Police Killing or Unjustifiable Murder – the latest 3 killings in the South?

A brilliant constable, Weligama Liyanarachchige Sunil, who joined the STF and then later transferred to the Prevention of Corruption Unit of Matara Police Division, was brutally murdered in his bed along with his wife, Apsara by a gang of at least four, one of whom was identified as Katayam Chinthaka a neighbor and an underworld gangster.

One of the gang Sumith Priyadarshana (an ex-commando of the Sri Lanka Army) was arrested and admitted involvement in the murder. The police reported he was shot dead when attacking the police when they were taken to show where the arms were hidden. Then today, two more of the suspects were reported killed in the early hours of the morning, when they jumped into the Denagama river, whilst trying to escape from Police custody! The police said the two suspects jumped into the river after they were taken to a hideout in search of weapons said to have been hidden by them!!!!  

The heinous crime of the double killing must be properly solved and accused found guilty, and punished to the full extent of the law. It is a capital crime and if guilty warrant the death sentence.

What actually happened I cannot say for certain but follows a typical pattern put out by the police. I wish they could be a little bit more imaginative on how they describe the killings!

The standard explanation when police kill suspects is to say they were shot whilst struggling with the police when taken to show where the weapons were hidden.

Why do the police kill suspects? Sri Lankans do not make a hue and cry about it as murderers get their just deserts and that is part of the karuma of living, paying the price for our sins. This punitive justice is what we are known the world over for and is part of why there is a case in the HR courts and why the world is also after us.

The more sinister reason though is that the big Kahuna behind the drug peddling and murders is free or will not face justice and the lord of the Drug Peddling in the South gets Police protection. Why? There is no trial to point out who and why the killing took place, as the suspects are now dead! period. The police killer gets killed by the police, and that is all they want.

The Budget Farce! – Captains of Industry don’t want to rock the gravy train.

Yesterday's Budget seminar at the Kingsbury Hotel, where the Whos who of Colombo were present, was a total and unadulterated non event. It is embarrassing to even hear the Big Boys being so sycophantic, if it was true! They only think about their survival, without thinking about the Country's survival. In short the budget was ZILCH!

No mention was made about the benefit that this country receives from over US$10B from remittances of workers, as that figure is grossly discounted in official figures. The Growth rate is purely attributable to this and NOTHING in the budget will add to that growth which is already discounted. If we had NO budget the growth will be higher.

If anyone including Koshi Mathai of the IMF continue to say this is a great budget they are all eating out of the Govt. gravy train and don’t want to rock it. Yes even that paragon of virtue Koshi, who seems to want to live here forever, as it is just too good to leave. Nowhere in the world in future, will he be called to address so many important gatherings, and no where will he ever feel so important, so why not praise your hosts? Just good sense, if it want for the fact that the public are taken for a ride. The IMF is being scammed by this person.

The budget is a rich man’s budget where even the rumor of a WEALTH TAX did not materialize, as it was shot down before it even made it to the Speech by whom BUT THE VERY WEALTHY. So they paid the Govt. back handsomely by PRAISING this budget. So it is dog eat dog, or let us all share the spoils! I hear behind closed doors they argued furiously that it would be a disincentive to investment, and will encourage capital flight. THERE IS NO BASIS FOR THAT. 

Let us list some of the glaring issues.

1   The percent of public expenditure paid out of direct income taxes is one of the lowest in the world. The RICH MUST be brought into the income tax bracket even if they are not charged a wealth tax. It is easily done, we know who the 50,000 who do not pay taxes are, they don't even have a tax file, but they travel in Rs30M + cars and sport utes. 

2    The indirect tax burden on the poor on basic food stuffs, (Rs30 on a Kg of Sugar) is the highest in the world, making our poor Sri Lankans one of the highest consumption taxed people on earth. The man who earns and spends 75% of his Rs 20,000 monthly income (US$150) on food for his family and mobile phone pays 15% of this gross in taxes.

3    The estimates of Revenue from Taxes is way off the mark, and they always play a ruse to overestimate this to appear to keep within their borrowing limits.

4    The corruption cost built into the infrastructure element of the Capital Expenditure is way too high, and so 20% of the Capital Expenditure is wasted, and not put into the project itself if it was transparent. (If only this could be added to Education!)

5   The interest on Public Debt, mainly foreign borrowings is way too high. I can renegotiate them at interest rates as much as 50% less, if corruption is not involved in seeking these loans. This will save at least Rs150B a year in interest alone!!

6    It is a national disgrace to spend and allocate so much money to Sri Lankan and Mihin airlines, when we will not be able to compete with the hundreds of aircraft that the Gulf Countries are now ordering, and so will have in use in the next 10 years. There are cheaper ways to fly.

7                   There is NO effort to use renewable energy resources, starting with NO duty on 100% electric cars and reduced duty on hybrids. Accordingly there is no corresponding tax on high polluters like 3 wheelers, that can reduce air pollution by leaps, and save lives, and make this country a ecologically sound state.

8              There is NO serious effort to encourage ORGANIC agriculture, like direct subsidies for this and reduction in the Fertilizer subsidy still further that contributes to CKDU. The Rs1B allocated to safe water is NOT enough, too little too late and will not reverse the current impending disaster, of 50,000 seriously ill kidney patients within a four years.

9                   Encourage off shore and on shore wind turbines and scrapping Sampur should have been a cornerstone of the Budget if we are serious about energy conservation, reduction in pollution, and ecologically at the forefront.

10                   The Tax (increase by 25%) on all telecommunication bills, will affect everyone in the Country, with the poorest again bearing the tax proportionately more (meaning regressive) with no counter to it!

11               There is NO COL (cost of living) allowances for pensioners, govt. servants, or any other lower paid people in as much as any increase bears any resemblance to the cost of living. The small amounts granted do not scratch the surface.

12                   MOST importantly there is NO INVESTMENT in Education over and above allocations to pay the existing teachers’ salaries. This is the most IMPORTANT infrastructural investment that is needed to enhance the KNOWLEDGE economy. Education has a long lead time, which if not spent now will take years for Sri Lanka to achieve knowledge supremacy. Foreign Tertiary establishments are NOT sufficient to fill the gap, which is most acute at the Montessori, and Primary levels to change our thinking, from followers to thinkers!

13                 Silly tools like tax holidays for getting a stock market quotation WILL NOT improve the CSE. Only a forced sell down of shares to increase the public float, will make any difference to the foreign investment in our Stock Market.

14                   A serious look at transfer pricing by multinationals is now the order of the day, as way too much untaxed profits are disappearing due to the ignorance of our Inland Revenue and Customs Authorities who are INTELLECTUALLY UNABLE to grasp this concept. With SL now seen as a growing economy they (MNCs) will not leave or threaten as they did in the past. It is the connivance of our people that permit this today.

15                NO Clear assurances of the rule of law have been made to encourage FDI, which is the only real requirement for long term FDI knowing your money is safe from being forcibly taken over. The track record of this Govt. is poor, and the legal system corrupt, so it is only the high risk gamblers like the Packers who will invest.   

This is just a few points that were obvious to me in the few minutes I took to type  this up. I am sure you can add to this list.

Take heed to what I say as we are only too ready to accept the spin that comes out of Temple Trees. It is all hogwash and we had better be prepared for the downfall.

The Rajapakse vice on power is further tightened to a select few

SM Chandresena – now a Cabinet Minister again, as his brother SM Ranjith is the Chief Minister of the North Central Province – breaking their own rules again! 

There is one law for the Presidential sycophants and another for the rest. The Prime Minister DM Jayaratne was unable to get his son who obtained the largest preferential votes in the Central Province to become the Chief Minister due to this rule that was just broken.

Let us not forget that SM Chandresena resigned his Cabinet post just because his brother was made the Chief Minister. So now the Berty Premalal family will be incensed at a further erosion of their power in Anuradhapura.

In short this is a simple assertion of Presidential power at its ultimate show. Further consolidating one man rule in Sri Lanka, however one would like to put a spin on the proceedings for hoodwinking purposes. With Shashindra Rajapakse at the helm in Uva Province, are we to see another Rajapakse emerge in the Western Province sidelining the Ranatunges to history too? It will not be long before we have an answer to that too, a truly vice like grip on the nation.              

“Negative headlines do not determine the progress of History” – Mahindapala

The aptly named HLD Mahindapala in his sycophantic piece on the increased standing in the world that MR (not Sri Lanka) received after CHOGM ended his piece in the Daily Mirror of Wednesday Nov 20^th with the words in the above caption.

http://www.lankaweb.com/news/items/2013/11/20/david-cameron-a-boorish-british-bungler-bogged-in-bovine-bravado/

Frankly if he has any brains he should have said that Headlines, be they be positive or negative DO NOT determine…… So he ended with a non phrase that is not even appropriate to justify the whole article which was in defense of the President with a converse attack on the British Prime Minister.

I don’t understand why they take so much umbrage what a UK PM who has been in office for a few years, and actually been in politics for a few more, when compared with a politician who has been in Politics for nigh on 40 years and power of various sorts for at least 25 of them, says. I am frankly amazed he is making the same comparison!

If he is then it really seems that MR has more skeletons under his cupboard than Cameron. After all lets us face it, if it is individual to individual it is MR who has more allegations that Cameron, and therefore it hits where it hurts, when you cannot reflect the same allegation, and then resort to Sri Lanka vs UK.

It is MR and a few others who are responsible to adequately answer the allegations, and NOT the Country Sri Lanka. Mahindapala just does not get that fact. SO it is NOT Sri Lanka that is facing the criticism, it is President Mahinda Rajapakse who has to face the music in the end along with a few who did his bidding. Truth hurts and there is a payback time one day.

I cannot understand why we need to go back to the 30 year war and look at all the LTTE massacres. They have been vanquished and there is no one to answer to them anymore or take to trial. Do they want to bring the GTF (Global Tamil Forum) comprising of some wanna be nobodies to account? Lets get serious here. No one denies the appalling atrocities of the LTTE. And let us hope we will never forget them. It is only the lapses of the Govt. namely on the instructions of a few that questions are sought and we went through a wholly unnecessary waste of time and energy called LLRC, when it should have been three of four who should have been called to account, answered and then resolved these allegations onc and for all and so we could have ended this in May 2009

Instead this Govt. has been cowardly and has dragged the innocent Nation through the coals for a few transgressions of a few that could be answered and resolved in a day. Surely you agree in hindsight that this would have even erased the LTTE rump forever.   

Now there is some talk that we are in talks with South Africa for a Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Whatever for? We have not had thousands of perpetrators. The victims are for the most part dead and some of the perpetrators merely followed orders. It is the three or four who gave the orders that require the rehabilitation (poonaruththapanaya) and no one else.

Let us start with the First Citizen and once he is rehabilitated he will behave as a reformed addict would. After all we remember when he went to the UNHRC to accuse his country’s Govt. for HR violations. It would be nice to have the same man back, rehabilitated. We will have a glorious future then. Don’t accuse the opposition of treachery, if you were also guilty of the same.

I am and have been against dragging this nation through the coals for the sins of a few people who do not want to admit their faults. After all if the President followed the words he preached to us, in the final sentence of his opening address to the CHOGM, he should be the first to look into the truth and look inwards and not throw stones at others. So your own words have come back to haunt you.

It is really silly and incompetent of the Mahindapalas of this world to resort to the same errors that MR pointed out in his final sentence at throwing stones in glass houses, at Cameron who had NOTHING to gain from what he did. Mahindapala knows that the Tamil Diaspora do not vote Conservative, and are hardly likely this time round to do so, after the Cameron made for TV show. Cameron just had it in for MR and NOT SRI LANKA before he arrived and he executed his plan to perfection right the way through. We just permitted, tolerated, or even encouraged it, by throwing more obstacles in the way, and further reinforced his convictions, without doing a damned thing to reduce this enthusiasm for a show. It was merely payback time for trasing the UK, and I would too if I was the UK PM against any attack on my country. So it is just an act of patriotism of a person and nothing at all to do with the LTTE Diaspora influence. No doubt they seized on giving the evidence to payback for pompous threats that was all.

It is just in his genes to throw protocol and pomp out the window, and just followe the path he was born to. You can say Bullington, or uncouth, or uncivilized, that’s fine as he does not care a damn what others think of him.

It would have been more apt if the Mahindapala time was better spent in advising his mentor or leader to show magnanimity, inclusiveness, and statesmanship in tackling the issues that have been agreed to at the Colombo Declaration, and start with what we can do at home to implement those points. Only then will his genuine desire for reform of the current deviant system be applauded and then emulated. If you want him to be the Chair and not the Country, then what better way than show his leadership so that others might follow.

So let us take a positive step to reform the utterly decrepit hell of totalitarianism that is prevalent in SL, in case Mahindapala has not realized as a sycophant who is blind, deaf and even dumb.

So let me leave with my phrase of the day. It is not what you do or say today that matters, it is how posterity judges your performance during your lifetime. All your good deeds and bad deeds are evaluated and it is the net result that gets the recognition, be it positive or negative.                    

Govt. to give away 50,000MT of rice to World Food Program! Is it a case of Baked Beans?

Do any of you remember the containers of Baked Beans that we received as food aid at the time of the Tsunami? They were lying around with people for years! Many of the tins then even passed the use by date. That was because even if we were hungry, we refused to eat Baked Beans. I like baked beans so I had no problem, but the people despite their hunger did not want to eat it. They were cooked and so only had to be heated, and so a quick nutrition to relieve hunger.

I presume those who read this blog were not so affected, so they may not realize this little point about baked beans. Nevertheless the Govt. has decided in the budget to give 50,000Tonnes of rice stock, and I am sure they will try to palm of the red rice in their stores to WFP (The World Food Program) to send to countries which the WFP supports with food aid.

I have no problem with giving this aid, as we currently have an excess of rice which we do not appear to be able to dispose of and which we cannot export, because the rice consuming nations do not want our varieties of rice. So my question is if it is the Baked Beans saga in reverse? Will the recipient of this rice, know how to cook it and will they eat it without complaint?

If people in other countries are sufficiently hungry they will probably not mind eating this rice. It is certainly not spoilt stuff, but the way it is cooked is not always apparent to those who do not cook our rice varieties and so may put too much water, and not wash the rice first etc.

I don’t know of a country that mentions disposing of food aid in kind, in the budget unless it is an increase in the budget allocations for Aid.

Let us hope we have a whole new concept of Agriculture in Sri Lanka, not in import substitution, like growing the most useless crop known to mankind, namely potatoes that ruin the environment and cause enormous soil erosion, but educate our little children to eat smart, an learn to savor at least 20 of the 100 varieties of legumes that are grown in Sri Lanka, so we will always be able to feed out people no matter if we have a drought or flood that may affect the principal rice crop.

It is visionary, thinking outside the box leadership that we want, similar to the strategy that won the war, we must win the peace with a similar frame of mind. Let us hope the Govt. starts a new chapter chastened by the horrors of CHOGM 2103. 

The Budget 2014 – With NO opposition members in the house!

This is not a case of sour grapes, but an unprecedented show of unity amongst those opposed to the behavior, actions and policy of this Govt. as the budget is more of a document of a person’s imagination, than of fact.

One the main issues that have not been resolved satisfactorily is that the appropriation bill is in fact illegal in the first place and therefore the budget as presented DOES NOT represent any legitimacy and therefore credibility. It is further reinforced by the fact that the Govt. engages in the practice of deciding what to allocate by the treasury as the year progresses, so that whatever figures are actually stated in the budget are just figmants of someone’s imagination.

If just the past year is anything to gauge by, many Ministries were not even given half the funds allocated by the budget of the previous year!!! So how can one operate when one does NOT know how much the treasury will release to them!

It is therefore surprising that the Govt. MP’s will actually turn up to listen to this figment of the President and his Treasury Secretary’s imagination. They only come because if they did not there will be hell to play and a potential loss of position, and even a demotion to the Delft. In what country does the President hog the limelight on Budget Day when it is the traditional ambit of the Finance Minister. Whilst I agree that the President is technically the Finance Minister, it is impossible with his micromanagement of the administration of Govt. to do justice to this very arduous and important position that cannot be left to the Treasury Secretary to explain the dots and crosses to one who knows very little of that subject.

The fact that no one publicly questions any of these matters, point to the power and threats wielded by the state to anyone who wishes to oppose any act of the Govt. I appeal to people with an ounce of sense in them to come out and question one or all of these obvious anachronisms so that people with common sense are able to understand reality from the chaff blown at them. It is time that the lie is exposed and the direction that SL is taking of inordinate risks, leaving the whole economy exposed to a potential blow out, so that corrective action can be taken to reduce wastage, corruption and nepotism that has resulted in so much of the country been sold to the highest bidder or at least mortgaged.

Let us begin with the appointment of a finance minister who can focus his attention on the threats and propose corrective action, that a powerful Govt. can implement.  

The senile Nanda Godage, who I used to admire must be in his dotage!

Whatever the wrongs of the MacRae and Miller productions, they were doing a job and not bidding the cause for the LTTE as is the common sentiment of the Sri Lankan population who have been misled by their work. This also now seems to be the consensus of the eminent diplomat Nanda Godage, which I find very surprising considering his more reasonable stance on Sri Lankan treatment of Tamils.

This is what he has written today!  http://www.island.lk/index.php?page_cat=article-details&page=article-details&code_title=92237  Is he hoping for some benefit from the Govt. in writing this? As surely it is not borne out of a sensible argument, especially as Mac Rae was granted access to Sri Lanka and he left disgusted that he was followed everywhere he went in an intimidating way. We by our very behavior further strengthened the belief of the complicity in War Crimes.  

At best these two were investigating complicity of the democratically elected Government in war crimes. As Sri Lanka is bound by different norms to the LTTE, the responsibility of due care for its citizens differs from that of the LTTE.

One must wonder what intentions that MacRae has other than reporting news, of interest to their viewers. Of course a little sensationalism is required to get publicity and not just to do LTTE bidding. I am not prepared to accept that they received payoffs from the Tamil Diaspora as is normally accepted without proof by Sri Lankans. Godage accuses the MacRae team also of speculation and innuendo when he is also guilty of the same.

Whilst some claims can be challenged, it is important the SL govt. NOT just refute claims as being bogus, but produce credible alternatives, without keeping to the script of NO civilian casualties.

The SL Government did a great service of getting rid of the LTTE once and for all. It may have been brutal in the last month, and on hindsight the only way of removing the top guard without permitting them to surrender and live to fight another day. So why cant we admit to it, when there is enough mobile phone photo evidence of atrocities as revenge for their even worse torture and abuse.

So let us take a step back and understand the norm that there is no smoke without fire and be careful before we slander people we know nothing about. We MUST learn to separate fact from fiction in the HR abuse row, without a blanket NO. It is time we acted responsibly if we are to achieve lasting peace with respect. 

The Indian absence from CHOGM – cause and effect

The Indian Minister of External Affairs, Salman Khurshid, said he was disappointed that his PM, Manmohan Singh could not come and be the first HOG to visit Jaffna, and that privilege was seized by David Cameron the Prime Minister of Britain! In retrospect it would have made more sense if Manmohan was able to go there as he would be able to show the people of Tamil Nadu that India has helped the region immensely with both building 50,000 homes and the reconstruction of the Northern Railway Line. He could have even won a concession from MR!

http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/south-asia/had-manmohan-come-he-would-have-run-the-show-basil/article5361337.ece

I believe that would have placated the Tamil Nadu population, and now I believe the last laugh is with Cameron, and the Tamil Nadu politicians will realize they made a big mistake. In fact going to Colombo and making statements in support of Tamils, would have been more effective than boycotting, as David Cameron so adroitly showed. Sri Lanka were in sixes and sevens not knowing what had hit them with this character baying for blood on a fleeting visit from London!

India by this diplomatic debacle has opened the doors further to China to take over all major infrastructure projects in the Island. It is going to be very difficult to claw this back in future.

In reality India SHOULD be Sri Lanka’s best friend. Why ever not? We have so much culturally and economically in common, and so much more to exploit owing to India’s size and also the huge potential market for our goods.

Sri Lanka has not, but should take advantage of location and ease of entry via different ports, to manufacture goods in sufficient quantity by value additions of imports and export the finished products to Indian markets. With Sri Lanka better in the bribery net and with less transport bottlenecks, CAN produce a range of goods for Indian Consumers at competitive rates. This requires a scale not previously envisaged.

I think the best strategy would be for Dr Singh to go only to Jaffna, thereby both smoothening the tensions of the South, but also to be able to report positive changes there. The opening of a railway line may be the catalyst needed, and so when the train station to Jaffna is ready, it may be the right time to come to open it.

Sri Lanka on the other hand MUST skillfully manage both Chinese and Indian efforts at dominating the economy and try and get them to grant credit at favorable interest rates, instead of the exorbitant ones at present, pitting one against the other.                      

Whose fault was it in allowing the BBS rabble into Sirikotha on the 14th Nov.?

The terrible sight flashed around of the BBS strong man who loves publicity, the Ven. Galaboda Aththe Gnanisara, confronting pacifist UNP Priests who had just had their mid day meal, and had returned to Sirikotha, the means used by the BBS to gain entry in a stealthy manner, when their presence was neither requested nor permitted.

Once inside, the media went to town in filming the altercations, and even if they the BBS were the intruder, and in fact thief in that sense, the news as that is not free or fair or even balanced, reported it as innocent BBS coming to do their duty to investigate reports that the HR Forum in Sirikotha was displaying photos of BBS in their exhibition that purported to show the BBS in a dim light, being hit.

Firstly does the BBS have any right of entry to investigate? I am sure they have NONE as they were NOT invited to do so. To me they sound like they were merely following a Govt. contract to try and gain access to Sirikotha to provoke the UNP on the day the Leadership Council was having its first meeting. So to the outsider, due to the control of media by the state it now seems that they were unfairly set upon, when in fact they were intruding where they were not supposed to be at.

Have we lost the sense of logic and investigative sense in this? The UNP in its quest to have a common Opposition against the Govt. has permitted all those against the Govt. to have their own interpretation, and when that interpretation comes out of Sirikotha it is assumed to be a UNP viewpoint. It is clear that this is a wrong policy, and that they MUST go it alone, as encouraging everyone who opposes the Govt. to join with them IS NOT helping the cause of the UNP in the political space in Sri Lanka today, due to a hugely powerful juggernaut bent on preventing any traction to be made against the Government.

It must be understood by the politically astute, that it is time they stopped being naïve and realize the game of the Rajapakse Hegemony. They will NOT tolerate dissent. They will do all they can in their power, to discredit the opposition from even making a comeback by using the media every step of the way to carry out their agenda, and fling back all the real accusations they are complicit in, straight back at the Opposition. The weakness of the opposition and the infighting is preventing it from effectively counterattacking on the points of accusation, and thereby with no defense, results in accusations, although unfair, being believed and strengthened leaving no chance for the UNP to counter false propaganda. The answer to this lies in one person taking up the mantle and unifying the party with a conviction and presence that can turn all prior indignities on their head.                 

Traitors continue to assault the innocent with the Traitor tag!!

Gayantha Karunatilleke MP and Buddhika Pathirana MP, publicly used the TV face time to score some petty political points. Namely they accused the Government of admitting Callum MacRae and his TV production team into the Country during CHOGM, as the Govt. maintained that they  had nothing to hide and that he was free to go anywhere in the Country, including the North.

Their point was that why would the Government permit people the Govt have actively branded as those working in tandem with the Diaspora to discredit the Govt. Their TV films of the Killing Fields, had its latest version shown on TV just prior to CHOGM, and the timing was obviously to cause maximum negative impact then! The TV coverage must have further emboldened McRae.

Of course the Govt. appears to have had a different agenda, namely of permitting them and then harassing them, in a gleeful show of masochism. Firstly the Govt. organized a demo in the airport, where NO demos or demonstrators are ever allowed when they arrived. Secondly when they left for the North, another set of goons did not allow them to proceed further from Anuradhapura blocking the train, and then forced them to head back to Colombo. Then conveniently the news was that they had NOT paid the dual AC van fare from Anuradhapura via an overnight stop over at the Kandalama Hotel of Rs30,000. I believe it has been a much ado about nothing scenario and pittance of 150 Quid that he has to pay is anyway on the expense account, so not paying was probably on the assumption that the SL Govt. who caused the annoyance in the first place should foot the bill. Why invite someone, to see the North and then prevent them from going their. That MacRae is the classic Sri Lankan duoble speak of the Govt. which we have to  live with day in and day out. You for only a couple of days of run arounds!  

Then as if to add insult to injury, they were apparently seen as guests at Sirikotha at a planned alternative CHOGM Human Rights event. Apparently it had photos of the BBS attacking religious freedom! I have no proof of the latter, but it is enough to discredit the UNP, where an accused LTTE apologist was permitted into the UNP HQ, and for that the UNP has lost all credibility as a party, by harboring traitors of Sri Lanka.

No doubt the “Anti Ranil” elements will go to town, as the obvious incompatibility with the statements made at the top will also haunt the party! This fact has spread like wildfire as the UPFA seniors have resorted to pointing this out, to deflect blame from a pretty pathetic CHOGM with the lowest turnout of HOGs ever.

This again is manufactured news, as a party such as the UNP is for a United Sri Lanka devoid of division, and the UPFA is for a majoritarian state with little or no power to the minorities. The Govt. has done such a good job in brainwashing the remaining opposition, using this kind of event as being treachery, when surely the real treachery is the use of the BBS to pit racist elements against other religions.

This results in an effective division of the Country along religious and racial lines, period! Even the intelligent Sri Lankans have bowed and cowed to this “Smoke and Mirrors” political game played by the Govt. with all the might of media behind them, and Sirasa using its own weight to reinforce this canard, without pointing the reality! due to petty differences of opinion with the UNP leader.

In this case MacRae has been used royally to put a further dagger into the UNP elephant, by the Govt. and it is going to be that much harder for the UNP to remove itself from this fall into the ditch face first. There can be no doubt that it is the party leader Ranil Wickremasinghe who will face the wrath of the remainder in his party for such insensitive acts, when I know he had nothing to do with McRae being inside, if in fact he was. So they should have prevented/stopped him right!!

MacRae on the other hand is gleeful that despite his horrendous and damning accusations against the Govt. he was able to get so much publicity for his team and himself, and he will be able to go back and point out the absurdity of Govt. employed goons ready at every turn with propaganda fed them, to demonstrate against him. Is this going to change MacRae into looking into the Govt angle and maybe have a re think of his accusations or is it going to solidify his convictions?

I rather think the latter, and I also think the Govt. does not care a damn. They did not want to be accused of preventing his arrival, and wanted to menace him in any way he could. What MacRae has really done though is that he has contributed further to the erosion of the popularity of the UNP, and thereby hit another nail in the coffin of democracy. I would like to ask MacRae, is that what you want, and is that what you expected to happen? Did he realize that he has actually become an invaluable asset to President Rajapakse in his act of defiling democracy?

Lets get back to this accusation by the Media, and thereby believed by all including the Colombo English speaking types, that UNP brought Tamils into Sirikotha, and Tamils in this context on Govt. accusations are proxy LTTE who the public think and have been led to believe have been brought in by the UNP to DIVIDE the Country. This is a Human Rights Forum, giving voice to aggrieved Tamils!

So if this was held anywhere else it would not even have elicited any news, now that it was at the UNP HQ it has turned the UNP into traitors, and the damage is done. So the point then becomes you must not only be just but be seen to be just, and in this day and age, if you are seen with any Tamil people you are a Traitor!!!

Readers, that is how much the Rajapakse Govt. as traitorous and treacherous as it is  has been able to portray the real unifying party as one of dividing and vice versa   

GALABODA DISROBED IN PUBLIC. The Atha who behaved like a Donkey at Sirikotha on November 14th!

He has had his robe removed in public whilst behaving like a hooligan. He got his just deserts, as he asked for it. He is one who has fooled a whole lot of people and now the world will know what we have to deal with; alcoholic monks who pretend to be holier than thou, backed by a traitorous Govt.

http://www.theindependent.lk/news2/1850-ven-gnanasara-attacked-at-sirikotha

And shamed Buddhism in the middle of CHOGM. Even Buddhist monks have used this world stage where there are journalists from across the Globe covering CHOGM to show how asinine some of them are (they are a minority) and will give the world’s greatest Philosophy a bad name in the eyes of those who do not know fact from fiction.

The Ven. Galaboda Aththe Gnanasara Thero, who is the Secretary of the extremist Buddhist Sect known as BBS, (pardon if I use the word Sect lightly, as it is really a group with an agenda that is both racist, chauvinist and unapologetic, that is an affront to people in Sri Lanka, who do not subscribe to their thinking) stormed into Sirikotha head first literally more like a bull in a china shop, and is stuck in there as I write unable to get out, but who is like the proverbial bull intent on doing as much damage as possible.  

Soon thereafter the Police announce a ban on protests in Colombo City on 14^th and 15^th of November, which to my consternation, will convince the foreign media contingent that we really are a police state where no expression of freedom is permitted!!

It is somewhat ironic that Protests are permitted only if you are partial towards the Government. So when the Channel 4 journalists arrived at Katunayake there were protests in places the Govt. will NOT tolerate any protests! Then at the hotel they were staying there were further protests, also not permitted in the CHOGM hotels, and further there were protests in Anuradhapura where the Govt. DID NOT take any action to remove those obstructing public property, namely the railway line.

All this is the work of Ghotabaya Rajapkse. It is an insult to Sri Lanka that such a human being who is an American Citizen is permitted without any sanctions to put Sri Lanka into such shame. It is time the international press caught on to the real conspiracy, instead of wasting their time on the agenda of Diaspora Tamils, to say and show as it is, not as it should be. May God bless Sri Lanka and rid it of its traitors.

While CHOGM is on the Govt. encouraging Anti-Tamil feelings! BBS also!

The politics of this Govt. is like no other in the land like no other that is Sri Lanka.

Right in the middle of CHOGM, the President was hijacked by the Channel 4 crew, and the unruffled President asked them to go North and check it out. Then he instructed his henchman, Chandresena and his brother SM Ranjith the Chief Minister of the North Central Province to obstruct their journey North. The train that McCrae and Miller were on was stopped North of Anuradhapura by an organized mob sent by them. The Journalists were escorted back to Colombo. Implication being that they could NOT get a firsthand look at the Northern Province and get visual, verbal and eyewitness accounts!!!!

Then the bus loads of women from the North, who are still fighting for their rights, of missings and displaced and incarcerated relatives were stopped from proceeding South of Madawachchiya and they protested back in Vavuniya!! What would have been lost had they been allowed to come down south? Would it even have made news like it does now.

Then it was the turn of Gota’s goons on 13^th November to obstruct the vehicle of the Leader of the Opposition, and break its glass, whilst demonstrating against a Human Rights Seminar of all things!!!   This MOB was demonstrating against the talk of Human Rights in the middle of CHOGM, “you cannot be serious man” 

If that was not enough on 14^th November the presence of Tamil people at the second day of that conference on HR was also pelted with Goons provided by the governing party, Kotte municipal councilors, under Gota’s instructions all of which makes the news, and gives foreign journalists a “heyday payday” being fed them by the Government.  On top of it that mobster from the BBS the Ven. Galagoda Aththo Gnanisara has managed to jump into Sirikotha to cause mayhem and raise his stock amongst his gallery. What a right royal farce, on Prince Charles Birthday!

In my book this is the work of traitors and who might that be? The Rajapakse government without a doubt and without shame it seems. It is apparent that the whole country is under the misapprehension that the Opposition is trying in unpatriotic, and it is not a question, who the real culprits are. This Govt. is doing its darndest to make out to foreign journalists that it is a racist bigoted state owned and run by a family, so that they can use it as political capital against the Govt. in their normal act of playing to the gallery. This is something foreign journalists DO NOT understand as it sounds illogical, but is a hugely effective political tool! 

Cash for Kidneys – latest charges leveled against SL!! What next?

The Times of London headlined their paper yesterday on “Cash for Kidneys Offer lures Britons” where the former Apollo Hospital is charged with selling kidneys to patients, (hitherto quite common, ask a Kidney recipient at Apollo) and has completely sensationalized this practice.

http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/news/uk/crime/article3919707.ece

Further the Independent paper in the UK also had a similar article in their issue yesterday, http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/britons-sold-illegal-kidneys-for-sri-lanka-surgery-8934221.html

Just take a step back. A person who needs a kidney will go to lengths to get a compatible kidney. How much they are willing to pay depends on their personal circumstances. Say a UK resident is told that for 20,000 pounds they can have the kidney, and the transplant operation in the hospital in Colombo, they may jump at it!

They are not going to ask about the circumstances that led to the receipt of the kidney, are they? That is a completely different transaction.

It is known that there are wealthy brokers who engage in this game. So the broker seeks the recipient and names the price. Then they go about seeking a donor, first by checking their database, but with people who are generally short of money and who are willing to sell their kidneys.

The donor is offered 1000 pounds. They are willing to sell their kidney for that. The doctor in the hospital is also part of the deal, and probably asks at least 5,000 for the kidney transplant, over above his surgery fees, and the hospital stay costs which the broker arranges with the hospital. The broker keeps the balance as his fee after paying the surgery and hospitalization.

In this unscrupulous deal, the patient MUST be careful that the Kidney is fully compatible, as there are many that seem compatible, but all tests of compatibility must be positive before attempting to transplant, as otherwise it will be rejected. Anti rejection drugs given to patients are very strong, and last a long time. They can affect the patient’s immunity from other infections and therefore has to be monitored independently. It is very important that the doctor who has a financial stake in the kidney is only allowed if the compatibility is 100% safe as many of the rejections are as a result of doctors cutting corners by transplanting kidneys with some questions on the level of compatibility.             

Callum McRae of Channel 4 shook hands with his nemesis the President of Sri Lanka this morning!

What a photo op? Remember our President will shake hands with anyone if he believes he can turn a foe into a friend. 

This is worthy of any story and I am sure Callum McRae will make the most of it in his future reporting by saying he has actually met the President of Sri Lanka on the fringes of CHOGM 2013     

See Link for Story and Photo:   http://www.sundaytimes.lk/top-story/39979.html

My Previous Blog post on 12th Nov 2013 has been witheld by our censors! I wonder why?

I researched on the possibles and probables just as the Govt is also doing today, and before the Govt. I was able to determine that the compared with past CHOGM this week's one is a disaster as far as foreign leader participation is concerned, and I said so in my blog. It appears that it is blocked at the moment for fear of putting people off.

The Govt maintained that 37 HOGs would arrive and now they appear to have to eat their words as even this is doubtful!

Don't be silly, by trying to muzzle the written word. We who love this Country don't want to see it wasted by those who rule us, so those of you who are engaged in this sordid work for your mis led orders don't.

Really CHOGM is not just a failure it is an unmitigated Disaster!!!

The Govt. is really trying to put the best foot forward to cover up from the absolutely disastrous showing at CHOGM. We have gone out of our way and paid for people to come, by giving them so many freebies, that I would have thought there were sufficient foreigners willing to taste a freebie and arrive as VIPs for CHOGM and I know I would partake just to enjoy the show.

So it is with great regret that I can see, that the no shows outnumber the ones who come to CHOGM. Sri Lanka has gone out of its way in spending an inordinate amount of money, I bet it is more than any past CHOGM to showcase the Country. Still no one appears to care a toss, and have skipped this event.

After all 31 of the 54 Commonwealth Countries have less than 1.5M people, in short a village of sorts. Even those villagers have opted out of sending their leaders, and sending some second string people to enjoy the loot. So let us just look at the remainder! You tick your box on how much they care. Even from the UK Cameron is showing his face only for the opening session at Nelum Pokuna on Friday, and then making a beeline to Jaffna to spend most of the rest of the day there before flying out the following day not even waiting for the Waters Edge Retreat!

UK, Canada, Australia, NZ, India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nigeria, Ghana, Uganda, Tanzania, Zambia, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Sri Lanka, Kenya, Malawi, Malaysia, Singapore, Ruwanda, Mozambique,Cameroon, and Sierra Leone making up the Countries with Population of more than 1.5M

Just look at who will be here as far their Heads of Government of the remaining 22 is concerned, and make up your mind. I know already of 6 of the above who will not send their HOGs! So 5 more and not even half of this lot will come! Bad show President Mahinda Rajapakse for your leadership. None appears to wants a photo opportunity with you, after you Photoshopped the photo of the Queen at her 60^th at her dinner party, as the world saw : “Her majesty was not amused” even though you were tickled pink to show the local audience by way of a forced insert into all the papers. Was it the same with the Obamas? I would not be surprised!

How can a proud nation such as ours, stoop so low due to the behavior of our elected leaders, who do not know the word called, low key modesty, which shames a nation replete with huge cutouts on the way from the airport to have to suffer this gross indignity in the eyes of the world for the egos of a few!          

Sri Lanka IGP – your boys are up to their political tricks again!

As if the disgrace of the police force was not enough, when due to orders from Politicos and Businessmen, 23 Police Officers were summarily transferred out of the Organized Crime Investigation Unit within 24 hours, of them raiding a high-class casino in the Salaka building on Union Place, to compound matters, lawlessness of the Government Party continues.

http://www.srilankamirror.lk/news/11677-minister-s-wife-behind-salaka-casino

The innate ability of the Police Force in Sri Lanka to lie, must make Ajith Rohana, the Police Media spokesman, one of the liars in Chief and apologists for his profession. He of course maintained that the decision to transfer took place on October 25^th and the raid was on November 4^th. This kind of nonsense where under no circumstances is a whole department transferred in one go, and some who  served very short stints among them, is beyond the pale and totally politically motivated.

Just imagine what has happened to ongoing investigations into other crimes that this team was engaged in!! hundreds of years of police service and knowledge disappearing at a stroke on the whim of some higher up who was upset at being caught with his pants down breaking the law. For senior personnel of the forces to be found out this way, and for them not to be taken to task within their own force is tantamount to getting away with murder.

In the same way, a UNP provincial councilor from Puttalam was assaulted and fired upon by known miscreants, and when they were reported to the Police, the police CHOSE not to take any action against them. This is further evidence of a two interpretations of the law for different groups, one for friends of the Govt. and one for the lesser mortals! The law does not apply equally in this country and that is just plain wrong no matter who is in power. If we cannot put pressure on the Govt. to correct this wrong, there is just no other choice than to have to resort to international pressure for justice.

My personal instinct is NOT to go overseas for help, but when one’s hands are tied in one’s own country, one does not have any choice in seeking justice. It is time the IGP exercised his independence as a servant of the state and be fair to all. He is a fair, who if he wishes to be known as one for posterity, MUST take the needed action, correct the wrongs, face the wrath of the masters, and do what is right. It is only then that even if he is unfairly dismissed, can be hold his head up high.       

The Pressure is mounting on the world stage at a rate of knots – it is the Regime that has NO clue on how to handle it and the Country suffers!

The dodos in power don’t even seem to realize that they had to have an action plan to fend off the international media pressure, and it seems they are just in a fist fight with each other. In this instance it is the EAM or the Ministry of External Affairs making rules as the go along and the Immigration Department doing their own thing and it is our foreign visitors that get hurt, and then it is the country that gets a bad name.

People of Sri Lanka, don’t you care about how we are perceived by the outside world, as the Govt. sure does not, and to me that is out and out treachery!

Below are just few of the links I became aware without any particular searching.

     http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/commonwealth-summit-sri-lanka-faces-calls-for-civil-war-inquiry-8930948.html      

http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/lee-rhiannon-jan-logie-released-after-being-detained-in-sri-lanka-20131110-2x9v4.html

 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/srilanka/10438705/David-Cameron-warns-of-Sri-Lanka-questions.html

 http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/srilanka/10435090/Sri-Lanka-revokes-human-rights-experts-visas-ahead-of-Commonwealth-summit.html  

http://www.ceylontoday.lk/51-47136-news-detail-only-immigration-controller-can-grant-visas.html

https://www.colombotelegraph.com/index.php/commonwealth-in-nineteen-eighty-four/

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-24886805

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-24849699

This is just from a 5 minute surf on web sites without a search. I dread to think what it would be if I spent a few hours. So the crescendo is coming, and is the President and his government blissfully unaware of the growing adverse comments.

It is time we stop acting like idiots on the world stage granting visas one day and revoking them the next saying that the purpose for which ti was granted has been broken. Stop this nonsense grow up show consistency and not schizophrenia.

In my last blog entry I said that the Rajapakse clan won, but I failed to say that the Country Sri Lanka lost. In essence that is the treachery against the state!