{"id":204911,"date":"2019-09-20T13:53:49","date_gmt":"2019-09-20T08:23:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?p=204911"},"modified":"2019-09-23T14:23:56","modified_gmt":"2019-09-23T08:53:56","slug":"presidential-elections-tamils-choice-gotabayas-vision-mission","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/presidential-elections-tamils-choice-gotabayas-vision-mission\/","title":{"rendered":"Presidential Elections: Tamils\u2019 Choice – Gotabaya\u2019s\u00a0Vision\u00a0& Mission"},"content":{"rendered":"

By\u00a0<\/span>Karikalan\u00a0<\/span>S. Navaratnam<\/a> –<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Karikalan S. Navaratnam<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cNever in history has such ruination – physical and moral \u2013 been<\/i>\u00a0<\/span>associated with the name of one man <\/i>\u201d\u00a0– Ian\u00a0 <\/span>Kershaw,\u00a0 <\/span>Historian (\u2018Hitler 1936-1945 : Nemesis\u2019 )<\/b><\/p>\n

Over a period of 70 years, since\u00a0 <\/span>Sri Lanka\u00a0 <\/span>attained \u2018Independence\u2019, majoritarian\u00a0<\/span>racism has\u00a0 <\/span>increasingly become a pandemic\u00a0<\/span>virus. Elements\u00a0<\/span>of\u00a0<\/span>ethnocracy\u00a0have eaten deep into the vital organs of democracy. We have once had some\u00a0<\/span>eminent leaders like Mr. Wilmot Perera and a few others, endowed with strong\u00a0<\/span>moral fibre to repudiate racism.\u00a0<\/span>Noble souls of their calibre are now an\u00a0<\/span>endangered species \u2013 nay, almost an extinct species except, perhaps,\u00a0<\/span>for some\u00a0<\/span>principled but politically feeble sentinels like Dr. Vickremabhu\u00a0<\/span>Karunaratne\u00a0<\/span>and Mr. Siritunga Jayasuriya. Sadly, theirs is a voice in the wilderness. Many a\u00a0<\/span>Marxists have morphed into medieval tribalists. It is a conversion of convenience!\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Comrade Vasudeva<\/span>\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

During\u00a0<\/span>a visit to Colombo on the eve of the Presidential Election in Nov. 2005, I\u00a0<\/span>had occasion to share a meal with some friends – Vasantha Obeysekere (Film\u00a0<\/span>Director, who is no more), Ms. Nimalka Fernando (Human Rights\u00a0 <\/span>activist)\u00a0<\/span>and Vasudeva Nanayakkara (DLF leader).\u00a0<\/span>That was the last supper<\/i> I have had with\u00a0<\/span>Vasudeva (in\u00a0 <\/span>a literary sense – not in any\u00a0 <\/span>Bibilical sense) . In those days we Tamils\u00a0<\/span>had an\u00a0 <\/span>abiding admiration for Vasudeva. We looked upon him as a replica of an\u00a0<\/span>illustrious leader – the lovable\u00a0 <\/span>Mr. Edmund\u00a0<\/span>Samarakody ( former MP for\u00a0<\/span>Dehiowita and, later, Bulathsinhala).\u00a0 <\/span>Edmund\u00a0 <\/span>and\u00a0 <\/span>his colleague Mr. Meryl Fernando (Moratuwa MP ) had, to their very last breath, fought for the rights of\u00a0<\/span>the Tamils ; So much so, that racists derisively referred to Edmund as \u201cM.P. for<\/i>\u00a0<\/span>Bulath-themala<\/i> \u201d.\u00a0 <\/span>Verily,\u00a0 <\/span>racism\u00a0 <\/span>has had a hallowed history in Sri Lanka,\u00a0<\/span>nourished by the Southern political class !<\/p>\n

In the course of our chitchat, I found out\u00a0 <\/span>that Vasudeva\u00a0 <\/span>rooted for Mahinda\u00a0<\/span>Rajapaksa.\u00a0<\/span>I had furtive fears about Mahinda\u2019s racist roots. Vasudeva assuaged\u00a0<\/span>my fears saying that Mahinda was a human rights activist and a civil libertarian\u00a0<\/span>who had in 1990 joined him on a mission to UNHRC (then, UNCHR), Geneva to\u00a0<\/span>protest against army abuses\/atrocities perpetrated on JVP suspects and their\u00a0<\/span>families.\u00a0<\/span>There was an irony in his adulation:<\/p>\n

Matale\u00a0<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

Matale was one of the hotspots of\u00a0 <\/span>JVP insurgency. Gotabaya was the Army\u00a0commanding officer in Matale from May 1989 and he left for USA in Jan. 1990,\u00a0by which time the insurgency was crushed.\u00a0Vasudeva initially opposed the candidacy of Gotabaya for Presidency. After\u00a0<\/span>expressing some token reservation, he has now emerged as a cheerleader for Gotabaya campaign. It is disgusting that Vasudeva\u00a0 <\/span>joined forces with the war criminals to denounce\u00a0the passage of Geneva Resolution on War Crimes<\/i>\u00a0<\/span>in Sri Lanka and to suppress\u00a0the\u00a0<\/span>visual evidence of the slaughter of our people in the so-called \u201cNo-Fire Zone\u201d\u00a0<\/span>at Mullivaikkal.\u00a0<\/span>\u201cThat was the most unkindest cut of all<\/i>\u201d (Shakespeare). He had\u00a0<\/span>also commended India for shutting out \u201cNo-Fire Zone<\/i>\u201d Director Callum Macrae\u00a0<\/span>from entering India. (Vide<\/b>– Global Times, Xinhua News, 24 Feb. 2014, <\/b>\u201cSri Lanka\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/b>warns of US threat to South Asia<\/i><\/b>\u201d).<\/p>\n

Callous\u00a0<\/span>Attitude<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

This cruel, cold and callous attitude towards tens of thouands of Tamil victims of\u00a0<\/span>heinous war crimes is shared by a great majority of the Sinhala-Buddhist (SB)\u00a0<\/span>constituency \u2013 not merely by the \u2018patriotic\u2019 politicos and the bigoted\u00a0 <\/span>monks.\u00a0<\/span>Especially, the entire media outlets in Sri Lanka, owned and operated by SBs,\u00a0<\/span>have unabashedly expressed their fraternal feeling of solidarity with the <\/i>war\u00a0<\/span>criminals, acclaiming them as \u201cwar heroes\u201d, extolling their valour and virtues\u00a0and either defending or denying their atrocities and abuses. Gotabaya has been\u00a0the godfather of the genocidaires\u00a0 <\/span>a<\/i>nd, as well, the chief architect who charted\u00a0<\/span>the road map and orchestrated the carnage. It is not about the deaths of the\u00a0<\/span>armed rebels on the battlefront.\u00a0<\/span>After all, war is politics \u2013 lethal politics\u00a0 <\/span>at that,\u00a0<\/span>and the rebels were ready for the risks. Even here, the marauding military\u00a0<\/span>did\u00a0<\/span>not fight it clean. In violation of the rules of war, they used prohibited weapons\u00a0<\/span>(WMD) such as chemical weapons containing nerve agents in an \u2018unequal\u2019 war. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Sick & Senile Society?<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

How come a civilized society – unless of course it is sick and senile – accept and\u00a0<\/span>applaud\u00a0<\/span>the massacre of multitude of civilians marooned in the \u201cNo-fire Zones\u201d;\u00a0the abduction, torture and disappearance of surrendees\/detainees held in\u00a0<\/span>internment camps ; the savage sexual attacks against surrendees\/detainees;\u00a0<\/span>summary execution of\u00a0<\/span>captive rebels; heavy artillery\/aerial\u00a0<\/span>attacks on hospitals\u00a0<\/span>and a host of such other horrible and cruel treatment of fellow-Tamil citizens?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

During the siege of the \u201cSafe Zone\u201d with over 300,000 civilians trapped therein,\u00a0<\/span>the government\/military deliberately understated the number and wantonly\u00a0<\/span>restricted\/rationed\u00a0 <\/span>supplies of food and medicine provided by NGOs. Maybe,\u00a0<\/span>Gotabaya\u00a0 <\/span>wanted to replicate the Biafran scenario. Thus, hundreds of civilians\u00a0<\/span>were starved to death and hundreds of the wounded bled to death. In effect, Gotabaya took a leaf\u00a0 <\/span>out of President JR\u2019s book. JR\u00a0 <\/span>said, inter alia<\/i>, \u201c…Really\u00a0<\/span><\/i>if I starve the Tamils\u00a0 <\/span>out, the Sinhala people will be happy<\/i>.”\u00a0 <\/span>(per<\/i>, Daily Telegraph\u00a0<\/b>11 July 1983)<\/b>. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Isaipriya and a host of other females were sexually savaged and killed. During the\u00a0<\/span>influx of IDPs into the camps, our womenfolk were ordered to strip naked and\u00a0<\/span>paraded before male officers for ostensible \u2018security check\u2019 with their lewd look.\u00a0<\/span>Rajapaksas called it a \u201chumanitarian\u00a0 <\/span>operation\u201d to liberate the Tamils. That is the\u00a0<\/span>mother of all travesty !.<\/p>\n

Let alone empathizing with the victims\/survivors and exposing the brutality of the\u00a0<\/span>Tri-forces personnel,\u00a0<\/span>media\u00a0<\/span>persons did not make even a passing reference to\u00a0<\/span>these barbaric acts.\u00a0<\/span>Why? Because of racism \u2013 vile, unadulterated racism,\u00a0<\/span>euphemistically referred to as \u201cpatriotism\u201d. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Alpha\u00a0<\/span>male<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

Gotabaya\u00a0<\/span>is\u00a0<\/span>their \u2018alpha\u00a0<\/span>male\u2019 adored by the bulk of the pan-Sinhala citizenry for\u00a0<\/span>all his attributes associated with rank racism.\u00a0<\/span>Microaggression\u00a0<\/span>is one of such\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>traits. His intemperate attacks on the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu Ms. Jayalalithaa\u00a0(now, deceased), abusive attacks on Tamil Nadu politicians calling them,\u00a0<\/span>\u201cclowns\u201d, sexist remarks about a Tamil medico visiting Vanni\u00a0 <\/span>and such other\u00a0<\/span>outrageous outbursts are symptoms of a\u00a0<\/span>\u2018superiority\u00a0<\/span>syndrome\u2019.\u00a0<\/span>Again, The\u00a0<\/span><\/i>Hindu<\/i> daily says it tellingly: (EXCERPTS)<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is shocking that instead of addressing these issues in the right spirit,\u2026\u2026\u00a0<\/span><\/i>Defence\u00a0 <\/span>Secretary\u00a0 <\/span>Gotabaya Rajapaksa, \u2026.. has chosen to vitiate the atmosphere\u00a0<\/span><\/i>even more with <\/i>his intemperate remarks against Tamil Nadu Chief Minister\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/b>Jayalalithaa<\/i><\/b>, and by attributing motives to the adoption of resolutions on Sri\u00a0<\/span><\/i>Lanka by the State Assembly<\/i>.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2026..This includes an outrageous comment that because <\/i>a Tamil woman, an \u201cLTTE\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/b>cadre\u201d who was a British national, interviewed in the Channel 4 documentary\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/b>was \u201cso attractive\u201d but had been neither raped nor killed by Sri Lankan soldiers,\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/b>the allegation of sexual assault by soldiers could not be true<\/i><\/b>. For this statement\u00a0<\/span><\/i>alone, Mr. Gotabaya Rajapaksa must be taken to task<\/i>. (The Hindu, Editorial, 16\u00a0<\/span><\/b>Aug. 2011<\/b>)<\/p>\n

Sanitizing\u00a0<\/span>Gota\u2019s\u00a0<\/span>sins<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

Even as his election campaign is airborne, Gotabaya\u2019s\u00a0<\/span>fans and\u00a0<\/span>faithfuls\u00a0<\/span>seek to\u00a0<\/span>deny\u00a0<\/span>or sanitize his sins committed during his tenure. International media outlets\u00a0<\/span>have a fleeting glimpse of\u00a0 <\/span>the\u00a0 <\/span>gory events on his watch. (EXCERPTS)\u00a0\u201cGotabaya is a hero to many majority Sinhalese, \u2026\u2026. but is feared by minorities\u00a0<\/span><\/i>and victims of human rights abuses\u2026.(H)e was accused of using extralegal\u00a0<\/span><\/i>methods and cracking down on those who criticised his style.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cGotabaya was accused of running abduction teams known as “white van” squads\u00a0<\/span><\/i>that whisked away rebel suspects and journalists deemed to be overly critical.\u00a0<\/span><\/i>Some of the abductees were released after torture, while others were never seen\u00a0<\/span><\/i>again. Gotabaya was also implicated in the killing of rebels and civilians who tried\u00a0<\/span><\/i>to surrender with white flags under a pre-arranged deal in the final days of the\u00a0<\/span><\/i>civil war. Ethnic Tamils say they handed over their children for investigations at\u00a0<\/span><\/i>the request\u00a0<\/span>of\u00a0<\/span>the military but did not see them again<\/i>.\u201d ( Al Jazeera, 11 Aug.2019\u00a0<\/span><\/b>\u2013 \u201cWartime defence chief promises to prioritise Sri Lanka’s national security<\/i>\u2026\u2026)<\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Gotabaya\u2019s\u00a0<\/span>vision<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u00a0<\/span>have\u00a0<\/span>a\u00a0<\/span>vision<\/i><\/b><\/span><\/a>\u201d, declares\u00a0<\/span>Gotabaya\u00a0<\/span>recently,\u00a0<\/span>at his\u00a0<\/span>Viyathmaga\u00a0<\/span>Annual\u00a0<\/span>Convention\u00a0<\/span>2019.\u00a0 <\/span>It is reminiscent of the celebrated statement of Civil Rights\u00a0<\/span>leader Dr.\u00a0<\/span>Martin Luther King Jr., \u201cI have a dream<\/i><\/b>\u201d \u2013 but\u00a0 <\/span>there is a difference ! Dr. King\u2019s\u00a0<\/span>talk\u00a0<\/span>inspired\u00a0<\/span>humanity;\u00a0<\/span>Gotabaya\u2019s\u00a0<\/span>words\u00a0<\/span>evoke\u00a0<\/span>“an eerie\u00a0 <\/span>feeling of \u00a0<\/span>d\u00e9j\u00e0 vu.<\/i>\u00a0<\/span>He\u00a0<\/span>could have\u00a0 <\/span>declared, instead :\u201cI have an impaired vision<\/i>\u201d. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The substance of his speech is not wholly reassuring.\u00a0<\/span>It reveals\u00a0<\/span>Gotabaya\u2019s\u00a0<\/span>agenda to revive \u201cwhitevanism\u201d\u00a0<\/span>and restore the culture of impunity. Many\u00a0<\/span>senior officers of the police\/military Intelligence service, have been involved\u00a0in committing serious crimes (abduction for ransom, murder,\u00a0<\/span>extortion,\u00a0<\/span>\u2018disappearance\u2019\u00a0<\/span>etc.). Some of them are in custody facing charges and others\u00a0are still at large, absconding or on bail. Most of them, at the behest of\u00a0<\/span>Rajapaksas\u00a0<\/span>had faithfully served them in their criminal enterprises, as swords as well as\u00a0<\/span>shields. Thus, ongoing investigations\u00a0<\/span>into the crimes are a pain in Rajapaksas\u2019\u00a0<\/span>butt.\u00a0<\/span>Gotabaya, once elected,\u00a0<\/span>would unleash the wolves, waiting in the wings\u00a0<\/span>and baying for the blood of the powerless humans of humble birth –\u00a0 <\/span>and, in\u00a0<\/span>particular, the defenceless political destitutes of Sri Lanka, called Tamils.\u00a0<\/span>Let us\u00a0<\/span>hear him speak: (EXCERPTS)<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2026.(<\/i>W) must reinstate the intelligence mechanism that was proactive until 2015.<\/i><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

We must bring the intelligence operations of the tri-Forces and the Police under\u00a0<\/span><\/i>the responsibility of one head and thereby connect all these units together. <\/i>This\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/b>responsibility must be again handed over to capable officers. At the same time,\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/b>we must introduce a legal framework that will provide these officers the\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/b>protection from the kind of political interference that we saw in the recent past\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/b>that severely affected the confidence of our intelligence officers<\/i><\/b>\u2026.\u201d(English\u00a0<\/span>version of Gota\u2019s speech<\/span><\/strong><\/a>, Colombo Telegraph, 9 Sept.2019-\u201cI have a vision for\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/b>my country<\/i>\u201d<\/b>)<\/p>\n

\u2018Third Reich\u2019\u00a0<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

The spectre of a\u00a0 <\/span>Gotabaya presidency evolving,\u00a0<\/span>in style and substance, into\u00a0<\/span>a\u00a0<\/span>German \u2018Third Reich\u2019 has spooked many a liberals for quite some time.\u00a0<\/span>This\u00a0<\/span>anxiety was aggravated by a public plea made by the Deputy Chief Priest of\u00a0<\/span>Asgiriya Chapter, Wendaruwe Upali Thero to Gotabaya at his (Gota\u2019s) birthday\u00a0<\/span>alms-giving ceremony. The plea was that Gotabaya\u00a0 <\/span>should \u201cprove his critics right\u00a0<\/span><\/i>by becoming a real Hitler.<\/i>\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Examining Gotabaya candidacy in this context, Prof.\u00a0<\/span>Jayadeva\u00a0 <\/span>Uyangoda<\/i><\/b>\u00a0 <\/span><\/i>has,\u00a0<\/span>summed up the pith and substance of Gotabaya\u2019s\u00a0 <\/span>intended\u00a0 <\/span>governance :-(EXCERPTS)<\/p>\n

\u201cThe ex-military officers who seem to constitute Gotabaya Rajapaksa\u2019s immediate\u00a0<\/span><\/i>support constituency have brought into the Viyath Maga project the fantasy of a\u00a0<\/span><\/i>new ruler who could transform Sri Lanka <\/i>into a society of docile subjects who\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/b>would embrace a Sinhalese \u2013Buddhist strongman saviour of their rata, jaathiya\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/b>and aagama<\/i><\/b> \u2026… <\/i>This is the Fuhrer element which Upali\u00a0 <\/span>Thero also mentioned\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/b>when he elaborated his political dream<\/i><\/b>.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2026.(T)he political consciousness of this group of military officers has been shaped\u00a0<\/span><\/i>primarily by their participation in the counter-insurgency war against the LTTE. <\/i>It\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/b>is a synthesis of an extreme version of Sinhalese-Buddhist nationalism and\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/b>militarism<\/i><\/b>. Ideologically, <\/i>they are averse to the basic dimensions of modern\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/b>democracy such as, human rights, minority rights, constitutionalism, checks and\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/b>balances, devolution, and institutional dispersal of politics in governance\u2026.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

\u201c\u2026.Among sections of Sinhalese-Buddhist elites, <\/i>ever since the ethnic conflict\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/b>escalated, there has emerged from time to time the clamour for a truly\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/b>Sinhalese-Buddhist leader who would protect the interests of the Sinhalese-<\/i><\/b>Buddhist majority from the challenges of the minorities<\/i><\/b> without being\u00a0<\/span><\/i>constrained by democratic norms or international opinion. <\/i>Mahinda Rajapaksa,\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/b>when he was the President, nurtured these ethno-political dreams of the\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/b>Sinhalese-Buddhist elites and he continued it even after he left office <\/i><\/b>in January\u00a0<\/i>2015.\u00a0<\/i>(Sunday Observer, 24\u00a0<\/span><\/b> <\/i>June 2018 \u2013 \u201cWaiting for Herr Hitler<\/i><\/b> \u201d)<\/p>\n

Historic\u00a0<\/span>parallels<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

Adolf Hitler gained popular support by\u00a0<\/span>promoting\u00a0<\/span>Pan-Germanism and anti-semitism. He gained political power and ascendancy through democratic electoral \u00a0<\/span>process. After assuming office as Chancellor in 1933, he\u00a0<\/span>began the process of\u00a0<\/span>transforming the Weimar Republic into Nazi Germany, a one-party dictatorship\u00a0<\/span>based on an autocratic, racially motivated ideology of National Socialism. He was\u00a0<\/span>responsible for the genocide of millions of Jews and other minorities, including\u00a0<\/span>prisoners of war. I am not a prophet of doom; but I have been a victim of SB\u00a0<\/span>racism, and have been rubbing my emotional scars. Let me exhort the\u00a0<\/span>ethnically\/politically vulnerable\u00a0 <\/span>fraternity.\u00a0<\/span>Please don\u2019t fail to see the parallels.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Historic parallels can be ignored only at your own peril.\u00a0<\/span>It may be of some relevance to reflect, en passant<\/i>, on militarism: French instincts\u00a0<\/span>were militaristic and domineering, due largely to Napoleanic\u00a0<\/span>influence. Napolean\u00a0<\/span>was not an evil like Hitler and was hailed by historians as the \u201cSon of the\u00a0<\/span>Revolution\u201d.\u00a0<\/span>Nonetheless, initially he was associated with a pro-democracy\u00a0<\/span>political group, called \u2018The Jacobins\u2019<\/i>. The Reign of Terror\u2019 of the Jacobins\u00a0<\/span>is yet another story.\u00a0 <\/span>In 1802, through a constitutional amendment, he became 1st<\/sup>\u00a0<\/span>Consul for life. In 1804, he crowned himself as Emperor. The slogan \u201cLiberty,\u00a0<\/span><\/i>Equality , Fraternity<\/i> \u201d was\u00a0 <\/span>the motto associated with the Revolution. Alluding to\u00a0<\/span>the spate of Napoleanic\u00a0 <\/span>wars, historians mockingly substituted a new slogan for\u00a0<\/span>the motto: \u201cInfantry, Cavalry and Artillery<\/i>\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Deadly cocktail<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

A\u00a0<\/span>toxic mix\u00a0<\/span>of anti-Tamil\/Muslim racism, religious fanaticism, militarism,\u00a0<\/span>authoritarian and nationalistic fascism coupled with\u00a0<\/span>Mahavamsa\u00a0<\/span>myths is a\u00a0<\/span>deadly cocktail in the hands of the Rajapaksas,\u00a0<\/span>military mafia and the saffron-robed ayatollahs to inebriate the Sinhala-Buddhist populace.<\/p>\n

To be concluded …<\/b><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[…]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":196,"featured_media":204913,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,46,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-204911","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-colombotelegraph","category-constitutional-reforms","category-editorial"],"yoast_head":"\nPresidential Elections: Tamils\u2019 Choice - Gotabaya\u2019s\u00a0Vision\u00a0& Mission - Colombo Telegraph<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/presidential-elections-tamils-choice-gotabayas-vision-mission\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Presidential Elections: Tamils\u2019 Choice - Gotabaya\u2019s\u00a0Vision\u00a0& Mission - Colombo Telegraph\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"[…]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/presidential-elections-tamils-choice-gotabayas-vision-mission\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Colombo Telegraph\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-09-20T08:23:49+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-09-23T08:53:56+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Gotabaya-Rajapaksa-2.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"853\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Karikalan S. 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