{"id":137009,"date":"2015-01-14T16:00:37","date_gmt":"2015-01-14T10:30:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?p=137009"},"modified":"2015-02-14T15:49:18","modified_gmt":"2015-02-14T10:19:18","slug":"the-mighty-fall-from-grace","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/the-mighty-fall-from-grace\/","title":{"rendered":"The Mighty Fall From Grace!"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Sharmini Serasinghe<\/span><\/a> –<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Sharmini<\/a>

Sharmini Serasinghe<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cAnyone can deal with victory. Only the mighty can bear defeat.\u201d<\/em><\/strong> – Adolf Hitler<\/p>\n

On 19 November 2005, when you Mr. Percy Mahendra (Mahinda) Rajapaksa<\/span><\/a>, assumed the mantle of the 6th<\/sup> Executive President of Sri Lanka, many of us, including diehard UNP supporters, hailed you as a true son of the soil, who would finally make things right, for our country. Such was the hope we optimists, had in you.<\/p>\n

Some even said, \u201cMahinda is one President, who has blundered his way to success\u201d. At the time, it sounded funny, but true. After all, you were the pleasant and simple village guy, forever the underdog in the political arena, catapulted to the top, and had to find his way around. But you seemed to get it right eventually, though rather clumsily.<\/p>\n

When you did, what all of your predecessor didn\u2019t have it in them to do; give full freedom to the three armed forces, to rid the country of the LTTE<\/span><\/a> menace, the masses bowed to you, with gratitude and relief. Hence, you shall forever be remembered, as the leader who set us free, from a ruthless terrorist outfit!<\/p>\n

But then, the \u201cWe Won the War\u201d phobia came over you. When the masses voted you in, with their hearts and not their heads, for a second term in 2010, you lost it! And that was the beginning of your downfall!<\/p>\n

Those sycophants around you made you feel like the uncrowned King of Sri Lanka, and it rapidly seeped into your psyche. You then started to act like you had the right to remain our leader, ad infinitum<\/em>. And what you eventually did ruthlessly, to ensure that, is now old hat.<\/p>\n

As our President Maithripala Sirisena<\/span><\/a> mentioned in his address to the nation, this country needs an ordinary man to serve its people, as its \u2018Chief Servant\u2019, NOT a King!<\/p>\n

That said it all!<\/p>\n

Your Faux Pas<\/strong><\/p>\n

Your first faux pas<\/em>, amongst many, was the \u2018bull in a china shop\u2019 manner in which you dealt with your predecessor Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga.<\/p>\n

I quote from an article<\/span><\/a> I penned in February 2007- National Interest- my foot!<\/p>\n

\u201cYou see, those of us women, who were born to a combination of Southern plus Kandyan parentage, can be quite an unpredictable force to reckon with. We lie low until the storm blows over, and then we rise above it all with such force, and all kinds of surprises. Better keep an eye over your shoulder, there is no telling what will happen.\u201d So now you know, what I meant by the above, eight years ago!<\/p>\n

Your b\u00eate noire,<\/em> Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga<\/span><\/a>, returned for vengeance, got it and left!<\/p>\n

Next on your list of faux pas<\/em>, to secure your position, you broke a world record by \u2018gathering\u2019 and producing a humongous Cabinet of Ministers and deputies; many of them unfit to sweep the floors, of the hallowed Parliament. This included undesirable elements like Mervyn Silva<\/span><\/a> and his ilk. Even a zoo-keeper would have found it challenging, to control such a depraved bunch.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m sure Mr. Rajapaksa, even you didn\u2019t know, who most of these Ministers, Deputies and MPs were; there were so many in the circus you called a Cabinet.<\/p>\n

Then you went an unforgivable step further, by stoking the tinderbox of ethno-religious extremism, by pampering Buddhist extremists, such as that despicable man Gnanasara<\/span><\/a>, <\/em>and his Bodu Bala Sena<\/span><\/a> (BBS).<\/p>\n

Things really started going wrong for you, when you showed no signs of bringing to book, such menaces to society. No matter what they did to insult and harm our fellow Sri Lankans of the Muslim and Christian faiths, you simply looked the other way. By doing so, you turned Buddhism into a mockery in this country.<\/p>\n

Only a morally bankrupt demagogue would resort to using ethno-religious extremism, and you Mr. Rajapaksa, was such!<\/p>\n

Never did we Sri Lankans; Sinhalese, Tamil and Muslim, feel so polarized on grounds of our ethnicity and religious beliefs, as under your leadership. For this, you ought to hang your head in shame!<\/p>\n

Had 51.3% of our people not stood their ground on the 8th<\/sup> of January, 2015, we would have been looking at another protracted war, this time on ethno- religious grounds, <\/strong>of mind–<\/strong> boggling dimensions.<\/p>\n

Also, those very same demons, you were pampering, might have ended up strangling you with your own \u2018satakaya\u2019. Remember what became of President Premadasa<\/span><\/a>, after he gifted arms and weapons to the LTTE? Remember what Somarama did, to Prime Minister SWRD Bandaranaike<\/span><\/a>?<\/p>\n

Any leader, who remains too long at the helm, like you did Mr. Rajapaksa, loses touch with the common man and his woes. And this is precisely what happened to you. You got used to, and took for granted, the \u2018good life\u2019 at the top, and all the pampered glory that went with it. You appeared not to give two hoots, for what the ordinary man who voted you in, was enduring. These \u2018mundane\u2019 issues appeared to bother you, only when an election was round the corner. What hypocrisy!<\/p>\n

Then there was that abominable \u2018Victory Day\u2019 in the month of May, which you insisted on \u2018celebrating\u2019, come hell or high water, despite thousands of your own innocent countrymen perishing, or becoming refugees in the process. The vulgar display of pomp and pageantry associated with this \u2018Victory Day\u2019, made most of us, sick to our stomachs.<\/p>\n

Had you been a true Buddhist leader, you would have shown some compassion and sensitivity, towards all those fellow Sri Lankans, who gave life and limb to make this so called \u2018victory\u2019 possible. After all, it was our own, who perished for mistakes of your own political predecessors, and not an unwelcome foreign invader!<\/p>\n

But no, instead you had to \u2018celebrate\u2019 this so called \u2018Victory Day\u2019, in the most crass and tasteless way possible, with such pomp and pageantry.<\/p>\n

After the \u201cWe Won the War\u201d phobia devoured you, many of us ceased to expect your leadership to show such qualities as wisdom, vision and direction.<\/p>\n

You ignored the God-given opportunity to do right by the Tamil community of this country. Instead, you went on to divide the Sinhalese and Muslims as well. What were you hoping to gain, by kindling and keeping the embers of disharmony among the populace, glowing and alive?<\/p>\n

The trauma of defeat, for one such as you Mr. Rajapaksa, must be a difficult one. The transition from \u2018Honourable\u2019 to \u2018another\u2019 must surely be unbearable.<\/p>\n

Now that you have time on your hands, Mr. Rajapaksa, I sincerely hope you will find it in you, to repent all the wrongs you permitted to happen, under your leadership; especially, the \u2018white-vanning\u2019, disappearances and murder of so many of our fourth-estate, disliked by you or your cohort of stooges.<\/p>\n

I also sincerely hope, you now realise, that no matter how many Gods you bribe, candles you light, coconuts you break, barks of Bo trees you kiss, and thingamabobs you clasp in your hand, when \u2018Karma\u2019 dictates \u201cIt\u2019s time to go\u201d, you have no option, but GO!<\/p>\n

In this instance, \u2018Karma\u2019 made you carve out your own departure, when you placed all your faith, in a \u2018quack\u2019 astrologer<\/span><\/a>, who now claims, \u201cNot all of Nostradamus\u2019 predictions have come true either\u201d.<\/p>\n

Perhaps, it would do you good Mr. Rajapaksa, to revisit the teachings of the Buddha, and take heart in his words, \u2018NOTHING is permanent\u2019!<\/p>\n

\u201cI never thought of losing, but now that it’s happened, the only thing is to do it right. That’s my obligation to all the people who believe in me. We all have to take defeats in life<\/em>. \u201d – Muhammad Ali<\/p>\n

*Sharmini Serasinghe was Director Communications of the former Secretariat for Coordinating the Peace Process (SCOPP) under Secretary Generals Dr. John Gooneratne and Jayantha Dhanapala. She counts over thirty years in journalism, both print and electronic media.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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