I think I
started writing to Lankaweb somewhere in 1997. Lankaweb perhaps did not make me
a writer, but helped me to express my battered thoughts about my country. It was an outlet to my pent up feelings. A space where I could cry out as loud as I
can against those who were perpetrating
injustice, treason, and wrongs against my country.
For once I
feel that we have been let down by my own people who have handed over Sri Lanka to
merchants of driftwood and scrap, to be sold to our enemies. We have been made
helpless on lookers while the enemies of
the nation are bargaining to sell the country that nurtured me into being a
patriot, gave me a culture –a Sinhala Buddhist Culture that I am proud of, my
Island home Sri Lanka is today an object on sale in the hands of ambitious
politicians full of hatred, anger and jealousy, trying to sell it off for their
political gain.
My feelings
for my country are greater than those of the vicious parasites that come to my
country, enjoy freely the hospitality of
the people and condemned the governments,
the Human Rights Watch, Amnesty
International , UN Human rights Commissioners, and the UN itself. and the rest
of those human rights activists, who have failed to bring about a just society
in their own countries, but seeking to
put things right in Sri Lanka as if it
belongs to them.
UN has
become a nonentity with the
USA State Department taking over duties
entrusted to the UNO by Charter. Recently Sri Lanka was visited by an
Assistant Secretary of State for
Democracy, Human Rights and Labour.
There are country reports on human rights to the US Congress. So where
does UNO stand ?
UN is
either an appendage to USA Sate Department or a powerless entity dictated to by
the USA.
Normally Member States of the UN are equals.
But USA
is acting as a superpower not caring for the Sovereignty of the member states
of UN.
What is
this rotten world where USA
the worst violator of human life by the use of Drones, declare wars on
countries producing false documents as evidence, and reduce them to rubble by
unconcerned bombing with the use of their
NATO Forces ?
What moral right has USA
to accuse Sri
Lanka and move resolutions in the UNHRC in Geneva
against Sri Lanka’s just cause of elimination of terrorists that
had caused immense damage to the country and human life ?
And no one dares
stop USA ,which is like a
vulgar thug employing killers to eliminate objectors , immoral in every sense
of the word, uncontrollable USA
that change regimes , set up new regimes and dictate the way they should rule
their people. We write but it is just
barking at a speeding caravan.
When Barack
Obama was elected President, we were waving the American flag and lighting crackers, as if an Angel had descended
on earth to eliminate a cruel war mongering USA Government and bring peace and
justice to the world. We thought we were right in that gleeful demonstration after all America
which had been imposing its law on every one else in the world was finally going
to meet with its destiny before the new messenger of the God-Barack Obama.
At last an
uncontrollable USA
is to be reigned in by a black American who knows, we thought, the suffering of
the poor , the unprivileged people and
States, and stop distasteful scandalous American “bossing” of the world. But what happened was the opposite. Barack Obama became another war mongering , regime changing American
pushing for the leadership of America
, carrying on American wars in the world as usual, stopping any undeveloped
country raising its head over economic hardship.
Barack
Obama became an unjust, biased, pompous Black American and the office that was
cast upon him making him the 64th President of America, did nothing
for the betterment of the unprivileged Americans in USA
or the people elsewhere in the world who were looking for justice from USA’s mean “dictatorship”
in the world.
Barack
Obama is privileged to be there in the White House, but the ordinary black
Americans have still not found their just place in the American Society. And that is the America of which Barack Obama is
the President that continues its history of regime change, setting up trade and
economic embargos on nation, indiscriminate use of Drones killing civilians in
its search for terrorists.
It is that
America of Barack Obama which is dividing nations like Sri Lanka accusing the country that
had been menaced with territorial
division and made to suffer for thirty years
by a group of terrorists going on rampage. This America of Obama is now
accusing Sri Lanka for war
crimes, and passes resolution at the UNHRC in Geneva trying to take the Armed Forces before a tribunal for war crimes.
USA is like the Goliath, but who
is David that will stop its wild rampage.
We thought it would be Barack Obama, but now
he has become a part of it?
Where is
this blessed democracy, justice and fair
play, or peaceful coexistence ? Who can we appeal to against injustice that
is being committed by the West seeking
means to maintain its leadership in the world ? USA and the West still continue the
same tactics they carried out during the past in colonising countries. It is a
game they play, as they have no interest in the developing countries or their
people other than the extent to which they could use the countries as pawns in
their checker board of world political strategies.
There were
the times after Independence, that I detested those who ruled my country.
But yet with all their wrongs they were after all my people and I could understand them better than
those from the West that knows nothing about my people or the culture of my country which they always tried to
treat as insignificant. They chose from the countries only those that did not
represent the real people or those that
represent the real culture of the
country, to give them the reins of the destinies of the people fooled by their
invented methods to make unpopular the popular local regimes , and make popular
the unpopular local politicians.
The
UNP could never think without taking
examples from the West. UNP was so
entrenched in the British culture and their way of thinking it had no vision of
development of Sri Lanka that had been nicknamed Ceylon
for colonial convenience, beaten, trodden, its pride and values squeezed
out, wronged and changed in every way possible during 500 or more years of
colonization.
The Sinhala
people I am ashamed to say had learnt
from the west to treat my country
as a country without a proper
religion, a culture, a language or a
dress. They have no gratitude, they easily forget the past for a carrot of development and prosperity that any one would dangle before them. They have
become so pathetically non-Sinhala they do not think twice before they would
cut the throat of one of their own for a political, financial or any lesser
benefit.
The Independence itself began
with denying the deserved his place. Sir
Baron Jayatilleke was tricked to accept a diplomatic post in India, for
D.S.Senanayake to become the Prime Minister.
That was the beginning of the UNP reign, backstabbing cut throat
tactics. What did UNP give to Sri
Lanka other than a set of boot lickers
wearing the Englishman’s coat and trousers, speaking their language,
worshipping their gods, and trying pathetically to behave like them.
It was UNP
now acclaimed by the Tamils that passed the Citizenship act in 1948 to
disenfranchise the Tamil plantation workers of Indian descent.
When
D.S.Senanayake died, his son Dudley became the
Prime Minister, he was a political misfit in the UNP Clan. Having had to reduce
the rice ration to the dictates of the aid
providers of the West UNP had to face a
people’s uprising- Hartal, organised by
the LSSP and the Left wing political parties, in 1953, and good man Dudley
resigned, allowing his uncle Kotalawala to become the Prime Minister.
The UNP did
nothing significant either under Dudley nor under John Kotalawela. Under John Kotalawala
the Catholics became an important
political support for UNP.
The people
had enough of capitalist UNP and were awaiting for a different political
movements to displace UNP; allowing them to breath the air of real Independence. The man the
people sought to replace the UNP with a
different and a more acceptable
political movement was SWRD Bandaranaike with his SLFP.
Bandaranaike
changed the path Sri Lanka
was taking under the leadership of a non visionary hackneyed upper class black
sahibs of the UNP following a foreign policy dictated by the British. SWRD changed drastically the existing UNP’s withered government policies. He made
Sri Lanka an Independent nation making ordinary people of Sri Lanka a part of
the political system, allowing them to breath the air of freedom in a new
independence away from the Black Sahib
culture of the UNP.
It is towards this self same British, American
and Western influence of the fifties that Ranil Wickramasinghe is even today
trying to drag back our Sri
Lanka under the guise of a new political
culture.
During the
short time that he lived after 1956 SWRD brought the left together and brought
back the battered, shunned , neglected
and decadent Sinhala Buddhist Culture to the fore. The Sinhala language that was the language
the UNP hierarchy used to converse with the kitchen staff and other manual
workers; was made the National language,
and the old Sinhala flag brought down by the British to hoist their own Union
Jack , was recognised as the National flag of Independent Sri Lanka. SWRD said addressing the UN General Assembly
in November,1956:
“This is an
age when we have to live and let live, when we cannot afford to hate each other
so much that we are prepared to sacrifice all mankind in the name of peace or
for some other reason. We cannot afford to do that today. Within the limits of
honour, of course, and those principles which we hold dear, we have to live and
let live. That is the philosophy behind the doctrine of co-existence. We in Asia do not hate anybody. We want to be friends with all.
We have to build up a new society for ourselves; one, as I have said, which
best suits the genius of our country. …………That is why we do not range ourselves
on the side of this power-bloc or that power bloc. This is the philosophy of
neutralism. ……”
He set up
an independent foreign policy pulling Sri Lanka away from the, “ British
ruler –colony” complex. His vision of an Independent Nation like any other in
the world was thwarted first by the racist Tamil Nationalists, and then by the
local pro British politicians-the UNP.
After
the assassination of SWRD, Mrs.
Sirimavo Bandaranaike became the Prime Minister making history as the first
woman Prime Minister of the World. She
turned out to be a remarkable politician
despite having been in the shadow of her brilliant husband. She was able to
introduce a new facet to Sri
Lanka foreign policy as changed by her
husband.
Her
nationalization of Petroleum companies earned her the disapproval of the USA and UK
which resorted to their pseudo democratic
brilliance of imposing trade and
economic embargo by cutting aid to Sri Lanka. It made her get politically closer to China and Soviet Union
out of which came the non-align movement of which she became the Chairman. She
had her share of problems from the Tamils.
She
is remembered for getting back the real
identity of the country as Sri
Lanka casting away the nickname “Ceylo” given to it by the colonialists.
These
are things that never come into the cramped minds of the UNP leaders who cannot
think beyond certain limits. The UNP as USA, has a one track mind and as usual accused Ms. Sirimavo Bandaranayaike for corruption.
Nevertheless Sirimavo Bandaranayake took
forward the country from where her
husband was stopped by an assassin.
After her defeat in the elections, UNP
came back to power with Dudley Senanayake as the Prime Minister. When ever the UNP relying on the USA and the West came to power manifestly Sri Lanka takes a few steps back
from progressive political advancement.
In
1978 J.R.Jayawardhana of the UNP became the President of Sri Lanka. His government was far from being democratic.
Today, his nephew Ranil
Wickramasinghe brings back memories of
the UNP’s repressive government under
JR.
JR
took deliberate actions against his opponents .
He saw to it that Sirimavo Bandaranaike would not come back into
politics by taking away her civic rights. You
see the repetition of this in Ranil Wickramasinghe doing all that he can to
keep Mahinda Rajapakse away from politics.
Even
Buddhist Priests and Buddhist
Temples did not escape JR’s
wrath. JR Jayawardhane’s rival Presidential candidate Hector Kobbakaduwa went through almost the same
political difficulties Mahinda Rajapakse is made to suffer by Ranil
Wickramasinghe.
Perhaps
Madoluwawe Sobhitha thero has not forgotton
what happened to Professor Sarathchandra
at Peradeniy, when he was beaten and pushed to a drain by the thugs sent
by JR’s supporters, and barb- wired the Getambe Rajopavanaramaya, to teach a
lesson to the High Priest who supported Kobbekaduwa.
“Hector
Kobbekaduwa, had to face a very difficult period after the Presidential
elections. …………….Hector Kobbekaduwa was taken to the 4th Floor on 64 occasions
for questioning by the CID. But, the J. R. Jayawardene Government was unable to
prove any of the allegations.
Even at
the last stages of his political career, Hector Kobbekaduwa was deprived of his
right to use his ballot by the United National Party Government at the 1982
Referendum as his vote was used by another.”
http://archives.dailynews.lk/2006/09/16/fea02.asp
Like Uncle JR like nephew
Ranil. Fortunately for Sri Lanka Ranil
Wickramasinghe is not the President .
JR
Jayawardhane was an unconditional admirer and a loyal friend of America. He thought he was politically strong with the
backing of the powerful USA. But in 1978 when the Indian Air Force
trespassed into Sri Lanka air space to drop dry ration to the terrorist
held in siege in Jaffna by the Sri Lanka
Armed Forces, and forced JR to enter in to the Indo Sri Lanka pact
demanding him to introduce the 13A prepared by India in to the Constitution, JR
had none to appeal for help as USA would not
interfere and burn its fingers antagonising India.
So
Ranil Wickramasinghe is better advised to be aware of his American and Western friends , re-dressed and
introduced anew by Mangala Samaraweera.
It
is better he thinks twice be fore he
considers himself a skilful politicians with the backing of the USA and the
West. USA and the West as
they did to JR, will drop him as well
like a hot brick if he finds himself in a political fix with India, which is not unlikely, unless he becomes
a blind stooge of India.
Maithripala
Sirisena’s loud boast that his government will go the full term and no one will
be able to topple will be an empty boast when things begin to change. JR also
thought as much, but he too learnt his
lesson the hard way.
JR
Jayawardhane, who took over the reigns of government from Mrs.Bandaranaike a
very capable politician who made Sri Lanka proud, came beating drums and
blowing trumpets like his nephew is
doing at present, promising to rid Sri Lanka of all its ills brought about by
SWRD and then his wife Sirimavo.
But
he lost to Rajive Gandhi, a young politician who did not have the experience of
JR who some called the “old fox” JR gave into Rajive without a whimper signed
the Indo Sri Lanka Pact, accommodated the Indian PKFforces, accepted a politically crippling 13A to the
Sri Lanka Constitution and made worse the situation Sri Lanka was in added to
an unabated terrorism.
His successor the other UNP
President R.Premadasa was no better. Premadasa
even armed the terrorists against the Indian PKF. Killed innumerable numbers of
Sinhala youth who foolishly took up arms to seize political power. The UNP
after Mrs. Bandranayake proved they were unable to solve the problems of Sri Lanka and
take the country forward leave alone develop it. Mahaweli Project and Gamudawa did very little
or nothing at all to Sri
Lanka by way of development.
 |
| A good man President D.B.Jayatunga who did not make an impact in the political history of Sri Lanka |
The
UNP experience showed the people that Sri Lanka is in need of a
leader who could really solve the
problems of the people, eliminate terrorism, develop the country from the
intolerable condition to which it had been put by the previous incapable UNP Presidents,
who had neither the ideas nor the vision to think saving Sri Lanka from terrorism , ameliorate
the living conditions of the people and
change the situation in Sri Lanka.
It was then that the people sinking
in the deluge of unsoluble problems with
the terrorists in the north, insurgents in the south, strangled by a
mismanaged economy, ready to hang onto any straw to save
themselves voted to put Chandrika
Kumaratunga into power at the elections
of 1994 . Chandrika had the sympathy
votes of the people as she was widowed
by the assassination of her husband, and
was a mother of two young children, and
above all she was the daughter of SWRD and Sirimavo the dearly loved leaders of
the people.
Though
she could have done much as she was young
and active, but the accumulated
problems in Sri lanka was too much to
handle. She was ambitious, pretentious,
and thought she had the backing of the people, but that was not sufficient to
put Sri Lanka
back on an even keel to make it safe to sail on the troubled waters of
politics.
She
thought of pacifying the terrorists she knew nothing about, and having failed thought
of a military solution. She selected the wrong people to handle the terrorist
problem. She brought in Eric Solheim to mediate between the government and the
terrorists. Solheim became an agent of the terrorists, and handled the
terrorist problem in the interest of the terrorist helping the terrorists to become militarily more powerful
than the Armed Forces of the government . The Embassy of Norway imported sophisticate
telecommunication material for the
terrorists using its diplomatic priviledges.
Bradman Weerakone allowed the material to be transported to terrorist
Controlled area.
Then
came the tsunami adding more to the already existing problem. The terrorists
wanted no baby sitter and wanted to assassinate Chandrika but succeeded only
blinding her in one eye. Her mother
Sirimavo then old and sickly would still have been a better President than her
daughter Chandrika. Chandrika messed up the
situation further with enormous sums of money that came as aid to reconstruct
areas damaged by the tsunami and the
large numbers of NGOs that descended who became a law unto themselves.
Chandrika handled terrorism badly and so with the distribution of tsunami Funds.
To
make matters worse, she was forced to dissolve the Parliament due to the
unreliable back stabbing Rauff Hakeem leaving
her government with his seven followers. The general elections that
followed put into power the UNP with
Ranil Wickramasinghe, adding more to the miseries of Chandrika-the
President. Ranil Wickramasinghe was now
her Prime Minister. This ambitious man
who always puts himself before even the country was in no mood to take orders
from Chandrika the woman President.
Ranil
Wickramasinghe completely ignored Chandrika
as President, and wanted to take credit for settling the problem of terrorism.
He got Eric Solheim to mediate to start
peace negotiations with the terrorist. Eric Solheim the traitor who was waiting
for his chance prepared the CFA along
with Prabhakaran without consulting the President Or the Prime Minister and got
Ranil Wickramasinghe to sign the
agreement.
Ranil Wickramasinghe who thinks
that he knows every thing signed the CFA perhaps even without reading, because
on signing it he gave the control of parts of the North to the terrorists
forfeiting the right of the Sri Lanka Armed Forces or the Police to enter into
the areas controlled by the terrorists. Finally when Ranil was enjoying himself
dining and wining in style with George
Bush in USA Chandrika sacked three
Ministers of Ranil’s Cabinet and took
over the Ministries herself, thus ending the unholy alliance with the UNP.
Hence what we see today with Ranil
Wickramasinghe forming a coalition government
with Maithripala Sirisena as President is a repetition of what had
already happened before, when ever UNP was ruling the country.
There is nothing for the President
Sirisena or Prime Minister Ranil to be
exceptionally happy about. The unholy alliance will topple over by itself
without any body having to take a hand to topple it. Nothing is permanent , every thing is impermanent
and so is Ranil Wickramasinghe-Sirisena combination.
It has not been said enough that it was the great fortune of Sri Lanka to have elected Mahinda Rajapakse as
the President of Sri Lanka.
Mahinda Rajapakse, not only eliminated terrorism, (which the UNP Presidents
beginning from JR Jayawardhana miserably
faile to do , and Chandrika got one eye blinded
without getting anywhere near even trying to end terrorism), but also shortly after the defeat of
terrorism Mahinda Rajapakse developed the country raising it from a developing
country to a middle income State.
That was the great achievement of Mahind Rajapakse what ever his antagonists make him out to be
, and none of them including Maithripala Sirisena, Ranil Wickrmasinghe, Chandrika
Kumaratunga or Mangala Samaraweera will ever be able to do. None of them also will ever be even equal to him let
along being greater than him.
The mess that we see today will continue, and
it could be re-established and put
things back in right order only when this unholy honeymoon of UNP, JVP,TNA,JHU is
over, by the return of Mahinda
Rajapakse or some one equal to him from perhaps the UPFA, but never from the
UNP.
The UNP spells disaster both then and now. Sri
Lanka has no place for USA or Western shaped capitalism of the UNP. SWRD
Bandaranaike once said that the river of socialism cannot be made to flow
backwards as it will always flow
downwards.
And that is the only hope we have while the UNP
and its crowded alliance are building dams to make the river of socialism flow backwards.
To-days
political situation in Sri
Lanka is utterly debased, brutal beyond
comprehension, with so much of hatred , jealousy and revenge in minds of those
in power . There are two Buddhist monks in the
ruling clan of good governance, they are also a part of this malicious
destructive political leadership. They could perhaps tell the trio Sirisena-Ranil-Chandrika how to run the country like human beings, without giving
into animal instincts.
Sirisena
wants to see the end of Rajapakses and so are Chandrika and Ranil. They have no time to rule the country. Never
in the world’s political history could be found a politically degenerated trio trying to rule with so much of hatred
towards one man who saved Sri
Lanka and developed it without thinking of
taking revenge from his political foe.
The vicious trio could be compared to Caligula. in the absence of any
one else.
This is the
first time we have the likes of them in Sri Lanka politics. They are actually running a police state and
not doing politics to develop the country and help the people live peacefully in an environment of universal love, without hatred, fear and
uncertainty.
