By Tisaranee Gunasekara –
“….the discipline man needed most
Was to learn his submission to unreason….
So he won’t find it hard to take his orders
From his inferiors in intelligence
In peace and war….
Robert Frost (A Masque of Reason)
In Rajapaksa Sri Lanka, Schrödinger’s cat is a Tiger.
In Erwin Schrödinger’s famous thought-experiment, a cat was kept in a box for one hour, together with a poison vial, a Geiger Counter and a radioactive atom – all hypothetical. If the atom decays, the Geiger Counter will detect radiation, the vial will break and the cat will die. If the atom does not decay, the cat will be fine. So for that one hour, the hypothetical cat is both dead and alive.
In Sri Lanka, the Tiger is both alive and dead, so long as the Rajapaksas rule. The Tiger is alive when the Rajapaksas need it. The Tiger is dead when the Rajapaksas do not need it – like now.
According to Minister Keheliya Rambukwella, there is no point in investigating the alleged war crimes committed by the LTTE because the LTTE is an ‘organisation which has ended’[i].
The Tiger was menacingly alive just three months ago. Hardly a day passed without some power-wielder warning about this dire threat to national security and territorial integrity. Charges were levelled and the PTA was brought into action. A heap of Tamil Diaspora organisations were proscribed and many individuals (including a few dead ones) declared terrorists. A reign of terror was unleashed on the North. Weapons were uncovered and terrorists were discovered. Arrests proliferated; some of the supposed Tigers were subsequently released, but many others, including the 58 year old mother Jeyakumari Balendran remain in custody.
The government informed the UNHRC that “Gobi…… was actively involved in reviving the LTTE through regrouping LTTE cadres and recruiting unemployed local youth with the intention of using them for acts of terrorism.”[ii]
Then, as suddenly as it came to life, the Tiger departed from life. And the centre-stage was occupied by the Muslim bogey, once again.
If the LTTE is no more, as the regime now claims, why keep civilians like Ms. Balendran in custody?
Four ‘suspected senior Tiger leaders’ were arrested in Malaysia this week[iii]. Shouldn’t Colombo inform Kuala Lumpur not to bother, because the LTTE is an ‘organisation which has ended’?
According to Minister Rambukwella, “As far as the government is concerned, there is no one left on the ground level to hold accountable for LTTE crimes.”[iv]
Well actually there is – none other than Vellupillai Pirapaharan’s designated successor, the man who was responsible for Tiger finances and weapons procurement, a man wanted by both the Interpol and the Indian government. But Kumaran Pathmanathan is no longer a devotee of the Tamil Sun God. He has transferred his fealty to the Sinhala High King. So naturally neither he nor any of the other top Tigers who have become Rajapaksa acolytes can be ‘held accountable for LTTE crimes’.
Meanwhile plenty of ordinary Tamils are rotting in jails across the island, without being charged or tried, for ‘Tiger crimes’.
When to explain the difference between The USA’s violent deeds in Nicaragua and the violence it condemns as terrorism elsewhere in the world, the then American envoy in Managua Anthony Quainton responded, “If they do it, it is terrorism, if we do it, it’s fighting for freedom”[v]. The Rajapaksas used a similar logical dissonance to bridge the gulf between their rhetoric about a humanitarian operation and the starkly different reality during the Fourth Eelam War. Post-war the same illogic continues to be in operation: any LTTEer who supports the Rajapaksas cease being a Tiger; any Tamil who opposes the Rajapaksas can become a Tiger.
The Tiger will not stay dead for long. Once the Islamic bogey had been used to the maximum, once the UNHRC investigation is over, the Tiger will be brought back to life again – and will be replaced by Islamic, Christian/Catholic or some other bogey, in the next phase.
The only question is will the Tiger come alive in time for the Uva Election or will it be kept in cold storage until the next Presidential election? And in the interregnum, how much more harm will be done to the already badly damaged relations between Sinhalese/Buddhists and Muslims?
Enemy Eternal
Recently the Auditor General warned about the dilapidated condition of Sri Lanka’s vitally important oil pipelines. This week another pipeline broke down: “Unlocking and storing of refined crude oil was halted yesterday due to a pipeline bursting off the buoy located in the sea off the coast of Uswetakeiyawa….. A similar pipeline burst on 25 June, which resulted in the closure of the Sapugaskanda oil refinery.”[vi]
The government is busy trying to find funds, not to build new pipelines but to extend the Southern Highway to Hambantota.
When a leader is deemed infallible, the space for criticism, appraisal and course correction vanishes. Crimes and errors are denied because crimes and errors are impossible. Whatever that goes wrong is someone else’s fault. Thus infallible leaders have a visceral need for a stable of enemies, to function as scapegoats, excuses, justifications and diversions.
When the pipelines collapse and the oil runs dry, the Rajapaksas can blame Tamil Tigers, Sinhala Tigers or Islamic terrorists.
Bogey-creation is a timeless phenomenon. In fattening-up the Islamic bogey, the Rajapaksas seem to be using some of the same tactics beloved by American ultra right-wingers (especially the racist and Christian fundamentalist Tea Party Movement). Measures such as framing Muslims as dangerous to the nation, twisting statistics and using fake research to prove a Muslim threat and inventing the danger of ‘creeping Sharia’[vii] (all of which are Tea-Party staples) are being used, even now, by the Rajapaksas and their Sinhala-Buddhist pawns, to spread Muslim-phobia in the Sinhala-South.
Are the Rajapaksas using Aluthgama violence to build an anti-Islamic bridge to the Modi administration over the chasm created by Colombo’s increasing dependence on Beijing? Last week, Indian media speculated about the possibility of Aluthgama riots being “exploited by ‘foreign elements’ wanting to carry out terror strikes in Southern states of India”[viii]. When Minister GL Peiris travels to Delhi next week, he will be discussing “the shared fear of Islamic fundamentalism and terrorism”[ix] with his Indian counterpart.
The ‘foreign elements’ referred to by Indian media are of course Pakistanis. Colombo has already begun to crack down on Pakistani asylum seekers in Sri Lanka, most of who, incidentally, are Ahmadiyyas or Christians, fleeing persecution by Islamic extremists. “After Premier Modi raised issue with Rajapaksa over fears that Pakistani intelligence agency would use Sri Lankan soil to attack South Indian targets, the Government launched an operation to round up visa overstays…. In the midst…..came reports that a senior Pakistani High Commission official has been told by the EAM to leave Sri Lanka.”[x]
Will the Rajapaksas succeed in using the Islamic bogey to neutralise Hindu-nationalist BJP, for a while? Or will the regime find itself in a dangerous limbo, unable to satisfy Modi-India and incurring the displeasure of traditional friend Pakistan?
The Rajapaksas, by subsuming everything to familial power, will push Sri Lanka into an unprecedented mine-field, made up of angry minorities and hostile neighbours.
[v] quoted in Information Clearing House.com
[viii] http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2014-07-04/news/51076410_1_riots-colombo-sri-lanka
Thiru / July 6, 2014
After reading thousands of articles over several decades of the dis-functional state of Sri Lanka and its racist rulers (who are none other than those chosen and elected by the Sinhalese majority)I sometimes feel that it is unfortunate that we were born in this wretched land.
If, for example, if we were born in Singapore which got independence much later than us, we would be prospering and having peaceful life today. Furthermore we would have been spending our spare time on creative pursuits to satisfy our curiosity, and our pockets too.
No wonder the island is aptly termed the tear drop island by our forebears: They had a reason for calling it so as we see it unfold now.
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Buddhism Betrayed / July 6, 2014
I could not agree more Thiru. There is not a single positive contribution that I can think of that we Sinhala Buddhists have managed to send to the world displaying the virtues of Theravada Buddhism. Nevertheless, we have managed to parade our arrogance and opprobrium to the world by proving time and time again, that we are a nation of FOOLS. A nation that always makes-up excuses in defiance and are in constant denial. We find ourselves in a right royal mess resulting from our own inability to govern emanating from our own mistakes. As a result of our failures, we have once again shown the world that we are neither the pearl of the Indian ocean nor the tear drop of India. Our’s is a fanatical land of a new ‘Buddhist Taliban’ that will very soon earn us the notoriety in becoming the Lord Buddha’s tear drop. This is the danger and tragic reality that we are faced with. We are confronted with an outcome that defies any hypothetical argument or analogy to Schrödinger’s thought provoking experiment. Never can we achieve a “multi-state” (no pun intended) or a muti-ethnic country on the course that we have set out on. As a nation, we might as well be dead than to stay adrift on this aimless journey as a failed state. We can no longer continue to be a liability to the International community.
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BBS Rep / July 7, 2014
Buddhism Betrayed and Thiru,
Can you suggest a viable alternative?
Since independence both major parties failed to deliver on all fronts.
In the economic front the majority of Sri Lankans are still living below the poverty line. Those in government lived a life of absolute luxury.
In the race relations front the divide has grown beyond repair.
In governance checks and balances are almost nonexistent now.
Murder and mayhem seems the only methodology available for those who are in government. Major pogroms since independence are attributable directly to those who are in governance – Sirimao orchestrated the hunting down and killing of close to 50000 disaffected youth in the early 1970s. JR oversaw the thousands of brutal killing, raping and pillaging of Tamils in 1983. In the 1990 it was the turn of Premadasa to be overlord of mass killings of JVP cadres as well as political opponents. In the 4th LTTE war in 2009 the Rajapaksa brothers were in charge are now facing war crimes investigations into the death of thousands of civilian Tamils.
And the governance of Sri Lanka by killing under one pretext or another continues to this day. Human life is so cheap – killing a cow is not ok but killing a Tamil, Muslim or a Christian is ok.
I wonder if anyone can come up with a viable suggestion as to how Sri Lanka could be governed as per the doctrines of democracy. In Sri Lanka the problems with governance seem intractable and murder and mayhem endemic.
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S Modaya / July 6, 2014
Good stuff! Please translate to Sinhala to educate Sinhala Modayas!
Double games are being played all around. Australia, Pakistan and Sri Lanka abuse their minorities, return refugees who suffer persecution in their home countries and support one another to violate international Refugee Law.
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Amarasiri / July 6, 2014
Thiru and Tisaranee Gunasekara –
“If, for example, if we were born in Singapore which got independence much later than us, we would be prospering and having peaceful life today.”
Well, that is the curse of Para-monk Mahanama who wrote his lies and imaginations in the Mahawansa or Boruwansa.
That is also the curse brought by the Para-Sinhala to the Land of Native Veddah Aethho.
First came the Para-Sinhala Curse along with the other Para-Curses.
Then came the Para-Buddhists, all from India.
The Vedda Tribe
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f89NuukY32U
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les pere / July 7, 2014
If you were born in Singapore you no doubt will be living in peace, today. The reason? put simply, is that all ethnic minorities (including) Tamils have accepted being a minority, do not claim a separate state and have become PART of the system. A few Tamils (including a member of parliament) who tried to do a Prabakaran, were appropriately dealt with by the then President Lee Kuan Yew,in the 1970’s.Get your facts right before writing crap.
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Sumith / July 8, 2014
The same Lee Kuan Yew called some of Sri Lankan are leaders racists.
The national anthem of Singapore is in Malay language while the majority Chinese language is Mandarin. Imagine what would our Wimalmodawanse & BBS will do if Sri Lankan national anthem is in tamil or english.
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Amarasiri / July 7, 2014
Thiru
Lanka Next in the Norwegian, Israeli Western Christian Fundamentalist Project, Using the Sinhala Buddhist Mondays and the Opportunistic Goatbaya..
Norwegian Saranai.
http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/iraq-turmoil/analysis-iraqs-sunni-shiite-conflict-really-about-religion-n148341
Analysis: Is Iraq’s Sunni-Shiite Conflict Really About Religion?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZcYLpZ2zAc&list=UULmrlIhaScquu9_D73SMxoA&index=12
RESPECTABLE BODU BALA SENA THIS IS FOR YOUR KIND ATTENTIO part 2
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Amarasiri / July 7, 2014
‘Govt. Complicit In Aluthgama Anti-Muslim Attacks’ Says Women’s Collective
That Means, Mahinda Rajapaksa, Gotabaya Rajapaksa and others
Sinhala Buddhism as practiced in Lanka in Collaboration Woth the State.
https://www.colombotelegraph.com/index.php/govt-complicit-in-aluthgama-anti-muslim-attacks-says-womens-collective/
“The Women’s Collective report states that survivors’ narratives clearly point to a well-organised attack by the extremist group Bodu Bala Sena (BBS) on the Muslims and had been preparing days ahead by stocking up knives, petrol bombs, clubs and axes in temples and had also transported bus loads of people to the areas to participate in the attacks.”
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Eusense / July 7, 2014
Thiru,
You seem to consider all Sinhalese who vote in elections as dysfunctional racists. Do you feel insulting the majority population of the country is the way to win your needs?
Ignorant and agenda driven people like you with preconceived conclusions appear to be part of the problem minorities of this country face. If you live outside Sri Lanka you should let Tamils in Sri Lanka lead their lives as they want. People like you appear to be the problem rather than the solution for minority issues.
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Native Vedda / July 8, 2014
Eusense
“If you live outside Sri Lanka you should let Tamils in Sri Lanka lead their lives as they want.”
Why?
If ever there was peace and harmony any of the expatriates would not have left the country.Even now many of the Sinhala/Tamil diaspora are dying to return to this island and contribute to its development.
As long as the descendants of Kallathonie Sinhala/Buddhists are in control both diaspora dare not to step on the shores.
“Do you feel insulting the majority population of the country is the way to win your needs?”
Majority of the population are very stupid indeed who deserve to be insulted on a regular basis.
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Eusense / July 8, 2014
N. Vedda,
“Majority of the population are very stupid indeed who deserve to be insulted on a regular basis”
People like you and your words are the main reason why the Sinhalese are supporting MR, hence his strong stance on Tamil affairs. You keep sounding off this kind of rhetoric, Tamils living in SL will be the sufferers. Good luck to you!
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Spring Koha / July 8, 2014
Of course it is nonsense to consider all Sinhalese racists. However, it is rapidly becoming obvious that the majority of Sinhalese are cowards. Or we shouldn’t continue to find ourselves in this perpetual mess where devious politicians and their evil supporters and proxies continue to wreak havoc in our thrice-blessed land.
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Eusense / July 8, 2014
Koha,
“Of course it is nonsense to consider all Sinhalese racists”
Tell that to your racist buddy Thiru who propagate hate and wrote “….. state of Sri Lanka and its racist rulers (who are none other than those chosen and elected by the Sinhalese majority)”
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Bensen Burner / July 6, 2014
Further,three innocent lives including that of Kopi were wantonly sacrificed/destroyed just to prove a non existent point that the LTTE were regrouping.Bensen
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Park / July 6, 2014
We are living in a Fools Paradise! Those who have the power to oppose this regime in a meaningful way do not oppose, I am talking about the opposition political parties, professional associations such as lawyers association, religious bodies etc. Only by writing articles or making speeches nothing happens as the regime brings “actions” to the forefront, such as BBS attacks, Aluthgama attack etc. These “actions” take priority over the articles published by those who have to power to protest. The time is ripe for all to get on to the roads and protest, that too a continuous protest to show that the People of the country do not agree to whats being done by the regime.
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aratai / July 6, 2014
.
Kheliya is back!!! and he don’t want to investigate LTTE because there’s no more LTTE! How about BBS?
:-)
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gamini / July 6, 2014
The Drama that commenced with MR being appointed as President with the help of VP, only to decimate VP after a Hoax of a Propaganda War retaining KP is still continuing unable to end. The Drama has now reached the final stage, of securing a third term for MR or is it for Gota to take over Militarily as otherwise the chances of Gota taking over the leadership will diminish and the other contender Namal will be much in the scene after a third term. While all this confusion rein at the moment it is not making anything easy for MR and Gota as to whose plan should be staged next. Judging from Gota’s silence on Mangala’s exposure, shows that Gota is fast losing his grip on things and it is a matter of time before the bubble bursts. The recent exposures of the USAID being involved in educating the voter and the stance taken by the MR Govt summoning the US High Commissioner are all red herrings drawn, just to mislead the masses. Let us see at which point the Americnas will pull the Rabbit out from the hat.
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Selwyn / July 6, 2014
Ey Rate Minissu Kelinne Thanikara Pissu (Song banned by MR)
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punchinilame / July 7, 2014
It is possible that Gota has with the Military planned to take over only
if MR looses the Vote even after all the underhand work that will go
with any future Elections. All Regime henchmen will support the move to
keep their personal status going. What can the IC do – sanctions only.
Hasn^t Mugabe got along and why not SL? The dynasty will go on and on
whilst the sinhala intelligentsia and the kept media will continue to remain muted. This scene is easily predictable.
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nass / July 7, 2014
Rajapakes is making political suicide by his complicity to take action against mobs. This mob would destroy the economy of this country soon. This country is facing many challenge today because of MR family. They already looted coffers of this country.
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Manorani Bapapulle / July 7, 2014
gamini, it is NOT high commissioner. The term High Commissioner is used only for the Diplomatic Chief aka Ambassador from a Commonwealth nation. A Commonwealth nation is part of the old British Colonial Empire who opted for membership in the Commonwealth Association. Hence any Diplomatic head of mission from a non-CA country (vast majority) are referred to as AMBASSADORS.
Now yes, you made a good point.. All this is going to boomerang if we continue to blame minorities and marginalize them; if actual jihadi wahabi Saudi funded entities start foment trouble, the Tiger Tamils will be boyscouts.
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kali / July 7, 2014
TG:
First of all let me comment on the photo you have posted.
The Paksa brothers have spotted a House which they want to Burgle. One is telling the other one it is past midnight and the occupants must be asleep but the lights are on and we cant go staright and we have to go round to avoid getting caught. Otherwise we are fu…d.
Will the Rajapaksas succeed in using the Islamic bogey to neutralise Hindu-nationalist BJP, for a while? Or will the regime find itself in a dangerous limbo, unable to satisfy Modi-India and incurring the displeasure of traditional friend Pakistan?
*** The above has lready happened. MR was ordered to get Pakistanis out and stop On line Visas and applying for Visas on arrival. MR has heeded the warning and has told Pakistan that every Pakistani from now on should apply for entry clearance.
The Rajapaksas, by subsuming everything to familial power, will push Sri Lanka into an unprecedented mine-field, made up of angry minorities and hostile neighbours.
*** Angry minorities are no threat to MR as he has his “Gundas” and Tamil Para Militaries like Karuna and Douglas to do the job.
But hostile neighbour is begining to flex his muscles. MR has been warned of giving tenders to China for military purposes which threatens Indias Security. If MR doesnt heed the warning TNA will arrive.
TG:
Erwin Schrödinger’s famous thought-experiment, a cat was kept in a box for one hour, together with a poison vial, a Geiger Counter and a radioactive atom – all hypothetical. If the atom decays, the Geiger Counter will detect radiation, the vial will break and the cat will die. If the atom does not decay, the cat will be fine. So for that one hour, the hypothetical cat is both dead and alive.
Some Chemistry lesson for you. First of all is the box sealed and air tight. If so the cat will die of lack of oxygen.
But the question is why would you put a non radioactive atom if the intention was not to kill. But if it is a radiactive atom the radiation itself is enough to kill without the poison from the Vial.
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Reerie Yaka / July 8, 2014
Keheliya is a foul mouth like Weerawanse. He got drunk in Melbourne and could not find the entrance to his hotel door. He fell over the third floor by trying to go through the neighboring room where a woman lay nude. They say Keheliya’s intoxication would have reached impossible proportions seeing the woman! Next this idiot of a Minster tried a trick by suing the hotel. He thought he could make a God-sent buck. But he failed
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Vernon Phillander / July 9, 2014
The vast majority of these illiterate modayas are brainwashed from a very young age on the Mahavansaya.
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loku tena / July 9, 2014
We had the Senanayakes, Kotelawalas,Bandaranaikes and now the Rajapakses. Like it or not – the current President will be there for many years to come. All of the above were chosen by the citizens of Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka is a true democracy and only its citizens can make it otherwise. Have a look at countries in Africa, the Middle East and South America and count your blessings, fellow citizens.
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