{"id":205165,"date":"2019-09-30T23:06:50","date_gmt":"2019-09-30T17:36:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?p=205165"},"modified":"2019-10-05T23:08:49","modified_gmt":"2019-10-05T17:38:49","slug":"a-democracy-on-trial","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/a-democracy-on-trial\/","title":{"rendered":"A Democracy On Trial \u00a0 \u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\"><b>By <a style=\"color: #ff6600;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?s=Sarath+de+Alwis\">Sarath de Alwis<\/a><span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0&#8211;<\/span><\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_201439\" style=\"width: 160px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Sarath-de-Alwis.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-201439\" class=\"size-thumbnail wp-image-201439\" src=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Sarath-de-Alwis-150x150.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Sarath-de-Alwis-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Sarath-de-Alwis-45x45.jpg 45w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-201439\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sarath de Alwis<\/p><\/div>\n<p><b>\u201c<em>Some have said I am cruel.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span>I am the gentlest in our family<\/em>\u201d ~\u00a0<\/b><b>Gotabaya Rajapaksa<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n<p>The past four and half years have been maddeningly messy.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Provocatively puerile politics of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?s=Maithripala+Sirisena\"><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">Maithripala Sirisena<\/span><\/strong><\/a> has exasperated the nation.<\/p>\n<p>The systemically shabby cronyism practiced by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?s=Ranil+Wickremesinghe\"><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">Ranil Wickremesinghe<\/span><\/strong><\/a> has undermined public trust. <span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>A skeptical electorate does not regard facts as valid currency. Half-truths have a resilience that truth can no longer match.<\/p>\n<!--[if lt IE 9]><script>document.createElement('video');<\/script><![endif]-->\n\t<div class=\"wp-playlist wp-video-playlist wp-playlist-light\">\n\t\t<video controls=\"controls\" preload=\"none\" width=\"1038\"\n\t\t height=\"584\"\t><\/video>\n\t<div class=\"wp-playlist-next\"><\/div>\n\t<div class=\"wp-playlist-prev\"><\/div>\n\t<noscript>\n\t<ol>\n\t\t<li><a href='https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Gotabaya-Rajapaksa.mp4'>Gotabaya Rajapaksa<\/a><\/li>\t<\/ol>\n\t<\/noscript>\n\t<script type=\"application\/json\" class=\"wp-playlist-script\">{\"type\":\"video\",\"tracklist\":true,\"tracknumbers\":true,\"images\":true,\"artists\":true,\"tracks\":[{\"src\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.colombotelegraph.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2019\\\/09\\\/Gotabaya-Rajapaksa.mp4\",\"type\":\"video\\\/mp4\",\"title\":\"Gotabaya Rajapaksa\",\"caption\":\"\",\"description\":\"\",\"meta\":{\"length_formatted\":\"2:01\"},\"dimensions\":{\"original\":{\"width\":960,\"height\":540},\"resized\":{\"width\":1038,\"height\":584}},\"image\":{\"src\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.colombotelegraph.com\\\/wp-includes\\\/images\\\/media\\\/video.svg\",\"width\":48,\"height\":64},\"thumb\":{\"src\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.colombotelegraph.com\\\/wp-includes\\\/images\\\/media\\\/video.svg\",\"width\":48,\"height\":64}}]}<\/script>\n<\/div>\n\t\n<p>The purpose of this essay is to remind ourselves that we must not throw the baby with the bathwater.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>On 8<sup>th<\/sup> January 2015 we dismantled a garrison state. The present mess should not detract us from that simple solid lesson of history. History may or may not repeat, but events past indicate that history can rhyme.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>These are interestingly uncertain, alarmingly tentative times. In addition to candidates of the two mainstream political streams, civil society formations have sprung into action, exploring their path to the \u2018Presidency of the Republic.\u2019<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>The conditions, compulsions and constraints we grapple with are vastly different to those that existed when Maithripala Sirisena summoned his surprise press conference on November 22<sup>nd<\/sup>, 2014 to reveal his intent to run against his boss. <span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>The moving principle of the \u2018strongman\u2019s state- mutual fear between citizen and ruler, is nonexistent today.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Ordinary people smothered by aimless hot air of four and half years of humbuggery under the pretext of \u2018good governance\u2019 have let out a sickening shriek \u2013 \u2018a pox on both houses\u2019! <span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>In this newfound freedom, a disaster is quietly taking shape. The nation has either abandoned hope or demands easy, instant answers. That is open season for demagogues and dictators. <span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>The would-be savior promises to restore the country to greatness. He demands nothing except patriotic passion.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>The people are separated in to two categories- those for him and against him. The patriots are for him. The traitors are against him.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Deliberative democracy is utterly, totally rejected. Pure propaganda is used to sedate the support base. Venomous invective and pitiless persecution are deployed to anathematize the opposition.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Post war triumphalism and herd hysteria unleashed by the Rajapaksa family transformed the executive presidency into a modern-day sultanate.<\/p>\n<p>It is time to revisit the subject of the garrison state \u2013 the ruthless secretive power base that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?s=Gotabaya+Rajapaksa\"><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">Gotabaya<\/span><\/strong><\/a> built.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>What is a garrison state? It is a militaristic state with decidedly fascist tendencies. The American political scientist Harold Laswell who coined the term \u2018Garrison State\u2019 has defined it. It is a state where \u2018specialists on violence\u2019 are the most powerful in society.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>I leave it to the reader to recall what and who we were before 8<sup>th<\/sup> January 2015. That exercise of recall and remembering will help us decide; who constituted the \u2018most powerful\u2019 of that society.<\/p>\n<p>Gotabaya Rajapaksa &#8211; the presidential candidate has presented his vision and promise in a document, he calls \u2018Actioning the Blueprint.\u2019 <span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>It is a Blueprint to return our land to a fortress of fear, what we were before January 8<sup>th<\/sup>, 2015- the garrison state, <span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>He says that \u2018national security was not a mere defensive mechanism.\u2019 It provides a broader social, political and economic security to the people. He reminds us that the terrorism that existed for 30 years in this country was a grave problem for our people. <span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe continued to strengthen National Security, which is why <b>it took ten years for terrorism to raise its head again.&#8221;<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Emphasis mine. Candidate Gotabaya is convinced that terrorism has again raised its ugly, terrible head. He offers his solution. \u201c<i>we must re-establish this secured environment that is at present compromised.<\/i><\/p>\n<p><i>To do so, we must reinstate the intelligence mechanism that was proactive until 2015. We must bring the intelligence operations of the tri-Forces and the Police under the responsibility of one head and thereby connect all these units together.<\/i><\/p>\n<p><i>This responsibility must be again handed over to capable officers. At the same time, we must introduce a legal framework that will provide these officers the protection from the kind of political interference that we saw in the recent past that severely affected the confidence of our intelligence officers.\u201d<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p>Indeed, we cannot underestimate the impact of the terrible carnage on Easter Sunday. We must take every possible measure to avoid a recurrence of such mindless horror.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>The hypothesis that we are constantly under an imminent, immediate threat alters the structure of society and the state.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Should we, in the next presidential election, vote to reinstall the fortress of fear with its shadowy squads of regime enforcers operating under the protection of a shadowy deep state? <span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Should we forget the fact that Keith Noyahr lived to tell the tale after Karu Jayasuriya reached out to the fountain head of the deep state?<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Should we forget that member of parliament Felix Perera assured the mother of a vanished youth that her offspring was still in the land of the living, but he was unable to locate his whereabouts! <span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>These instances are unrelated to separatist terrorism or jihadist terrorism. That is the kind of state, Candidate Gotabaya hopes resurrect in order to win the presidency.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>What Gotabaya plans is a political police state.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>It is the same kind of state that Gotabaya built singlehandedly without even his brother the President noticing it until after his shock defeat in 2015.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Military interests constantly and convincingly crossed the border into civilian areas.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>Mainstream Civilian issues were quietly moved into military authority. No one noticed because it started innocuously with the navy building mausoleums, army remodeling colonial era buildings and the air force manicuring lawns and designing public parks. <span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>What really happened?<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span>The slick hypothesis of a constant threat to social order and societal wellbeing was harnessed to undermine civilian supremacy in the polity. .<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>A secretive group of violence specialists formed the nucleus of the deep state. It marked the rise of a military elite to positions of political power. Post war military elites claimed a superior grasp of international relations, diplomacy, provincial administration and even jurisprudence. There was also a little noticed foray into quantum physics.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>The Military\u2019s incursion into civilian supremacy has weakened our democratic institutional structure.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Freedom within society has become proportionate to our preparation to combat the threat of terrorism, perceived or real.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Under a Gotabaya Presidency, our war against terrorism will be the dominant thrust of society. We will never be free of fear.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>The garrison state model relies on a military elite with managerial abilities. They will overshadow the professionals and technocrats. <span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>The push towards a constant readiness to combat terrorism can have but one result. It will erase the distinction between civilian administration and paramilitary agencies.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>The military will play a larger role in arbitrating on issues that belong in the sphere of political ideology. Already, Candidate Gotabaya has ex-military types working on issues of social justice, economic opportunity, political participation of minorities and the role of ethnicity in allocating state resources for materiel progress.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>The sense of continual crisis and perpetual preparedness will end up passing the central control of the state to the hands of a militarized power elite. <span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p> [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":86,"featured_media":158247,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,2186,46,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-205165","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-colombotelegraph","category-featured-news","category-constitutional-reforms","category-editorial"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>A Democracy On Trial \u00a0 \u00a0 - 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\/a-democracy-on-trial\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A Democracy On Trial \u00a0 \u00a0 - Colombo Telegraph\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"[&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/a-democracy-on-trial\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Colombo Telegraph\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-09-30T17:36:50+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-10-05T17:38:49+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Gota.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1400\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"927\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Sarath de Alwis\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Sarath de Alwis\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/a-democracy-on-trial\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/a-democracy-on-trial\/\",\"name\":\"A Democracy On Trial \u00a0 \u00a0 - Colombo Telegraph\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/a-democracy-on-trial\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/a-democracy-on-trial\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Gota.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-09-30T17:36:50+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-10-05T17:38:49+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/9314baba9871514de4e0a9c997223784\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/a-democracy-on-trial\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/a-democracy-on-trial\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/a-democracy-on-trial\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Gota.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Gota.jpg\",\"width\":1400,\"height\":927},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/a-democracy-on-trial\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"A Democracy On Trial \u00a0 \u00a0\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/\",\"name\":\"Colombo Telegraph\",\"description\":\"In journalism truth is a process\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/9314baba9871514de4e0a9c997223784\",\"name\":\"Sarath de Alwis\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/07966fda6463d85954ed338ce83caf298b1bc9c76ca63176e1868cb7f2b99bf0?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/07966fda6463d85954ed338ce83caf298b1bc9c76ca63176e1868cb7f2b99bf0?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Sarath de Alwis\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/author\/saratha\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"A Democracy On Trial \u00a0 \u00a0 - Colombo Telegraph","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/a-democracy-on-trial\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"A Democracy On Trial \u00a0 \u00a0 - Colombo Telegraph","og_description":"[&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/a-democracy-on-trial\/","og_site_name":"Colombo Telegraph","article_published_time":"2019-09-30T17:36:50+00:00","article_modified_time":"2019-10-05T17:38:49+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1400,"height":927,"url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Gota.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Sarath de Alwis","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Sarath de Alwis","Est. reading time":"6 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/a-democracy-on-trial\/","url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/a-democracy-on-trial\/","name":"A Democracy On Trial \u00a0 \u00a0 - Colombo Telegraph","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/a-democracy-on-trial\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/a-democracy-on-trial\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Gota.jpg","datePublished":"2019-09-30T17:36:50+00:00","dateModified":"2019-10-05T17:38:49+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/9314baba9871514de4e0a9c997223784"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/a-democracy-on-trial\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/a-democracy-on-trial\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/a-democracy-on-trial\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Gota.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Gota.jpg","width":1400,"height":927},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/a-democracy-on-trial\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"A Democracy On Trial \u00a0 \u00a0"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/","name":"Colombo Telegraph","description":"In journalism truth is a process","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/9314baba9871514de4e0a9c997223784","name":"Sarath de Alwis","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/07966fda6463d85954ed338ce83caf298b1bc9c76ca63176e1868cb7f2b99bf0?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/07966fda6463d85954ed338ce83caf298b1bc9c76ca63176e1868cb7f2b99bf0?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","caption":"Sarath de Alwis"},"url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/author\/saratha\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Gota.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/205165","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/86"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=205165"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/205165\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":205168,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/205165\/revisions\/205168"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/158247"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=205165"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=205165"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=205165"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}