Thursday 21 January 2010

The President Mahinda Rajapakse, who led Sri Lanka away from its perilous past, should be trusted to lead us towards a brighter future.

There are two candidates for the Presidential Elections scheduled for the 26th Janurary, 2010. One is the incumbent President Mahinda Rajapakse, and the other the retired Commander of the Sri Lanka Army Sarath Fonseka . Sarath Fonseka is a last minute candidate chosen by Ranil Wickramasinghe of the UNP, as their was no suitable man among the members of the UNP, who is respectable and popular enough to be nominated for the highest office.
Ranil Wickramasinghe formed an alliance with three other politically bankrupt Parties who have neither the political base nor the people of recognizable stature to be nominated as a candidate for the Presidential election. They therefore, roped in with the help of their political friends of the foreign governments seeking to politically destabilize Sri Lanka, the retired Army Commnder Sarath Fonseka to be their common candidate to contest the Presidential election.
The incumbent President Mahinda Rajapakse, who within three years of his taking office harnessed the services of a formidable combination of dependable persons such as one of his own brothers a military man of experience, a very clever military strategist, and equally clever naval and air force commanders, to carry out the military offences against the terrorists who had built a considerable military force, even better than that of the government, during nearly thirty years of a disastrous rein of terror.
The Sri Lanka Armed Forces were given a free hand to carryout its military offences against the terrorists without any interference by the government. The President Mahinda Rajapakse himself took charge of keeping in check the foreign interventionist governments from interfering into the military offensive against the terrorists, until the Government Armed forces completely annihilated the ruthless group of terrorists.
No one could dispute the enormous role the incumbent President Mahinda Rajapakse played in the elimination of terrorism from Sri Lanka. There had been many Presidents in Sri Lanka, as well as brave Army Commanders during the three decades of terrorism, but none of them were able to end terrorism, as those several Presidents did not have the fortitude to stand by their conviction, and determination to end terrorism.
Therefore, no person with even the least intelligence could deny that it is to the President Mahinda Rajapakse, that we owe our gratitude for the complete annihilation of terrorism in Sri Lanka.
But the Common Presidential Candidate Sarath Fonseka , claims he alone is responsible for the defeat of terrorism, and continues with absurd declarations which show, that he though a very great military strategists and contributed immensely for the defeat of terrorism in the performance of his functions as the Commander of the Army, is sadly not suitable to lead the nation as its President.
His claim that he alone was responsible for the defeat of the terrorists, is an affront to the Commanders of the Naval and Air Forces, and numerous others who paid the highest prize to make the war against the terrorists a success.
Sarath Fonseka is a self-centered man goaded by pride, and blinded by fury. Therefore, he does not realize that even the battle against the terrorists, as any enterprise, was a shared responsibility. Can such a man lead the Nation as its President ?
Therefore, the only choice the people have, if they were to intelligently evaluate the period after the 2005 Presidential elections, notwithstanding the call for eradication of corruption and put an end to the government by a family etc; is to vote for the incumbent President Mahinda Rajapakse to continue his development projects in the peaceful climate he has brought to the people of Sri Lanka.
The people in Jaffna recently celebrated the Thaipongal, without fear, in peace, and happiness, for the first time after thirty years of suffering under uncertain condition of living with terrorism. So were the Tamil population in the east, who are witnessing today an unparalleled development of the infrastructure, the roads, bridges , towns and villages, schools, hospitals, markets, and houses.
The people who suffered most during the three decades of terrorism were the people in the North and East. They are being compensated for what they were deprived of in the past, having been forced to live with terrorism in their midst.
Some of the Sinhala voters , who have not suffered as much as the Tamils in the North and East from the presence of the scourge of terrorism amongst them, swayed by an avalanche of anti Mahinda Rajapakse propaganda, fail to see the reality of the end of terrorism, despite the fact that it was their very sons who sacrificed their lives to deliver Sri Lanka their motherland from the disastrous cancer of terrorism that prevailed for nearly thirty years.
I was watching a television program in which a man somewhere in Colombo was asked what he thinks of the Presidential elections and what he expects. He spoke pretentiously that he is a socialist, but nevertheless, he said he thinks from what he had seen that there should be a change. What did this foolish Sinhala individual really understand by “ a change “ ?
The President Mahinda Rajapakse who was elected the President of Sri Lanka in 2005, had in three years brought about the greatest “ change” in Sri Lanka, that none had seen since the independence, or at least from what it had been during the last thirty years.
These are the foolish Sinhala people who get swayed by words, without taking time , with whatever intelligence they have, to reflect. These are also people who have not suffered as much as the Tamils in the North and East, or have had no one of their kith or kin blown up by a terrorist bomb.
Yet these foolish Sinhala people could still be left to sink in their dirty puddles of imbecility , but we cannot expect this from the Tamils, at least those in the North and the of East, to forsake the President Mahinda Rajapakse , for an illusive “ change” . Because these Tamils were delivered from the worst of suffering under the iron boots of terrorism, by none other than the President Mahinda Rajapakse.
There is a saying that the worms living in the faecal matter are quite content in their situation. Therefore, there may still be some of those Tamils who suffered under the jack boots of terrorists , yet hoping for the division of Sri Lanka to set up a Tamil Eelam separate from the Sinhala.
A journalist visiting Jaffna on the day of the Thaipongal, wrote eloquently of what he witnessed as follows: “..............it was a special sun that marked the dawn of a New Year and more importantly, a new era full of hopes, evaporating endless worries of decades long war . Of course it was a special day for the Tamil Community, because it was January 14……..In Jaffna the situation was even more exiting. Happy faces with smiles pouring out like milk spilling over the pongal pot, bore witness to the dramatic changes over the last few months….”
Both Jaffna and East are seeing unprecedented development, remarkably so after the elimination of terrorism on the 18 May,2009. IDPs in camps brought to safety by the soldiers of the Sinhala Army are being rapidly rehabilitated in their former homes abandoned at the behest of the cruel terrorists who took them away to be kept as their human shield.
The Tamil people in the North and East are once again free and happy . They can move freely. They are no more isolated from the rest of the country, as A9 road has been reopened and buses ply regularly from Kandy, and train services have commenced from Colombo.
All that and a bright hope for the future have come about, more significantly to the Tamil people of the North East, because of the President Mahinda Rajapakse. It is a real change that has been offered to the Tamil people. Therefore these Tamil people should not have that same foolish thought of the Sinhala man who does not see the dawn of hope in the North and East , and crave for another “change”, perhaps for the worst in voting for a Presidential Candidate other than the incumbent President Mahinda Rajapakse.
The Tamil people of the North and East have above all a moral right to vote for the incumbent President, and no one else. If the Tamils would not vote for the President Mahinda Rajapakse they will be the most ungrateful Community that occupies Sri Lanka.
The Sinhala Buddhist youth who died in the war against terrorism gave their lives, firstly to save their motherland from being divided , and secondly to give the people in the North East, harassed and made to suffer by the terrorists, the freedom to live their ordinary lives in peace and without fear. The Sinhala Buddhist soldiers were willing to give their lives for those objectives as they knew that they were being lead by a patriotic President with the determination to end the three decades of terror, a President they loved, as much as they respected him.
If in this Presidential election the Tamils, specially those of the North and East, were not to vote for the President Mahinda Rajapakse, they would prove themselves to be a people who do not love their motherland but desire its division to create for them a Tamil Eelam. A people who wants to be separated from the Sinhala, and will therefore earn for ever, to put mildly , the wrath, distrust, and the dislike, of the Sinhala people.
The Educated Tamils like Kumar David, Pakiasothy Saravanamuttu, Rajan Philip and the rest of the Tamil politicians, writers and journalists, should work not for the separation of the Tamils from the Sinhala, but for the reconciliation of the two Communities. By their divisive verbiage of hatred they become the enemies of Sri Lanka, nauseating scums polluting the atmosphere of our motherland at last united under a single National Flag.
After the elimination of terrorism, which was the result of the determination of the President Mahinda Rajapakse, there should be a change of attitude of all the people that populate Sri Lanka to take the same path towards progress and development as a one nation, united and undivided.
Sarath Fonseka was a great Commander of the Army, but his vision of the future as a trained soldier is different from that of Mahinda Rajapakse. Mahinda Rajapakse is a man of the soil who understands the desire of the peace loving ordinary people. The person we want now to lead the nation for its development and progress and a real change for Sri Lanka is none other than the incumbent President Mahinda Rajapakse.

Sunday 17 January 2010

Why we should vote for the President Mahinda Rajapakse , and not Sarath Fonseka ?

Sarath Fonseka calls for a change. But a change for the better cannot come from Sarath Fonseka , who is not a real patriot . A patriot would not come forward to lead a country as its President only to stop corruption, and to end the executive powers of the President. There should be the greater objective of unifying the country under one flag and get the different Communities in Sri Lanka to shed their Communal identities to become one with the Sri Lankan Nation.

His latest acceptance of the TNA to support him in his election campaign is not a move to unify Sri Lanka, but to divide the country by setting up a Tamil Eelam in the North East. The TNA is working to obtain by cunning what Prabhakran could not obtain through terrorism

President Mahinda Rajapakse moves towards the more noble object of unifying the country and make a United Sri Lankan Nation with the now divided Communities. Having eliminated the disastrous terrorism, he said that there are no minorities in Sri Lanka , but there are those who love the country and those who do not.

If Sarath Fonseka is a real patriot he should have supported the President Mahinda Rajapakse, giving up his personal ambition of becoming the President on the ground that he was the Military Commander who led the armies to defeat terrorism.

Sarath Fonseka is today an ambitious hatemonger. He is not suitable to be the President of Sri Lanka, not only because he is a military man with no political experience, but also because he has taken a vow of allegiance as a citizen of America.

A President of a Sovereign State cannot have a divided allegiance. Sarath Fonseka to continue his election campaign should in the first instance show to his electors that he is a patriotic citizen of Sri Lanka by renouncing his claim to USA citizenship.

He has not publicly stated that he has given up his “green card “ and repudiated his claim to the citizenship of USA. As the President of Sri Lanka he cannot have one step here and the other elsewhere ! An ordinary citizen may have the right to keep a double citizenship, but not one who seeks to be the Citizen number one of a country; He is duty bound to have an undivided allegiance to the country of his birth if he seeks to be its President.

Perhaps the law of Sri Lanka is not clear on the point of requiring a candidate seeking election as the President of Sri Lanka should only be a citizen of Sri Lanka, without taking any oath of allegiance as a citizen of another country.

If there is no such requirement in our legal system, it is a serious lapse. However, the voters have the right to know where Sarath Fonseka’s allegiance lies, and refuse his vote to him if he is claiming citizenship of another country;

We know that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and the Assistant Secretary of State for Asia Robert Blake had sympathized with the terrorists in Sri Lanka. Therefore, it is apparent that the government of USA is sympathetic towards the terrorists of Sri Lanka. The President Barack Obama himself spoke out against a judicial decision taken against an errant Sri Lankan Journalist.

Therefore Sarath Fonseka a “green card” holder who has perhaps taken the oath of allegiance as a citizen of USA, will by consent of being a citizen of America becomes a sympathiser of the terrorists of Sri Lanka, he claims he defeated in battle. Could the Sri Lanka electors then accept Sarath Fonseka as a suitable candidate to lead the Sri Lankan Nation as its President ?

Sarath Fonseka since his nomination had been making promises without any concern for the future of the country. Salary increase of R.10,000 will cause immense economic difficulties to a country which has so many development projects in hand, and many more to be undertaken.

His consent to accept the support of the TNA itself shows that what he wants is not the welfare of the country and its people , but to get elected as the President at any cost, because he has a grudge against the President Rajapakse and his very able brothers who stood by the President to enable him to fulfill his 2005 election promise of eliminating terrorism and unifying the country.

One wanders whether Sarath Fonseka accepts every one who comes forward to support him making impossible demands, merely to get elected as the President, so that once elected he will form a military government and make all those impossible promises he had made null and void.

That is the danger that all those who are enthusiastic with Sarath Fonseka’s promised change, do not seem to understand. Sarath Fonseka is after his own personal glory and cares less for the country and its people. It may not be a surprise, if days after his election as the President and the Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces, he will commandeer the Armed Forces to take over all Government Establishments.

It is a possibility as these type of regime changes had already taken place in Iran, Guatamala, Chile and many other countries very ably arranged by the CIA.

Sarath Fonseka is a victim of a terrorist assassination attempt. He vehemently opposed the removal of the High Security Zones, when he was stationed as the Commander of Jaffna. He was number one in the terrorist’s list of persons to be assassinated. He was leading an army of Sinhala Buddhist Soldiers against the terrorist he vowed to eliminate. Seeing his soldiers dye in great numbers, he claimed that Sri Lanka belongs to the Sinhala, and the other Communities should not make undue demands.

Such a man cannot change over night , and accept the demands of the TNA to merge East and North, release all suspected terrorists in prisons, remove the Army Camps from Jaffna . There is surely some thing in the back of his mind, and that does not auger well for the future of our country.

Therefore the electors should be vigilant and use their vote wisely. Even if one feels that they do not agree with the President Rajapakse, and put him in the category of a “hopeless devil”, a known ”hopeless devil” is better than the unknown “ ambitious devil”

Mahinda Rajapakse sought to be elected as the President of Sri Lanka in 2005, to bring an end to terrorism, through dialogue. But having failed in his attempt to meet Prabhakaran face to face, he began a series of peace negotiations. Having failed in the attempt, he was forced to resort to military operations when the terrorists closed the sluice gates of Mavil Aru depriving water to thousands of farmers. And that ended up with the defeat of the terrorists at Nandikadal in May, 2009.

With that the President Mahinda Rajapakse fulfilled his first election promise to his electors. People seem to have now forgotten the difficulties the President had in gaining his victory over the terrorists. The war against terrorism was not only a destruction of the naval force of the terrorists, their meeting places and communication centres, face to face fighting capturing their fortified towns, villages and earth-bunds, but also to stall attempts by terrorist friendly foreign governments to stop the military offenses against terrorists.

The President Mahinda Rajapakse refused their call for ceasefire, despite the fact that he knew that he was antagonizing the foreign governments , but he had no alternative as he was determined to end terrorism, at whatever cost, that being the promise he gave to his people. He may have thought in his heart of heart that the European Governments proud of their Christian civilization, the cradles of democracy would eventually understand and finally applaud him for his determination to end terrorism , a global disaster, a menace to human civilisation.

But unfortunately end of terrorism in Sri Lanka made us see the hypocrisy of the West. They have a love and hate relationship with terrorism. They categorise terrorism , as their terrorism, and other peoples’ terrorism. They loved the terrorists in Sri Lanka and their elimination has made the Western Governments vengeful towards the Government of Sri Lanka. Phillip Alston of UN who is a great sympathizer of the Sri Lanka terrorists is all out to inculpate Sri Lanka for war crimes. And Robert Evans of EU threatens Sri Lanka with the withdrawal of GSP+

David Miliband the British Foreign Secretary, and the French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner came to Sri Lanka with the intention of saving the terrorist leadership. They were well received by the President Mahinda Rajapakse, but they were kindly requested not to interfere.

They later together with the US Secretary of State moved to adopt a resolution in the UN Security Council to send UN Peace troops to intervene in Sri Lanka. But the President Mahinda Rajapakse had the support of China and Russia who stood firmly against such a move.

The President Mahinda Rajapakse had a difficult time waging a diplomatic battle in the political front to keep away foreign interventions attempting to foil the battle against the terrorists. That was patriotism, and that was a President who kept his word. As the Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces and the President of Sri Lanka, the victory over the thirty year old terrorism in Sri Lanka is primarily his. Despite that if one wants to vote against the President Mahinda Rajapakse, which, one has a right to do, one should then be clear in his mind, what are the reasons that justify such a decision ?

What are the reasons some people give to vote against the President Rajapakse to bring about a change ?

There are those who make allegations of corruptions against the President and his brothers, but allegations by themselves do not prove any thing . Those allegations have to be proved. So far nothing has been done except make noises and innuendos .

Then there are those who blame the President for having his brothers around him holding positions of importance. But it was his brother Gotabhaya Rajapakse a man with considerable experience in war and negotiations, who brought the three Forces together and provided them with arms and war material, and carried out an exceptional job in the war against the terrorists, and continues even today to disable the activities of the vast network of Sri Lanka terrorists overseas.

The President’s other brother Basil Rajapakse was engaged in constant contact with the Government of India to keep the Tamil Nadu State at bay and stop any interventionists attempts by the Government of India. He was also maintaining good relations with the political leaders in the East and looking after the IDPs. The President’s elder brother was looking after the development of the Ports in the Colombo, Galle, Kankasenthurai and the new port in Hambantota.

The President Mahinda Rajapakse fortunately had his brothers who were qualified and capable to carry out the different functions allocated to them. He could trust that the work that they have been given would be carried out well and with responsibility. Above all he could trust them. So what is wrong in having employed his brothers . It is the people of Sri Lanka who have benefitted from their employment.

The Opposition speaks of the Rajapakse family, as if they were nincompoops who lived freely at government expense. But it was the Rajapakse family that delivered us from terrorism. We should be thankful to them.

The other allegation leveled at the President Mahinda Rajapakse is that he had the largest cabinet in the world. That was the fault of the JVP. JVP left the government when the President was beginning his task of elimination of the terrorists. If the government crashed for want of a majority the elimination of terrorism in Sri Lanka would have remained a far cry.

The President had to think fast and use his political acumen to keep his government afloat. The only way to do this was to win the confidence of politicians of the opposition . They would not come unless they were given some sort of incentives. He first signed a MoU with the UNP and when it was not working he gave cabinet posts to those who were willing to remain with him to consolidate his government so that he could assure that the military solution to eliminate terrorism could be given effect. If the President did not set up that strategy, the government may have crashed and th military operation against the terrorists would have stopped.

We can imagine the scenario if that had happened. So why blame the President for the large cabinet, which was a decision he was forced to take when the JVP left him without an alternative solution of even assuring their support while being in the opposition.

Unfortunately he did not have brothers in the JVP. If he had they would have remained with him.

Another allegation leveled against the President is why he has people like the Minister of Labour Mervyn Silva, whose indiscipline some times causes concern. But perhaps the President’s future plans to eliminate the underworld elements may necessitate the services of a person like Mervyn Silva. But though not quite disciplined Mervyn Silva is not a dangerous person. Therefore, that is no reason to blame the President for his more human acceptance of the indiscipline of a devoted friend. On the other hand is it not a great human quality of the President not to discard a friend because he is different ?

Taking into consideration all what has been said, electing the President Mahinda Rajapakse for another term in office is to continue the good work he had commenced, and allowing him to complete the changes he had promised in the Mahinda Chintanaya. There are many promising projects underway, and a change now will only hamper the development of these projects, the beneficiaries of which are the people of Sri Lanka.

A change should not be made for the sake of a change. A change should be to get some thing better, and that change for the better cannot be expected from Sarath Fonseka making all sorts delirious promises, without any planned development projects.

The change for the better we can expect only from the President Mahinda Rajpakse, a man of the people, simple, forthright, human, a genuine son of the soil of whom we can be proud.


Related Posts:

* Why we should not vote for Sarath Fonseka at the Presidential Elerctions?
* CONFIRMATION OF SECRET AGREEMENT TO DIVIDE SRI LANKA- TNA MPs
* What chances has Sarath Fonseka to win the Presidential elections ?
* Sunday Leader and its vendetta against the President Mahinda Rajapakse and Gotabhaya Rajapakse.
* USA in Sri Lanka for the much publicised UNA’s Puppet Show

2 Responses to “Why we should vote for the President Mahinda Rajapakse , and not Sarath Fonseka ?”

1. cassandra Says:
January 15th, 2010 at 2:20 am

No way can any sensible Sri Lankan who loves his country vote for Sarath Fonseka, certainly, not after his infamous interview reported in the Sunday Leader of 13th December. He’s shown himself to be vindictive, loose tongued, lacking in discretion or common loyalty. Voting for him will not be voting for something better.
2. Chintha Says:
January 15th, 2010 at 2:53 pm

(Why any Sri Lankan should NOT vote for SF)
During 1970-1980 when the Tamil extrimist harassed and chased all Sinhalese from North, the population in North increased by 30%. Figuring out all these people illigally migrated from Tamil Nadu is not difficult. Imagine if they are given SELF RULE. Wow the whole Tamil Nadu will cross over to SL. Then what ? According to the history taguht to Tamils, Ealam is whole of SL. They are the indgenous people of SL.Then they will chase more and more NOn Tamils out from border villages to expand thier Ealam,and the endless war will begin. Or may be they have pacts with LTTE sympathising countries to bulid a port in thier Ealam country and Sri LAnka will have no say. One day the rice eating donkeys can live under super duper Tamil Ealam.
ITN-Jan 15 2010
Tamil National Alliance Parliamentarians have confirmed that Presidential candidate Sarath Fonseka and UNP Leader Ranil Wickremasinghe had accepted all conditions submitted by them.

Parliamentarian Thangeshwari Kadiraman said they expected the right to self-rule for the Tamil polity. This was a main condition put forward by them. The right to self rule is the only method that the problem of the Tamil civilians can be sorted out. Re-merger of the North and East was another condition they laid down. Sarath Fonseka and UNP Leader Ranil Wickremasinghe totally accepted all these conditions put forward by their Party Leader R.Sambanthan.

Parliamentarian Sivashakthi Ananda said the Government rejected all their demands in toto. However, the group including Sarath Fonseka and UNP Leader Ranil Wickremasinghe endorsed all their conditions.

TNA Parliamentarian K.Thurairatnasinham said they submitted a proposal for their self-administration. It was put forward as a condition. Sarath Fonseka, not only endorsed their proposal, but has also signed an agreement accepting it.

Karuna Amman stands above all Tamil Politicians, Tamil writers and intellectuals as a patriotic Sri Lankan-a catalyst of unity.

In Sri Lanka the Tamil Community is seeking to separate itself from the Sri Lankan identity to assert their Tamil identity separate from the rest of the Sri Lankan Communities. They refuse to accept the Sinhala as the majority Community. They clamour about an ethnic problem , and make demands seeking parity with the Sinhala Community.
Take for instance Sampanthan and the rest of the members of the TNA, they do not stand for a united Sri Lanka, but a Sri Lanka divided between the Sinhala and the Tamils. Even Anandasangaree, or even Douglas Devanada peddle their communal “label” to remain with their separate Tamilness. The more vociferous of them the so called Tamil intellectual s and Tamil journalists like Kumar David, Pakiasothy Saravanamuttu, Rajan Philip or Lynn Orkersz are all Tamils troubled by their ethnic identity, demanding the settlement of a nonexistent ethnic problem.
Through out the nearly three decades of living with the “cancer” of terrorism, the Tamils did not raise their voice against the terrorists. Their silence was acceptance, or a sentimental attachment to the idea of a separate Eelam demanded by the terrorists, therefore contributing to the idea of the division of Sri Lanka for the creation of a Tamil Eelam.
The war against terrorism was left for the Sinhala Buddhists, because the Tamils did not have the patriotic love for the country of their birth to denounce terrorism and stand with the Sinhala to save the motherland from being divided.
Not wanting to live together with the Sinhala Community, they did not mind the country divided to make place for a Tamil Eelam. No Tamil died to save the country from being divided by the terrorists. Instead they were willing to fight along with the terrorists, sympathise , and contribute financially to make a success of their cause to divide the country in which they were born.
In that climate of danger to the motherland , its division and devastation, there was no one Tamil voice demanding unity with the Sinhala majority. None of them would dare accept adhering to Sinhala political norms.
It was in that atmosphere of Tamil hatred towards the Sinhala, that one Tamil man rose above the fires of hatred to shoulder the burden of the effort of the Sinhala Buddhists to save the unitary state of their motherland , fighting a ruthless group of terrorists.
Ironically that Tamil man, a colossus, above all the local and expatriate Sri Lankan Tamils, rose from the blood drenched terrorists themselves, having realized the utter futility of fighting against the Sinhala to solve an ethnic problem. The ethnic problem if there is one he thought could be settled by being with the Sinhala, and not by being separated from the Sinhala.
No laws, or legal devolution of political power could bring about unity of the people of different communities. The desire to unite has to come from within each one of the partners seeking unity.
Karuna Amman has knowingly or unknowingly stepped outside his communal identity to show his Tamil compatriots that it is not by being racists and forsaking the Sinhala Community as supremacists that we could make Sri Lanka a true nation state. The identity of a nation, is an indication of unity, but if there is disunity between the communities composing the nation, how can there be a nation
Sri Lanka to rise above the state of a developing nation, to be a developed nation should give up bickering about ethnic problems, seeking to settle differences in peaceful dialogue without the show of hatred and animosity towards each other because of the inherent Communal differences.
Karuna Amman in giving up communal politics to become a member of the SLFP has shown that a member of the Tamil Community could work along with the Sinhala politicians and pave the way to build a true Nation of Sri Lankans. The problems a nation has, due to its communal composition has to be settled by itself, without being interfered into by any outsider, even if that outsider has cultural ingredients common with on of the communities making up the Nation. Interference by Tamil Nadu in the affairs of Sri Lanka for instance.
It is time that the Tamil racist politicians, intellectuals, journalists and others such as Mano Ganeshan , Sampanthan , Kumar David, Rajan Philips, Lynn Ockersz, Pakiasothy Saravanamuttu or even Leela Isaacs, take a lesson from Karuna Amman. It is time that they living in their cozy comfort give up divisive rhetoric to speak a language of tolerance, unity and brotherhood towards the Sinhala , to make Sri Lanka a true Sovereign Nation State.
The racist Tamil politicians, intellectuals , journalists and other Tamil writers, call names and insult in different ways the Sinhala, but despite that it is the Sinhala politicians, intellectuals, journalists and writers who incessantly call for Communal Unity .
All nations have ethnic problems , but such problems have been solved in cordial interaction with the respective majority communities and not by constant confrontation with them.
Karuna Amman has set an example and it is time that the other Tamils give up their extremism and join hands with the Sinhala Community to solve whatever problems in an atmosphere of tolerance, peace, and understanding.
The realization of the futility of terrorism seeking separation from the Sinhala, after all his own compatriots, came to Karuna Amman having gone through the worst of situations , and risking his life to rise above that hopeless extremism. The Sinhala have accepted him as one of theirs despite his past. Why cannot the Tamils accept the Sinhala despite their past ?
The expatriate Tamils having left Sri Lanka have adopted their countries of residence as their own. They have demonstrated , by their support for the terrorists who wanted to divide Sri Lanka to set up a separate Tamil Eelam, that they have no patriotic love for Sri Lanka they had left behind .
These pro-terrorist Tamil expatriates are not patriotic Sri Lankans, but Tamils who wish to remain separated from the Sinhala Community in an Eelam of their own. They cannot unless they give up their demand fro a separate Eelam State , be a part of the Sri Lankan Nation.
Karuna Amman’s bold decision to give up being separated from the rest of the communities in accepting a nationalist political platform , should even open the eyes of the Western politicians such as Robert O Blake, David Miliband, Bernard Kouchner and the rest, that their call for the settlement of an ethnic problem in Sri Lanka , is only to perpetuate division . It is an uncalled for interference into the affairs of Sri Lanka. The problems of Sri Lanka, both ethnic and political, could very well be settled by the Sri Lankans themselves.
The ethnic problem cannot be solved by going against the Sinhala, but being with them and getting involved with them to work towards the common objective of developing our motherland to make it a happy place for ourselves and our children, making ourselves a united Nation of Sri Lankans without any distinction of a minority or a majority.
That is the lesson Karuna Amman has given us.

Tuesday 5 January 2010

Why we should not vote for Sarath Fonseka ?

To begin with he has no viable political manifesto. He is there to eradicate corruption. Corruption is as old as the beginning of humanity and that cannot be eradicated through political means. There is no one country in the world where there is no corruption, let alone political corruption. Sarath Fonseka is groping blindly for political recognition by waving a blinking, out moded slogan to attract attention and fish the voters willing to bite the bait of the slogan ‘ I fight to end corruption’.

Sarath Fonseka was a party to end terrorism, but to end corruption he will fail as many before him had tried and failed with the same line of argument. Therefore, his political slogan is not convincing enough to have him elected as the President. Therefore to vote him to end corruption would be a waste of a precious vote.

Sarath Fonseka to fight against corruption should understand where corruption begins, be it political, administrative or else. Corruption is rooted in desire, possessiveness, aversion, anger, hatred , jealousy, and delusion. Therefore to end corruption all those negative human emotions have to be removed. As long as they are not removed corruption will continue to exist until the end of the world.

The Presidential election is to elect a political leader to lead the Nation. When the Nation to be led is politically fractured , the elected leader should be capable of bringing together the fractured Nation to make a whole, through conviction of progressive development to satisfy the whole.

Mr.Mahinda Rajapaksa is a proven leader, who took the Presidential reins to traverse a perilous path entrenched with dangerous terrorism to lead the people away from disaster to safety, towards the green pastures of peace and progress.

Sarath Fonseka was only an element used by the President Mahinda Rajapakse to clear the passage to reach the objective of peace and progress to which he was leading the Nation. As such Sarath Fonseka has no proven ability to lead the Nation. Therefore, Sarath Fonseka given the reins of President will not know where to lead the Nation.

The Path to reach the objective is further away, and the perils are not yet over, Mahinda Rajapakse had very ably driven us through the fires of danger, and it is still not the time to change the reins from the firm hands of the President Rajapakse, to hand it over to an amateur. Therefore, every vote counts for the President Rajapakse to lead us to the chosen object towards which he can find his way through the experience he has already gained.

Therefore, to vote for Sarath Fonseka is to hand over reins to lead us nowhere and perhaps to bring the Nation back to where President Mahinda Rajapakse commenced his perilous voyage in 2005, back to division, calamity, terrorism, and disaster.

It is a well worn saying that you know the person from the company he keeps. Since Sarath Fonseka came forward as a candidate for the Presidential election, the company he keeps does not speak well for him.

Mano Ganeshan and Sambandan of the TNA represent the defunct terrorists. Rauf Hakeem is a man who signed a MoU with Prabhakaran to become a part of Prabhakaran’s Eelam if ever it was to be set up.

Yogarajan who broke away from Thondaman’s CWC to join Sarath Fonseka’s election campaign is an opportunist. Ranil Munasinghe is a weak leader who gave parts of north and east to Prabhakaran under his infamous CFA .

And Mangala Samaraweera is a failed politician scheming behind scene to lure politicians away from SLFP to UNF without much success. These are the companions of an apparent future President. And who would like to vote for a man in such company to lead the Sri Lankan Nation, freed from the ruthless terrorist, by the determination and the correct political leadership of the President Mahinda Rajapakse.

Sarath Fonseka has proved from his acts and pronouncements that he is not apt to lead our nation as its President. He has divulged army secrets and government confidences. He is not second to a proverbial bull in a glass shop. He has shown that he is not tolerant , by being angered by criticism leveled against him, promising his critics bones and dirt to lick after his victory. Such a man does not deserve our vote.

A President of a country has to have the confidence of the people. He should first be responsible to the Political Party that he leads. But Sarath Fonseka has no such responsibility to a Political Party. He is sponsored by a hastily gathered discordant Political Parties.

They have come together to pay a grudge against the incumbent President and his brothers. Sarath Fonseka and his companion s do not propose any development projects for our country, which has just been delivered from thirty years of suffering under a ruthless group of terrorists. Their only project is a promise to fight against corruption.

Why should we elect a President to eliminate corruption when we have a President who had shown the metal of which he is made, by eliminating terrorism by intelligent direction of the Government Armed forces for the purpose ? He has already promised that the country will be developed in stages, until it will be in a position to compete with any other country in the world.

Mahinda Rajapakse has shown that he is a man who keeps his promises. He kept his promise to eliminate terrorism, and now he promises more plans of development and some of them are in the process of achievement. Therefore, it is to Mahinda Rajapakse that we owe our vote, so that in his next term of office he will take us further on the path of progress.

Saratth Fonseka is a good soldiers. He has proved himself to be a good army strategist. But in war the commanders know of the enemy and know where to direct their guns. But in politics the enemy is not known . They are many, and varied. They come with different faces. The experience in the army does not make a commander a good politicians to fight against these political enemies. Therefore we should not waste our vote on Sarath Fonseka to make us his guinea pigs to make him learn politics.

Sarath Fonseka is not responsible to a Political Party. Therefore he will not be responsible to the people who will vote for him. He is only a common Presidential Candidate of a group of discordant political parties. The only reason of their getting together is the call to abandon executive powers of the President.

Sarath Fonseka not being responsible to one political party, and not responsible to the people who voted for him, once elected may shun the discordant politicians that sponsored him to have his own way, and may use his power as the Commander in Chief to bring in a military rule.

Is that what we want ? NO

Therefore, no self respecting Sri Lankan should cast his vote to Sarath Fonseka at the Presidential election.

Saturday 2 January 2010

Sunday Leader and its vendetta against the President Mahinda Rajapakse and Gotabhaya Rajapakse.

Sunday Leader is best known for its attacks on political leaders and specially against the present government leadership. This trend of the Sunday Leader has a long history. It culminated in the murder of its then Editor Lasantha Wickramatunga. His death had not enough time to be regretted, bemoaned, lamented and grieved as it was made an occasion to, bring out hatred , curses and accusations some most deplorable in the haste to put the blame on those the Sunday Leader always condemned. The President, and the Army they accused of having a hand in the brutal murder of the late editor.

The body of the late Editor of the Sunday Leader was made a political spectacle by the Opposition with a procession carrying political slogans shouting epithets of hatred. His death was also made a beacon of the Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, the UN, Forum for the Freedom of the Press, and the rest of the cavalcade of vengeful international human rights activists, to focus their wrath on the President of Sri Lanka and the Armed forces that was giving the ‘heat’ to their much pampered Prabhakaran and his terrorist cohorts.

The matter had been lying low as the more important issue of terrorism was being decided by the government attempting to eliminate it, and the international community, and the human rights activists that bloomed like mushrooms after the rains, to save it, giving it a further lease of life.

With the end of terrorism, the local and foreign forces, waiting for a chance to bring the government and its brave forces to disrepute as a revenge against the elimination of the terrorism, which was for some a magic hen laying golden eggs, and for others an occasion to build new political alliances to defeat the aim of the President Mahinda Rajapakse and his government to continue its path of progress.

The former USA Ambassador to Sri Lanka who was known for his sympathies to Sri Lanka, who now as the US Assistant Secretary for Asia, gathered persons and Associations of pro terrorist anti government expatriates to make a strong report against Sri Lanka to the US Congress, while the European Union threatened the Government of Sri Lanka with the refusal of GSP+ grant.

In the meantime the ‘canard’ against the Defence Secretary, by Frederica Jansz of the Sunday Leader has been timed to appear just at this time to create a difficult situation to the Government, rather than to the candidate opposing the President Mahinda Rajapakse at the Presidential election. The Sunday Leader had an old grudge to be settled with the President Mahinda Rajapakse , his Government , the Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapakse and the Government Forces.

After the defeat of the terrorists, the vast network of the terrorist activists spread across the world had to be systematically disabled , and this work had been undertaken by our very able Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapakse.

The International Community appears to have been all out to discourage these activities, and the ‘canard’ initiated by the Sunday Leader appears to be a part of this international involvement against the Government of Sri Lanka, to help the remnants of the Sri Lanka terrorism, which may be gathering force with the help of the International Community to stage a reappearance in another form, to set up the Tamil Eelam and divide Sri Lanka. For which the International Community had been preparing the ground for decades through out the existence of terrorism in Sri Lanka.

The Sonali Wickramatunga apparently hiding in some country in the West , to escape death from the murderers of her late husband, who she appears to think are waiting to assassinate her. In her Western escapade she may be scheming to cause maximum damage to those who she thinks had assassinated her late husband.

She says in her message to the Asia Media Forum in accepting the 1st Asia Media Award for Press Freedom on behalf of her slain husband Lasantha Wickrematunge "For myself I can only but implore you as a fellow traveller with all the emphasis at my command to see through the face of democracy painted by President Mahinda Rajapakse and the government, to the failing democracy of Sri Lanka ……..”

Therefore , the breaking up the strong ‘trio’ - the Commander in Chief, the President Mahinda Rajapakse, Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapakse, and the Comamder of the Armed Forces Sarath Fonseka, that led the Armed Forces to victory over the ‘invincible’ terrorist force, by luring one of them- the General Sarath Fonseka away, to oppose his very companions who traversed along with him the difficult path to victory over terrorism had certainly not been of Sarath Fonseka’s own making. There may have been strong forces that paved the way for the breakup, and tempting offers that made a friend, an enemy.

Under the circumstances Fredirica Janz “canard’ of the shooting of the white flag holding terrorists by Brigadier Shavendre Silva on the instructions of the Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapakse seems a well prepared “time bomb” to cause the maximum damage to the President Mahinda Rajapakse just when the Presidential election campaign was taking off.

Unfortunately for the perpetrators and the schemers the “time bomb” backfired, putting Sarath Fonseka in a worst position. But his connivance with the “canard” remains an acceptable possibility, given the fact that he had neither denied it, nor has he asked the Sunday Leader to withdraw the statement on pain of legal action.