno is lit, intervene and pretend to the savior of the people by preventing another 1983 which they will say was a UNP led pogrom against Tamils, and that they are the answer to such threats, as a UNP Govt. would have met it by carnage similar to that of 1983.

I believe it is pure and simple jealousy on the part of impotent people against a very successful community that has now encircled all forms of commerce and holds the reins where the sweat and toil of the Sinhala is used by them to the full advantage. This canard of heaping, the inadequacy of the Sinhala people to help each other and grow, on non Buddhists is reprehensible and regrettable. It will ricochet back on the Buddhists to destroy any level of sympathy one has for them.

Taking Credit for winning a war does not Justify raping the country of ALL resources! The loser turns out to be not the LTTE but …….

Since May 2009 I list below the extent to which the Country has been raped! It is by no means complete, not even by a short stretch, and is probably just skirting the surface. Can so much go so wrong in 4 years?

1 The single largest act of rape is the concerted, unrelenting daily dose of lies and misleading statements, where words and deeds have NO congruence. It has fooled the people to such a degree, by its success that it is a monumental task to explain.

2 Possibly the second highest is the amount by which the Country’s limited resources have been taken by way of unreasonable commissions, kickbacks, bribes and kappang (protection rackets), that is estimated at about 10% of GDP per annum into the hands of the Govt. and affiliated parties. This has reduced growth, and taken from the poor to feed a few of the wealthy.

3 The unabashed rate of borrowing taking advantage of carefully built credit ratings over 50 years of payment of dues on schedule, resulting, in excessive borrowing, paying excessive rates of interest, and for projects whose rate of return is much less than the rate of interest payable is going to result in the mass of the less well off having to pay for their sins long after the Govt. has disappeared, morel like run away with the loot.

4 There is no point in talking of the rape of archaeological antiquities, of forest, tree felling, sand mining, rock blasting, removing soil and even the scarce wildlife. In the short span of a few years, we have done more damage than the 50 years preceding.

5 Honest people cannot work in Govt. service, as only rogues succeed as they work in tandem with Politicians who make no place for honesty. This has reduced the whole state bureaucracy to incompetent yes men with no morality or integrity.

6 Political Patronage in Illicit Moonshine, (recent Ethanol Container case has proved that even the law does not apply to some who continue to flout it despite being caught.) Gambling, Drugs have taken this business to another level.

6 The Govt, supported Mafia that control the price of vegetables has artificially increased consumer prices, whilst making farmers more destitute.

7 Fraud with regard to import of harmful chemicals and fertilizer continues to kill citizens in even greater numbers, as cheaper more dangerous substitutes replace the safer product, in import mafia deals with Customs cooperation and enrichment.

8 The abuse of state resources like chartering state aircraft for Presidential Use!

9 Fraud with regards to vehicle imports, permits, and crude oil purchases, has increased pollution, consumption, and increased imports of fuel to run, ever more expensive luxury vehicles.

10 Foreign Employment Agencies with political patronage fleecing our migrants destined overseas, that provide less than perfect jobs for our workers, that result in the effective rape of our workers, by them not able to maximize on their potential.

11 The Rape of our once enviable Education System by an unplanned disorganized mix of unchecked Private Education Establishments with NO commensurate effort to improve the public education system.

12 The Rape of the Stock Market by insiders who have effectively screwed the small investor out of their life savings, with no recourse against the perpetrators.

13 The increasing incidence of RAPE of the woman and child, much of which is ALSO attributable to the Patronage received by Govt. Politicians at all levels.

14 The Rape of the Judiciary, where no one in Govt. is even safe from prosecution or being treated fairly under the law, in accordance with the Law.

15 The Rape of the Country from Overseas by the International Forces, by the Government failing to implement LLRC as promised, turning the country into a pariah state leading to possibly actions including the earlier loss of GSP.

16 The wholly unnecessary Killings (250) and life threatening and life changing injuries (2500) due to the abuse of power by speeding politicians killing and maiming innocent civilians on their way to a brouhaha. NO compensation paid.

17 Breakdown in Law enforcement by a Police Force that is now beholden ONLY to the machinations of a politician and NOT accountable anymore to the people they are obliged to serve and protect. (Service being replaced by Servility)

18 Kleptocracy that is what the method of government has become. It has never before been at this level. It is getting worse and not better, and cartel involved in this daylight robbery is expanding in ever increasing circles!

19 The Rape of the Individual with the lack of any of the Freedoms we so cherish, namely that of expression, speech or media and gathering.

20 People DO NOT have any freedom to practice their own religion in a way that does not harm others, even in their own homes, where there are groups that are outside the law that do home invasions to prevent people practicing their faiths.

This list goes on and on, and if anyone can honestly tell me that these have not got worse in the past 4 years, means that we have LOST the Peace in a grand scale!

The Hypocrisy of winning the war is that we are now losing everywhere! As Traitors rule

The Secretary of Defense at a recent talk alluded to the fact that winning the war has permitted the Country to have no fear and pursue the path of peace and sustainable growth for all those who live in this Island.

http://www.colombotelegraph.com/index.php/the-history-today-and-the-future/

No one denies that people are safer from Bombs and even the Tamil people are comparatively much better off than if they were still in a conflict situation. What I cannot understand is nearly 4 years after the end of the conflict he still has to even utter such superfluous words! The absence of war does not mean Peace!

People are not dumb to the realities. Many electors are still dumb, but it is our duty to educate them that using the War Victory as a reason to even keep them in power any longer is going to make the country safer, and more prosperous is a huge confidence trick. The canard of lies will take a little time to be evident, but I fear if we wait that long the damage that has been done to repair the daily criminal activity, the biggest being the wholesale borrowing of funds to pay for uneconomical projects with no return, is going to mire the citizens in debt.

Those in power have no concern for those who will be affected by the profligate policies that have been adopted, when that money could easily have been borrowed at far lower rates of interest, and yielded far better returns if the economy was managed more judiciously, on projects that could be justified.

I agree, the President and maybe his family are politically astute as compared with the opposition. However that is only Politically, (as in winning elections by knowing what to say to the electorate to get them to vote for them) However economic incompetence is a wholly another matter, as it is about the careful management of the state’s finances, so as not to burden future generations, by use of policies that are not defensible. It is not about democracy or dictatorship.

What Ghotabaya does not realize is that he is only an able and possibly ruthless soldier, and is able to instill discipline by fear, but that is where it ends. Managing how the country spends its resources, requires a visionary plan, not waking up to unrelenting acts of personal glory. It is this legacy, and not the wining of the war that they will be consigned to the dustbin of history for. They don’t care about their legacy, when they have benefited from their position whilst in power, but it is a country that has to bear the cost of that legacy and it is time we woke up to it.

This blind fold that they walk in smugness, whilst completely unaware of what is going on around is a mystery, I cannot fathom, except one explanation. Only a traitor to the nation would willfully, knowingly permit this rape of this land.

An opinion on religious tolerance

Further to a letter to the President in the link below on religious tolerance, I wrote the comment below which I reprint below.

http://www.colombotelegraph.com/index.php/muslim-council-wants-rajapaksa-to-publicly-condemn-the-hate-campaign-of-the-buddhist-extremists/

People must be free to follow one’s religion as long as it does not interfere in others practicing theirs, or in normal daily activity in whatever one is engaging in.

Exceptions are when it comes into conflict with laws of the land. Sikhs wanting to be exempt from crash helmets when riding a bike! I believe all religions MUST allow flexibility, to permit conformity with the surroundings. For example if a woman was out hiking in the hills, it would neither be advisable to wear a sari or a niqab. One must wear the most appropriate attire for the activity.

Nothing must be mandatory, just permit one to express oneself any which way without offending others. So, no nakedness in public please.

I am somewhat uncomfortable with a statement in the letter  in link, “global resurgence of Islamist Piety in the 1980s” as an excuse to permit fundamentalist behavior. It implicitly forced strictures on people practicing flexibility till then!

Similarly fundamentalist Christian groups also influenced by their own ‘Born again’ beliefs coming around the same time. It just upsets a delicate multifaith equilibrium when one goes into extremes. It is therefore for the newbie to explain that it is more practical for the work, and not a statement of differentiation. The influence foreign powers have had over the years from the Pre Portuguese Inquisitions to the newly resurgent nationalism is one of conformity.

Buddhism practiced in SL is very different to that practiced in most Buddhist countries. It is therefore only a form, not one that is right, the other wrong. The BBS in their zeal to impose cultural norms on those who are Sinhala and Buddhist must tread carefully, as it is just a passing feeling. Sinhala today may not have been Sinhala yesterday. Muslim today, were most likely Sinhala and Buddhist years ago. Gene testing will prove that most Muslims are more native to Sri Lanka than most Sinhala people, so we are all mixed with beliefs that are passing. It is best not to get too hot headed, as many who are Muslim may in future change their beliefs, and so will many Buddhists to others and I dare say many Christians will probably embrace the purer form of Buddhism. The giving away of all desires, as it conforms more with Christianity’s vows of poverty and chastity.

It goes to show that we are just passing through life, so let us live it to the fullest, enjoy it and not upset our neighbors, by our bloody minded intolerance, but at the same time be mindful of others feelings.

By way of example, I do not want my dawn sleep interrupted by loudspeakers from a Christian, Muslim, Hindu or Buddhist form of worship. Loudspeakers were never part of religions over 50 years ago, so why start now? Think about being good citizens, good neighbors, and above all good human beings.

Inviting criticism of our own religious beliefs will strengthen our faith!

And perhaps focus on our faith better, and understand if we have a problem with others perception of our beliefs. This was noted in an article on the attached link:

http://groundviews.org/2013/03/25/inter-religious-integration-in-sri-lanka-inclusion-not-intrusion/

I believe this approach is good. We must ask others to criticize our religion. We will then be able to look at another’s perspective of our belief, perhaps try and get a better understanding of our own beliefs and then be able to counter the criticism with a constructive rationale, and where we believe we are wrong, try to make the necessary changes to accommodate the feelings of others where some of our practices may anger others or lead to unnecessary friction. It is all part of the art of compromise, with only fundamentalists who discredit this as sacrilegious

Most of religious intolerance is the fear of the unknown, and false assumptions being made from that fear, as is quite apparent from the current debate on intolerance in Sri Lanka today.

I have advocated a study of comparative religions, when a student reaches an age of about 14, in schools, with a text book to which all religions are requested to submit their particular belief for inclusion. In this way people will understand what and why about belief and can accept or disagree with particular aspects as they wish.

We must engage new approaches of education, and make people understand that whatever our beliefs are that there are many who take a very different approach and we must first understand what it is that they believe and secondly be able to compromise our customs and practices so as not to offend another.

I also personally believe a certain amount of deference to the majority religion of a country must be given, so that there is no antagonism by the majority community to your own belief. It is also called getting along, without being too obvious.

Some religious practices may then have to be kept private or not in full view of others that may cause offence. In Sri Lanka it seems that everything another does appears to be directly offensive to the majority religion, and instead of a negotirated compromise, the likes of the BBS engage in raw violence, hurting feelings and then making a permanent dent in inter religious harmony.

I must state at this stage that I am completely against the BBS statement that this is NOT a multi-religious and multi-ethnic country. If they wish to fight about that then I am willing to take up arms against such a premise, so that one of two consequences result. Acceptance of my stance, or the annihilation of all minorities. 

The majority religion in any country is a curse rather than a blessing!

Has anyone considered why it is that fringe or other religions survive, thrive and in fact appeal to the local people? It is a normal process, where the simple weight of the established religion (inertia) gets people thinking about the wrongs rather than the rights, giving the purveyors of other religions a perfect opportunity to convince the doubters that another belief may make more sense.

In the end those who change their beliefs are those least in command of themselves, but find enormous comfort in their adopted religion and become proponents of that religion as its new believers believing in it for the right reasons!

Ignorant are the most prone to indoctrination. The Catholics used this successfully in changing the beliefs of the Inca communities in South America, to such a degree that it is now largest Catholic continent in the world, resulting in a Pope from there.

One just has to look up Christianity in the UK. It is in wholesale decline with more than half the churches sold off, many converted into homes. That is why I found it amusing when a rabble of Buddhists in Sri Lanka, were complaining that a place of worship had been turned into a Christian site! It is just the normal sequence. If they are to prevent it they must work at a revival not preventing others from taking advantage of taking over distressed properties!

People ignorant of history, learn nothing from History. It is history that defines the present and future. If we knew sufficient history we will learn and understand why people behave the way they do. Much of the ignorance of the BBS in SL today, is due to their complete ignorance of history.

A leadership knowledgeable in history will take steps to prevent history repeating itself! Others like BBS are falling head on into a trap created by them, which in the end is going to endanger Buddhism more than what the established order has done to date. Perverting a religion to one’s own personal agenda is bound to ricochet!

I appeal to the majority who have any sense left in them to take stock of their beliefs to strengthen the religion not and not permit it to be prostituted. It is the large apathetic majority of believers who give fodder to these groups, by their apathy and intransigence. You NEVER strengthen your religion by attacking others, you do it by making yours stronger, not by force, but by education, and faith. So let us get back to meditation, consciousness, and effort at being more giving and not grabbing.

If your core belief is strong it is easy to attract others to your belief as they will look at you as an example of the religion you profess. If there is no basis for belief no one is going to convert, and many will leave it. So do not think people get sucked into other beliefs just for money, as some do, it is due to the fault of their own religion NOT catering to the spiritual needs of the supposedly lost soul.

One only has to look at those purists of Buddhism, the true Arahats, who have given up everything to meditate in a kutiya. They are the  single most abused people by the established hierarchy of the Sangha who fear their example will turn people away from assisting in empire building and instead go back to basics of pure Buddhism.

I have written on belief at length lately, and I am tending to become a non believer! Why I cannot find any true believers in any religion. Just the tell and show types with nothing inside their own souls, empty and bankrupt. If there are no true believers, how can religion survive the modern age? Through FEAR thats all.

Let’s turn the crisis into an opportunity for a revival

The latest attacks against other beliefs by the BBS is an appropriate opportunity to focus on what is right and wrong and for those who can to guide their believers back into the religion they profess to believe in.

Just as a form of fundamentalist Islam is sweeping the world, after the born again Christian dogma has shaken the established Churches to the core, now the misunderstood un Buddhist fundamentalism of the BBS is time for the established order of Sri Lanka Buddhism to take stock of what is right and wrong and map out a path of a purer form of belief, devoid of the materialism that has taken over.

The problem with a purer form of one’s religion is that many of the establishment institutions come to be distractions, and in many cases a barrier to the advancement of belief. The reason is the power of patronage and wealth that these institutions have amassed over time, taking a direction that was never meant to be.

It is better to begin with comparisons. Let’s look at Vatican II that shook up the old Latin Mass religion and brought it down to earth, to be relevant to the modern person to understand and believe. It was followed by the Born Again period, which on reflection gave the Catholic Church the impetus to change. They are now going through the scandal of sexual abuse by Priests, resulting in the appointment of a new Pope who is likely to take the Church back to its roots, all signs of hope.

Taking a leaf from that, Buddhism, as it is practiced in Sri Lanka MUST change if it is to grow, and be meaningful to the believer. It has to be both practical and NOT hypocritical. After all the saying goes, the easiest way of making a good living in Sri Lanka, is to either start a Tuition Class or go meditate under a Bo Tree!

Taking the latter, over 1000 Buddhist temples have cropped up in the last 20 years, by monks taking over a Bo Tree, and building a temple round it acquiring land mostly illegally, at first. Look at the number of temples near paddy fields, where the area once acquired just around the Tree, is then filled up. It is illegal to fill up paddy lands, but no one will stop a Temple from filling paddy lands, and the owners more than likely are coerced into giving up their paddy lands to the Temple, as an act of piety and perhaps a chance of a better rebirth.

Competition by temples is the biggest threat to Buddhism. Any monk who is honest will tell you that people are fooled into patronizing temples that have more facilities believing they are better, thus forcing devout monks to engage in a business of raising money, effectively becoming beggars to build their dreams of perpetual life, forgetting that everything is just temporary, and spirituality is paramount. Have we forgotten to the need to meditate in a cave?

Buddhism - A good time for reflection considering the State of the Nation

The Mahanayaka’s of the main Nikayas are now getting together to come out with a common platform to re arraign the moral direction of Buddhism in Sri Lanka. With Buddhism not believing in a deity, it is important that they assert how the majority of Buddhists who believe in the Gods are permitted to accept them in the context of their beliefs. It is even more important to highlight to their fellow countrymen how un-Buddhist we have become. We must encourage the practices of the temperance movement to withhold from ANY form of alcohol, or tobacco, drugs or any narcotic, even Bulath as currently practiced by the Sangha. Further giving away possessions, and not amassing more, should be stressed, so that the competition of building bigger and better temples is stopped forthwith.

We are a declining population, with fewer people entering the Sangha. In 10 years there will NOT be sufficient monks to maintain the temples, so we SHOULD NOT build anymore, even though each priest wants to be the Lokuhamuduruwo of a temple that he just takes over, by, in my experience, camping by a Bo tree, and quietly encroaching on the land around!

These are just a few of the major issues confronting Buddhism, which must be practically addressed before even getting into the BBS problem. If the matters referred to above can be resolved the BBS issue will die a natural death. It is important that Buddhism re asserts its moral ground from the depths of amorality it has plunged to, not least by the practices of Buddhists in the name of religion. Behavior has to be changed, and even thought processes. We must stop being hypocritical and practice what we preach rather than breakdown the Bana they give soon after saying it. This has reduced the practitioners of Buddhism, as a result of this hypocrisy. Most Sinhala Buddhists never go to Temple to offer a personal pooja, many just go to participate in an event to be seen to be pious.

It is often said that the Sinhala Buddhists, are neither Sinhala or Buddhist but a unholy mix of the two into a distasteful one of a disgraceful human in the guise of being pure. I trust that the outcome of the elders meetings of the Nikayas is to assert the basic values of Buddhism, first and foremost, and allow a non religious nationalist element to perpetuate the wholesomeness of the Sinhala Language and then secondarily of the Sinhala culture, that can be embraced by Sinhala people who are Buddhist, Christian, Muslim, and Hindu. Monks should concentrate only on the Buddhist part, and let laity manage the Sinhala part.

If this clear distinction is made, we can go forward as a Nation, as one, and not fall into meaningless religious factions looking after our own interests.

If an American embraces Buddhism, he is an American Buddhist, that is he is an American Patriot first and only secondly his religion, trying to separate the two. So if he is called to serve his nation in war, he can be a conscientious objector, saying his religion does not permit him to go to war! And face the legal consequences.

In the same vein, we must be Sri Lankan first, and then proclaim whatever our belief system is. We can be an Atheist or Agnostic, but both those are discriminated even more than Muslims or Christians.

One has to be very careful in Stating that Sri Lanka is a Buddhist Country. I know the Sinhala Buddhists wish to assert that with only 70% strictly falling into that technical category today, including the non-practicing ones. That assertion immediately throws 30% of the Country, commanding 60% of the wealth in the country into second class status. That is a recipe for disaster, however populist it may sound to the 70%! The Country will be shaken to the core, with such an assertion, and a new constitution MUST be enacted to make that change.

Until that is done we are a multiracial, multi-religious country. The BBS by that definition has NO place in that equation, and should possibly be actively discouraged by the Mahanayakas in their parley as being contrary to all principles of Buddhism and nationhood, and amicable relations. If they do not they will be trapped in a meaningless religious straitjacket they cannot get out of.

It is my belief that it is incumbent upon the leaders of Buddhism to assert their supremacy over Buddhism in Sri Lanka, and inform the people of Sri Lanka that BBS is not representative of any particular religious belief but a nationalist racist right, led by a few un- Buddhist monks using the natural fear of ignorant people to arouse, feelings, passions and misuse them for personal gratification, a most un Buddhist plan. In the same vein all religion based political parties must be banned.

I believe this assertion will do Buddhism in Sri Lanka a lot of good, assert its basic uniqueness and piety as well as its tolerance of all other beliefs. If by example they are able to show the value of being a Buddhist, they will also prevent the move of Buddhists disgruntled by what they see happening in their temples, to get back to the beliefs that they were taught at their Daham Pasalas, but sadly not practiced by the Sangha.

Most of the fear of being overwhelmed by other religions, threats by others and even to Buddhism will disappear. Buddhism, it’s pure form has nothing to fear. It is the mere breakdown of the philosophy by its misuse by the practitioners that is at fault. Only if that is admitted by the Mahanayakas will they be able to take the religion back to the basic teachings, even of Theravada Buddhism and ensure its perpetuation and further growth. Only THEY CAN DO IT, NOW IS THE TIME

The HR violators list votes against the resolution – What does that make SL?

In Geneva a little while ago, the countries currently under regimes (Bar 3) that have doubtful records of how it treats their own citizens are on the list of those who voted against the UNHRC resolution. So what does that make Sri Lanka, another country that treats its own citizens in a degrading way! You must ask that of the citizens whose basic rights are violated by their own state apparatus.

SO what is this list of 13 who appear to be in the same boat as Sri Lanka and are all sailing against the wind, so to speak!

Congo

Mauritania

Uganda

Indonesia

Kuwait      - They have pledged solidarity despite the Muslim issue - appreciated

Maldives

Pakistan

Philippines

Qatar          - Another case of supporting the country that provides their workers

Thailand

UAE           - Another case of supporting the country that provides their workers

Ecuador

Venezuela

Included in this list are 8 Muslim countries that provided solidarity to Sri Lanka despite the anti Muslim behavior of some goons with Govt. support. That tells a lot on the resilience of the countries to assault on their religion. Indonesia and Pakistan are two countries with the largest Muslim populations in the world.

In tomorrow’s papers the Govt. as they did last time will add the abstentions as those who on the Govt. side and include them too to take it up to 21, but still means that 25 voted against Sri Lanka, with ALL the European Nations in the UNHRC and in the Asian block all voted either on behalf of SL or abstained except of course our large neighbor India, and the Republic of Korea, the latter where US influence was felt. In this whole charade, it is India’s very firm voting of the resolution that must be taken seriously, as a concern for the future of the special and now not so special relationship.

Why are we tolerating INSANITY and the irrationality of BBS?

Every step of the way the BBS made statements that did not make sense. Each time there was some concession, a further nonsensical one was demanded, where as once a final multi faith compromise was reached, they demanded that HALAL be made illegal in Sri Lanka. Why didn’t they start with that if that was what they wanted all along?

This irrationality that goes with hatred is a normal human failing, and the consequences profound, and as far as the future prosperity and nationhood of Sri Lanka is concerned truly shattering. The timing could not have been worse with the UNHRC meetings bound to take this into account in further attacking Sri Lanka.

The silence of the authorities, and by its implication is a veritable blessing, is incredulous. The lack of a strong willed opposition to challenge this certification, leaves those wishing to fight for justice, without both an anchor or a rudder, floating on air!

The Government it appears has determined that the worst result is best for them from Geneva, so that a full year of problems in the next 12 months will easily be blamed on Geneva! That is how it expects to tackle the fallout on the economy from weak policies, and diffuse the extent of their bad management.

The Country Sri Lanka is being held to ransom not by the foreigners, but by our own administration, as the foreign canard will be exposed in time, but then much damage would have been done, and a further pause of a decade or two to undo the ensuing damage courtesy of GOSL.

In short I believe the racist elements both in the Monk factions emerging every day and its patrons are shortsighted and traitorous to the nation. They are playing to prejudiced and ignorant people with a huge inferiority complex. They are not amenable to psychological counseling for their mental problems and so we the people they fool as well as the rest of us who are held hostage have to deal with the fallout.

Yes we are tolerant of madness right up to the top. We must be consistent in our tolerance of other mad ones, who are not in the top. Why is there a distinction on one set of mad people from another?  They are both reprehensible with agendas that are not consistent with the interest of the people of Sri Lanka.

So BBS and all the avatars of a much of a muchness, you are a curse, but also you have by your actions proved to people what humans are capable of and we will hopefully learn from your mistakes not to be fooled in future by your hatred.

The marauders are at it again nearby, the day Mattala is opened. How ironic?

In yet another act of blatant aggression, a group of Buddhist Monks have disgustingly attacked another place of Religious Worship. It seems that Law and Order has really gone to the dogs, and the Dogs are in power, surprise surprise!

http://colombogazette.com/2013/03/18/mob-threaten-home-of-christian-pastor/

http://colombogazette.com/2013/03/19/igp-orders-probe-on-threat-to-pastor/

Why is our leader leading a pack of dogs? Surely they uphold Law and Order. It is the basic principle on which a Society can operate, otherwise Dogs rule in packs.

The Government MUST intervene before this problem gets worse. Is MR frightened of GR? As it is the latter who is at it, with the fuel for some personal shortcoming of his own. This inaction and leaving it to the IGP to do a useless investigation that will be forgotten and filed away in days, is simply a joke.

There is a limit to intolerance. If these people were a nuisance, like noise and disturbing the peace then there are legal grounds like noise pollution ordinances etc and blocking public access ways. So what is the law they broke?

If the Govt. is not happy with this, they must change the law to prohibit certain gatherings, otherwise taking the law into their own hands is illegal and subject to prosecution. Why is the Govt. afraid of prosecuting law breakers?

Is it just another instance of one law for the law breakers of the Govt. side which now appears to include Buddhist monks and mobs lead by them, and another law for those not! Remember how a religion led rabble can be aroused to insane levels, with behavior that 1983 reminds us of. Animalistic behavior of humans led by animals is common both here and overseas. It is  dangerous to the point of clearly drawing battle lines for a civil war of proportions this nation has never seen.

This Government has lost its legitimate right to govern, and I believe it is time for a change to a pluralistic democracy and the scourge of our society needs to be tamed, and if need be lawfully prosecuted. Now that the law enforces, and the law pronounces, as in the Justice system are also compromised, there is a need for a clean up there too.

We are in the scenario today in Sri Lanka where those who are not affected just keep mum and let matters take their course hoping it will go away. It is those very people who will shortly have to suffer the consequences of their impotence. Their deposits insecure, their businesses threatened with losses, the economy taking a turn for the worse. Only a few have socked their booty overseas safe from predators, the rest of society will just have to face the music.

Oh how silly! “This is the first Sri Lankan Airport that operated as an International Airport from its inception” – profound statement from the Aviation Minister

Buffoonery at its highest! We are the only country, that has buffoons for ministers who utter absurdities such as above. What an asinine statement to make. Considering it was a Greenfield site badly chosen and the location, costly to operate and costly to the citizenry, and he has the audacity to make a statement like that. One should say that is why it is such a ridiculous airport. It is only needed for international flights that don’t take passengers from SL nor disgorge them!

http://colombogazette.com/2013/03/18/lankas-second-international-airport-opens-2/

So let it be tucked away in some corner where we do not need to see it! Come on how long will it take and at what cost to bring a highway to Mattala, and then onto Hambantota. Unless there is a highway linking Mattala, Hambantota and Colombo, the airport in this location is a further burden on the people.

Think of the added congestion, the longer distance to travel the higher cost to get there, and the difficulty for the people who are working there to get home and back, and find dormitory accommodation to stay. It is just a ghastly choice.

Further if Katunayake where there is traffic is denuded of its good people, then it stretches Katunayaka further, and makes it more difficult, as we don’t have the trained people to run two airports at once. The gridlock is just about to start.

How are you going to get to Mattala? Does anyone have an answer to that. There are no qualified people living in the Hambantota Electorate, and the Rajapakses are probably the unqualified also! So everyone will have to forcibly shipped there kicking and screaming, NOT out of choice to operate this white elephant.

There is no point in my talking about it at this stage as it has happened. We cannot reverse a mistake. I was told a plane about to land ran into a flock of birds. Well all it takes in one plane to make an emergency landing and you will NOT find any international airline wishing to go there. Then I hear the elephants are NOT amused, and that a electrified fence will have to be ringing the airport to prevent the pachyderms from coming inside and on the runway harm both themselves and the planes landing or taking off. Again no airline will wish to land if there is even one incident of Jumbo on the runway, not a 747 I might add!!!

Jokes apart the folly that we have just built is only second to the Port folly we dumped taking more land space when at least we could have used the sea! All this bodes ill for our debt payments, balance of payments, foreign debt, interest rates, exchange rates and long term growth prospects. A veritable litany of bad news, because of the lack of vision of leaders, who have displayed their village mentality down to the core. After all they believe their village will attract the population!

BBS ready for another fight, after mistakenly believing they have won on Halal!

Emboldened by the mistaken sense of importance over the Halal issue, which in retrospect was a non issue, which as I have pointed out earlier, a Hijacked ACJU fell victim to of their own extremists, the BBS have entered a more dangerous and incendiary phase of going to the heart of places of worship.

They have not given up the demand for the ban on the Hijab, as they are now brainstorming how best to do it, with maximum publicity for them, and maximum hatred heaped on the Muslim community. I believe they intend making the true claim that it was not worn 50 years ago, and is just a new way of expressing one’s religion due to the foreign and mainly Wahabist influence, and therefore it is best for them to revert to the previous practice of hundreds of years for Muslim women to use the sari to cover their faces. It will be interesting to see how this will be played out and I am sure the Muslim community is itself planning their response to this impending attack on their freedoms.

In the end it is infringing on our freedom of expression. Wearing clothes we wish is our and nobody else’s business, and when it is used by certain groups, be it religious or racial to make a statement of their power and influence, it irritates a majority community when it becomes to frequent or appears a threat. In my opinion it does not pose a threat, however, I personally am against it as we don’t know who hides behind the hijab, and I honestly feel uncomfortable in this respect.

That said I do not wish to disrespect Islam or its practitioners, but I do believe I also have some rights in that regard, and I am a very tolerant person. Just as I would not wish to see naked people on the roads, or walking with next to nothing on I do not wish to see people who hide behind a cloak, where I am unable to distinguish or identify the person.

No doubt the BBS now armed with Qurans are reading off it and showing the Muslims that none of the practices they are in are sanctioned by it. I know that it is all about interpretation, and in all religions people interpret it for their own ends.

The purists will always maintain there is nothing to interpret, but I personally do not accept that, as all texts were written in times, so as the people for whom it was written understood what it meant. People of today have to be told in a different way to understand the same point, but have taken to literal interpretations that were not meant at the time. This holds for Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism and Buddhism, and is a common failing of the teachers of the religions of being inflexible with the practitioners. I trust that in time we will be able to get over this hill, and throw the Charlatans in all these religions into the sea. Just hope it is soon.

Ceylon Today a vengeful rag – a case of “sour grapes”

Since its inception Ceylon Today, and its Sinhala bed mate, Mawbima has been a Rajapakse memorial, starting on the Presidents birthday in Nov 2011, and had pretended to Sarath Fonseka that it was partial to his cause. At the same time it had vilified the Leader of the Opposition, with lies from the very outset.

They appear to employ Journalists of questionable repute, and this was proved when some senior journalists left in disgust when it was shown that whilst pretending to allow them journalistic freedom, they really were just asked to tow the line of the owners, Tiran Alles and possibly Maharajas.

So it was the height of absurdity today for its editorial to complain about freedom of the press, when it was banned from reporting UNP activities on the 13^th on the orders of the UNP leader.

It was therefore doubly hilarious when they used the Editorial to castigate the Opposition leader as one who suppresses Media Freedom, when this rag has clearly and unequivocally overstepped Journalistic decency by engaging in lies and innuendo, especially against the opposition leader.

See link: http://www.ceylontoday.lk/52-27196-news-detail-with-an-opposition-leader-like-ranil.html

This case of sour grapes when they felt miffed at being turfed out of the proceedings is just an indication of its jokers in high office. Not of journalistic freedoms being infringed. After all they are welcome to report any trash they wish, and they seem to make up stories as they go along. It is just a matter of time the paper will cease to print due in part to the absurdity of its editors prejudices against the UNP in general and its leader in particular, except that there is tacit support for Sajith Premadasa as a means of getting back at their personal grudges.

The UNP assistant leader Joseph Michael Perera also had his own take on this same media institution, and interestingly cast doubt on whether it should be treated as a media institution. I let the reader judge for himself.

http://www.newsfirst.lk/english/node/22227 

Wasting an editorial to complain is silly considering the crises facing the people of Sri Lanka. So let’s hope they can grow out of this and become a respectable media institution, worthy of being called one. Only then will they be taken seriously and in the end have a chance of survival in this tough trading time when only lies seem to get past the censor and the truth hidden, for the long suffering public to realize on their own as part of their daily struggles for existence in this utopia.

The GMOA are a self centered lot – with no appreciation for their fortune!

Yesterday I commented in my blog about the GMOA giving a solution to prevent foreign doctors from practicing in Sri Lanka on the grounds that they are bad for your health! And it is both costly and bad quality. I suggested they take steps to reduce the amount of medical practitioners leaving Sri Lanka permanently.

I attach a link today, where they are replying to the attack by the Minister of Health who asked them to serve their country that gives them a free education instead of going overseas. The nonsensical replies given by the GMOA in the link confirms my suspicions that they are neither representing their own, nor the interests of the country in their pronouncements.

http://www.ceylontoday.lk/51-27139-news-detail-some-doctors-have-no-choice-but-to-leave-country.html 

After all we know that the doctors go overseas for post graduate study. That is fine, it has happened for a hundred years, so what of it if they return after a good training and an opportunity to work and earn some money overseas. I am not advocating stopping that. It is those who take the free education, then leave and do not return. They are the problem!

Then the GMOA says that Doctors work in far flung regions of the country. Yes, they got a free education, which if they paid they would have to fork out Rs10M to the country. So why not go all over the country to treat patients. That is what they are trained for after all! They then complain that their kids do not get the schools they want! That is just about the cake. Why should doctors’ kids be given any preference in State education? They can afford private education if need be.

Doctors have the best chance of earning a good living and sending their kids wherever they like. Just because they also want their kids to go to the best schools in Colombo, we cannot offer that over kids who live next door to the school.

They have had the best opportunity in life courtesy of a country that cannot afford their education, and they are saying that engineers and other professions also go overseas so why should they not. No one else’s education costs a fraction of the doctors so that is why they have more of an obligation.

Now that Sri Lanka will qualify 1000 doctors a year in the medical schools, both private and public, there will be more competition. There will also be less avenues for permanent settlement overseas. This will in future ease the pressure of the lack of doctors in the health care system.

I am told that the state sector will find it difficult next year to place all the doctors that qualify. So the problem of their employment will begin and the private sector will also absorb them, and their high and mighty attitude will take something of a beating when they cannot get jobs. 

You home is not safe in Sri Lanka – the Police refuse to enforce the Law

The latest incident where a mob led by Sinhala Ravaya Buddhist monks, raided a home, on the pretense that they were carrying out unethical conversions is an event that SHOULD have been condemned by the President as soon as it happened.

No one can forcibly enter someone else’s home without an arrest warrant issued on valid grounds by a magistrate. The police did nothing to remove the trespassing criminals. We are not animals! Whatever the merits or not of the goings on in the house, even if it was illegal, should have been handled by the law, not a Mob of crazed monks who are bent on depravity, and worse shaming Buddhism.

http://colombogazette.com/2013/03/15/monks-storm-nawala-house/

How can we in Sri Lanka be proud of our Buddhist heritage, when mad men behave like this in the name of Religion? The latest case I believe directly results from Ghotabaya Rajapakse officiating at the opening of the Seth Sevana teaching establishment of the BBS, which has indirectly frightened the Police from even enforcing the law. After all, the defense secretary has endorsed this criminality.

It is time that people in Sri Lanka realize that unless this lunacy is stopped there will be no one to come to your aid when your home is raided due to a false allegation. You should NOT be smug despite your Buddhist credentials. Don’t forget that in the Prabarkaranesque era, if you do not conform to a set of beliefs no matter what your religion, you were fair game for extinction.

Just as Prabarakaran murdered Tamils who did not agree with him the next step in this maniacal dictatorship is anyone who is felt to hold some credibility amongst people, and opposes the Govt. is likely to be eliminated. Don’t wait for you turn!

It is in this context that the citizens of Sri Lanka must realize that they are not safe under this Dictatorship, as it does not act in any rational sense. There is no sense, no purpose, and no meaning in what they do as far as the Country and its future is concerned. They are merely governing by fear, so that we will be a subjugated country, why wonder! Please realize who the terrorists are. They are in power.

It is only a matter of time when those who support them also begin to fear them, then hate them and then get killed by them. Those closest to the Administration are those who have to fear most. Just read history. All those closest to the administration are the ones who have the power to do most of the damage and the opposition has been compromised, agitators imprisoned, and people generally suppressed. Mad men fear Brutuses more than Brutus.

The last bastion of defense is the current sycophant. Most of the suspicion will be on you who consider yourself safe from ANY harm. A traitor is usually one’s own.

Canada – Why are you sending Hugh Segal a special envoy to Sri Lanka? It will justify more HR violations!

Sending Hugh Segal is going to be a huge publicity coup to the MR Govt. which will be able to make maximum mileage of LTTE apologists in town. If there was no pro LTTE lobby group in Canada, there will be no special envoy sent to SL plain and simple. Stephen Harper the PM is just playing domestic politics only!

This is going to make it more difficult for the opposition in SL to attack daily infringements of HR violations, as the Govt. will be able to diffuse the blame to those who seek to destabilize the country from outside, the LTTE Diaspora WHO HAVE NOT given up the dream of an pointless Eelam within the Island.

I am amazed as to how shamefacedly cynical the Canadians are in only representing their interests, and not human rights violation in general. Threats from a politically impotent Commonwealth is NOT going to move this insane regime from its self anointed pomposity. It is us fighting on the ground with no Diaspora or INGO or Pakiasothys and Pereras to help us fight injustice on a daily; be it Police brutality, be it abuse of women, and state institutions doing nothing about it, be it foreigners being killed by Govt. politicians and the state looking the other way, or be it us daily harassed because we oppose this kleptocracy.

The international concerns over the alleged HR violations do not hold any traction within Sri Lanka, as it got rid of daily terror of the bombing and massacring kind. If we are to topple this regime, it cannot be done by Diaspora or any foreign power but from normal decent citizens from within. We get no help by these bleeding heart Canadians or the writer of this article who is a journalist with no feelings for what it is like for all Sri Lankans who oppose this regime.

There are more Sinhala people who oppose this regime than Tamil and they fight this battle alone. The Tamils manage to get asylum and support from the likes of Canada. We do this with no support, moral, financial, tacit and no asylum!

So think again, your strategies are Wrong. It kills innocents by your very behavior, and it is best to keep out of meddling when you don’t know how it is really like to live in SL opposing a sordid, bankrupt fearless administration that does not care a hoot what anyone thinks as they are firmly in control of all organs of power.

Take race out of this debate and you may begin to think clearly. There are more Sinhala mothers grieving for lost children of unknown fate than Tamil mothers, in Sri Lanka just please think about that for just a minute and help where it is most needed, not just to appease your conscience or that of those who live in relative safety and security elsewhere. 

Never forget that in Sri Lanka any violent opposition is met with massacre of innocents, no matter who does it. It is not race or creed, today it is merely called Ghotabaya, Basil, Mahinda and the list with R attached to the end just goes on adding.

When the day comes when we are victorious don't try and get any credit for it. The Diaspora will be responsible for the most of the casualties, as they are not concerned about the reality today, they are only trying to hide their shame at defending the indefensible brutality of a ruthless terrorist whose brutality and bestiality they have still failed to acknowledge.

Yes the Govt. has not admitted mass murder, but we all know if there was anyone left to rally round, the Diaspora would be the first to provide arms seated in their arm chairs  fighting war games on their computers, leaving it to their poor countrymen to cleanse their guilt! 

If the author gets her way I will have to fight on two fronts, against the Diaspora from outside, and against Mahinda from the inside. See both sides of the story not just one and maybe you may right a book about what it is like to be young, sinhala, educated, undergraduate and about to be massacred, 100,000 times.

The West has destroyed, Egypt, Libya, Iraq, Afghanistan in the guise of regime change,  learn from it before doing the same in Sri Lanka. Let us do it, and you just keep out of it.

GMOA – Answer to prevent foreign doctors in Private Hospitals is not giving Govt. ones more flexibility! We should make SL more attractive to our Docs.

Govt. doctors do private practice after hours! We all know that some Govt. hospital surgeons are busy cutting people up at places like Central Hospital at 12 Midnight. Now the GMOA want them to use their leave time to work during normal hours, to combat, or prevent foreign doctors being hired by Private Hospitals.

See link for the demands that have been made by the GMOA

http://www.island.lk/index.php?page_cat=article-details&page=article-details&code_title=74701

In my opinion GOOD doctors can earn many times their wage at the Govt. in their after-hours practice. I know two doctors who work in the local Govt. hospital, who have roaring practices where they see patients before they go to work, and after they get back. One doctor sees over 50 patients in the evening every day 7 days a week. This is in my suburban setting in Meegoda.

Even if they get a car permit as a perk, they still have to finance the purchase and have to pay over Rs100,000 month to the leasing co or loan payment to the bank, so their Govt, doc income of Rs50,000 per month is not enough. Private practice is NOT an option, but a necessity for them.

GMOA is the Government Medical Officers Association, which represents the Doctors who work in Govt. Hospitals and health facilities. They for some reason do not like foreign doctors working in Sri Lanka. They believe they are either less qualified, or that they take away lucrative income from SL doctors!

This is NOT the answer, and that is NOT the real problem. The real problem is that Doctors do not want to serve in difficult areas, where they have accommodation problems and lack of chance to earn privately. How do we fix the brain drain? The poor pay for doctors to be educated at state expense, only to leave and go overseas, without at least a minimum of 10 years service to the Country.

The problem is NOT foreign doctors, it is the sense of values of the Sri Lankan doctor to appreciate the value of the free education they receive and the obligation they have to the provider of that education, namely their country. I am not for a moment suggesting we prevent doctors from working overseas. All I am saying is that they perform sufficient work within Sri Lanka before they are permitted to leave, or otherwise reimburse the Govt. by way of an enforceable bond, for their education. Isn’t that not fair? We may then not have so many foreign doctors.

In the end the Private hospital must have the best to survive, and if we don’t have local they recruit foreign only out of necessity. They don’t pay them less surely!!!