By Laksiri Fernando –
Dr. Laksiri Fernando
Vice Chancellor
University of Colombo
11 October 2015
Dear Vice Chancellor,
I wish to draw your attention to the conferring of honorary doctorates in 2009 to the then President Mahinda Rajapaksa and the Secretary to the Ministry of Defence, Gotabaya Rajapaksa by the University of Colombo. As you may know, I was the proposer of this motion at the Senate on the 29th of May 2009 which was carried unanimously and later approved by the Council of the University.
The premise for that proposal was that both the President and the Secretary of Defence had rendered an immense service to the country by bringing an end to the nearly three decades of war that bled the country and even disrupted the university education. The citations for the event would speak for the more specific reasons. However, the subsequent events as well as what have transpired later as their immediate past actions have shown that both have exceeded their powers vested in them by the people.
For example, President Rajapaksa ventured to exceed the traditions of democracy by lifting the two terms limit for the presidency and contesting for a third term in January this year. There are credible allegations of gross human rights violations at the last stages of the war under their command. In 2013, shooting in Weliweriya and at the Welikada prison also happened under their command. All these and other events have breached the confidence that the University of Colombo placed in them in conferring those doctorates.
Universities do make mistakes in conferring honorary doctorates and when they are realized the tradition is to revoke them. I apologise for whatever mistake I have made on this matter. If I may cite a similar example, in 1919, the University of Pennsylvania revoked the honorary degrees that they previously conferred to Germany’s Kaiser and its Ambassador to the US and Mexico. There have been more than ten revocations since then all over the world.
As you know, I am retired and as a result no longer a member of the Senate or the University of Colombo. Therefore, I nominate Dr Nirmal Ranjith Devasiri (or his nominee) who has publicly raised this issue with me to propose a revocation of these honorary degrees in the Senate. I do hope that you would allow a free discussion on this matter at the Senate and take a decision to revoke the said two honorary degrees.
Yours sincerely,
Dr Laksiri Fernando
Former Senior Professor in Political Science and Public Policy
Dr. S. Mahadeva Vet. / October 12, 2015
Propose To Revoke Doctorates From GR & MR
I was under the impression that GR & MR conferred it unto themselves by their own style of doing things, that makes the Colombo University Senate was not under duress to confer the decree, and not to be counted as shameless cowardice the entire lot of the senate, that is what Dr.Devasiri proposed and is seconded by Prof. Laksiri Fernando regretting and repenting the folly.
Colombo University Senate would have been better placed, if they had researched on who really killed Prof. Stanley Wijeyasundra, within the University in the hype of JVP violence rather than wasting time and resources conferring Doctorates on those same killers!
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Wimalaratne / October 15, 2015
Dear Dr Laksiri Fernando,
[Edited out]
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roger / October 12, 2015
backboneless Senate of the UOF agreed to confer the honor on these two brother which was initiated by the then VC who was a black mark in the history of UOC. The fact REMAINS THAT THE WHOLE ACADEMIC COMMUNITY OF THE uoc remained silent when this was proposed. There is no point in blaming the VC for you cannot expect anything else from a person of her caliber. It was pathetic. But all academics silently endorsing was worse. Not a single academic stood up against it…. this showed the caliber of intellectuals we have… I wont be surprised if the UOC decides to confer honour on the present President and the PM…again no one will protest.
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Sylvia Haik / October 13, 2015
There is no shame for proposing MR and GR for the doctorates as it was perfectly valid at the time. We did not know then about the nefarious activities of these two as we know now. Revoking of these honorary doctorates is not without precedent. Bill Cosby had bestowed on him doctorates from more than 12 universities and almost all of them now revoked. Even Robert Mugabe had his doctorate revoked. On the other hand these degrees should be viewed as symbolic as the muppet Kermit the Frog was conferred one from a prestiguous university in USA.
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Petros / October 16, 2015
Hi! Silvia,
It is sad that our measurement of giving a doctorate is based on the principle of brutally putting down another brutal organisation in the name of peace what is the difference between each of these groups. It is meaningless to talk about honor and dignity for people who had a scant regard for the rule of law and the constitution.
I knew what they did in the name of war would be unleashed against all that opposed them, as had been proven.
Fear causes us to be blind to the truth, and it is a very sad case that the academics in with their “knowledge” cannot see this.
Petros
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Plato. / October 12, 2015
Maya.
A powerful argument,I admit.
Perhaps,Dr.Laksiri may have had his own reasons.I would not speculate.
It appears that he did not go pell-mell in proposing this award.At that point of time had he not played ball he may have been white-vanned! He may have thought that the deck is now clear to come clean.You see at the end of the war practically every person in the country was falling over one another in celebrating the War victory.
The only question that begs an answer is why this knee-jerk reaction after Dr.Dewasiri spilt the beans?
My gut reaction is,that there is more to this than meets the eye!
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Agnos / October 12, 2015
Dr.Fernando,
My memory is that for a period between 2008 and a year or two following the end of the war, there were many academics including Michael Roberts and you, who came out with arguments in support of the Rajapaksa regime, when others pointed out the enormous cost of civilian lives in the Vanni. At that point I was somewhat harsh in my criticism of Roberts and you, pointing out many with past liberal records had become acolytes of the Rajapaksas and thereby lost academic objectivity, and you said that I was being abusive.
But the revelation that you proposed the doctorates for the Rajapaksas, no matter what rationalizations you can give now, shows I was right in my criticism.
Like Rajasingham Narendran who also initially saw something good in Mahinda Rajapaksa, in time, you came to see the evil nature of the Rajapaksa regime and its blatant lies, and I stopped my criticism of him and you. But what it shows is that while some Tamil academic counterparts were wrong in becoming apologists for the LTTE, many more Sinhalese academics were wrong in becoming apologists for the Rajapaksa regime.
I appreciate the fact that unlike Roberts or Rajiva Wijesinha, you are making efforts to do some soul-searching of your actions during that period.
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Agnos / October 13, 2015
Dr. Fernando,
As a follow-up to my earlier comments today, please see this link to your earlier article on CT in November 2013 (https://www.colombotelegraph.com/index.php/human-rights-should-not-be-utilised-any-longer-to-recreate-a-new-violent-conflict/) and the comments from you, DJ, me, Winston de Valliere, et. al.
It will show whose views have been borne out by the post-Jan 2015 conditions in SL and the report by the OHCHR and Prince Zeid Al Hussein.
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Dr Laksiri Fernando / October 13, 2015
Agnos,
I don’t regret supporting MR to defeat the LTTE after many efforts at a negotiated settlement to the ethnic conflict. I have always called it a terrorist organization. My support to any politician or a regime has always been conditional. I am not an arm chair preacher or a coward to make only comments without revealing the true identity. Defeating terrorism was achieved. After defeating terrorism my effort has been to promote reconciliation. For a while, I waited to see whether MR would do anything, and failing which I fought for regime change. That is also achieved. It is not my personal achievement but I contributed to it. My present effort is to achieve a middle ground to achieve reconciliation. It is a long process. My support to MS/RW is also conditional in that context. My effort is to find a middle ground.
I frankly cannot understand your motive Agnos. If it is just to satisfy your ego, I feel pity for you. However, if it is to discredit me and assassinate my integrity, I strongly object to that. I have nothing to retract what I have said in the article you have referred to. In that article I was criticising some Western powers. Are you annoyed of that? There were many previous article since early 2012 when I was criticising MR strongly. When I write an article, the purpose is to investigate a particular topic, go through the available information and facts and present a viewpoint. It is not like an act that I perform. I may regret my actions, but not what I express unless there are factual errors or unethical remarks on someone or something. Those are my principles. I have no black and white principles to completely denounce some people and praise some others. All depend on the facts.
Colombo Telegraph is an important forum for dialogue if it is not abused for personal or narrow political ends. With freedom of expression there should be responsibilities. When dozens of people make accusations, present disinformation, I am not in a position to answer all or most. Most of the accusations come using pseudonyms. Someone in the name of Vimukthi even has said that I had supported a Tamil militant organization in training their cadres in the past. This is a blatant lie. I have never supported violence or any militant/armed group in the South or the North. People should be able to express their positions without just making comments and criticisms. If they try to get pleasure out of character assassination, it is unfortunate. This is part of Sri Lanka’s problem, it appears.
Therefore, I request the Editor of the Colombo Telegraph to limit the comments to those who write in their true and full names. Otherwise, it is a gross injustice to the writers like me who write on sensitive political issues.
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Native Vedda / October 13, 2015
Dr Laksiri Fernando
“My support to any politician or a regime has always been conditional”
It is all about the nature of a crook who bribed the terrorists to win his first presidential elections should have informed you about the person whom you conditionally supported.
He perverted democracy.
He bribed LTTE to win the elections, perverting election laws.
He was dealing with LTTE an organisation which was banned in many countries including India and USA.
Where did he get the funds to pay LTTE, an act which if investigated has serious repercussion for the country and individuals which amounts to money laundering, untaxed income, proceeds from narcotics, profits from crime, …..?
Did any other country finance him? If yes then what does sovereignty mean to the people?
Yet you found it acceptable to support MR and his goons just because he was willing to destroy LTTE. Once a crook MR is always a crook.
By the way Hindians had already made a plan to destroy LTTE in early 2005 any way. They had had the approval from Chanrika.
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srilal / October 13, 2015
Dear Dr Laksiri Fernando ,
Let me tell you , i’m an ardent follower of your articles, and i find all most all of your articles are worth reading ! nevertheless after reading your reply to Agnos , i thought of writing a reply to you.
As far as i see ,your support for Mahinda Rajapaksa up until his 2nd term is a huge mistake , why i say this ? before putting some one’s full weight behind a politician , a professional like you ought to consider few major facts i.e that particular politicians child hood , his family back ground , his academic and professional qualifications , work ethics , social responsibilities , his own ethics & morals , his close associates , how he or she has climbed the political ladder etc etc . take Mahinda Rajapaksa’s character , has he had a good adultescent ? has he passed his SSC ? has he passed his law degree without cheating/plagiarising ? who were his close associates in late 80 and 90 s , weren’t they under ground Mafia characters ? i.e Chandi Malli , Julampitiya Amarya et al .isn’t he accused of taking some one’s life at Mulkirigala by election in mid 80’s ? hadn’t he manipulated Anura B to go against his own mother ? hadn’t he tried to exploit JVP insurgency for his own political gain ? hadn’t he leaked all the cabinet secrets to media during CBK period ? how did he become the presidential nominee in 2005 ? who actually killed lakshman Kadiragama ? hadn’t he bribed Prabakaran to boycott the N/E votes in 2005 ? was he the legitimate president in 2005 ? what was the gap between MR and Ranil in 2005 presidential election ? wasn’t it below , 160,000 ? even after taking away Ranil’s rightful place in 2005 , what had he been doing until he was chased out by SL people ? what was his first deal after becoming the president of SL ? wasn’t it re-negotiating Norochcholai power station with the chineese for a fat commission ? where were all his siblings before he became the president ? how many of us heard about Gota and Basil before ? under the pretext of national security , hadn’t he abused and raped the country ? LTTE terrorism was a god’s gift for an opportunistic person like Mahinda , under the banner ” save the motherland from LTTE terrorism menace ” what crimes hadn’t he committed under the sun ? hadn’t he secretly negotiated with Prabakaran to come to a settlement ? what was his strategy to defeat the LTTE terrorism ? hadn’t he given unlimited freedom to Gotabaya to do what ever HE THOUGHT was right to do ? hadn’t Gotabaya tried to march the whole SL population under his direct command ? hadn’t Gota killed many reporters , human right defenders , opposition political figures in fact who ever raised any voice against their dynasty ?
How many uni vice chancellors and dons were directly supporting MR before and after 2009 ? my question is , why all those academics blindly follow MR version of defeating terrorism ? i can honestly tell you , even before he became the president , i was dead against MR becoming the president of SL , i knew exactly what was going to happen , he manipulated and exploited the whole sinhala population (including the so called university dons) for his own long term survival , he planned and executed precisely the manner in which satisfied the gullible SL masses, today we are repenting , what a sad story !
Dr Laksiri , one more thing of your judgement on others , remember Dayan Jayathilaka ? weren’t you defending him on this very forum few years ago? hadn’t i told you that DJ is an opportunistic educated fool ? please go through the archives and see how you defended this DJ character.
generally speaking there are two categories which fall under MR supporters
1) who can be manipulated easily
or
2) down right racists
i’m not saying you belong to any of them , you are an exception .
Kind Regards.
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Sirimal / October 14, 2015
As usual those who really respect the truth as it is, will respect you forever. You are among the few I know on this forum who always add the truths AND predictions about the future of the island nation as no other did sofar. You have articulated all what I would put in terms of the real nature of MR. This particular creature as you earlier thought, looted the nation/country as former Congo president did it.
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srilal / October 15, 2015
Dear Sirimal ,
it’s always inspiring to read your comments, Sirimal we all together did what was impossible to even think before 8 jan 2015 .Srilanka had been raped by MR and his goons since 2005 Nov 19 , it will probably take another decade or more to come out from that Mahinda Chinthana nightmare.
with regards to Dr Laksiri Fernando , i’m not trying to ridicule or insult that gentleman Dr Laksiri , he is a real gentleman ,all i’m trying to do is , just to high light few of the mistakes which he had committed in the past ,that’s all ! under no circumstances we must attack him , he had done a lot to educate the masses about MR’s duplicity , he was spearheading to oust MR democratically , i think as a nation we owe him alot , we all must respect and show gratitude towards Dr Laksiri for his positive contributions than concentrating on the negatives.
Take Care Sirimal.
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Banjiappu / October 15, 2015
So called ” Ugaththu- Educated people” had no chance during the MR era. They were shut by all means – so that they had been given the lowest place in the society. No sociologists, psychologists seemed brought analyses of acceptable nature – even if we have humanatarian faculties lawfaculties at least for few Univerisites in the country. THere are Uni dons that work for them – these professors have earned world recognition for their articles and publications, but to have stayed mum as if they were too fed with CLAY (as if Kirimati gilapu kimbulas) – wihtout reacting proactively prove everything.
Nimal Dewasiri of the cmbo uni was one of the few voices nevertheless risked his life. The other was that brave hamuduruwo- Dr. Dambare Amila Thero – if we the country owned the kind of personalities in dozens, we would NOT have eneded up with today levels of society- almost similar to that of illerates filled Pakistan to this date.
Hey Ugathuni think again and what you can do is lot more. Not just to be alert on Uni agendas only, not to be like another Dayan Jayathilakas, but to react against justice and fairness.
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Dr. Gnana Sankaralingam / October 14, 2015
Dear Prof Laksiri,
No one can find fault with you for supporting Mahinda to defeat LTTE or calling it a terrorist organisation. We are finding fault with you for giving unconditional support to armed forces in their fight, violating basic human rights of Tamils. Also you cannot find fault with any Tamil calling the armed forces of Srilanka as a terrorist organisation, because if you use the same yardstick as for LTTE, the armed forces also have committed the same offences, infact more in number and brutality.
Taking weapons to safeguard a community against racist murderous government cannot be morally called a crime though legally it may be. If the gun was not pointed at Tamils for demanding their legitimate rights to regain their soverignty or safeguard their territoraial integrity, no Tamil would have pointed it back. It is the LTTE that was intransigent, not the majority of Tamils. To be fair there was no sincere attempt by any government to grant the rights to Tamils to rule their land themselves.
In contrast look at Nepal, which has drafted a new constitution. Despite 80% of them being Hindus, they have declared the state as secular. They have also made it federal in order to accommodate the southern areas without splitting the area, which is populated by recent north-Indian immigrants. In Srilanka they want unitary status maintained and want to split the Tamil homelands into two. Please see the recent archaeological findings in Eastern province which prove a pre-Buddhistic Tamil pressence there.
You are saying that you had attempted for a political solution after the end of the war. Can you elaborate on it. How can you effectively devolve power under a unitary constitution, when a legislature controlled by Sinhala majority sits supreme over the fate of Tamils. What is the unit of devolution, now that evidence has been unearthed that Tamils were the original inhabitants of eastern province. Please propose a solution following the example set by Nepalese to clear Srilanka of racist label.
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Agnos / October 14, 2015
Dr. Fernando,
If you can’t think of valid reasons other than cowardice for people to use aliases on the internet, that is not my problem. I have consistently used my alias for several years on CT and GV, and I have never abused it. CT may be the playground of many retired people who can write in their own names, but others have valid reasons to use an alias.
Coming to the topic at hand, by the end of the war, there was plenty of evidence of white van abductions, murder, torture and large scale slaughter, rape, etc. The ACF-17 and Trinco-5 massacres, the murders of Lasantha W., Raviraj, Pararajasingham and many, many others had also taken place. As someone who had previously been hired to teach Human Rights to the Army, you weren’t some utterly naive man unaware of who directed all those atrocities. And yet, not only did you have no problem in proposing doctorates to MR and GR, you even supported MR for re-election, as Srilal above makes clear.
If you are truthful in saying you were hesitant in proposing doctorates, you would not have supported his re-election more than a year after that.
Of all the different ways of defeating the LTTE, why was the strategy of ‘boxing the LTTE in with civilians’ considered the only viable one, despite the clear knowledge that it would slaughter a large number of civilians? Especially so with a tsunami and the Karuna split having weakened the LTTE, and with the benefit of intelligence from the Tamil paramilitaries? Why did a government that had benefited from the international community’s revulsion at child conscription by the LTTE, then decide to go ahead and slaughter them with the full knowledge they were conscripts?
Did you not rush to support the regime so that no matter what the critics said, no matter how many atrocious crimes were committed by the regime, it would result in the fait accompli of the LTTE’s end, and you can later on rationalize, delay, stonewall, obfuscate and protect those who made those decisions; that if push came to shove, the regime could prosecute a few low level people and call justice done?
You can try to evade such questions, but these will follow you to the grave. We in the diaspora owe a duty to the people back home to stay on these issues until closure.
There are plenty of other Sinhalese people who either voiced their opposition to the manner the war was conducted from the start, or if they supported it at that time, slowly realized the scale of its crimes and regretted having supported the particular way the war was conducted. Let them talk about reconciliation; despite the fact that you came to advocate regime change more recently, you are still not there, and I don’t think you can expect people to take your talk of reconciliation and middle ground seriously.
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Daham / October 15, 2015
“If you are truthful in saying you were hesitant in proposing doctorates, you would not have supported his re-election more than a year after that”.
“You can try to evade such questions”
Agnos has put the Author,Dr Laksiri Fernando, in a tight corner. Will he be able to give a plausible reason for the above quote?
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Native Vedda / October 14, 2015
Dr Laksiri Fernando
“Therefore, I request the Editor of the Colombo Telegraph to limit the comments to those who write in their true and full names. Otherwise, it is a gross injustice to the writers like me who write on sensitive political issues.”
Come on, are you being serious?
Why should pseudonyms bother you as long as you don’t focus on their names and ignore their message which you might consider offensive?
People have the right to say and do stupid things at the spur of the moment, for reasons not only not known to them but also to the wider audience. Its not a crime. When they wise up, they regret their mistakes, say sorry, and move on.
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PhD / October 14, 2015
[Edited out]
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Truth / October 15, 2015
“I have never supported violence or any militant/armed group in the South or the North”
You should have said that “I am always for the betterment of the south and do not care about how the northerners are treated or whether they have been subjected all forms of cruelty eg. murder, rape, arson ,looting, abductions, killings etc. It took you 10 years to realise MRS cruel misdeeds (two terms of his being the President) who killed thousands and thousands of innocent Tamils and robbed them of their homes and farmlands, stole the countries coffers to his benefit. Put his entire extended family in charge of the whole countries administration.
He has no academic qualification even to be a clerk. He and his associates have no moral qualification to entrust even a village council.
Even now you don’t seem to acknowledge he killed innocent Tamils in several hundred thousands, Sinhalese as well as muslims over the period he and his brothers were in power. Why don’t you give him and his associates degrees in manslaughter and corruption. That will suit them!
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Douglas / October 13, 2015
After the elections results were known on 18th August 2015, I was wondering how the so called “98.8% literacy rated” voters elected the same old bunch of “criminals”, “thugs” etc. to represent them in the Legislature. Now, after reading this article by “Dr. Laksiri” -a Professional, I learned that even our “Acclaimed Professionals too belonged to that category of “98.5% literacy rated” who voted on 17th August, 2015. What an “Evil Spell” Sri Lanka is going through?
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Native Vedda / October 14, 2015
Douglas
Good question. My Elders and I have been searching for a plausible answer to those questions you have just raised for donkeys years. I must confess we failed.
What makes the voters to get up in the morning of the polling day, go to the the polling booth, mark the card in a particular order or they see fit, … and await for the election results, ………..?
I do not think literacy rate is correlated to voting pattern or their wisdom.
Most crooks can read and right.
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Billa / October 13, 2015
Who is worried now about Doctorates today ?
MR,GR, death squad, grease yakkas, kidnappers, murderers, rapists and most of the soldiers who are accused of all the crimes under the sun will not be found guilty of anything or branded as criminals at the end. That’s the way things are well planned to proceed and ready to start. All these are well planned strategy of every one involved. This is the way Lanka operates.
Denial is the trick of the trade. Just close the eyes and go on denying everything. Simple principle but it always worked for smart Lanka.
The boasting of “we saved MR & GR from electric chair” and “we will save our valiant soldiers” themes very well show the intentions.
Just relax ..nothing serious is going to happen to any one. Forget about UNCHR and Geneva. Lanka has won. That’s the main thing.
Conferring honorary doctorates is a minor matter. It’s a value less, non worthy Lankan doctorate given by a bunch of not so knowledgeable, probably selfish personnel, calling themselves academics. They are also ruined by the greedy politicians of our gem of triple blessed land. Most of the academics are half baked, politically prejudiced, racially biased and have become purely self centered.
The days of the noble profession and the quality of education they gave without expecting much in return, except the pleasure and satisfaction of teaching are all have become history.
Let MR, GR, Mervyn, Weerawansa, Dayan Jayatilake, Rajiva take all the cheapest Doctorates available in the world. Do we really care ? Why make a big fuss. Dr. Laksiri Fernando knowingly or otherwise did it and regretting for it now. Let’s leave that gentle man alone please. It’s very painful to see him hurt, while tyrants and murderers are saved from electric chairs and due punishments. Next thing they will run to save Seya’s killers. Nize going guyz !
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Freeda Nuhandiram / October 13, 2015
you are walking around and sending your children to schools in Sri Lanka without fear because of these guys. Be grateful and thankful.
If they were corrupt and lawless they should be punished. Not only them every corrupt politician from our independence. Why only single them out. How people like you forgot Chaoura Rajina, Mahaweli, Batalanda, 88/89 Bheeshanaya where death toll is estimated at 60,000 Singhalese youth
People like you deserve another Prabakaran to send suicide bombers, car and truck bombs every other day.
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Hamlet / October 13, 2015
The Moral of the Story is – ‘Become a Politician and Earn an Academic Degree’!
Not only the Rajapakses, Even Mervin Silva got one!
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Native Vedda / October 13, 2015
Freeda Nuhandiram
“you are walking around and sending your children to schools in Sri Lanka without fear because of these guys. Be grateful and thankful.”
You are completely wrong.
you are walking around and sending your children to schools in Sri Lanka without fear because of Hindia.
Hindia used the LTTE to destabilize this island then immensely helped this island to destroy LTTE.
You ought to be eternally grateful to Delhi Hindians.
By the way while you were being grateful and thankful to MR clan, they used your naivety to rob, kill, abuse, pervert democracy and the rule of law, …….. Yet you are ready and willing to glorify the robber barons, war criminals, racists, and bigots.
“Why only single them out.”
Good question. Why didn’t the MR clan charge the previous corrupt officials and politicians? Please find out from MR and his clan the reasons for letting the criminal scott free. It is not a clever defense for the same defense can be made in five years time to protect the officials and politicians who are in power now.
If you really want to clean up this island start addressing the issues right away.
Well the reasons you have cited here are just to convince fellow forum sharers the need to protect the crooks and war criminals, as for you they killed Tamils, been beaten, weakened, and their backbone broken, makes you happy, jubilant, … I can understand. There is nothing else to celebrate, except the glorification of killing innocent people.
“where death toll is estimated at 60,000 Singhalese youth”
According to one body count the estimated killing of innocent Sinhalese was about 130,000. In 1971 an estimated 18,000 Sinhalese (mostly innocent) were killed. Who did kill them?
Indeed it begs a pertinent question.
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Vimukthi / October 13, 2015
Well done Laksiri. At last you openly admitted that you have made a mistake. Looking at your past in 1970s and 1980s, we were a man of principles. After you joining with CBK regime you have become a man of survival. I am also aware how you and DJ involved in supporting a Tamil militant organization in training their carders and can you please reveal as what made you to become an unconditional supporter of the (anti Tamil) racist politics of CBK and Rajapakse’s and how did you became an admirer of Rajapakse’s after they have butchered (through the support of their Sinhala armed forces) thousands of innocent and helpless Tamils in the Vanni region. I am sure that you may aware the deal between Rajapakse’s and the LTTE transacting almost RS 1,000 million in return to use the armed power of LTTE to force the Northern Tamils prevent from voting in the 2005 Presidential election in which you were one of the propagandist and appeared in the electronic media discussions in support of MR. You were one of the blind supporter of MR.s regime for a long period while they were misusing and abusing state powers and poor rate payers money. What is the real reason for you to make this attempt to requesting UOC to revolk the Doctorate that you were the proposer then. Vimikthi
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Maya / October 13, 2015
This is what Dr L Fernando has told about granting Doctorate to Sarath Fonseka:
” Sarath Fonseka has had equal or more credentials to deserve an honorary doctorate from the university of Colombo but unfortunately it was not clear at that time”
Anyone wants to know more about this please read L Jayasooriya’s writing under the heading Wisdom of Prof Laksiri Fernando appeared in Lankaweb of 28.12.2009 which was sighted by me today.
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SerftoRadalayas / October 13, 2015
Sadly in the ugly days of food queues and rations,Late Honorable Mr. Anura Bandaranaike was called “moda putha” aka “dumb son” by UNP etc. Yes he too lived a privileged life as the Bandaranaikes were aristocratic British aping Radalayas. They probably used their British english family connections via the Obeysekera/Deraniyagala connection to get a slot at a British Uni; but it is said he did successfully finish OLs and ALs. He became a gifted orator in Parliament but also had a temper and sometimes became abusive like Premedasa Sir.
But at the end Anura Sir, became the most educated one of the 3 siblings because he did graduate from London School of Economics. CBK never graduated and made false claims of a Sorbonne PhD; she went to Science Po but so far has failed to produce a graduation certificate or even her undergraduate Academic transcript. Sunethra madam is educated, has a degree but not from LSE but from Oxford and is classy and keeps a private quiet life.
Influence is always used when powerful figures are involved in the third world. However, it is important to note, that AB had passed his Olevels at much better rate that Yositha.
Saif al-Islam Gaddafi paid a tutor over £4,000 a month while he was studying at the London School of Economics. We all know how African and British Royalty get their sons into Military academies in Britain or get privileged admission to british universities.
The Medamulana clan had an inferiority complex. They desperately wanted to copy the Bandaranaikes because Mahinda Sir and Late Hon Anura B were thick boozing pals and very close politically too when they both hated CBK and both sides were fighting to undercut Madam Bandaranaike and take control of the SLFP to grab power. Eventually in 1994 CBK madam won that fight thanks to former Mrs. Bandaranaike loyalist Late Anuruddha Ratwatte backing her(he was Madam B’s first cousin) to the hilt and letting Madam Sirimavo down but it was reality because by 1994 Madam Bandaranaike could not have won any election after her stroke and Chandrika madam was a people’s person and had great charisma like Mahinda Rajapakse Sir and I served them both.
The Rajapakses desperately wanted to send Namal to Oxford too but he failed to have the minimum required qualifications. They even asked CBK madam for help. Shiranthi was desperate to get help with this. But now everyone knows what happened. Look at the Kingdom of Swaziland. The polygamous Mswati III is a product of Sandhurst. Every year he gets a right to pick another wife who is a virgin and most of them willingly go to him for perks and privileges of being a Queen. And MR invited Mswati III to Sri Lanka! For what? What is so useful about any waste of money inviting such backward Africans? NOTHING except the lust for power.
So this happens. British okayed it because that is how diplomacy works. US universities are filled with Dumb stupid Saudi Arab and Kuwaiti princes and princesses spending big money.
Here is a long excerpt on how money, petro dollars and influence works in
White British world.. Remember younger Rajapakse Prince was supposed to get a PhD too? and claims that he was going to be Sri Lanka’s first astronaut? What happened?
The former dictator’s The 39-year-old former playboy;
documents seen by the Daily Telegraph show the lengths some academics at the LSE went to ensure that Mr Gaddafi was given a place at the university.
Shortly before the despot’s son was admitted, the then Centennial Professor Ed McClennan wrote to one of Mr Gaddafi’s aides.
Professor McClennan told Mr Gaddafi that “presumably you do reasonably well” in the first year, he could then apply to the PhD course.
The professor also said he could “tailor your first year here in a manner that is much more responsive to your interests”.
“I can choose to grant you permission to ease into some of the more formal courses in philosophy,” the professor added.
A bizarre PhD proposal by Gaddafi has also emerged for the first time. The document showed that in 2002, before he was admitted to LSE, Mr Gaddafi proposed to write a doctorate on “Transforming the International Monetary Fund into a World Central Bank”.
The rambling introduction suggests dramatic changes to the structure of the United Nations and IMF and raises further questions about the LSE’s decision to allow Gaddafi to study from 2003 to 2008 for an MSc and a doctorate.
Under his proposal, the UN General Assembly would have been transformed “into a world parliament with full legal authority to pass resolutions which would be obligatory to all member states”.
The PhD proposal was discovered in one of the Gaddafi family homes after Tripoli fell to the rebels in August.
Why is ok for Anura B and Sajith Premedasa to get special admission? Sajith failed to complete his MS at University of Maryland. Doubt if he even completed his first degree.
Sagala R Hon PMR’s blue eyed boy claims he “studied” at a prestigious Lewis and Clarke and supposedly graduated in 1993. A basic US degree and RW’s favorite.
Once a Yes man has found his post Jan 8th 2015 voice. Why didn’t he speak out against those honorary degrees back then?
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man / October 13, 2015
Dr Laksiri Fernando supported MR when he was in power, Now he is opposed to MR (supporting MS?) because he is not in power. [Edited out]
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maalumiris / October 16, 2015
It seems to be a weakness of academics… rather flexible morals.
Another fellow with no loyalty or morality – GL Peiris
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Plato. / October 14, 2015
srilal.
100%.
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kali / October 14, 2015
I am forced to rebutt this as I am saddened with the following statement which is a Distortion of facts and this is what the Liberal and Civilsed Sri Lanka represents then Sri Lanka faces a bleak future with no hope in hell.
Let me put this to bed once and for all, This was a response to Agnos from Dr. Fernando
Agnos,
I don’t regret supporting MR to defeat the LTTE after many efforts at a negotiated settlement to the ethnic conflict.
*** This is a man who has I am told hidden his true identity and feelings for 6 years. Now the veil has been lifted and the mask removed and we know the real Liberals.
Dr claims many efforts were made at negotiated settlement. I would like the Dr to give us dates and venues and between who and who and what wan on offer.
Does he know that every effort by Tamils failed and this created LTTE.
2) I have always called it a terrorist organization. My support to any politician or a regime has always been conditional.
*** We call it Freedom Fighters and the World now knows we are poles apart and the Bridge is to far to build. Did the Dr ever realize that the Majority had to deal with the CAUSES of Terrorism not the Terrorism.
No doubt his support was conditional but now we know his Visvarubam so it is a fair assumption that his support was ” Fisnish the Job whatever the Human Cost”
2) I am not an arm chair preacher or a coward to make only comments without revealing the true identity.
*** For your information what has that got to don with Ground reality when we faced abductions in white van and Grease Men and now that you have revealed your true indentity you would have supported that too.
3) Defeating terrorism was achieved. After defeating terrorism my effort has been to promote reconciliation.
*** Did he know that the so called terrorism was replaced by State Terrorism with White Van Abductions, Grease men rape and intimidation. The man from Canada who went to reclaim his land was mutilated.
4) For a while, I waited to see whether MR would do anything, and failing which I fought for regime change.
*** This was Crocodile tears.
5) That is also achieved. It is not my personal achievement but I contributed to it.
It was the Tamil vote. The Majority voted for your boss MR.
SAD day for Sri Lanka. Reconciliation is a Distant DREAM.
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Sinhala_Man / October 15, 2015
Dear kali,
You have made many valid points, but they have been vitiated by this:
“It was the Tamil vote. The Majority voted for your boss MR.”
More Sinhalese than Tamils voted for Maithri. You might say that that has obviously got to be the case, and that issues other than the ethnic conflict were foremost in the minds of most of the Sinhalese when they voted. That again is almost certainly true.
But must you make a statement that is almost racist in its overtones. I’ve just had breakfast at noon after putting in four comments, the last being this:
https://www.colombotelegraph.com/index.php/release-all-political-prisoners-as-agreed-suma-tells-govt/#comments
Politics is the art of the possible. Please don’t wreck our country by always asking for “More, more, more”.
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Daham / October 15, 2015
According to Lord Buddhdha “Contentment is the greatest wealth”. However the Buddhists do not follow his teachings. Dr Laksiri Fernando wanted to achieve more and hence made the proposal at the Senate in 2009 and now is paying the price for not thinking about Budhdha’s words. Feel sorry for him as he has to deal with his other problems at the same time.
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Pettahan / October 17, 2015
Perhaps, you should hand over your own “Dr”, as you were the one stupidly recommended him. And we should believe you now?
Pettahan
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K.Anaga / October 17, 2015
What MR & GR did was to burn down the whole house and occupants to get rid of the rats in Vanni. Unfortunately it appears that some one in the senate was expecting something in return for the offer of Doctrate. You can’t expect anything from the University dons when they were competing with ‘PROF’ Peris to get the best.
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