
By Tisaranee Gunasekara –
“Real patriots ask questions.” – Carl Sagan (The Demon-Haunted World)[i]
It is a union more perfect than perfect. Bodu Bala Sena has returned to its maha gedera (ancestral home) to openly assist its progenitors in their hour of need.
The BBS’s public alignment with the Rajapaksas provides yet another indicator about the sort of campaign the Siblings will run. There will be temporary price decreases and other giveaways. But the main theme of the Rajapaksa platform will be Fear. Fear of omnipresent threats and omnipotent enemies, the great big ogres out there waiting to get us. The identity of the enemy will vary depending on the time and the place; it could be rejuvenated LTTE, Islamic Jihadists, foreign conspirators, religious converters, economic saboteurs….. But the enemy will always be there, threatening to destroy national independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity, sow anarchy and drown the country in blood. The only bulwark against this terrible calamity, the citizenry will be told, is of course the Rajapaksas; so elect them, even if you are economically hurting and hopeless.
The world out there will be depicted as an unholy cabal of capitalists, imperialists, colonialists, Christian fundamentalists, Islamic Jihadists, Tamil Diaspora, NGO-types and human rights campaigners – all of them obsessed with Sri Lanka and united in their determination to destroy the country’s sole defenders, the Rajapaksas. Acolytes will wail that if Mahinda Rajapaksa is defeated, he, his brothers and all ‘War Heroes’ will be dragged before an international war crimes tribunal, found guilty wholesale and sent to the electric chair en masse. Candidate Rajapaksa will thunder that he will brave the electric chair a thousand times for the sake of the ‘War Heroes’ and ask the electorate to vote for him in gratitude.
Galagoda-Atte Gnanasara Thera has already fired the first salvo with his word-picture of the heroic Rajapaksas bidding a poetic farewell to Mother Lanka as the evil international forces take them away, bound hand and foot.
Will the public fall for these fake tale?
The only ‘War Hero’ to be dragged into undeserved incarceration, literally kicking and screaming, was the war-winning army commander Sarath Fonseka. And that act of base injustice and ingratitude was perpetrated by the super-patriotic Rajapaksas, just because Gen. Fonseka exercised his democratic right to oppose them legally and peacefully.
The only ‘War Heroes’ to be publicly humiliated were the soldiers who were officially assigned, by the state, to guard Candidate Fonseka during the 2010 Presidential election. They were ordered out of the Colombo hotel where Gen. Fonseka was staying, made to kneel on the road and taken away to jail manacled hand and foot. And that act of viciously petty revenge too was perpetrated by the Rajapaksas.
Then there was the senior intelligence officer who had an encounter with the abominable offspring of Minister Mervyn Silva. That ‘War Hero’ was accused of all sorts of crimes and forced to incriminate himself publicly (rather like the Samurdhi official), to save the ministerial brat. The Rajapaksas authored that egregious deed as well.
That is how the Rajapaksas treat any current or former military man when it suits their purposes.
That is their patriotism and their gratitude.
The Rajapaksas are covering themselves with the tattered patriotic flag and arming themselves with past-the-sell-by-date gratitude argument because they cannot conceive of a life without power. Other presidents could retire and go home. Presidents JR Jayewardene, DB Wijethunga and Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga did so. President Premadasa already had his retirement planned and was getting his future office in Colombo Central ready[ii] when he was killed by the LTTE.
The Rajapaksas cannot go home because there are all too many of them, occupying unmerited positions across the state and wallowing in luxuries at the expense of the people. Can most of them go back to being nobodies? Can they manage without power and its many trappings and privileges?
There is nothing they will not do to prevent their world from unravelling.
An unusually perceptive piece on elections quotes a small-scale bakery owner (and a Sinhalese) calling on all candidates, “Make sure our lives are better off than they were before”[iii]. It is a sentiment most Lankans, irrespective of the usual divides, are likely to agree on. Currently most Lankans are focusing on their own very real economic issues. And the Rajapaksas, in order to win without massive violence and utterly de-legitimising rigging, need to change this focus. In order to win with even a fig leaf they need to make Sinhala voters concentrate on imaginary enemies and imaginary threats.
Fear is the way to do it.
The BBS would play a major role in this campaign of fear-mongering.
BBS as Shock Troops
Cognitive linguist George Lakoff, who came up with the concept of ‘frames’, argues that “People use frames – deep seated mental structures about how the world works – to understand facts. Frames are in our brains and define our common sense. It is impossible to think without activating frames and which frames are activated is of crucial importance.”[iv] The Rajapaksas would try to imprison the election – and the electorate – in a frame of fear. They will seek do so with fake tales about enemies, threats and conspiracies. They will use all resources of the state to take this message into every Sinhala home. This may not suffice to prevent a large chunk of the Sinhala voters from deserting them. But the Siblings have no alternative, this side of generalised violence.
The BBS will be invaluable in this effort, because it can be delegated with the task of coming up with the really lurid anti-minority, anti-Western rhetoric. What will be said with a little obliqueness on the official UPFA platform will be shrieked with open belligerency on the BBS platform.
The BBS may also be used to physically attack opposition campaigners and supporters, especially monks who back Maithripala Sirisena. The possibility that thugs/former servicemen disguised in robes and led by a couple of bona fide BBS monks will be used to cause mayhem at opposition gatherings cannot be ruled out. The BBS after all has a history of physically assaulting political opponents. By using the BBS as shock troops the Rajapaksas can claim that the opposition is being attacked by patriotic monks enraged at the planned treachery.
If the Rajapaksas succeed with their fake tales, by the time the election is over, the divide between the majority and the minorities would have widened and deepened exponentially, rendering a peaceful Lankan future utterly impossible.
In real life, the story about the Emperor’s cloak can have several alternate endings, Terry Pratchett reminds us. It could be the story of the boy who was punished by his father for being rude to royalty; or the story of the crowd forced by armed guards into affirming that the emperor was always gloriously clothed or “the story of how a whole kingdom suddenly saw the benefits of the ‘new clothes’” and followed the imperial example, resulting in economic recession and/or a Pneumonia epidemic[v].
Which ending will the story of the Rajapaksas and their glorious patriotic cloak have?
Will Sinhalese see through the fake tales or fall for them? Will they succumb or will they overcome?
Dodo / November 30, 2014
Another Brilliant piece Thisaranee Dear. Keep up your good work!
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Dinuk / November 30, 2014
Dead on Madam! Indeed Mahinda Rajapaksa and his mouth piece the newspaper Ceylon Today are spinning tall stories and misinformation in a desperate bid to split the joint opposition.
The Ceylon Today owned by a MR’s stooge, corrupt and unethical Tiran Alles is a RACIST rag that is good to wipe Jarapassa’s ass and should be BOYCOTTED! Ceylon Today is constantly harping on GTF and the trial of Jarapassa. Indeed, Jarapassa needs to be tried for FINANCIAL CRIMES against the people of Lanka. It has also said that JHU and Champika are angry with Sirisena on implementing the LRRC recommendations. It is now very clear that Ceylon Today is a newspaper that spreads HATE SPEECH and communal violence and promotes the BBS Balu Sena agenda while pretending otherwise.
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Email / November 30, 2014
Yes, Thanks Titsaranee for focusing CT readers’ attention to the fact that all patriots are dedicated to reelecting Mahinda Rajapakse.
BBS is one important part of the Sinhala Buddhist force that will grow in to an international power in due course, growing to the Middle East to get the Palestinians’ rights back.
You, and other fifth column cronies of America and Britain will have no place to hide when this happens.
Bodu Balaya for ever.
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Burning Issue / November 30, 2014
email,
You the BBS goon; first you need to ensure that the minorities in Sri Lanka have their due rights before you worry about the Palastinians. Your sinhala Buddhist force is confined to Sri Lanka and it will soon die there. You need to remove your set of blinkers and face reality!
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Amarasiri / November 30, 2014
Dearest Tisaranee Gunasekara –
Pardon me for using Jane Austen language in addressing you.
Thank you very much. If you have a summary of Common Sense Sri Lanka 2014, now, You can distribute at the Hyde Part Common Opposition Rally on Tuesday Dec 2, 2014 at Colombo.
What are you waiting for? You are such a good writer.
“Real patriots ask questions.” – Carl Sagan (The Demon-Haunted World)[i]
Well, time for getting out the Common Sense pamphlet, Sri Lanka 2014, like what Thomas Paine did in 1776.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_Sense_%28pamphlet%29
Amarasiri is doing this for altruistic reasons.
The choice is yours…Just talk will not get there.. Talk to JVP they are doing more taking to the populace..Need to be in Sinhala, Tamil and English in the same pamphlet so that the Sinhala and Tamil students can improve their English as well.
The word needs to get out to the people, fast and quick. It needs to be in simple vernacular language so that people will understand..That is what Thomas Paine did for the Americans.
You can get a Free Copy Pdf of the Common sense by Thomas Paine here..
http://www.forgottenbooks.com/search?q=Common+Sense+Thomas+Paine&t=books
The Life of Thomas Paine, Author of Common Sense, Rights of Man, Age of Reason, With Critical and Explanatory Observations of His Writings
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Amarasiri / November 30, 2014
Dearest Tisaranee Gunasekara –
The line could be
Save Lanka from MaRa Apoaya. Use Common Sense.
“Lankava MaRa Apayen Beraganna” “Samanya Buddhiya Pavichhi Karanna”
Still need the Common Sense Phamplet
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ramona therese fernando / December 1, 2014
“…..the story of how a whole kingdom suddenly saw the benefits of the ‘new clothes’” and followed the imperial example, resulting in economic recession and/or a Pneumonia epidemic[v].”
Could it be that the whole kingdom, in implicit awareness that the C’mb stock exchange is pegged to the China stock exchange (or something), will vote Rajapakse, because pandemonium at the stock market in event of change of Gosl will make that Lankan Wall-Street crash so much, that it will become like Libya (without even an invasion).
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S.Modaya / November 30, 2014
Please translate and publish in Sinhala to educate the Sinhala Modayas, Madam!
Mahinda Jarapassa and his corrupt and criminal family that control 70 percent of the economy are the ENEMY WITHIN Lanka that has spread like an AIDS virus over the past 10 years and is rotting the country today.
The corrupt and criminal family has eaten into and destroyed all institutions and democracy in Sri Lanka and must be held ACCUNTABLE.
The joint opposition candidate, SIrisen has NO right to and should NOT promise to “protect” this criminal family – but rather must hold them ACCOUNTABLE for all their FINANCIAL CRIMES against the people of Lanka.
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Realist / November 30, 2014
// Currently most Lankans are focusing on their own very real economic issues
Nonsense!
Currently most Lankans are focusing on how to save face. They are being urged to act before the president and ex army commander and heroic defence secretary and the suer hero army are going to be disgraced and exposed for what they are.
Maithripala Sirisena says it all in trying to woo voters who are focused this way.
Most Lankans are fed too much aid and they do not suffer economic issues as they are in reality. Only when Rajapaksa wins and the aid donors realise their game plan is not working will the Lankan masses ever wake up. ie when the economic reality dawns on them.
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Afzal / November 30, 2014
In my opinion BBS will be a massive liability to MR regime. In the past the media (whatever was allowed by the regime) pictured BBS as propagating a valid point, sorry to say most in the majority community sided with BBS views.
However this time around common apposition will openly disclose all the lies and counter the BBS propaganda. We are already hearing about extravagant spending my MR Regime. More BBS talk more the regime will get exposed. Ganasara already issued statement saying Muslims and Christians has nothing to fear from BBS.
However I am still skeptical about our majority community voters. Don’t think it will be cake walk. MR is not going just let things turned over and go home.
This election will clearly define the mindset of our voters and their aspirations. This election will decide what path this country is going to take.
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Nabil / November 30, 2014
BBS is planning for a Mega Event on 29 May 2015 to commemorate the 100th Anniversary of the Sinhala-Muslim riots that took place in 1915. They want it to be the worst riot ever in Sri Lanka, even worse than the ’83 July. What happened at Aluthgama was just a trial run to see if can be successfully done. It is believed that the Rajapakshe government has already given the BBS the green light to plan and execute. Gota is the master mind behind it.
According to the information (leaked from a BBS member), hundreds of Mosques throughout the country will be demolished, all the major businesses that belongs to the Muslims will be looted, damaged and burnt down making them instant paupers. The people will be attacked and chased away to refugee camps, whoever tries to retaliate will be murdered and their women folk will be raped. Their houses will be looted and then burnt down.
This time they are planning to begin from Kandy and proceed to Colombo. Both President Mahinda and Defense Secretary Gota will be out of the country during that time. The Police and the armed forces will be ordered not to take any action against the rioters but allow it to happen until the President returns back and stops it, after all the major damage is done.
What the Sinhala-Buddhists are unable to understand is, Sri Lanka will become not only a beggar state but also a pariah state which will not be able to recover for many decades. The Rajapakshe family has already looted enough money for them to settle down and live a luxury life in another country. As usual, the foolish Sinhala-Buddhists will live in poverty forever.
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Taraki / November 30, 2014
‘..worse than the ’83 July…Gota is the master mind… hundreds of Mosques throughout the country will be demolished….businesses that belongs to the Muslims will be looted, damaged and burnt….will be murdered and their women folk will be raped’
We will quote your scaremongering and hate-spreading when nothing happens on 29 May.
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whywhy / November 30, 2014
Removal of Gota from the post will do most of the
magic for a peaceful election sans scaremongering
and spread of rumors like violence and hate-spread.
At least 50 percent less.
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Navin / November 30, 2014
In May 2015 the Jarapakses will be rotting in jail at the Hague.
At that time MS/Ranil will be ruling the country with maithri and karuna.
You will be playing with your willy in an attic somewhere.
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Afzal / November 30, 2014
Well we should look at the bright side there wont be a BBS come 2015.
On the other hand what is to happen will happen, there is nothing much we can do about it except to look at our own actions.
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Taraki / November 30, 2014
What happened to Hepenstall will happen to us all!
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whywhy / November 30, 2014
Nobody expects a peaceful election,it was already
exhibited in Maggona.BBS was created to intimidate
voters and all what they did in the past were their
training and rehearsal and a guarantee on the part
of their maters that they will come out clean after
the exercise.Not only Muslims,but Buddhists,Hindus,
and Christians world over watched this.The world is
well aware as to how a lawless regime will behave at
the slightest notice from the International community
of their lawlessness.Now that all important moment is
created,very well ahead of time,everybody knows how
they will behave.First of all,they didn’t shy to
display who they are and what their plans are,when
the family started to invade key positions so that
their grip lasts until thrown out by a bigger and
united force.Experts expect wild attacks to intimidate
opponents as the going get tough.Their presidential
campaign started with the BBS launching anti-Muslim
hatred two years ago.The govt watched Muslims being
massacred in Aluthgama.And also the govt watched how
Muslims reacted in Uva PC elections.We now see reports
that Amir Ali refused to fill the vacancy created by
Azwer.Fake sacrifice of Azwer exposed by another
watchful smart sacrifice.People are waking up?
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whywhy / November 30, 2014
Correction: not “maters,” masters please.
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K.A Sumanasekera / November 30, 2014
…”Destroy Sovereignty, Territorial integrity, Independence, Sow Anarchy,and drowm the nation in a mega pool of blodd ” … says Ms T…
I would have added .. in Dalit blood
A beautiful description of what our inhabitants are facing?..
Sorry… is it beautiful?.
This is in fact what our inhabitants see day in and day out on Aljezeera 24/7 news from the Middle East Desk…
Thanks Ms T…
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Vibhushana / November 30, 2014
Well, My3 is a very good choice. Although the plan suffers from the same ailment as the Gen SF candidacy.
The opposition leader trying to win by proxy. Its fundamentally flawed. This all boils down to the Jaffna Tamil issue. The Jaffna issue cannot be swept aside by Ranil and the UNP. The electorate is demanding closure here before good governance issue are dealt with.
The TNA must fall inline with the Parliament. What this means is TNA in PSC and working out a solution there. It makes sense too as the Exec prez can be abolished at the same time with 2/3 majority. There is no Indian pressure any longer to keep 13th amendment.
I suspect what will happen is the second option. MR will win and he will diminish the Jaffna issue to such an extent PSC will become redundant. CC will lose along with Ranil. Ranil will retire leaving Sajith to run UNP. The incumbent and Rajapske succession plan will triumph. The UNP will need to revamp everything and dig deep after Ranil to win elections again.
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Vanda / November 30, 2014
Yes, we have heard stories that his rice mafia king brother “Dudley” has said that there are 12 brothers in the family who are prepared to die to elect My3-pala.
So they are offering 12 thieves to replace the elected Rajapakse clan?
No thanks. leave those amudayas at Polonnaruwa.
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Vibhushana / November 30, 2014
Well Vanda,
“amudayas” eh? Only a fool would insult the farmer. Just like you insult the monk and the professional.
You sound like a guy who is getting paid for commenting. How much do you get paid ? Rs 10 per post? It looks that cheap.
I cannot imagine how you live with yourself as a con artist. How do you explain yourself to your children Im wondering.
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Navin / November 30, 2014
Udhushana
You comment .. ha ha
Pot calling the kettle black … ho ho [Edited out]
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The Messenger / November 30, 2014
Some people say, both Ranil and Chandrika (CBK) are very unpopular among the Sinhala-Buddhists. The Sinhalese people want Mahinda and his 400 thieves (his family & friends) OUT but at the same time they do not want Ranil and CBK IN.
Let us see how Mahinda the executive President is performing:
1. Tell one thing to Tamils, another thing to Muslims, another to the Sinhalese in Colombo, another to the Sinhalese in the villages. This guy is multi-faced! Also same to the Chinese Indians and the west!
2. He orchestrated the Aluthgama riots and pretended as if nothing happened.
3. Waste money on many big projects like Mihin, Port, etc the list goes on…
4. Law and order no more
5. Independent judiciary No more
6. Free media no more
7. Corruption – highest rate in the history
8. Worst cronyism – family control – dictatorship – plundering
9. No solution for key areas – ethnic politics still dominate the international agenda (full credit goes to MR for further internationalising the issues hence the UN West involvement).
10. Military, Police and navy working to protect the family rule – NOT THE CITIZENS of Lanka
11. False promises
Damage done will take several years or decades to rectify but Mahinda and his 400 thieves (his family & close friends) will escape leaving the new government to reap their blunders.
So MS, Ranil & CBK is very much better than Mahinda and his 400 thieves.
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Paul / November 30, 2014
Chaura Raja?
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K.A Sumanasekera / November 30, 2014
Canadian MP Rathika Setibastian held a Cocktail party in Scarborough to celebrate the Birthday of her Thalavar..
Apparently it was a roaring success with a lot of dignitaries in attendance.
And they lit candles too.
With Sira volunteering to give leadership to the UNP, TNA , Diaspora Alliance, it certainly is a special occasion worth celebrating.
Wonder whether Ms T got an invitation too..
Topics discussed over Ontario Wines would have been all about good stuff like giving the Dalits a good life with Diaspora dosh, Leadership training for TNA Police, new Airports, Harbours,Holiday Resorts, unlike in the past when they read the list of Martyrs and proposed toasts to their successes.
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Re / November 30, 2014
Another great article by Tisaranee. The regime is desperate of course, and will stoop to any crime, to remain in power, and as Tisaranee says, they must be terrified of being out of power, and losing their privileges.
But don’t worry, they have fleeced this country so much, they will be sitting on their millions and ill gotten gains in far away lands, who will easily welcome the rats. If only the people can see how much they have fleeced this country, it would turn any voter off.
The country will be flooded by manufactured tales of danger from outside and within. The people are naive enough to buy the BS, like they always do when BBS spreads false rumors of Muslims taking over the country.
They will use the naivety of the rural folks to get the vote, by spreading these fake stories, but hopefully the stronger opposition will be able to convince the majority that it is time this corrupt family was kicked out of office, and will be replaced by a regular democratic government, not one filled with members of the same stinking, corrupt family. Sri Lankans deserve a country not ruled by thugs and rogues.
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Crazyoldmansl / November 30, 2014
I am not sure how many readers of the Colombo Telegraph understand the deep disappointment and sadness of the members of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party and all those who understand and respect the ideology, political programs and policy positions that it has espoused.
Many had deep misgivings as to the suitability of Mahinda Rajapaksa as a leader when the question of the misappropriation of tsunami aid came to light. However following the end of the war many of these misgivings were forgotten and drowned by the hope that the Sinhala Buddhist people at last had a king-like ruler blessed with a vigorous lineage whose dynasty it was hoped would rule with justice and wisdom.
It did not take very long for these hopes to be dashed which happened as soon as the way the election commissioner was treated before all the world no sooner were presidential elections held and the by playing accomplice to this murder of democracy India our closest neighbor has set herself up for a dose of the same that she is just beginning to feel.
The hoped for righteous, just and wise king has turned into something far less appealing and the hopes for a golden age of Sinhala Buddhist rule have been dashed. This fact has taken almost a decade to sink in and overcome hopes that the man may change and become the sage that all had hoped he would be.
Now there is no room for doubt. The king has declared that should he lose the election he will once again “turn defeat into victory” just as he did with the help of India at his very first presidential election. The financial affairs and conduct of this monarch confirm the misgivings that arose when the tsunami fraud came to light and these misgivings now extend to the question of what happened to the massive amounts of gold that had been stolen from the Tamil people by the LTTE and the mysterious manner in which attempts were made to move illegal ivory from certain African nations into global black markets through Sri Lanka apparently in return for golden favors granted by these nations to the king. These are now matters of common knowledge amongst children and will form parts of folklore that embellish the history of Sri Lanka’s attempted 21st century royal dynasty.
The SLFP is a party in mourning not only because of this ugly financial conduct but also because the concentration of power in one family has prevented other noble families within the party from using political power to improve the lives of the Sinhala Buddhist people who voted them to power. These people have been languishing in neglect for close to a decade and their sorrow and disappointment knows no bounds.
It is this boundless sadness and disappointment that has led the General Secretary of the SLFP himself to come forward with the fullest support of his party to come forward as an alternative SLFP candidate and put right the wrongs that all the world can see. The SLFP has always been a magnanimous and dignified party and its leadership has never hesitated to correct its mistakes. IT is natural therefore that it has invited all right thinking persons from all political persuasions and parties to support it in its task of cleansing the islands polity of the sickness that has arisen and restore the liberal democratic traditions of tolerance, non violence and broad inclusiveness while standing firmly in defense of national sovereignty that it and the peoples right to advance their political aspirations through democratic means that this party has always espoused and advanced.
This is not a triumphal or vindictive or vengeful movement. It is a movement based on contrition and the disappointment and sadness generated by dashed hopes and a deep sense of responsibility that what has been allowed to go wrong due to high but misplaced hopes must now be put right and the nations made whole and healthy once more.
May the noble party of the people succeed in this task and let us all – regardless of our political persuasions and political affiliations – wholeheartedly support the SLFP in this righteous and profoundly Buddhist agenda. May we succeed and may we go on to build a nation where all beings may be happy and live in peace and may the tree of righteousness be planted on this island this Uduvap Poya day.
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Spring Koha / November 30, 2014
Tisaranee has been uncannily prescient with the scenario she describes. As they say in the deep south, out of chaos comes opportunity. Too much is at stake for the brothers and their coterie of thugs and hangers-on to ‘play by the rules’.
MR, of course, starts favourite. He will remind everyone that it was he who found the political resolve, and it was his brother who prepared the military to finish the job. Then he will tell the people that the security of our beautiful blessed island has been secured only by the constant vigilance of those who won the peace. Trump that!
Tisaranee asks “Will the public fall for these fake tale?”
MR only needs some five and a half million to fall for his ‘tales of the unexpected’. Very ‘gettable’ according to the psephologists that I have talked with.
Expect him also to regale the people with his ‘tales’ of a ONCE-LOYAL minister who has done the ‘DIRTY’ on a heroic Prez who will walk head held high to the electric chair, in defence of his beloved country, and the heroes who defended it, and won the ‘war’.
I think we have enough now for a twenty-first century version of the Jataka Tales when all this has finished.
Meanwhile, down south, I heard a familiar voice call “Gota, polla genning, balla maranda…”
You cannot make these things up folks!
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Ram / November 30, 2014
The world out there IS an unholy cabal of capitalists, imperialists, colonialists, Christian fundamentalists, Islamic Jihadists, Tamil Diaspora, NGO-types etc. Some of them DO mean us harm. There are also the INTERNAL enemies who connive with outsiders like the ‘adorable criminal’ Jeyalalitha and the ‘peace-loving’ Vaiko among many others.
We have the Sri Lankan born MP in Canada who has difficulty distinguishing between murderous terrorists and the Army veterans. The latest canard being propagated is that ONLY 7% of the diasporan Tamils ever supported and still support the LTTE terrorists. What is even more laughable is the fact that those who were vehement in their criticism of the Bandaranayake clan which has given us three leaders and had been described as the most damaging to ethnic harmony now kowtowing at the feet of CBK, the lesser of two evils as seen by them.
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Katmai / November 30, 2014
Good thing you keep refreshing the memories of this “easily forgetful nation” of past moronic action of the Rajapaksas that make their grandiose claims completely hollow; God knows, these people can use some help in that department.
It was understandable that people in 2005 fell for the snake-oil salesman that is Rajapaksa. But by 2010, with his family and cronies taking over all important government positions, bloating the cabinet to payoff politicos, underhanded dealings with the Chinese and total incompetence throughout the government should have given people ample evidence to realize that the war victory was not his making but that he just happened to be the guy on the controls when the spaceship hit light-speed. I figured it was clear to everyone that giving the responsibility to economically rebuild the country, after a 3 decade war, to someone who has no clue in this regard was a bad idea.
But NO….. the way Sri Lankans chose to show gratitude was by giving their country to be screwed around for 6 more years. I have seen people do some real stupid things trying to show gratitude but this definitely takes the cake.
Country’s economy is messed up; but you just don’t know it yet. On one hand Sri Lankans are lucky that they have a chance to free them from the torture 2 years early. But on the other hand you are not smart enough to take the chances you are given.
This is like watching a bad horror film. As the audience you think the Rajapaksas who overstayed his welcome will be chased away. You think the voters will vote for the opponent because they don’t want to see him go through what they did to the previous opponent.
But just like in bad horror films the Sri Lankan Voters will do the stupidest thing possible and bitch about it for the rest of their lives.
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Peace / December 1, 2014
“Will the public fall for these fake tale?”
Common man has been taken for a ride all these years with this kind of tales.
That is why its important for every one who think right, to take this to grass root level and expose the dubious claims.
This is perhaps the last chance to hold for unity and territorial integrity with meaningful devolution to Minorities.
If this opportunity is missed it will only be separation or separation and annexation of part of the island.
The writing is in the wall.
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Jim softy / December 1, 2014
I think If Maithripala Sirisena takes some leadership and keeps CBK and Ranil hands away and work, things will be OK.
As messenger says People don’t like CBK, Ranil as well as Mahinda Rajapakse. If Rajapakses are to exist Gotabaya would be a better choice. But, Mahinda Rajapakse is so egoistic, he thinks he must do it. He does not want to understand people. But, It is him who surrounded with thieves, thugs, criminals. It is him who have hundreds of advisers, hundreds of ministers and hundreds of relatives working for him. It is him who promoted massive commissions taking from every project and that led to heavy corruption. Those things can not be proven in the courts as those have been carried within the legal means. On the other hand, those things are very much out of usual procedures. So, special courts are needed.
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punchinilame / December 1, 2014
I dare CT to pubish this news appearing in a web-site today: [Edited out]
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ela kolla / December 1, 2014
another crap of an article by [Edited out]
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Sylvia Haik / December 1, 2014
I can see from some of the comments here that the Rajapakses are not short of sycophants. By virtue of their naivete or by choice, they are in denial of the corruption and the injustices meted out by this regime. Just like the Nazis, once they have captured the weak, they will come for them as well because under a Dictator, paranoia rules and nobody is considered safe.
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