28 March, 2024

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Sri Lankans Beware; Do You Want Yesteryear’s Rejects?

By Vishwamithra

“I don’t think the intelligence reports are all that hot. Some days I get more out of the New York Times.” ~John F Kennedy                          

Mahinda Rajapaksa has shown, if the reports are correct, that he has not changed at all; no repentance, no apologies and definitively not divorced from untruths.  

Following is a report as it appeared in the local news media: “Colombo: The New York Times on Tuesday said that two of its correspondents in Sri Lanka have been threatened by the loyalists of the former President Mahinda Rajapaksa after it published an investigative report last week on China allegedly funding his 2015 election campaign. The report alleged that Rajapaksa’s campaign took millions in bribes from a Chinese state-owned company which built the controversial Hambantota port on the island.

In a press statement, the NYT said that a group of Sri Lankan parliamentarians allied to Rajapaksa held a news conference recently to publicly criticize the two journalists who contributed logistical assistance to a rigorously reported and accurate investigation into the Hambantota port, published by it on June 26. “It is unacceptable for journalists to be intimidated this way. This action appears intended to silence critics and curb press freedoms, and ultimately deprive Sri Lankans of information in the public interest,” it added.

During the 2015 Sri Lankan elections, large payments from the Chinese port construction fund flowed directly to campaign aides and activities for Mr. Rajapaksa, who had agreed to Chinese terms at every turn and was seen as an important ally in China’s efforts to tilt influence away from India in South Asia, the report had said. Rajapaksa, who ruled the island nation for a decade from 2005 to 2015, had dismissed the report as false propaganda against him by the government.

If Mr Rajapaksa takes issue with Times reporting, we have encouraged him to contact senior editors at the New York Times rather than intimidating Sri Lankan journalists, the release issued by NYT International Editor Michael Slackman said and urged the Sri Lankan authorities to ensure safety of journalists working for NYT or any other news organization.

Meanwhile, Rajapaksa’s son Namal, a lawmaker, came out in his support claiming that “at no time” his father intimidated the journalists. ‘Just like the press has a right to criticize politicians, don’t we also have the right to ‘publicly criticize’ reporting we believe to be faulty?’ he tweeted. During Rajapaksa’s decade-long rule, 17 journalists and media employees were reportedly murdered in the country”.

This is a grim reminder of the ‘state and privately-sponsored’ and countless injustices and slaughters committed on free media personnel by a ruling clan that was led by the Rajapaksa family and their corrupt and coldblooded subordinates. If the Rajapaksas attempt to play around with New York Times, one of the most prestigious newspapers in the world, and hallucinate about coming out scot-free, think again. 

All authoritarian rulers hate free media. Free media is a thorn in their flesh that is discharging a stench of deceit, corruption and political malpractice. And that is one institution the current Sri Lankan government has, among others, re-established after assuming power in 2015. The unprecedented freedom and liberty to criticize and hurl many a barb, either true or otherwise, justifiably or unjustifiably, at the present rulers exercised by the current crop of media personnel cannot be underestimated, nor should it be taken for granted. That fierce truth is being established and re-established, again and again by the successor-government to the Rajapaksa junta. And that government is being led by President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe. That truth has no equal in modern post-Independence Sri Lanka. With the overflow of some outrageous material in the social media, which seems to have no ethical or legal boundaries, the alertness of politicians has turned sharper and they too have resorted to creating and maintaining their own Twitter and Facebook accounts. 

It is against such an enlightened backdrop the Rajapaksas and their notorious henchmen are alleged to have gone back to their usual pastime of harassing and intimidating media personnel who have chosen to exercise their fundamental right and obligation of writing and expressing their informed and educated opinions on matters they choose to do so. In that vein, media personnel are scrupulously aware that truth and freedom are valuable commodities that should not be bartered away for a mere grant of a laptop computer or a free meal at the Temple Trees. Freedom of expression is a fundamental human right.

US journalists are used to exercising their right to seek out the truth about any and all matters relating to any and all. Their right to Freedom of Expression is guaranteed by the First Amendment to their Constitution. Nurtured by such a free will, the journalists attached to New York Times newspaper would not publish anything that is not confirmed by at least three independent sources. In such a circumstance, the anger and ire emanating from the Rajapaksas is natural and precariously centered on convincing themselves more than anything else. 

Yet, if the allegations are found to be true and bearing evidentiary facts, the Rajapaksas have done unto themselves some irreparable damage in that, such action by them have cemented the arguments and accusations about their dishonorable rule and the immense wealth they are alleged to have accumulated for themselves and their close political adjutants. But what rises from the New York Times report is not really the content of such allegations; the rash and ill-thought out response by them is more applicable in the current context of the local political dynamics. It was indeed a forbidding reminder of their past ruling enterprise. The bold and ugly reaction to reportage of an alleged political malpractice and self-enrichment via a foreign country and tolerance of an external government which is tantamount to betrayal of the fundamental oath of the office of presidency should be told again and again so that the local population would be more enlightened when they ponder as to for which party they intend to vote next time.

Yet one must bear in mind that United States of America (USA) as a foreign government also has an huge amount of vested interest in exposing such a vile act of corruption. That vested interest drives the US government, as the only superpower in the twenty first century, to unforeseen lengths to curb the influence, if any, of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), the only Asian competitor to the USA, militarily and economically. The geopolitics of this convoluted equation is unfathomably deep and inexplicably consequential. Yet the purpose of this column is not to examine the intricate policy differences and rhetorical heat between USA and PRC. This column is making an effort to tell a different yet more rivetingly relevant and dangerous phenomenon, if allowed to go unspoken of and uninvestigated, which poses a clear and present danger to the advances our country has made during the last two and half years in media freedom, in particular, and freedom of expression in general.

The audacity of the Rajapaksas to ask the local voter population to forget their past malpractices and give them another chance is laughable on one hand and terribly treacherous on the other. In their haste to rid themselves of the malevolent accusations catalogued in the New York Times piece, they had apparently resorted to their time-tested means of challenging the accusations- physical thuggery and intimidation. The rash rush to his defense, Mahinda Rajapaksa seems to have committed an unpardonable act of idiocy and misplaced sense of arrogance. Arrogance, if shown in a more appropriate circumstance, could be forgivable, taking into account the position one held in the past and the unforgiving fate which intervenes that process and takes that position away from the holder. Mahinda Rajapaksa may have lost his cool (not that he was known for any cool and stoicism) and in that status of being out of control of his wits and steadiness, ordered his thuggish supporters to do the needful. 

Therein lies the danger; therein dwells the evidence of the cruel and naked intentions of authoritarian rulers. The Stalinist principle of physically destroying political enemies has been proven politically wrong and morally reprehensible. What reinforces the desire to pursue power in these power-hungry politicos is the apathy on the part of the general population. That apathy kills, unless it is immediately recognized as sheer impotence and not equanimity as it may have been interpreted.

Leonard Woolf, about the state of circumstance when Punchi Menika had her first experience of sexual intercourse with Babun in his illustrious novel Village in the Jungle, wrote most elegantly and his description of the near rape through which a young man, Babun, claims Punchi Menika as his mate…’a cry broke from her, in which, joy and desire mingled with the fear and the pain’. A majority of Sri Lankans had the desire and joy when the war against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elam (LTTE) was won but when the so-called fathers of the victory passed the 18th Amendment to our Constitution and began toying with lives of the average men and women, they realized that that desire and joy inexplicably mingled with fear and pain.

*The writer can be contacted at vishwamithra1984@gmail.com                                                

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Latest comments

  • 24
    10

    I have always wondered how can some people engage in crime as a family – like the Rajapakses. Individuals committing crimes I can understand. People in dire circumstances, alone and left to their own devices, do desperate things to survive. But as a family – especially one that is living quite comfortably without any major financial issues – how can you sit together at the dinner table as parents, children, siblings and plan horrific crimes? This has always intrigued me. Would they still respect each other as father, mother, uncle, aiyya, acca, seeya? Or would the relationships become cynical thereafter?

    • 26
      3

      Unlike never before in recent history ……….. the Rajapakses are the sword of Damocles hanging over the nations head …………. they have corrupted the national/social fabric of the entire nation like no other political entity in the country’s history

      Prabakarans’s destruction of his own community and the nation was on the surface “out there” for everyone to see ………… Rajapakses’ destruction of the country/society is insidious, underhand and beneath the surface; not many people see it …………. and some even think they are the best thing since slice bread ……..

      • 23
        3

        Pictures worth thousand words. all the buggers in the picture are blatant liars, hoodwinkers of every form, killers of fine nature, money grabbers of all forms, please ask lanken audit general to come with record for each above, to see how the people funds have been abused on day light – no matter somethign sweet woudl ahve been added to the people through their own MEDIA men, they have been continuing it as no other leaders or countries woudl do.
        See the huge losses made deliberately by abusing srilanken airlines for their foreign entourages grounded the ailines. Evne if the govt was changed, the losses made by pervious brutal men just left behind should be paid by the current – may be lanken current day politicis would not reveal them all to the nation since then the current men would have been branded as losers not being able to manage to shape up the loads of debts left by the predecessors. IN srilanka liars can easily grab attention and get polarised.

        • 8
          20

          These are the heroes who saved Lankawe. Do not insult them.

          • 3
            1

            And had the right to hoodwink the people and rob the coffers

          • 2
            0

            Was this a donation or bribe?

            “Colombo International Container Terminals Limited (CICT) has reiterated that its payment of Rs.19,410,000/- (equivalent to US$150,000), to the Pushpa Rajapaksa Foundation was a donation”

            Was there any houses built and could the expense directly be traced to this money.

          • 0
            0

            In which world are you living. In cuckoo land maybe

      • 9
        4

        Nimal fernando ,

        ‘Rajapakses’ destruction of the country/society is insidious, underhand and beneath the surface; not many people see it …………. and some even think they are the best thing since slice bread ‘

        Well said Nimal , This is the bitter truth ,yet not many people are able to see the reality .All the crimes which Rajapaksas have committed are swept under the carpet by the bias media for their own personal agendas ;moreover, they believe War victory had given them an automatic right to rule SL forever.

      • 8
        11

        But this ‘sword of Democles’ (Rajapaksa) was 1000 times better than the ‘pus vedi’ of Ranil, Sirisena, mangala Rajitha, Ravi and other thieves we are being subjected to now.

        The destruction of the country by this ‘hora’ gang is much more insidious than anything we have seen before.

        It is the minority pansilakas with vested interests who are trying to keep these gay thieves in power at any cost. We don’t want them.

        • 1
          1

          This comment was removed by a moderator because it didn’t abide by our Comment policy.For more detail see our Comment policy https://www.colombotelegraph.com/index.php/comments-policy-2/

        • 1
          0

          Well said, we all as a nation can drown in the deluge that will follow when your 1000 times better than ‘pus vedi’ is returned to power. God Save Us.

      • 6
        4

        None of the media men have yet brought Rajaakshe to Interviews ?
        What has a former prez got to do in his defeat than just travelling across the country by abusing the funds allocated to him. Why the bugger et al seems doing nothing using them for the benefit of the poor of the poor for example living in Wild elephant area ?

        Why the former man needs to go and open that and this today ? He is no mean the president and he should allow the elected to lead the nation.

        This ballige putha Rajapaksshe should be piunished by Nature to the very same manner other leaders in the region faced it.

        Why a man who was defeated by 6.2 millions of voters to need come back and ruin the nation ?

        Why the bugger is not seeing the sense of all ? These politicians are very SELIFISH no means worth a 1% of european law makers.

    • 1
      6

      Ajay

      It’s premature to make your comment.

      Before all take gg govt. to prosecute Rajapakses & make them guilty of crime.( of engaging in crime as a family).

      • 4
        3

        That is exactly the major weakness of this government. They have to learn from Malaysia, Brazil and other such countries. We have allowed the blatant thieves to survive and blocked prosecution of former Central Bank chief. Poor show yet 1000 times better than the Rajapakshas. At least the press is free and white vans have disappeared.

    • 0
      0

      Perhaps I can offer a psychological explanation.

      Having won a brutal war which ravaged the entire country for decades and quite rightly wining the next election with a huge majority, the mind set of family members were that the masses would always be grateful.

      There is also the culture in SL politics that one has to earn riches whilst one is in power to avoid being in penury in ones old age. In fact majority enter politics not to serve the country but to enrich them-selves and their families. You may recall, post- independent politicians did not have this mind set and many endured poverty after leaving office. The well known story of a renowned ex-cabinet minister writing a letter to the government of the day asking for a stipend brings to my mind.

      I have to say that corruption, nepotism etc are human fallibilities that starts small but become cancerous if there are no systems in place to guard against them such as governance and an independent judiciary. The West has escaped these issues to a large extent but not entirely due to structures in their systems.

  • 7
    3

    NYT report was a ‘catch’ missed by the Yahapalanaya. Vijeyakala’s bomb has taken all the attention in Sri Lankan media. What’s the use of talking about a ‘missed catch’ now? For CT this article may be news or an analysis but in Sri Lanka it’s stale news.

    • 1
      0

      UNP could earn a lot if they could manage to work on that. But they seem not giving publicity as required. So the punnakku eating majority folks would not get changed their thoughts.
      Our people shold be fed with facts but facts.
      Rajapakshes can then only be marginalized.
      Truths should be injected to the stupid ,mind sets of the people living across the country.
      Silly remarks are only taking ground today.
      Rajaakshes control PRESS.

      More or less they abuse funds grabed in billions to pay off media men.

      They should each be brought before to courts as promised by current president.

  • 13
    11

    “Yeasteryear’s rejects….!” Do you mean Ranil Wickremasinghe (and his UNP) that was rejected by the people over 30 times?
    Have you forgotten, Vishwamittar, that the Rajapaksas have won the island-wide provincial, local, and municipal council elections resoundingly with a 2/3rd majority just a few months ago?
    You can write tons of articles in English but the people of Sri Lanka are decided that Mahinda’s rule is very much better than this Y-pala’s underworld rule.

    • 10
      7

      Ruvan,
      Vishwamitra is suffering from ‘Selective Amnesia’. So do not take what he says seriously.

  • 9
    4

    Vishvamithra, you were hanging from a straw before and now you have fallen into the bull crap, how sad, and how desperate, when you refer to the greatest victory over evil of our time to a rape, and in such bad taste, if it was by an other, referring to this episode by Wolf, you and your sisterhood of holier than thou elitists will be screaming bloody murder.
    But I don’t give up on even fools like you, so why don’t you google who Judith Miller is, that Pulitzer Prize winning NYT journalist who wrote exclusives for the NYT on WMDs which were as imaginary as blue elephants and Mangala’s 18Bil USDs. OK Judith Miller NYT and WMDs! Go read please!

    • 6
      4

      wannihami

      “you were hanging from a straw before and now you have fallen into the bull crap, “

      Falling into bull crap is safer than getting caught by National Hangman’s fleet of white vans.

  • 7
    7

    “US journalists are used to exercising their right to seek out the truth about any and all matters relating to any and all. Their right to Freedom of Expression is guaranteed by the First Amendment to their Constitution.”
    Really!
    Was that what Judith Miller was practicing when she wrote all those fake exclusives for the NYT? Freedom to lie expressively!

    • 7
      5

      wannihami

      Lets forget the American for a second why was access to Colombo Telegraph banned in the island until 10th January 2015, if the clan was not scared of of a distant media? The war winning siblings could not tolerate a English media operated from a far far distance leave alone Judith Miller.

      Do you have a count of journalists harassed, made disappear or bumped off between 19 November 2005 to 9 January 2015?

      The Truth Will Set You Free, But First It Will Piss You Off
      – Gloria Steinem, Joe Klaas, Anne Kristine Stuart, David Icke, Bill Cosby, Erin Brockovich, Anonymous?

  • 2
    3

    The war victory comparison is disturbing. Poor Tamils.

  • 2
    1

    Did Punchi Menika run away from Babun after the event? Which out lasted – desire and joy or fear and pain?
    Soma

    • 5
      2

      somass

      “Did Punchi Menika run away from Babun after the event? Which out lasted – desire and joy or fear and pain?”

      You can access “The Village In The Jungle” from the link below:
      https://ia601602.us.archive.org/18/items/
      in.ernet.dli.2015.176536/2015.176536.The-
      Village-In-The-Jungle.pdf

      Lazy bums cannot find the book on their own read it and find the answers yet willing to give free advice to solve national question.

  • 8
    1

    “A majority of Sri Lankans had the desire and joy when the war against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elam (LTTE) was won but when the so-called fathers of the victory passed the 18th Amendment to our Constitution and began toying with lives of the average men and women, they realized that that desire and joy inexplicably mingled with fear and pain.”
    —————————————
    Anti-Rajapakse guys are trying to project a wrong impression about 18th Amendment. 18th Amendment removed the restriction on number of terms of a President but did not take away the right of voters to elect or reject a President who is contesting for the third time. In 2015, voters showed that they have the final say. 19th Amendment is more dangerous than 18th Amendment. As a consequence of 19th Amendment, the country is stuck with a PM who is charged for the biggest financial scandal and conveniently brushing aside the promise he gave to the people when he appointed Arjun Mahendran as the Governor of CB. It is becoming clear that most of the MPs who voted for 19th Amendment did not study the contents properly. I do not think even the President knew what was in it. Now some SLFP MPs say we made a mistake by voting for 19th Amendment. As a voter I say ‘Go to Hell’. You guys betrayed the voters who elected you.

  • 8
    0

    This argument is very dubious.

    It is true that Mahinda Rajapakse lost the presidential elections to Sirisena in 2014 . This was a relatively narrow defeat. But at the local government elections in 2018 Mahinda’s newly created alliance swept the board.

    How about Ranil ? He has been rejected so many times but does not walk away ! Even if a truly democratic vote is taken inside the UNP Ranil will lose badly.

    What is the justification for a man so dishonoured and rejected by the people to manipulate and hang on to the UNP leadership ? He has created a system by which a few old royalists can retain power in a national institution like the UNP

  • 5
    2

    “The case filed by the Bribery Commission against Gotabhaya Rajapaksa and eight others has been postponed until October 30th, as ordered by the Colombo Chief Magistrate Ranga Dissanayake. “

    This case is never going to be heard until the govt changes and AG withdraws the charges. Sri Lanka’s kangaroo court is a bigger joke than the courts in Africa under dictators.

    • 1
      1

      Burt,

      are there any rights people to know as to why the court cases get putt off arbiotrily ?

      We talk about indepent commissions and new courts bla bla.. but time is flying and none of the buggers are caught yet.

      Why international courts cant put th epressure on the govt ?

      If they dont have enough staff they should take loans to appoint them today. HOw many have been appointed sofar ?

    • 3
      3

      Spot on Burt.

      A failed state with no hope for our children.
      RW and MS are on sleep mode. In 18 months anything can happen and a
      Psychopath Dictator can take over, that will be disastrous.

    • 2
      2

      Not only this case but many other important cases about murders, bribes, drug dealers, rapes will never be heard in Srilankan courts whether it is associated with SlFP or UNP. They all come from the same background and they have very close relationship inside and pretend as enemies to the outside world. Simply they all use same argument that is “until you prove you are not guilty”. The legal system is under their control, the security services under their control, the parliament under their control. They are very rich, they can buy anyone locally and internationally. It is not surprise for me that 47% population wants Mahinda to come back. They are only afraid to one person, that is Prabhaharan because they know very well that they can’t cheat if Prabharan is there. That is why they only love Hitler but not Prabhaharan.

  • 1
    1

    I know, I am a huge critic of the current UNP leadership especially the clown in charge…..*cough*… I mean Ranil Wickramasinghe but the UNP has a lot of young potential leaders. Problem is with the old guard such as RW, Ravi K, Mangala S, John A, etc. If you get rid of these morons the UNP has a young and diverse group of memebers. This is not the case with the SLPP. If you look at their roster, other than Mervin Silva, all other monsters are still active members. This sends chills down my spine. GR is not known for tolerating dissent. This really, really worries me. GR is only a few points away from the potential presidential victory. Right now, GR varies between 41 to 46 percent but this is assuming 100 percent turnout of minorities and 100 percent would vote against him. For the 1st time in several decades, the election of the next president will be based on the Sinhala Buddhist (SB) vote. If the UNP keeps bleeding its SB voter base, we are in for a very painful ride. They need to field a decent common candidate that can think independently from RW, CBK and rest of the idiots gang. From the UNP, I think Sajith and Navin are the front runners. They could field Champika Ranawaka or SF to counter GR’s SB voter base, but I think Sajith and Navin can appeal to the rural SB voter base while not seen as discriminating minorities.

  • 4
    0

    Wasn’t Dr Ranil rejected 20 years ago?
    Anyway even Dr Ranil’s Colombo Elite wouldn’t read NYT.
    Because they already have heard about those and a lot more allegations from Mangalan’s Web Service.
    Thank God we have a new generation of young journos , specially in the TV arena doing Media Shows focusing on on Yahapalana BS.
    Guess, these shows are so powerful that most of Dr Ranil lickers from the UNP won’t even front up to them.
    Haven’t seen Poodle Club Baby for a long time , Nether Dr Ranil’s God Son young Rajitha,
    Even the seasoned boy Digital Harin won’t front up.
    Because these young Journos rip in to them about the damage they have done to the Nation.
    And ask them to prove the BS that they have been dishing out in bucket loads. to win the Yahapalana Election.
    These Journos are not too happy about Dr Ranil’s Economic and Social vandalism either,,.
    Because these Journos are local boys and they have only their Lankawe to live in and make a living.
    Unlike the Journos who work for NGOs..

  • 1
    3

    Good Luck, Try telling these facts to our retarded populace. All you receive is an answer with in nano seconds ” Wannihami”. That is in nutshell called Lankawe. But the poor souls do not know that NYT/Washington Post are not the same as Daily News/ Island….. etc…..etc.If anyone is of different opinion that the facts are wrong,distorted,slurred or mudslinging in any way can approach directly, ask for explanation, file complain or even sue them in court for millions and become rich. Instead of doing so acting in a typical Lankawe style threatening, keeping silent,proxy war ,(as usual) making fool of citizenry are pretty much outdated silly childish acts.These kind of circus are fun to enjoy when you are living outside of Lanka.(not for the cursed who are still living).Remember when you tried to fool Standard and charted Bank with your Lankan tricks in the Hedging issue.International Arbitrary is not the same as Lankan Courts.

  • 5
    3

    Vishwamithra
    You can write all the logic in the world but most Sri Lankans get truth and their ego confused, and end up missing the whole point.
    This is typical of Sri Lankan psyche. Ego trumps rational reflection.
    We often ignore facts, to suite our very fragile egos and base our decisions on emotion rather than reason. This is our curse.
    A curse our politicians know so much about and know exactly how to take maximum advantage of, the likes of Mara and co. Simply find ways to massage the majority’s ego using all manner of words and childish notions and mislead us, steer us away from reality and the truth.
    Once the majority is compromised then the rest is history. Facts and Figures become gibrish. Such is the fate of our country.
    A country who’s future depends on emotional choices over rational thinking.
    The best solution to such a plight is to allow them to face the consequences of their illogic. Let them learn the hard way.
    You can take a horse to the river but you can’t force it to drink.
    So until people are ready for a better country let’s continue to suffer in ignorance.
    The Buddha says that Ignorance is the root of all of all our suffering. And we will continue to toil in samsara until we choose to escape it.
    Lasith

    • 1
      0

      What also disturbs me is that there are some wealthy minority business owners who want the R family back in power. It seems during their rule, they made more money than ever before. And thats all they care about.

  • 4
    5

    Crimes committed by Mara and his brothers, sons, and cohorts are worse than accepting kickbacks from corrupted Chinese Government. Take a look at the following crimes committed by MaRa in his 10 year reign of terror and suppression:

    1. Stealing $800 million of Tsunami funds through fake NGO called Helping Hambantota set up with assistance from Willie Gamage and depriving poor families of their right to rebuild their lives devastated by Tsunami

    2. Taking 19 billion US dollars as commissions from Chinese government corporations through white elephant useless development projects such as Hambantota Harbour, Airport, and southern expressway

    3. Putting Sri Lanka economy into an endless misery by taking high interest loans from China and pocketing in 40% of that money

    4. Nurturing an unprecedented culture of corruption and political victimization with immunity

    5. Killing and attacking journalists, judges, innocent civilians for 10 years

    6. Appointing an uneducated GoTa as defence head and stealing the credit of ending the 30 year war from SF, the true hero who led the final war against LTTE

    7. Making a synthetic lawyer of an idiotic son who couldn’t even pass his GCE (OL)

    8. Killing the most famous rugby player on behalf of another moron son
    9. Soliciting sex from girls of the families that lost their loved ones due to Premadasa Terror campaign in exchange of your service as a human rights lawyer in 1980s
    10. Raping girls in villages from down south on the promise of jobs

    • 2
      1

      Dear Nimal,
      .
      In the 300 words you are allowed, you have come up with a finer summary of the Rajapaksa Rule than I would have thought possible.
      .
      And yet we’re at the level of a Magistrate postponing cases which should by now be at Supreme Court level. We do need to follow due process etc, but WHEN do we get out of this quagmire?
      .
      When pettifogging and casuistry are allowed to reach this level, what with notions of national sovereignty entertained, we will be in such a mess that nothing can save us. It is government vacillation that has got us here. Four such indecisiveness UNP’s own corruption is to blame. My3 naivete also.
      .
      Follow moves in Maldives elections. See what unscrupulous Yameen manages because Nasheed was too decent.
      .
      Please, Ranil, hand over to younger people.

    • 0
      0

      What about crimes committed by the earlier politicians. List them too?

  • 3
    1

    Todays rejects or yesterday’s rejects?
    what is the alternative?

  • 3
    0

    Bad things were done by all .bandaranaike , jr. Premadasa.prabha said the Sinhala memory last one week. This journalist has his own agenda like all journalist

  • 0
    0

    We have been reduced to ‘beggars cannot choose’. The parlous state of having to choose between two baddies.

    We have to choose an Emperor’s New Cloths – Brands on offer MR or MS/MR.
    Or wear the same amude or parana-coat amude.

  • 3
    1

    THIS IS DEMOCRATIC COUNTRY. IF MR /HIS PARTY CAN BACK POWER BY A ELECTION THERE IS NO PROBLEM WITH THAT. BUT THERE FEW INTERNET HEROES TRY TO MAKE MR NO GOOD. IS THERE ANY GOOD WITH CURRENT GOVT. VOTERS WILL DECIDE THAT. NOT YOU. WHETHER YOU LIKE IT OR NOT.

  • 0
    0

    ““I don’t think the intelligence reports are all that hot. Some days I get more out of the New York Times.” ~John F Kennedy”

    No wonder that JFK got shot and killed while in office.

  • 2
    1

    No basis for this guy’s arguments. Ranil was rejected how many times? Yet these buggers crawl up to him. If same rationale is used current bunch needs to go home as well because the most recent verdict was SLPP is the voters preferred choice. But democratic systems don’t work like that. Hence we have to abide by the norms of democratic systems and work with whom ever masses elect.

  • 1
    1

    If people could vote in rejects like Ranil W. Why can’t they vote for yesteryear’s rejects?

  • 3
    1

    You can check within US to find out the poor credibility of establishment media including NYT. So don’t preach about NYT. Secondly, NYT report is a rehashing of a Dailynews report in 2015 as clearly demonstrated by Malinda, therefore the information contained were already with the local Gestapo, CID/FCID. Nothing new. Vishwamithra should ask Ranil hamu and Mangala why do they recycle these news again and again without taking any action? There’s no case to answer to NYT by anyone. Thirdly, public criticism of journalists is not intimidation. Journalists are not sacred cows. They are subject to scrutiny too. The most recent threats and intimidation came from Mangala’s secretary. Before that it was Ranil who threatened Daily Mirror staff with names. NYT and Vishwamithra have become “pottayo” when it comes to intimidation of journalists by their darlings or hamu…

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    We are no longer a country( Sri Lanka) that has NO political credential and credibility of Democracy since 2015 January 8th by ruling regime of Gamaralaga Sirisen alias MS of New UNP ladder -cum leader and Old UNP’s of RW and Tamil Federalist of CBK has ruin norms of democracy values in by last few years in past that by THREE YERA and half !
    The pressed FREEDOM is not in reality in New York Time or else where in world ?
    Hundred of Palestine were killed by Israel in last few months back there is against for the Western hegemonies ?
    Where is pressed Freedom in World?
    The writer is writing on that role played by of some ones vested interest parties in Islands by undermined politics of democracy . That is not democracy . In fact writer has keep mind that Trump has alligalition that he was back by Putin of Russia last Presidniantail Election which is under the investigation and inquire by US authorities?
    All in all are politics of Democratic of Western world! I view Democratic needed to be review by right thinking people of era of Democratization of New Globalization.

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    Guys NYT has clearly stated that any affected party can directly approach them to address grievance and take appropriate actions, The wise ( MR and clan) are keeping mum as dumb. But the proxy continues to do the war.

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