19 March, 2024

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Why Are Political Blackguards So Often Not Prosecuted?

By Kumar David

Prof. Kuma David

Though this point has been festering in my mind what kick-started this para was Shyamon Jayasinghe’s (‘Similarities of Political Culture between Trump and post-war SL’) in Colombo Telegraph, 20 Jan 2021, Jo-Kamala inauguration day. This is not a reply to SJ, his topic is political morality mine is somewhat different, but he is to blame for giving me a push. The similarity that I want to reflect upon is that presidents and prime ministers of Lanka since the 1990s-incumbents have mostly if not entirely been crooked. That is, persons engaged in monetary fraud; in addition nearly all are guilty of other forms of misconduct – violation of the constitution, alleged murder, torture of political opponents or critics, and gross nepotism. I will not stop to quote examples as my paper will run out and my Editor is not kind enough to double by word-count quota. In any case it’s not necessary; most readers are better informed than I am on these matters.

No ex- president, prime minister, defence secretary or other Cabinet Minister of Sri Lanka has been prosecuted after his side lost an election – or maybe there were just one or two, forgive my ageing memory. Do you recall the blood curdling threats that the 2015 winners issued about crucifying oodles of thieves and gangsters of the previous regime Rajapaksa? Do you remember how the 2019-20 winners swore during the elections that they would prosecute and crucify yahapalana bond-bandits and a nefarious assortment of yahapalana crooks? Nothing happened! Not one rouge who pocketed countless millions spent one day behind bars. Actually there was one, poor Lalith Weeratunga played forlorn Sydney Carton to his boss’s Charles Draney.

I am in the US at the moment and the vaccination mess that Trump left behind is bedlam. Vaccinations were quite rightly initially restricted to healthcare workers and essential personnel but the next stage was for over-65s. It was chaos! You need an appointment but the website is only usable by someone with a PhD in software, imagine some half-blind little old lady trying to find a slot. The site gives you oodles of useless information but how to make an appointment is hidden away behind a machinegun load of clicks and when you finally reach it IT’S FULL! “Don’t call us, we’ll call you”.  If you get an appointment and roll up in a car (the good part is its drive through vaccination) the line of cars is 3 to 5 km long. At Dodger Stadium, the main site (of 5 in LA County) it takes six hours in line but only six seconds to get the jab. And it gets worse; folks need two shots 21 days apart if its Pfizer or 28 days apart for the Moderna (the CDC says a two or three week delay is ok), but imagine going through it all to get another appointment and the waiting in line!

Now why blame Trump you may ask; isn’t it all to do with the crush of getting things done! No; the answer is no in so far as the cock-up in pre-planning and executing procedures is concerned. Trump as president neglected, I would say obstructed, putting in place procedures to administer the vaccination programme when the vaccine rolled out. At of this moment of writing about 40 million doses have come off the manufacturing line, not even half the number has found its way into people’s arms. Trump is guilty of criminal negligence but here’s my punch line. Though he is a crooked businessman and continued to be so during his presidency, though he has violated the constitution and he has acted in palpable bad faith, I am prepared to offer my usual wager, a litre bottle of single-malt that he will not face criminal prosecution, nor will he be imprisoned for a large platter of crimes though he deserves to be. My pessimistic conjecture is that he will get away with a light rap on the knuckles.

It behoves us to ask why this is so. The Sri Lankan specific practice of ‘you scratch my back I’ll scratch yours’ is not generalizable. A popular theory and one which I subscribe to his that the big clans and families will not go out on a limb to harm the other. It is assumed that Mahinda as President protected Ranil from arrest or worse and in recognition thereof Ranil did not allow prosecution of MR, GR and Basil for corruption and MR’s sons for more serious allegations including murder. There is now a stifling silence about the bond-scam which was a headline during the elections. It is said that during the Chandrika and Mahinda presidencies some similar code of honour among thieves prevailed. The only time when this cosy arrangement was flouted was when JR wrongfully revoked Mrs B’s civil rights in a fit of vengeance; so you see the one instance in which a former national leader was condemned by the state, was done wrongfully. Furthermore Nihal Jayawickrama, an honourable man was likewise wronged simply for association with Mrs B. 

Be all this as it may I ask again, leaving aside unusual setups like Sri Lanka, why is it that gross and criminal leaders and ministers are not brought to book when they leave office? A few are, as in the case of Sarkozy or if there is concerted international pressure, Slobodan Milosevic for example. But seen alongside the sea of crimes that military-gorilla regimes in South and Central America, Burma and Central Asia have been responsible, or the systematic abuses of power, mechanisms of torture, violations of the constitution and robbery on a giant scale that leaders have been up to, not even the tip pf the iceberg has been touched. Even that mighty robber Marcos and his accomplice-wife Imelda, Malaysia’s serial robber Najib Razak and many others still walk free, or did so till the Great Reaper settled the score.

I have no universal answer to this question but one part of the answer is obvious. In times of yore the masters of the manor did as they pleased and were not held to account. “The history of all hitherto existing society” we might say is the story of how rulers were never held to account. And then in modern times, in modern liberal democratic times, this has undergone a little twist – the insolence of law.  Great bodies of complex law have been enacted, great and leaned men in wigs have debated them and the rest of society came into the courtroom and the chambers and out they went “by the same door as in they came”. The law is the same for the rich and the poor or as Anatole France remarked “The law, in its majestic equality, forbids the rich as well as the poor to sleep under bridges, to beg in the streets, and to steal bread”. Great PCs, QCs and R for rotten Cs, are available to the humblest citizen if he could afford the fee. Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos, Donald Trump, O.J. Simpson, Casey Anthony, the 2012 police murders of Rodney King, and the accused in the forthcoming trial of “I can’t breathe” murder of Eric Garner have or will will be decided by the majesty of the law in accordance with the fee of vital counsel. 

Miscarriages of justice and sheer disregard for the law are increasingly commonplace in Sri Lanka in recent decades. But time is of the essence in all things; it will determine the outcome in the US and it will decide in Lanka. Ahimsas and Sandayas and thousands of widows, mothers and daughters wait. They knit and they wait, and wait and knit. They knit and knit and wait and wait, as did Madame Defarge, for that day which will surly come.

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Latest comments

  • 7
    5

    Kumar: When will Lanka’s paid civil society, the dead left and their scribes, realize that the US, UK and French Govts have committed more War Crimes and looted the resources of the Global South than any country in the world?!

    The so-called International community led by US and EU is totally morally and intellectually bankrupt and has NO moral authority, particularly the UN and the WHO which is in the Humanitarian Disaster Capitalism Big Business with Big Pharma!
    Trumps and Gota’s crimes pail into comparison with that of the US-CIA DEEPSTATE that is in league with the Democrats.
    Trump though deplorable did the world a favour by exposing the American-EU- NATO Deepstate and had to go
    Julian Assange is in a UK prison for revealing US war Crimes in Afghanistan,
    And Phil Millers book Keenie Meenie: The British mercenaries who got away with War crimes in Sri Lanka reveals how ex-UK SAS officers also bombed Tamils from Bell helicopters with full knowledge of the British Embassy which was helping JRJ’s govt set up the STF to fight India’s RAW backed LTTE in the mid 1980s.
    Covid-19 was like the US patented Fall Army Worm and Bird Flu is part of bio-terrorism unleashed on the world to destroy China and the rise of Asia and make Euro-America great again.But Covid-19 backfired badly it seems.

    • 3
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      Dear Prof. KD,
      .
      Why Are Political Blackguards So Often Not Prosecuted? is very connected with srilanken culture.
      :
      And there are unestimated number of pot holes in prevailing legal system.
      :
      Europeans conuntrides, leaders get passed new reforms , amendments or new laws almost everyday by discussing them in corresponding parliaments and regional bodies, while SRILANKEN law makers do nothing. Ironically, srilanka perhaps in many developing countries , the lawmakers dont know and dont care little about the ” responsiblities”: Then again, the voters, too dont care much about the responsibilities of them.
      :;
      If a fatal disease to be treated, you need to provide the patients with most reliable, timely methods – that is also not the case in CURRENT day srilanka. Srilanka is believed to be successful with VACCINATION PROGRAMS to any other countries…. neverthless this time, they are bit backward to go for it. why ? It is all because MINISTER of HEALTH is a pig who knows nothing but being a DIEHARD backlicker of Rajaakshe clan. She does ntt care the little about the REAL alarming issues, she enjoyed until the bitch was lately caught by the virus.

      And people are SELFISH by every means. If ONE of the Rajakspkehs died by COVID only, they would wake up as if srilanka is their own property.

  • 8
    3

    “Why Are Political Blackguards So Often Not Prosecuted?”
    That’s easy. All our politicians are blackguards.
    This is a small feudal society. Even the great and learned men in wigs quail at the sight of a “saatakaya” or a “sivura”.
    It might have been different if the Dutch and the Brits between them had managed to convert all of us into fine upstanding Protestants. Like dear Professor KD himself.

    • 5
      1

      OC,
      .
      spot on thanks dear.
      :
      Those who lived in SL should be well aware of the reasoning behind as to Why Are Political Blackguards So Often Not Prosecuted?

      People are stupidier than appeared to be. May be that has lot do with SINHALA genetics. I am afraid that is what I feel. Look at the faces of the villagers, when Nandasena turned up before them ? People are made to be SLAVES…… this would not change for the next few years… As you say, PINGUTHARAYA is even more dangerous than dengue mosquitoes. Even if they have not the basic knowledge, they dont allow expert to do the job. Unlike good educated BUDDHIST MONKS in europe and california, srilanken monks, in general are very stupid. They dont even know § true teaching of buddha§§§§

    • 2
      2

      OC
      Are you sure that conversion freed people of the then prevailing feudal mindset?
      Britain is still saddled with an anachronism called the Royal Family.
      So are the Dutch.

      • 4
        2

        S.J,
        I am no Protestant, but, looking around the world, there is something about them that keeps their countries a cut above the Catholics. Can you find one that’s poor? Some do have monarchies, but nowadays the monarchs are openly ridiculed.
        Sadly there is no Asian Protestant country to compare with the disastrous Catholic Philippines.
        Perhaps if the Chinese had colonized us and inculcated Confucianism……..? Or if the British had imported Chinese labour instead of Indians?
        .

        • 1
          1

          OC
          I consider you an oncorrigible liberal.
          *
          The discriminating factor has been that all protestant faiths have been post feudal while the Catholic Church took time to be freed of the feudal ideology of its period of rise. (The works of Copernicus and Galileo became banned. The former was lucky to die before an inquisition caught up with him.)
          Protestant colonization happened few centuries after Catholic colonization, with capitalism more mature.
          The Philippines was a US colony from the start of the 20th Century and fully US dominated for most of that century. Vietnam was under a Catholic colonial power (with the Vatican having a relatively loose hold) until after WW2.
          Can we call the Protestant South of the US any more advanced than the Catholics anywhere in the US.
          Let us also not forget that it was the seemingly backward Muslims who took science to Europe.
          *
          One thing about East Asian religions is that they are generally not proselytizing, although vigorous but limited conversion (of the monarch and his retinue) happened in South Asia. (It is claimed by some that the Jains persecuted by the Saivaites resorted to Vaishnavaism in the 7th & 8th Centuries.)
          *
          East Asians had a tradition of absorbing culture and religion with an open mind, so that Confucianism (not quite a religion) and Taoism coexisted with Buddhism and even Hindu systems of worship.

          • 1
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            OC,
            Sorry
            incorrigible liberal

            • 1
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              SJ,
              Can an incorrigible liberal and a diehard Marxist agree that we could do with a Reformation here? Without burning any witches, of course.

              • 3
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                A dogmatic Marxist and stubborn Liberal cannot.
                But there are situations which warrant a united front and half-way houses, like the context of a fascist threat.

                • 2
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                  “Stubborn Liberal” sounds a little bit oxymoronic.

                  • 1
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                    Thanks.
                    I intended a more complimentary adjective.
                    BTW
                    Here is a lady who calls herself a stubborn liberal:
                    http://stubbornliberal.blogspot.com/

                  • 1
                    0

                    ‘Liberal’ has many meanings. It would be oxymoronic only if the word were used in a certain way, which is not the case here.

              • 1
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                old codger

                “Can an incorrigible liberal and a diehard Marxist agree that we could do with a Reformation here?”

                How about an unrepentant Maoist/Pol Potist ….. ?

      • 2
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        SJ

        “Are you sure that conversion freed people of the then prevailing feudal mindset?”

        Are you sure that conversion to Maoism freed people from prevailing feudal mindset and liberated them from Mao Cult?

  • 10
    1

    Gota is president thanks to Ranil.
    Ranil saved Gota and his son from money laundering charges. Ranil also gave Gota a SL identity card while Gota was a US citizen! Ranil put his whatever on the line in helping Gota! The American then presented this as evidence of his SL citizenship and shedding US citizenship. That’s how he contested the election and won.
    Why did Ranil help Gota? Because Rajapaksas helped Ranil. In a 1999 presidential commission report Ranil was found to have committed war crimes against Sinhala civilians in 1987-89. But Rajapaksas discontinued it totally in 2005 saving Ranil for good.
    Sajith was found to have misappropriated funds of the cultural fund. But nothing will happen. He is closer to Rajapaksas than Ranil. After all they are all Sinhalas. After all as Victor Rathnayake sang in a catchy patriotic song “we are all kings, we are all relatives, the three great Sinhala clans are one brethren against one common enemy”.
    Ponnambalam Arunachalam found the hard way that Sinhalese are divided just to fool Tamils and Muslims. Good cop bad cop. When fooling ends, they join together against Tamils. Look at the “peace process”. UNP opposed SLFP and started the peace process in 2002 but in 2007 when it came to crunch time they all joined together and passed a large defence budget to wipe out Tamil tigers.

    • 3
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      Gatam, while you and I disagree on certain issues, I salute you man for speaking up. Good for you.

  • 4
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    Dear Prof. Kumar,
    .
    You are being rational when you say that it is unlikely that Donald Trump would get no more than a rap on the knuckles. I’m naive enough to hope otherwise. I wonder if some of those Q-ANNON guys will be punished. At least five deaths resulted directly from their actions.
    . And Trump. After all, the mobs were cynically egged on by Trump. I wonder in what mood the dozens who get prison sentences will be in when they emerge after their jail terms.
    .
    It is possible that you wrote this “entertaining piece” before the magnitude of the events in Russia became known:
    .
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLkhYgFPpKY
    .
    That’s just a 90-second hour-old clip which will suffice for here because by the time it is displayed updates would have arrived. Of rather more lasting interest will be this 115 minute video which has already been seen 75 million times

    .
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ch7uQBwlzS0

    • 1
      0

      Russia is such a huge place, and it may be that we should not dare to comment on things that we are not really familiar with. However, there are things going on there which are clearly causing concern for Putin whom most people are suspicious of. See this, only about two hours old.
      .
      https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-01-25/russia-seeks-to-stamp-out-navalny-protests-as-new-unrest-looms
      .
      Now this report now speaks of 85 million views. After I said yesterday that there have been 75 million views I wondered whether that could really be true. It may be that it’s available at many different websites, and as for the English subtitles, they are there. However, yesterday, when I first went there I didn’t find them.
      .
      https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jan/25/navalny-protests-eu-to-consider-next-steps-after-russia-carries-out-mass-arrests
      .
      I think that above is where I first watched it, but the article has now been updated. I submitted a very long comment on Youtube – must have been 600 words, but now comments have been disabled. It may have become unmanageable.
      .
      If you don’t find the subtitles go to the bottom-left of the Youtube display and click on the gear symbol for settings. Options will then pop up. Play around with those. If you are concerned about data consumption then you can opt for lower resolution.
      .
      Some things have to be learnt by trial and error.

      • 3
        0

        S.M,
        ” If you are concerned about data consumption then you can opt for lower resolution.”
        No need for that . For less than Rs. 300, there are mobile packages that give you 30 days unlimited YouTube. I can’t give you details because that would be free advertising, but you can ask your service provider.

        • 1
          0

          Thanks, oc.
          .
          Yes, one has to keep reviewing what is available for Internet Data.
          .
          The aerial signals are not great here, and I use mainly an ADSL connection. A desktop computer with a large monitor and good speakers is so much more effective. Yes, rates keep coming down. Very soon most people will start using WhatsApp to speak even within the country. Of course, the guy at the other end also must have a smartphone.
          .
          What are your views on what’s happening in Russia? We haven’t yet seen an article devoted to Navalny vs Putin.

          • 2
            0

            SM,
            “What are your views on what’s happening in Russia?”
            I prefer to wait and see. In any case, Putin isn’t encouraging anyone to take over the Kremlin, is he?

            • 2
              0

              old codger

              Please compare and contrast Putin and Gota.

              • 1
                0

                Native,
                I don’t think Putin ran away and swore allegiance to USA at any point. And he thinks Russia is good enough for his children.

            • 0
              0

              I will give you a few links which will indicate what’s happening.
              .
              I don’t think that any other reader will have a neighbour who knows Russian.
              .
              I try to contribute what I can. When I don’t know, I say so. It works when interacting with decent people; others will maul me.
              .
              What to do? Whom to tell?
              .
              Panini

              • 1
                0

                S.M,
                You don’t need to know Russian. RT (Russia Today) is free on YouTube, staffed by Brits. Watch them and CNN, and divide by two. Simple.

                • 0
                  0

                  OC
                  I will do a 67:33 divide in favour of RT. (RT is also Internet-accessible as RT.com)
                  RT is careful about data. Interpretation is something else. CNN data has been flawed in several instances.
                  Al Jazeera is more reliable than either but for matters that concern Qatari interests. (For example, it was bitterly biased against Gadaffi. But still a world better than BBC and US media).

            • 0
              0

              Dear OC,
              If I may add few lines,
              What is happening in Russia these days is no very different to what our eyes could not believe, but happened in the US few weeks ago. Trump thought only about his own businesses, while Putin is even worst. Navalny, 44, is best known in Russia for producing detailed investigations into corruption, which get millions of views on his YouTube channel. His name for the ruling United Russia party – the “party of crooks and thieves” – has become common coinage among his supporters.
              .
              Putin from his behaviour before the press, is more or less like our tinpot dictator – NANDASENA Rajapakshe former asylum seeker/petrol shed assistant in the US.
              .
              https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b3-gE27Z7s8

              The kind of suppression can only worsen the situation. In Europe, people dont care much about Russia for some reasons. I only know russian doctors and graudates keep entering to Europe finding better jobs.
              :
              Suppression under NANDASENA would not be better in the days to come. East terminal lease could also be possible, because Nandasen does not seem to repsect the voices of people now but his army men. If he would turn out to be another ” Duterte” giving the order to army to kill thousand. Killing tactics are not new to Rajapakshe genome.

        • 0
          0

          I’m surprised that we haven’t had “an expert” yet writing an article on what’s happening on Russia.
          .
          I’d have expected somebody like Dayan Jayatilleka, who was an ambassador to Russia, to have enough insight and knowledge. He’s likely to have met Putin more than once, although the chances are that these would have been on formal occasions with no real exchange of ideas.
          .
          However, Dayan would have had plenty of time and opportunity to assess the country, how it is run, and the people.
          .
          I’ve been reading up a lot, but what can an Uva villager like me really understand. I can, and will pass on to other readers, what I’ve gleaned from the web, and hope that they will be better able than me to do all the reading between the lines.

          .
          The latest that I have seen. On Reuters:
          .
          https://www.reuters.com/article/us-russia-politics-navalny-search-idUSKBN29W1Z8
          .
          The rest I shall place at the bottom of the page, where it is moelikely to be seen by readers.

      • 0
        0

        Nalvany ‘ s fate
        §
        Long term cremlin critic Nalvany is the main adversary of President Putin. Nalvany s begining was as a powerful blogger against corruption in Russia. Now with mountains of evidence on Putin’s wealth, Nalvany and his supporters fight further against Putin’s illegal fund grabs.
        §§
        Prior to Nalvany being air transported to Berlin for treament, his doctors in Kazaksan had rejected on a neuro toxin which was later was found in his body.
        https://www.ft.com/content/92d07c9d-84aa-4ad7-a0e6-8982209c5d50

        https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Novichok_agent
        §§
        The very same „ financial times“ exposed how much SRILANKEN mafia boss Mahinda Rajapakshe was offered by China in his 2015 election campaign. Remember ?
        So the source should be credible.
        §§
        However, german medical experts found him to have been poisonous by a neuro toxine- that is a fact. And the story continues. Amidst fears of threats to his life, he risks his life by returning to Moscow.
        §§
        Now he is arrested on his arrival to Moscow

        More to come from German point of view
        .
        Contd.

  • 6
    1

    The Law, all across the world, is heavily biased in favor of the Rich and the Powerful while at the same time it is biased strongly against the Poor and the Weak. Nevertheless, it is a common platitude that everyone is equal before the law. In fact, that has remained the greatest myth of all time. And we the citizens are expected to have respect for the Law. Bloody joke!

    • 3
      1

      Yes. The Law is framed by the Rich – not by the Poor and Weak.
      Anatole France remarked “The law, in its majestic equality, forbids the rich as well as the poor to sleep under bridges, to beg in the streets, and to steal bread”.
      One country one law.
      But do the rich and powerful sleep under bridges, or beg in the streets or steal bread ? They live in mansions, just plunder the national wealth and loot the country at will.
      That is the LAW. So what may I ask……….

  • 2
    1

    This is a link to something light-hearted:
    .

    https://nypost.com/2021/01/23/vp-kamala-harris-laughs-while-swearing-in-senate-replacement/
    .
    I was amused when I first saw it, and it looks as though many others on the web have also enjoyed it. Kamala Harris having a hearty laugh at herself for having to refer to herself in the third person.
    .
    Too ready to laugh? It may be that her extra-serious father thinks so:
    .
    https://nationalpost.com/news/as-kamala-harris-shatters-barriers-why-we-still-hear-little-about-her-jamaican-american-father
    .
    I have tracked down a fair amount on the father; that link may suffice for most of us. Kamala has been to Jamaica quite a bit as a kid, and knew her paternal relatives, but it is with her maternal relations that she has interacted most.

  • 6
    1

    Dear Prof. Kumar

    An interesting piece and lot to think about. You have cited cases from West to East and North to South
    The cover up cases in the annals of history are far and wide. “You scratch my back; I will scratch yours” and on top of it is the old school tie network at work. Typical is the Bond scam, Royal vs Royal. By all means honour your Alma Mater
    It sickens to think that crooks get away with murder, while innocents have been persecuted for uttering the truth. It is a very sick world we live
    As long as ego and selfishness prevail, there is no redemption for humanity. As Mahatma Gandhi stated ” There is enough for everyone’s need but not enough for man’s greed”

  • 1
    6

    Dear David

    You say

    “all are guilty of other forms of misconduct – violation of the constitution, alleged murder, torture of political opponents or critics, and gross nepotism”

    when the Nation did not take the “Ratha Pottu Mafia FP/TULF/TN to the gallows for the crimes in Jaffna from 1970-1977-1981” the the wrong presidents already set?? The same loitering the parliament pardoned by whom??

    When the JVP blinders were not addressed the same there is the wrong presidents set?? The same loitering the parliament pardoned by whom??

    Want justice start from North to South and East to West from 1970 when any sense of normality was taken away at gun point from all of us for no reason the unelected and unelectable demanded death to their opponents??

    I suggest we should have an open debate between the TNA vs JVP will settle all records correctly without any prejudice?? Then we get the ball rolling to regards to who goes to the gallows…..I think this should be a public execution just as what was done to the unsuspecting then???

    • 0
      0

      Well well thiagarajah venugopal has reincrnated as Rumble2021. Welcome back thiagarajah venogopal. We missed your cut and paste “Ratha Pottu Mafia FP/TULF/TN”

  • 10
    2

    Why Political Blackguards are not prosecuted?
    This is very simple. Political blackguards are alway from Rich families and they control politics. Politics is an investment business to make profit. UNP was initially owned by Senanayaka family and then handed over to Jeyawardena family. Similarly Bandaranayaka family owned the SLFP and handed over to Rajapakse family. Senanayaka, Bandaranaiyaka, Jeyawardena and Rajapakse family are the richest families in Sri Lanka. These families control politics and the wealth of this country. They have a common understanding and practices and they know people are fools. They don’t bother about religion, language, race or country. Their focus is power and money making.

    • 4
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      Ajith: Spot on. You said so many things in a very short comment. One fact I would like to add to your last line..”They don’t bother about religion, language, race, or country”. No, they are very much “BOTHER” about it only during the “Elections” to capture power. That has become a “Handy Tool” to deceive the gullible voter.

    • 2
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      Ajith,
      this is no right. By the time, Mahinda Rajakashe became president in 2005, according to the reports, he did not have a vehicle for his own. Nor had he any other assets.
      .
      All other politicians may have come out of rich family backgrounds but MR has not.
      .
      Those who in his age would be able to add much more about the ground realities of his previous assets.
      :

  • 4
    4

    Kumar: Who killed JFK who believed in de-colonization and roll back of the US military business industrial complex that Eisenhower warned about?!

    Who used a laughable Buddhist monk narrative to assassinate SWRD Banda after he nationalized the ports and airports of Sri Lanka, after which the US and UK went to Chagos Islands and forcibly displaced it natives and built a massive military base in the Indian Ocean called Diego Garcia?! Who killed Lumumba in DRC, had a coup against Iran’s democratically elected Mossadeg? Have you heard that the Cold War was and is a Hot War / Hybrid war now in the Global South?

    KD: How come you write this Tosh, like you were born yesterday, while nestled in the crashed US empire turned Rogue State of the world?! Who pays you write this naive Bullshit?!

    • 0
      2

      That is why a neighbour can connive with whoever they fee like and cause havoc in another mans country…with the willing participants within our Nation……JVP thought they were preventing the Indian Expansion and try to topple our Nation that Brough foreign boots then…the next step was to rape the Jaffna children against the Parents knowledge (stolen from Tuition centres under the nose/supervision of FP/TULF) the rest is a history.

      Now the same wonder why our Nation is in the centre of the geo political new Cold War?? everyone going to fondle us as required forever has not suck into the numpties yet.

  • 5
    0

    Just as Prof Kuma has pointed out, when JR took away the civil liberties of Mrs. B, it was considered political victimisation, therefore, it is unlikely that Trump will be prosecuted either for the same reason & to his loyal followers who are in denial, the election was rigged & any such publicity would give Trump a platform. In fact, the Mueller investigation stopped short of accusing Trump for the Russian connection as it would embarrass the nation by prosecuting a sitting President, although, it did not exonerate him totally. His cronies paid the price but were soon pardoned by him, just like in SL. However, there is a possibility that the IRS & FBI would investigate Trump & his family for tax fraud & dodgy business affairs, in which case, the outcome would be a fine, not a jail sentence. Nevertheless, his business empire is crumbling with all his hotels recording losses & his biggest financier, Deutsch Bank, calling in the loans but it is not the first time this ‘successful’ businessman was declared bankrupt. The social elite are distancing themselves & for a publicity seeking opportunist, it is a disaster, & Trump will be licking his wounds on his own in his Florida mansion. In contrast, our politicians will continue to have a blessed life, having amassed enough to last several generations, apart from RW, who has no family continuation.

  • 4
    1

    A few days ago, I clicked on a link found on a comment by a CT reader about the assault on a dentist by, apparently, a national hero, the saviour of the nation with his divine concoction for warding off the COVID virus. The poor dentist, obviously, a sceptic, was threatened with death, assaulted, demanded a ransom for the safety of his family, etc. etc by this snake medicine peddler, who even boasted of getting the local police to lock him up without bail on his say so. No doubt, the claim by the dentist is true but I wonder if there has been an investigation by the police for these serious allegations. The GMOA is usually up in arms & ready to go on strike for the slightest provocation but when it comes to an assault by a dubious ‘veda mahattaya’ on one of their own, are they silent? The GMC & the Aurvedic Ministry seem to have no problem with a self appointed medicine man peddling unknown concoctions, even the subject Minister, as well as, the Health Minister & other politicians endorsing it. Ironically, it appears the Health minister is now infected with the virus, despite taking the ‘medicine’.

    When the govt., & even professional bodies, sponsor or fail to expose scams which hoodwink the gullible public, is there any point in prosecuting anybody?

  • 3
    1

    For this kind of thing, integrity should be a fundamental in the culture.

    In the Indian Sub-Continent honesty is a learnt concept, how can such desperate people think of integrity ?

    What is an exception in other countries is the rule here.

    MPs, lawyers, judges, cricketers in this part of the word are dubious. Look at what Indian Cricket board has done to Cricket, same with Sri Lanka Cricket-the entire structure is semi-criminal.

    Every Sri Lankan will pull for family , caster, race , religion. There is no objectivity in them.

    Integrity is written about only by those who speak in English and that too only as a way of getting popular.

    In this kind of culture who will fight corruption ? Ranil? Mahendran? Basil ? Premadasa ? Sarath Silva ? Aravinda Silva ?

  • 2
    1

    Is this a question to ask?
    How else these b******* take turns to rob us?

    • 2
      1

      soman

      “How else these b******* take turns to rob us?”

      Because a large section (presently its about 6.9 million) of the people have been continuously conditioned to focus on minorities, while crooks have been hiding behind patriotism and more or less found refuge in Sinhala/Buddhism (I have no idea what it is) .

      It is known as Classical, Pavlovian or respondent conditioning.
      “The most famous example of classical conditioning was Pavlov’s experiment with dogs, who salivated in response to a bell tone. Pavlov showed that when a bell was sounded each time the dog was fed, the dog learned to associate the sound with the presentation of the food.”
      https://www.simplypsychology.org/

      Crooks use every opportunity to divert the attention of people by tolling the tried and tested racist Sinhala/Buddhist bell which which always did the trick, like the dogs they were ready to obey/follow the indication, master’s bell, …..

      • 0
        3

        NV
        Majority never takes any initiative to discriminate the minority. They have other things to worry about.
        It is the minority who always conspires against the majority. That is their sole occupation.
        In immigrant countries like Canada, Australia, UK. the white majority hardly talks about the minorities until someone blasts a bomb. But the whole preoccupation of the immigrants 24 x 7 is to criticize the white man whenever and wherever they get together.

        Soma

        • 1
          0

          soman

          “Majority never takes any initiative to discriminate the minority.”

          Thamby Soman it appears you have a number of deficiencies in your metabolic system. Ginseng is considered to be beneficial for many health deficiencies, among them it cures:
          Reduces Inflammation
          Benefits Brain Function
          Improves E****ile Dysfunction
          Boosts the Immune System
          Benefits Against Cancer
          Fights Tiredness and Increases Energy Levels
          Lowers Blood Sugar

          Ginseng could help you in many ways.
          Give it a try and make your partner happy.

  • 0
    0

    Law is about providing justice. Justice is about equal opportunities. So law and order is main part of democratic administration. When law is followed, justice is provided (equality maintained). If not followed, an injustice is done to somebody by someone. Not just providing the law is enough, implementing that also government’s responsibility. If it is not implemented, it is the government, who did the first crime and the one took the advantage of the situation committing the 2nd crime. Punishing is only to implement the law, so punishment is not the purpose of the law. Because following law is the first step of justice providing, the not following need not always have to be punished. When law is not followed and injustice is not committed, the law gets corrected. When every time a victim missed justice, there is failure of democracy. Democracy is present only where law and order is present. So when & where a law break took place and what was the result of it is a concern for how to implement the law. Law is not about the book, but also about implementing experience. Current South East Asian law mainly came from Western civilization, with the English Language’s words, their experience also mimicked as law. So there is a good reason for Prof. Kumar to compare American mistake with Lankawe. But is doesn’t mean American correctness should be followed exactly as it is.

  • 0
    0

    PART ONE

    This Financial Times (of London) report includes a link to the two-hour video on Putin’s Palace with YouTube comments enabled:
    .
    https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2021/01/26/biden-putin-talk-nuclear-arms-pact-expiring-days-russian-hacking/4265033001/
    .
    My neighbour, even older than me, had learnt Russian as a youngish man, so as to be able to read Tolstoy’s War and Peace. How much else he has read (of Tolstoy himself, Dostoevsky, Pushkin, Gogol, etc) I don’t know; his knowledge couldn’t have been just basic. He says that he has now lost some fluency, and the subtitles helped even him.
    .
    He says that Navalny is a highly educated man, who speaks very well. The subtitles have been very well done, and so, he said that what I had understood was quite sufficient. This film would have cost a great deal; who would have paid for it?
    .
    When I said that Navalny’s father had been Ukrainian (more on that later) and that Navalny had spent many school vacations in Ukraine and knew the language, he said that the two languages are the same, with differences introduced mainly for political reasons.
    .
    We agreed that the Palace is a horrible, tasteless structure for all the money spent on it.

    • 0
      0

      PART ONE (a)
      .

      I’m sorry. That was the wrong link. Here it is:

      .
      https://www.ft.com/content/6e2f64d6-f93b-41b8-a70b-b848e22b2751
      .
      I’ve just been, got to the video and ascertained that it opens properly. It says that there have now been 98 million views of it.
      .
      I’ve seen it twice, and from what I remember of it, even a child can see it and gape at the opulence of the inside. However, my neighbour was of the view that some of the inside views are not authentic, representing reconstructions of what couldn’t be seen by drones.

      • 1
        0

        PART ONE (b)
        .
        That “Financial Times” link will work, but they impose some conditions on you – which didn’t matter to a “GambadaIngireesiIskoleMahattaya” like me. They will not matter to most of those who are reading this.
        .
        This link is the easiest to use:
        .
        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ipAnwilMncI&feature=emb_title
        .
        I found it here.
        .
        https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/jan/24/alexei-navalny-vladimir-putin-exposed
        .
        It says that there have by now been more than a billion views of it. I wonder what Youtubes all-time record is.
        .
        This is nowhere near this “silly kids 2-minute video”:
        .
        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XqZsoesa55w
        .
        To get back to newspapers, both papers are very good and reliable, but they fund themselves differently. “The Washington Post ” the “FT” both let you see one or two articles a month for free – after that, you have to pay. The Guardian is always free, but they “welcome donations”.
        .
        Nothing can be done without money.

        • 0
          0

          Dear SM,
          .
          I think this is not valid to some areas.
          .
          Just imagine, how powerful social media users such as YT bloggers back Nalvany#s anti corruption movement today ?

          Meaning, that is always not money but people s honest wills could make a real change. Ofcourse, somehow it is connected with “Money gains”. But that is not in a direct manner.
          :
          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=REnKPzy8bhw
          :
          Can we ever expect the same support be offered by SRILANKEN young ytubers ? No most of them either enjoy their selfish gains or just hang on with gossips video clips based on SINHALA BUDDHISM.

  • 0
    0

    PART TWO
    .
    Navalny had also pulled off another “coup” on the Putin team. He had made a 45-minute telephone call to one of the assassins, and extracted from him details of the attempt on his life, with the member of the assassination team not knowing that he was actually speaking to the intended victim – Navalny himself.
    .
    https://www.bellingcat.com/news/uk-and-europe/2020/12/21/if-it-hadnt-been-for-the-prompt-work-of-the-medics-fsb-officer-inadvertently-confesses-murder-plot-to-navalny/
    .
    You can listen there to the entire call, in Russian, with English subtitles helping you all the way through, with a typescript of the entire conversation in English below all of it.
    .
    The novichok had been placed in Navalny’s underwear, which is why, in the comments, there are references to Navalny’s “balls of iron”.
    .
    Much has also been now said about his wife, Yulia Navalnaya:
    .
    https://edition.cnn.com/2021/01/27/europe/who-is-yulia-navalnaya-intl/index.html
    .
    The most recent developments:
    .
    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jan/27/russian-police-raid-alexei-navalny-home-and-offices
    .
    This is also on Reuters.

    .
    https://www.reuters.com/article/us-russia-politics-navalny-search-idUSKBN29W1Z8
    .
    And this in the Guardian:
    .
    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jan/27/russian-police-raid-alexei-navalny-home-and-offices
    .
    I’ve been following the fortunes of Navalny for about twelve years. This remarkable wife of his has been, since then, playing an admirable secondary role, never trying to upstage her husband.

  • 0
    0

    PART THREE
    .
    Navalny is not popular in Ukraine:
    .
    https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/ukrainealert/russias-navalny-protests-provoke-mixed-emotions-in-ukraine/
    .
    This is because he has been saying that Ukrainians and Russians are one people. These are issues which we may not be able to properly understand. Gorbachev is still living, revered by most of us who are not Russians. Yet Russians don’t like him, holding him responsible for the country that they dominated, the USSR, having ceased to be a Super Power, whatever position she then enjoyed having now been taken by China.
    .
    So, it may be that for Navalny to suggest anything less than saying that that earlier position of greatness could be re-captured, is to lose support in Russia. In Ukraine, on the other hand, they don’t want to be swamped by their huge neighbour. Somewhat similar to the Sinhalese fear of being swamped by India? There they speak the same language. My neighbour said that even Kruschev was half Ukrainian, and what was Stalin, I wonder. These are easily checked, I’m sure, but I think that I have said as much as I can usefully. I’m hoping that somebody more knowledgeable will take over.

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