By Dayan Jayatilleka –
Dr. Dayan Jayatilleka
“Come on up for the rising
Come on up, lay your hands in mine
Come on up for the rising
Come on up for the rising tonight” – Bruce Springsteen: The Rising
There was a WANTED poster out for Mahinda Rajapaksa yesterday at Nugegoda, and it wasn’t one for crimes of corruption, human rights violation, dictatorship pasted by the JVP. It was a WANTED poster made of over a hundred thousand persons, which said that he was Wanted by the people, by the nation, as the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka.
I must have attended an Opposition rally in Sri Lanka which was larger than the one in Nugegoda on February 18th but I can’t remember which, where and when. It must have been back in the 1960s, when my father took me for the United Front rallies of the SLFP-LSSP-CPSL. A more objective source, unrelated to the UPFA, told me on the phone last night that he saw parallels in the largest of the rallies of the DUNF when Lalith and Gamini led it.
Whichever the more appropriate parallel, Nugegoda was quite distinct in my experience, for a different reason. It was the most emotional, energetic and enthusiastic crowd I have seen at a public meeting in Sri Lanka, and that emotion wasn’t against anyone. It was for someone and something. This, together with the numbers, made the event a turning point, and potentially historic.
The main players at Nugegoda were not the personalities who organized it or addressed the gathering. It was the people. They were packed tightly together, spilling over and swarming the area, more enthusiastic than an American football crowd, waving Sri Lankan flags and posters of Mahinda Rajapaksa.
There was another main player at the Nugegoda meeting and he wasn’t even there. That was Mahinda Rajapaksa. It would have been the classic case of what Prof AW Singham named in his book “The Hero and the Crowd”, except that this time the hero wasn’t there and was there at the same time. The absent presence was of course, Mahinda, whose name was roared out by the crowd; welling up from its bowels.
It was as if the personalities on the stage were facilitators and conductors of that energy that came from the crowd. It was an energy that ran along an invisible circuit extending from Nugegoda to Medamulana and back.
The message from the rally had two intended audiences: Maithripala Sirisena and Mahinda Rajapaksa. The message was that Maithripala Sirisena was safe, unchallenged, acknowledged as President but that the same did not go for the unelected Prime Minister and his UNP government. The message was that the people want Mahinda back in the equation; that the 58 lakhs that voted for him and the 58% of the Sinhala majority that voted for him, will not go unrepresented; almost disenfranchised. The message was also that Mahinda Rajapaksa will not be allowed to enjoy a peaceful retirement and that his people have at least one more national service they expect from him, which is to defeat the anti-national Ranil Wickremesinghe as Prime Minister and institute an SLFP administration.
It is not an attempt at overturning President Sirisena or putting the clock all the way back. It is not a restorationist attempt. It is an attempt at re-balancing, at pressing the re-set button in Sri Lankan politics, so that the 58 lakhs (and percent of the 74% majority) do not go unrepresented.
For me the most emblematic scene of the Nugegoda public meeting calling for Mahinda Rajapaksa’s return to politics as the Prime Ministerial candidate of the Sri Lanka freedom Party and the UPFA was that of a young man atop a billboard whose response to the drone camera eyeballing it with him, was to wave a lion flag and Mahinda Rajapaksa’s portrait into the eye of the camera. That was gesture of defiance and proud defiance was what the ingathering was all about.
One of the political highlights of the public meeting was the presence of a significant number of SLFP MPs and ex-MPs, Chief Minister Ranatunga, Provincial Councilors, and local government representatives.
Overall the speeches were of high political quality, with progressive veterans Podi Appuhamy, Vasu, and Dinesh giving classic performances. The younger stars, Wimal Weerawansa, a pure Jacobin orator and Udaya Gammanpila, seemingly softer and more humorous, if you ignore the glint in his eye, turned in superb performances. The senior-most speaker, Dinesh Gunawardena spoke last and appropriately evoked anti-UNP memories not only of 1956 but more emphatically of 1960, in which there were two elections, the first won by the UNP and the second by the SLFP under a new leadership which could bring out the votes.
The Nugegoda meeting seemed to me the birth of a national-democratic movement and the launch of a national-democratic struggle to establish a national-democratic government. It was profoundly democratic in that it refused to accept the legitimacy of a Government which had neither won an election nor obtained the confidence of the majority of the Parliament. It was democratic also in that it sought to question the appointment of the leader of the opposition by a President who installed an unelected Prime Minister and Government. Finally it was democratic as it sought to rectify the anomaly of 5.8 million voters (and the 58% of the 74 % majority of the population) going unrepresented in the power equation.
The movement is national in the senses that it is proud of the valiant victory over Tiger terrorism and separatism, stands for the defence of national sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity against centrifugal forces and external pressures such as the genocide Resolution of the Northern Provincial Council and Foreign Minister Samaraweera’s written pledge to the UN Human Rights High Commissioner to “work together on developing a domestic mechanism on accountability”.
It is national also in the sense that it taps into a deep emotional wellspring of Sinhala nationalism in the service of a strong patriotism. It is Sinhala nationalist without being anti-Tamil or anti-Muslim in any manner, though it is against anything that is latently secessionist or of detriment to national security. This is a Sinhala nationalism that cannot but stand naturally at the center and in the vanguard of a Sri Lankan nationhood and Sri Lankan patriotism but in no way seeks to dominate the minorities. This is a nationalism and a patriotism that is directed outward, against external threats and their domestic beachheads and agencies (most notably Ranil Wickremesinghe’s UNP government) but does not seek to dominate domestic minorities. It is a patriotism and nationalism that seeks to re-energize the Sri Lanka Freedom Party and the UPFA.
This is not the patriotism that will be applauded by the cosmopolitan Colombo elite which is delirious that happy days are here again. This is a patriotism of the people; a people that refused, to give into terrorism and secessionism and remains determined to see through their guises and resist. The audience at Nugegoda was one of the masses; the people, those who fought in and supported the war; those whose sons and daughters went off to fight and die in defence of their country so that we could all live in peace. They are grateful to Mahinda Rajapaksa because it was he who gave the committed leadership that none of his predecessors, most conspicuously Ranil and Chandrika could not or did not. They are grateful for the peace we now enjoy.
These masses, from the middle and what Gramsci would call the subaltern classes, are not willing to be ruled by the unelected, anti-national elitist UNP of Ranil Wickremesinghe. This was a fusion of the nation and the people; what Gramsci terms the “national-popular”. Thus the Nugegoda mobilization was the birth of a popular movement of national—and nationalist– Resistance. It signaled a people’s national/ist Renaissance.
Throughout the meeting was the rising chant from the crowd, “Mahinda! Mahinda! Apata Oney Mahinda! (“We want Mahinda!”)”. So Wimal was probably right when he said to rapturous applause “Mahinda is not a name, Mahinda is a country!” The great Vietnamese leader Le Duan who succeeded the legendary Ho Chi Minh and led the anti-imperialist war to victory often said ‘Socialism and the Nation are One’. For the people who swarmed over Nugegoda in February 18th, Mahinda Rajapaksa and the Nation are One.
It was veteran leftist Vasudeva Nanayakkara who struck the basic moral-ethical and even philosophical chord that unified everyone at the massive mobilization in Nugegoda, when he declared and repeated: “It is not defeat that is a disgrace, it is surrender!”
“’Cause we made a promise we swore we’d always remember
No retreat, baby, no surrender
Blood brothers on the summer’s night
With a vow to defend
No retreat, baby, no surrender” – Bruce Springsteen: ‘No Surrender’
ReadandLearn / February 20, 2015
Dear Dr. DJ,
If the plan is to bring back the former president to power, and if people do support a comeback so vehemently, let it be for the best. When I say, the best, i mean it needs to incorporate the needs and aspirations of the Tamils and Muslims of this country so essentially, who genuinely feel that a vote for MR is a vote against them. How has an administration that won a war against a terrorist organization gone from being true peace builder to one that evokes fear in the minds of its minorities? To me, this is the single greatest failure of MR’s administration.
Has the MR Camp truly lost touch with the minorities of this country? And does it only care to protect this country for “Sinhalese”? Then sadly enough no matter how many gathered for the sake of bringing back a fallen hero, the gathering in Nugegoda fails to be honorable and only limits itself to the singular purpose of building its own version of a nation. The need for inclusiveness and reconciliation has to be a key part of MR’s campaign (if ever were to be) if he aims to win the hearts of people in the country. It can’t be the sake of a few who likens him to heroes from past eras-our ideals have changed, we as a country is more mature, we are not Sinhalese anymore, we are Sri Lankans. As long as these thoughts are essentially reflected in the campaign and sincerely upheld by an administration led by MR, there’s hope. If not, we are headed to a future that shapes our aspirations and our opportunities by race and religion.
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gihan / February 21, 2015
I truly respect you idea Mr. Specially the part “we are not Sinhalese anymore, we are Sri Lankans”. But.. that sort of a harmony can be maintained only if tamils and muslims also act sensibly without being racists. If we look at latest poll result statistically it is pretty obvious that they follow the foot path of there ethnic political party no matter what. The reality is a tamil living in jaffna now experience better living conditions that war era. Yet they choose to support TNA without any hesitance. When you look at the percentages and vote turnover you can really id that they are blindly following their ethnic political party. Sorry for my ‘us vs them’ attitude but there is no other way to put it out. So under these circumstances how can we say “we are not Sinhalese anymore, we are Sri Lankans” without any fear of getting kicked outta SL in years to come.
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HERBY PADMAPERUMA / February 20, 2015
I WAS ONE FANATIC FOLLOWER, OF DAYAN JAYATILLEKE. HE ALMOST MESMERIZED ME BY HIS
DAD GIFTED FLOWERY POETICAL LANGUAGE,CLARITY OF THOUGHT AND FACILITY OF EXPRESSION.
AFTER SENSIBLY INTERPRETING WHAT HE INTENDS TO CONVEY I FELT THOROUGHLY ASHAMED AS A SEPTUAGENARIAN, TO REALIZE HE UTILISES HIS ABILITIES, TO COMMECIALISE AND SELL HIS OWN OBSOLETE IDEAS WRAPPED IN ATTRACTIVE NEW PACKING. HAVING NO OTHER PLACE WHERE HE IS WELCOME OR ACCOMMODATED, HE HAS ONCE AGAIN COME TO WHERE ONCE HE WAS AND AND FINALLY GOT THEIR WELCOME EXHAUSTED. WHAT UTTER NONSENSE DOES HE WRITE USING THOROUGHLY SUPERB LANGUAGE MEDIA. HE ATTEMPTS TO ALLING WITH MAHINDA RAJAPAKSHA, BECAUSE HE KNOWS RANIL KNOWS HIM WELL.CAN A VERSATILE WRITER ARRIVE AT A CONCLUSION SEEN A MASSIVE CROWD PACKED IN A VERY LIMITED SPACE AT NUGEGODA AND BROUGHT IN ABOUT 120 BUSES FROM OUTSIDE.THOSE WHO TOOK THE BUS RIDE WOULD NOT HAVE KNOWN WHY TO THE TO NUGEGODA.MORE AD LARGER CROWDS THRONGED WHERE EVER MAHINDA WENT BEFORE THE ELECTIONS, BUT THEY DID NOT VOTE FOR HIM.MITHREEPALA GOVT. HAS NOT HAD TIME TO SHOW WHAT IT WOULD DO YET. THEN HOW CAN THE PEOPLEGET SO FRURAED.THOSE WHO CAME FOR THIS MEETING WAS ACTUALLY TAPART OF THE 50 ODD LAKHS THAT VOTED HIM. COLDN’ JAYATILLEKE UNDERSAND THIS AS A IT IS. DAYAN DE SILVA AYATILLEKE STOP WRITING THIS “PUNNAKU” STUFF. YOU ARE INDEED MORE CAPABLE THAN HOLDING THIS “GON PANDAM”
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Billa / February 20, 2015
We all know for sure that Prof DJ has gone nuts ! He’s getting old, left out, still wants to be recognized as a pundit of our dirty filthy racist Lankan politics, since he thinks he’s a master of it, all the time.
He’s just nothing, cannot change anything, his domination in journalism is finished, which he doesn’t realize, understand or accept. He’s not dumb but just living in dreams alone. His Mahinda is history, the rascal who destroyed everything. Still this idiot of a Doctor professor supporting the worst murderer of the Lankan history, MR the Lankan Hitler ! Dr DJ wants MR the Lankan racist dictator come back and kill more Tamils and Muslims and cleanse Lanka ?
Of course that is what he and Wimal & co conspirators are planning but that will never happen.
These kind of rascals are the cause of our sad situation in Lanka.
Not Tamils, Muslims or Sinhalese. These Lankan Wiratus (Mayanmar) are the culprits of every bad things happening yesterday and today.
Weeravansa is a garbage but how could this educated idiot can join these perverts ?
DJ , you are just a pathetic dishonest Sinhala Buddhist or Christian or whatever infidel, who is against humanity, minorities and rule of law.
Just go and disappear man, no one wants to see you, your face or your complicated poison writing. Do not try helping Lanka, it can survive by itself. Just stay away, we will solve our problems with our brethren once and for all, soon ! We lived and shared our country with them for years and we can do it if not for scums and racist like you. Leave us you racists, we will show you how to live in harmony and peace without your doctrine of racism, the cancerous venom you are injecting and trying to inject in every Lankan Sinhalese. Sinhalese are the best people we Tamils can live with but without the kind of racists like you rotten bigots. You are the kinds to be eliminated from the face of this earth, the racists rascals. We all lived in peace until you racists came up to grab the power and destroy people and the country. You guys should be taken to Haque, not only Mahinda the thug President or his murderer bro Gota the goon. Just wait and see how Gota the goon, his brother Mahinda the thug, are going to live the rest of their life anywhere in the world. They all will pay for all the sins committed, either by UNHRC or by the almighty god. We just don’t believe in UNHRC for sure, but GOD, man GOD. Buddhist god, Hindu God and Islam god !
Mahinda thug becoming PM ? are you gone mad ? 121 bus load of people is not enough you idiot political stupid. You call yourself scientist or what man ?
You have become the laughing stock of CT readers, poor guy, just go, have a double scotch and dream about making Mahinda the murderer as the PM or the janitor, if you can.
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Ebola da Silva / February 21, 2015
Prof de Silva? Madness he is the washerman ( Dhoby) for the Rajapaklsss
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HERBY PADMAPERUMA / February 20, 2015
I WAS ONE FANATIC FOLLOWER, OF DAYAN JAYATILLEKE. HE ALMOST MESMERIZED ME BY HIS
DAD GIFTED FLOWERY POETICAL LANGUAGE,CLARITY OF THOUGHT AND FACILITY OF EXPRESSION.
AFTER SENSIBLY INTERPRETING WHAT HE INTENDS TO CONVEY I FELT THOROUGHLY ASHAMED AS A SEPTUAGENARIAN, TO REALIZE HE UTILISES HIS ABILITIES, TO COMMECIALISE AND SELL HIS OWN OBSOLETE IDEAS WRAPPED IN ATTRACTIVE NEW PACKING. HAVING NO OTHER PLACE WHERE HE IS WELCOME OR ACCOMMODATED, HE HAS ONCE AGAIN COME TO WHERE ONCE HE WAS AND AND FINALLY GOT THEIR WELCOME EXHAUSTED. WHAT UTTER NONSENSE DOES HE WRITE USING THOROUGHLY SUPERB LANGUAGE MEDIA. HE ATTEMPTS TO ALLING WITH MAHINDA RAJAPAKSHA, BECAUSE HE KNOWS RANIL KNOWS HIM WELL.CAN A VERSATILE WRITER ARRIVE AT A CONCLUSION SEEN A MASSIVE CROWD PACKED IN A VERY LIMITED SPACE AT NUGEGODA AND BROUGHT IN ABOUT 120 BUSES FROM OUTSIDE.THOSE WHO TOOK THE BUS RIDE WOULD NOT HAVE KNOWN WHY TO THE TO NUGEGODA.MORE AD LARGER CROWDS THRONGED WHERE EVER MAHINDA WENT BEFORE THE ELECTIONS, BUT THEY DID NOT VOTE FOR HIM.MITHREEPALA GOVT. HAS NOT HAD TIME TO SHOW WHAT IT WOULD DO YET. THEN HOW CAN THE PEOPLEGET SO FRURAED.THOSE WHO CAME FOR THIS MEETING WAS ACTUALLY TAPART OF THE 50 ODD LAKHS THAT VOTED HIM. COLDN’ JAYATILLEKE UNDERSAND THIS AS A IT IS. DAYAN DE SILVA AYATILLEKE STOP WRITING THIS “PUNNAKU” STUFF. YOU ARE INDEED MORE CAPABLE THAN HOLDING THIS “GON PANDAM” YOUR MINDSET HAS FALLEN TO THE LEVEL OF WEERAWANSA.PATHATIC.
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Jazzy / February 20, 2015
They say that a man’s speech is the reflection of his soul.
Well Dayan’s discussions on the TV channel MTV, unknowingly, to him brings out his racist nature though he tries to cloud it in flowery language.He must be thinking that all the viewers are fools.His true colours are showing now when he comes on stage to back a rejected leader.He is not only a racist but also a hypocrite who likes to quote and dress like a westerner but likes to call himself a “Singhalese”.Wonder why he cannot “Quote” from the other great sages of the East, there are plenty of them. I wonder if he obtained his “Doctorate” the same way our good friend Mervin did.He defintely needs to see a doctor himself as his soul is bleeding with the loss of his dear friend Mahinda’s power.
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Hooter / February 20, 2015
I knew along Dayan was playing a double game. He suddenly appeared before the media mainly Maharaja TV (Sirasa)protesting against the BBS. The he got a spot MTV Sports to ponficate and lead the views astray, when he was boycotted by State media. They he started attacking RW. Then again he took the spot light on Genevagate. But in the end his camaleon colours emereged as he backed MR. So you can see how dependable Dayan is. He is a snake in the grass, a danger to the unity and independence of Sri Lanka. Such characters will sell their sole for a pot of broth. So here lies the real traitors of the country
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Hooter / February 20, 2015
I knew along Dayan was playing a double game. He suddenly appeared before the media mainly Maharaja TV (Sirasa)protesting against the BBS. The he got a spot MTV Sports to ponficate and lead the views astray, when he was boycotted by State media. They he started attacking RW. Then again he took the spot light on Genevagate. But in the end his camaleon colours emereged as he backed MR. So you can see how dependable Dayan is. He is a snake in the grass, a danger to the unity and independence of Sri Lanka. Such characters will sell their soul for a mess of pottage So here lies the real traitors of the country
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sam silva / February 20, 2015
Wimal, Dinesh, Vasu etc were rejected at the election, along with the defeat of Mahinda. They are worried about their political future. Without Mahinda- the trio Wimal, Dinesh, Vasu would not even be elected to parliament. This is the reason to have this rally. (sorry the same fate for the new fan Gammanpila)
Sad to see an educated person like Dayan Jayatilake joining the clan. Of course Dayan had no qualms/ guilt about using the state media non stop to praise Mahinda. He even attended Temple Trees “meetings” of Doctors/Specialists at giving lectures on Mahinda. All these at state expense.
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Richmond Peiris / February 20, 2015
DJ did a good job at the Nugegoda Rally when reading out Mahinda’s message. He paused at the end of certain sentences (obviously with some emphasis) so as to give the audience a chance to digest the message’s powerful latent meaning. It was a well-balanced and well-drafted message that no critic can point the finger negatively at Mahinda – the ex-president!
To my surprise, I haven’t seen thus far any powerful negative comment on the rally either! No one says people were bribed to attend the rally with packets of rice, liquor, money, and free bus trips! The rally was exemplary and peaceful! Elsewhere on Infolanka, though, I read this comment about one of the speakers: “Wimal (Weerawansa) is such a powerful orator or actor that he can turn a political rally into a cinema hall and that such a genius is very rare. Gamini Fonseka needed a camera and a silver screen, but Wimal needs nothing apart from his vocabulary, delivery and acting skills” (I think, even his opponents would agree this time if they have listened to his speech!!!)
When I was watching the live telecast of the rally, a friend of mine (a foreigner) visited me; he mistook the mammoth crowd for a Tsunami and asked: “what the hell is going on there? Another Tsunami?? I said ‘yes’ it may turn out to be a Tsunami for those who disregard SL’s history, traditions, beliefs and political realities and more than anything else, people’s unconditional love and affection toward a leader who they honestly believe ‘unfairly being treated’ after the last presidential election (at which he lost)! Majority of them may be of the view that they owe him their life and they seem to be ready to sacrifice it!
Sri Lankan voter is not just another voter that you may find in the Americas or Western Europe! S/he is a sensitive and open individual who relates her/himself directly to her/his leaders. S/he is prepared to give the benefit of the doubt to a strong leader who may have possibly made many a mishap and even serious mistakes but nevertheless, had rescued them, their kith and kin, their country, and the entire nation from near total destruction. The 30 year war on separatist terrorism that ended in 2009 was a near death experience for every Sri Lankan! Therefore, I don’t think Sri Lankans in general wanted to defeat him at the last presidential election but were compelled to do what they had done (when there was no other option) to rescue/protect/safeguard him (the President) from his sheep-clothed wolves that were selling his image to loot the economy! Now that wolves are gone public sympathy seems to be outpouring! This Nugegoda rally was nothing but a living case in point!
The new government of President My3, PM Ranil et al should rethink of their political strategy of staging media shows that senselessly attack the ex-president, but put their acts together to convince the people that their government is matured and serious about its duties and responsibilities. They better realize that ‘Defeated Mahinda’ seemingly ‘on house-arrest’ today in Medamulana is ten times stronger than ‘Victorious Mahinda’ who was in Temple Trees as the Executive President of Sri Lanka! If Mahinda Rajapaksa continues to be treated like a political outcast by government authorities, their mass media and the SLFP hierarchy, He will sooner than later be the elected, all-powerful prime minister of Sri Lanka!
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maali karunaratne / February 20, 2015
There were articles and speeches that one of the qualifications for nominations should be a level of education. If education produces DJ type, do we need such types
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mja / February 20, 2015
Dayan,
You are a bloody shameless fox. Idolising Wimal Weerawansa tells it all. A man can be judged from the company he keeps. Your father will rise from his grave and squeeze your neck for what you are doing. You were your true naked self and in your true shameless element at Nugegoda. MJA
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watcher / February 20, 2015
Looks like readers here shouting to the messenger .. DJ logic is sound and it is the nationalist forces that are rising against appointed idiotic so called PM which has not a single iota of intelligence and also the bribe taking queen.
Sinhalese national forces want stable country and looked after countries culture and not to sell our national interest to Indians or western colonial forces.
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Photo Catcher / February 20, 2015
The left in Sri Lanka has correctly come forward to shoulder the anti imperialist struggle in Sri Lanka against US and its backers Chandirika, Sirisena and Ranil.
Left in Sri Lanka should have called for withdrawal of Sri Lankan Army from the North and East when the LTTE fought the Sinhalese Colombo government. It did not mean that they would be politically supporting LTTE. It would have been the correct Marxist method. Whether LTTE could have achieved as a result of the withdrawal, was immaterial. Oppressed Sinhalese would not have cared at all ? If the LTTE came to power in Eelam after the separation, then it would be left to the Tamil oppressed to decide whether the LTTE could achieve their revolutionary aspirations. It is not the “two staged” Stalinist theory. But the correct Marxist method.
Similarly, it is immaterial whether Rajapaksa was pro Chinese or corrupt. Once Rajapaksa comes back to power toppling the US backed current regime, the Sinhala workers could decide whether he should go or not.
A conspiracy hatched and executed by Clintion Foundation’s CIA Agent CBK cannot decide that Sri Lankan workers become foot soldiers in the inevitable future war waged by the US against China.
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Roshan / February 20, 2015
DJ is a scrap and cannot be seviced and and late him retire with MR without uttering bullshit nonsense. he thinks hi as mark twain and writes loot of bullshit.
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joe b Silva / February 20, 2015
DJ, you are a disgrace, you are a mixed character, a man with two faces. You twist your tongue to suit you from time to time. I have closely read your articles and watched you on TV. Since you have not got any offers from the present government you are talking against them. You are no DIPLOMAT MAN. WASSI PATTATATA HOIYA.
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Rabok / February 20, 2015
Joe–Lot of people who really love this country do not think the way you think – DJ is definitely not a disgrace and he was talking against regime change at the last election and just after the election and at present also — if he was expecting something from this regime then he would not have done so — When you are wearing the Rajapaksa hate hat – you will not see the reality – Try to get out of your Rajapaksa Phobia and see the logic behind DJ articles to refresh you dumb brain
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NAK / February 20, 2015
If DJ was wasi paththata hoiyya, he should be singing hossanahs to my3 and RW not MR!
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Kamal / February 20, 2015
If DJ is wasi pethata hoiya, then why is he supporting MR ? Should’t he be supporting Sirisena?
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Anil Fernando / February 20, 2015
This so called doctor says that 5.8 mn people who voted for MR cannot be left out of the political equation. In 2005 MR won by 4.8 mn to 4.6 mn votes. Were the 4.6 mn who voted for Ranil considered in any political equation? The winner takes all.
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NAK / February 20, 2015
But the 4.6Mn are also as much free from terror as the 4.8Mn who chose to do the right thing.
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Chandranath / February 20, 2015
He preached revolution. Plotted against capitalist state when JRJ at helm. Defended the same State at Geneva when the HR record was darkest.
Some where down the line he wrote He (Sinhalese) came first to the island then the tamils. He is now indirectly saying that voting rights should be given only to sinhala buddhists.
He is not different to vasu who threw the labour unions to attack JRJ,
Then was inside a Mitsubishi Van with steel plates to protect from DJV,
What vasu wants is a seat from Rathnapura and a ministry.
I do not doubt about the crowd. But I saw buses parked at Kottawa to
get some patriotic spirits. Wimal has given money to Kuddahs from Kollonnawa to bring Kuddahs. I would say it was a lumpen crowd, besides BBS.
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arun / February 20, 2015
for more than 30 years our nation is being killed on the road in the buses in the trains and hacked to death in their homes. it was such missarable. Nation only wish was to eradicate that situation nothing els. After desparate attempts made by few leaders only under MR could eradicate that missarable situation as he had strong power to stand against international presure. After that it gave a new look to our country. our country was in filthy dirty. roads were broken buildings broken garbage evrywhere. Now we can proudly look at our counrty such a neat beautifull country now we all living in. This can not be forgetton. that why we need back MR
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Eds / February 20, 2015
Piranha : I have seen you racist anti Singhalese anti Sri lankan comments else where. This is not a forum for you.
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Eds / February 20, 2015
Anil fernando, i agree winner takes all but then why did you put forward a spineless SLFP presidential contestant? By doing so, you cannot claim ” all ” !
Every action, has an equal and opposite reaction !
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navin / February 20, 2015
74%? I don’t think too many Catholics or Christians voted for MR. Sinhalese Buddhists make up 70% of the population. MR would have got a plurality of that. In the same vain if you take out the Kalutara, Monaragala, Hambanthota, Galle and Matara Districts (as the MR Supporters often are keen to take out the North – East when counting votes) it is doubtful if MR would have got a plurality of any demographic. MR was a regional candidate at best.
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NAK / February 20, 2015
74%? I don’t think too many Catholics or Christians voted for MR. Sinhalese Buddhists make up 70% of the population.
Yes they did! check the results from the coastal area of western and north western provinces.
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Nadi Karunaratne / February 20, 2015
Dayan’s articles get published in the Colombo Telegraph but he is the hired cheer leader of a regime that blocked the site.
Dayan knows he can only enjoy the good life again if the ex-first family come back hence more of his drivel.
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Lionel R / February 20, 2015
Though majority of you don’t like what Dayan has written, that is the truth. That is what happening and that is what should happen in Sri Lanka if this country wants to go forward.
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YSK Perera / February 20, 2015
This is the man who went to see Hon Sirisena earlier, a curtsy call possibly???
The respect we had for this learned man is lost for ever. People can s… but lowering to this level, possibly reflects through the comment “He’s getting old, left out, still wants to be recognized as a pundit of our dirty filthy racist Lankan politics, since he thinks he’s a master of it all the time”.
Because one has learned the art of how to craft words, eg. “The message was also that Mahinda Rajapaksa will not be allowed to enjoy a peaceful retirement and that his people have at least one more national service they expect from him” to twist majority sentiments in favor of the minority does not mean the man is a pundit or should be recognised as a pundit Sri Lankan dirty politics.
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mahanama / February 20, 2015
Here is DJ at his emotional best in his long accustomed and self-appointed role as the whip-cracker for Mahinda in a new phase where he applies his journalistic acumen to resurrect his master and hero that had been so ignominiously dashed to the ground from high pedestals of power that he adorned for many years and wished to continue to enjoy same for a third term in office as well.His intention is two-pronged where in his usual adulation for Mahinda he does not fail to show his deep seated enmity toward Ranil for reasons well known to himself only. Here is a man despite his long experience as a political researcher who is ostensibly unable to read the cataclysmic change of the 8th of January for his partisan views.The crowds that thronged the venue at Nugegoda was not for the man wanted as the organizers fashioned it out as such but was the response of the shell-shocked voter of the UPFA at a most unexpected and revolting downfall of the Rajapaksa regime who still keep smarting at the debacle after a mere month of its happening and are easy prey at anybody’s beck and call who try to capitalize on for their own political future.The timing of the move by its organizers was perfect in that they were able to utilize the simmering anger of the defeated voter before it petered out with more time.The crowd certainly was not a call for the return of MR as DJ would want to make it portray but a mere cry out of an exasperated voter of the defeated regime that never thought it could fall.
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kali / February 20, 2015
Dayan
The Rising: Nugegoda Feb 18th
The Trap is Set by UNHCR to catch rats like you and MR and the 20,000 out of 5.8 Million who gathered on the 18th have played right into the hands of UNHCR.
When UNHCR announced a 6 months reprieve I was apprehensive but now looking back it seems the right thing to do.
If UNHCR needed proof Feb 18th provided it in no uncertain terms.
Let me break your usual rubbish into its components.
1) The WANTED poster that matters is the one from UNHCR for Mahinda Rajapaksa for crimes against humanity.
2) I must have attended an Opposition rally in Sri Lanka which was larger than the one in Nugegoda on February 18th but I can’t remember which, where and when.
*** That is because it was a bad dream.
3) Nugegoda was quite distinct in my experience, for a different reason.
*** You are right. It sent a clear signal to UNHCR that Sinhala Lanka is a RACIST Country and nothing has changed.
4) It was for someone and something. This, together with the numbers, made the event a turning point, and potentially historic.
*** You are day dreaming. If you can only muster 20,000 ( even though many were provided transport) out of 5.8 Million it was pathetic.
I would have expected 200,000 to make it historic.
5) The main players at Nugegoda were not the personalities who organized it or addressed the gathering. It was the people. They were packed tightly together, spilling over and swarming the area, more enthusiastic than an American football crowd, waving Sri Lankan flags and posters of Mahinda Rajapaksa.
*** What the 20,000 who came to see was for signs of bruises on MR after the way he is being tossed around like foot ball. His container is still parked somewhere with his few personal belongings as he is homeless.
6) It was as if the personalities on the stage were facilitators and conductors of that energy that came from the crowd. It was an energy that ran along an invisible circuit extending from Nugegoda to Medamulana and back.
*** The three musketeers you are talking about are a spent force and desperate and are looking for a fix.
7) The message from the rally had two intended audiences: Maithripala Sirisena and Mahinda Rajapaksa.
*** The message from the rally had only one audience and that is UNHCR.
8) Thus the Nugegoda mobilization was the birth of a popular movement of national—and nationalist– Resistance. It signaled a people’s national/ist Renaissance.
*** I remember Wimal Weerawansa calling on the 5.8 million to turn up at the Rally but only 20,000 turned up which is a miniscule only 0.34%.
9) Throughout the meeting was the rising chant from the crowd, “Mahinda! Mahinda! Apata Oney Mahinda! (“We want Mahinda!”)”. So Wimal was probably right when he said to rapturous applause “Mahinda is not a name, Mahinda is a country!”
*** You really have gone mad. See a Psychiatrist before it is too late. The word that describes Mahintha is if you take out the letters ory from Country.
10) It was veteran leftist Vasudeva Nanayakkara is fortune teller and what he meant is MR surrendering to UNHCR.
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safeer / February 20, 2015
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Burning Issue / February 20, 2015
DR DJ,
Please read this article on Daily Mirror:
http://www.dailymirror.lk/64201/terrorists-dressed-in-white-nationals-are-among-us
You just cannot saw seeds of cheap nationalism and unsaw just like that; consequences of promoting a chauvinistic platform is fraught with lasting inimical effects. I do not need to tell you this as there are numerous examples in the world. The Pakistani dictator General Ul Hug started the Islamic consciousness and look where it ended up now. Pakistan is a time bomb!
Quote:
Ethnic harmony should become another priority in our motherland. We should not permit another ethnic conflict to raise its head. I must quote Dr. N.M. Perera who warned in Parliament in 1956 – “those who sow the wind, will live to reap the whirlwind. Race hatred that is being aroused will end in racial disorder and bloodshed. You just cannot stop this when you start on this slippery road. There is no end until you reach rock bottom”. – See more at: http://www.dailymirror.lk/64201/terrorists-dressed-in-white-nationals-are-among-us#sthash.325OL8h9.dpuf
Unquote
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Park / February 20, 2015
Maithripala Sirisena should investigate to see how much Mahinda Rajapakse paid Dayan in the last three years from President’s Funds.
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Sinhalese / February 20, 2015
DJ – Just another ignorant, opportunistic TRAITOR trying to hurt our country.
Tell me DJ, when you’re on your deathbed one day, will you be proud to have been the moron who tried to destabilize Sri Lanka just when she was finding her feet? What is your achievement? That you attempted to dupe the poor, the uneducated and the vulnerable; those whose travel was paid for at your FAKE rally; with your racist nationalistic lies? That you stood idiotically in the face of progress? This new government has already done more for us in less than two months than the circus freaks in the previous “government” did in the last decade.
There is not a patriot among that clan who involved themselves in the running and ruining of this country; they are all TRAITORS. Is it patriotic to steal a poor man’s salary through unnecessary taxes? IS IT? Is it patriotic to shamelessly deny defeat at a democratic election and call it a conspiracy? There was an election, he LOST. AND HE LOST WITH A MUCH BIGGER MARGIN THAN HIS “WIN” IN 2005. Then why pray tell, is he still out there torturing us??? Does this behavior show his love for this country or love for himself at the expense of this country? And this is the “leader” you’re defending? What is the matter with you?
Please stop writing and find something else to do with your time. We do not want any more traitors like you in this country. We want a peaceful future and we’re going to make sure we have one.
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Sinhalese / February 20, 2015
I omitted to mention the ultimate act of treason by your “leader”: his criminal irresponsibility in spreading divisive racist lies for his own utterly selfish reasons. So basically he’s fine with pitting the Sinhalese against the Tamils and the Sinhalese against the Muslims; as long as it gets him back to power. This level of degenerate thinking resulted in a 30 year civil war. Did your “leader” learn from this? He did not. That’s why he went on to provoke the Muslims, in an effort to start civil war 2. He is an uncouth, illiberal degenerate, who does not belong in modern society, let alone at a leadership position in a developing country. At one point in the distant past, he may have been a good human being. However, I really doubt this, as only flawed minds get corrupted by power and harm people just because they can. Please read this quote by Hugo Grotus, who lived a long time ago and laid the foundation for international law, based on natural law.
“He knows not how to rule a kingdom, that cannot manage a province; nor can he wield a province, that cannot order a city; nor he order a city, that knows not how to regulate a village; nor he a village, that cannot guide a family; nor can that man govern well a family that knows not how to govern himself; neither can any govern himself unless his reason be lord, will and appetite her vassals; nor can reason rule unless herself be ruled by God, and be obedient to Him.” – Hugo Grotus
Tell me DJ, can the Moronic Mahinda govern himself? Has he demonstrated that he is capable of governing his family? Is all the evidence of corruption a figment of our collective imagination? I think what should be done is to publish his bank accounts, those accounts held in the national banks he’s banked with over the years. Publish accounts that show his original financial status and chart his astonishing prosperity over the past decade; at least until he began sending his ill gotten gains out of his homeland.
Isn’t it ridiculous to disregard the vote of Tamil and Muslim citizens, having collected their taxes for the last decade? Unfair taxes which Moronic Mahinda lived off of? Isn’t it ridiculous to disregard the Sinhalese votes against him, I thought he was supposed to be our staunch defender??? This dishonest TRAITOR who was so insecure he had to threaten and kill people who criticized him; is no leader at all. I think we’re going to do just fine without him.
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