Wednesday, December 31, 2014

TNA & SLMC supporting Gen. Fonseka in 2010 Vs TNA & SLMC supporting Mythripala Sirisena in 2015: a case of Sinhalese Buddhists’ vulnerability

With both Tamil National Alliance (TNA) and Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) pledging their support to Common Opposition candidate Mythripala Sirisena the battle lines are clearly drawn between the two parties leaving no room for ambiguities. These clearly defined political paths taken by each party should be analysed in the context of inherent fears entertained by Sinhalese Buddhists when it comes to the divisive politics played by chauvinist minority parties: in this case mainly TNA and SLAMC.  

Sinhalese Buddhists gave a resounding mandate to President Mahinda Rajapaksha in 2010 largely as a token of gratitude for drawing a successful end to the ruthless terrorism in 2009. Gen. Sarath Fonseka was the other main contender who challenged President Rajapaksha at the election. As is going to happen in this time too TNA and SLMC backed the opposition at the last president election too and the Democratic Party virtually swept the North and Eastern (NE) area for Gen. Fonseka. President Rajapaksha received significantly less number of votes from Tamils and Muslims in NE in particular and in the rest of the country in general. Sinhalese Buddhists must have certainly been influenced by the fear they felt due to the allegiance of chauvinist TNA and SLMC with Gen. Fonseka when deciding to vote for President Rajapaksha in 2010. So this time too the voter base is clearly divided between the candidate who entertains Tamil and Muslim chauvinists and the candidate who represents Sinhalese Buddhists interests.

There is, however, clearly a significant degree of danger to the interests of Sinhalese Buddhists in particular and the country in general when the two chauvinist parties extend their support in this time around to Mythripala Sirisena than their support to Gen. Fonseka in the last time. Both the parties are hell bent for carving out separate Tamil and Muslim administrations in the areas in which each community is in majority.  As declared a few days back by UPFA General Secretary Minister Susil Premjayantha the SLMC had quit the ruling coalition because President Mahinda Rajapaksa had turned down its demand to carve out a separate Muslim administrative unit in the Digamadulla electoral district.

Under Gen. Fonseka's administration meeting those demands by these two parties would have certainly been hard. Gen. Fonseka is first and foremost a military officer who was much feared by the rank and file of SL army for his toughness. On top of all, his tough attitudes played a significant role in defeating the ruthless terrorism. Above all he was considered as a Sinhala hardliner.  

In contrast Mythripala Sirisena's soft attitudes are well known when he was the Minister of Health. He was virtually prisoner in his ministry having bowed down to the tough and non-flexible stands taken by the health sector staff particularly by the doctors who ruled the roost.  On the other hand there had virtually been no achievement worthy of mention to his credit except the unsuccessful attempt he took to put anti-smoking advertisement on the cover of cigarettes packs. (His defection to the opposition was purely on personal reason for not being appointed as the PM under Rajapaksha administration). So Mithripala Sirisena, if elected, is certainly going to be virtually a prisoner as the president of the new government who would be taken for a good bloody ride by TNA and SLMC. On top of all he is, in hundred days, going to abolish the executive presidency which gives a very strong shield to the unjust demands by chauvinist minority parties.

So the country would have been relatively safe even if Gen. Fonseka was elected as the president in 2010 as he would have certainly resisted separatist moves by TNA and SLMC. However, this time around the country is certainly going to plunge itself into an abyss again with separatism raising its ugly head in the event of Mythripala being elected as the president. Apart from that the biggest danger would be separatism haunting Sri Lanka in two fronts, not in one front as we faced earlier!        

Tuesday, December 30, 2014

Are those predicting certain victory for Mythripala Sirisena the Internet Worries and Arm-Chair Pundits living in the Western Province?

There has been an ever increasing confidence among the supporters of the Common Opposition that its candidate Mythripala Sirisena would be victorious on 08th January. The majority of those who habour those thoughts are from the Western Province, the most developed province in the country, home to the commercial capital-Colombo of which population is largely metropolitan. As has been proved few occasions previously President Rajapaksha in particular and SLFP/UPFA in general enjoy less popularity among the people in the Western Province particularly in the Colombo district largely due to the less representation of Sinhalese Buddhists, the segment that represents  the largest vote bank for the SLFP/UPFA.  Therefore, president Rajapaksha's largest chunk of voter bank lies in the rural Sri Lanka.

The confidence shown by the supporters of the Common Opposition is largely reflected on social media especially on blog sites and Facebook. Since the Western Province is home to the largest number of computer and internet uses in the country by default the ideas and views reflected on the social media are largely of those who have such facilities in the province which is to a larger extent detached from the ground realities especially about the rural areas of the country. In other worlds the predictions about the upcoming presidential election claiming a certain victory for Mythripala Sirisena are mostly from the arm-chair pundits and the internet worries.

We have an excellent example about those internet worries who got a bloody nose at the end predicting about an outcome of yet another closely fought contest- precisely a battle. This was none other than the Eelam War-IV that decided the fate of the LTTE. It took about one to two years for the LTTE supports especially among the Tamil diaspora in the West and in Tamil Nadu to come to terms that their beloved "boys" and their leader "Sun God" were wiped out from the face of earth. The internet worries of LTTE were predicting about one victory after another by their "boys" or army divisions being wiped out in their numbers. The imminent fall of LTTE strongholds were ridiculed. Even after the total defeat of LTTE was declared by the government, there had been a firm belief among the LTTE supporters that their leader would soon appear from nowhere and orchestrate a total rout of SL armed forces. That was the extent of unfounded and false predictions that were being circulated by the internet worriers who were completely detached from the ground realities.

As I pointed out in one of my previous posts "except among Tamil and Muslim voters M. Sirisena has not been able to make a big dent among Rajapaksha's voter base and the latter enjoys almost the same level of support that he enjoyed in 2010 among rural Sinhala Buddhist voters".

So it seems a yet another bunch of internet worries is heading for a certain bloody nose in a few days' time!

Monday, December 29, 2014

All the forces in the country demanding to divide it on ethnic lines are with the Common Opposition!

With less than two weeks to go to the Presidential Election on 08th January, it is increasingly apparent now that President Mahinda again has to ask vote from people for his reelection to ensure a country undivided on ethnic lines.  In 2010 election campaign he asked people to vote for him to embark on an accelerated development path to rebuild the country devastated by the war. It is, however, unfortunate that in less than five years' time President Mahinda is forced to go before people for their vote to preserve the territorial integrity of Sri Lanka.  

With Sri Lanka's Muslim Congress's (SLMC) decision to support Mythripala Sirisena in the upcoming presidential election yet another force hell bent for undermining country's sovereignty joined with the Common Opposition.  As declared yesterday by UPFA General Secretary Minister Susil Premjayantha the SLMC had quit the ruling coalition because President Mahinda Rajapaksa had turned down its demand to carve out a separate Muslim administrative unit in the Digamadulla electoral district.  With TNA declaring its decision later today to support Mythripala Sirisena as reported in media all the forces in the country demanding the division of it on ethnic lines are with the opposition. So the election campaign has virtually become a contest between the forces wanting to divide the country verses those who want to retain its unity!  

Sunday, December 28, 2014

“The pledge of a domestic war crimes tribunal IS the Western conspiracy in disguise”! - C. A. Chandraprema

In a must read article to today's The Sunday Island C. A. Chandraprema, a columnist of the paper and the author of "Gota's War" points out in detail the Common Opposition's pledge that it would initiate a "Domestic Inquiry" to the alleged war crimes, said to have been committed by the Security Forces in the final phases of the Eelam war, is indeed the West's ploy to haul incumbent President and the War Heroes to an International probe.

Having learnt that chances are completely sealed to haul the president Mahinda and the War Heroes to an International war crime tribunal due to the inherent limitations in the international system as far as Sri Lanka is concerned, this novel maneuver is employed by the West to achieve its goal by hook or by crook.  

 Following is an extract from the article      

"Besides, as we pointed out earlier, nobody in Sri Lanka is asking for a domestic war crimes tribunal. The only reason for the common opposition to make such a pledge is to please the West. The West has no way to institute a war crimes tribunal against Sri Lanka except by getting the government of Sri Lanka itself to cooperate by starting a domestic process. What the people of this country has yet failed to realize is that when the common opposition says that they will not allow war heroes to be taken before any international war crimes tribunal, they are in fact pledging to disallow something that can never be done. Even more importantly, the people and the government itself has not realized that by pledging to institute a domestic inquiry into war crimes, the common opposition is opening the only door available to the West to get a war crimes process started in Sri Lanka. The pledge of a domestic war crimes tribunal IS the Western conspiracy in disguise!

One would think that with an election on, the common opposition would avoid saying anything that may arouse the suspicions of the public. The reason why they announced to the public that a domestic war crimes tribunal will be instituted is obviously at the behest of their Western friends. The West obviously wants to ensure that their investment produces results and they want to hold the beneficiaries of their patronage to account. It would also be useful to seek a mandate of sorts from the Sinhala public for this domestic war crimes tribunal so that nobody can say later that the common candidate did not make his intentions clear before the people voted
".

Chandraprema's article should be fully translated into Sinhala and Tamil languages and published in the main-stream media as it also enlightens us the baselessness of the claims by the Common Opposition about the corruption alleged to have been taking place in infrastructure development activities in the country. If the scale of alleged corruption is as same as the Joint Opposition claims, the first set of people who are going to be in trouble would certainly be Chinese and Japanese nationals as the two countries are the donors for the infrastructure projects in question. The sheer scale of corruption alleged to have taken place would give no room for the Japanese and Chinese officials who are involved in the projects to escape. By now scores of Japanese nationals would have been behind the bars while scores of their Chinese counterparts would have faced the firing squad!  

Saturday, December 27, 2014

What matters most for Sri Lanka’s very survival would be the stability irrespective who is going to be her ruler!

Stability would be the top most deciding factor in Sri Lanka's future whoever comes to power in the upcoming presidential election. It matters most for the Sri Lanka's survival in the coming years given the formidable forces hell bent to destabilize her.  

Stability inherited by President Mahinda's reign

The period from 2009 to up to now can undoubtedly be considered as the most stable few yeas of the post- independent Sri Lanka since 1950's and 1960's. The country was gripped by bloody armed conflicts which included youth insurgencies, secessionist wars and foreign military occupations in a greater part of 1970's, throughout 1980's and 1990's and almost a decade in 21st Century. So Mahinda Rajapaksha's reign from the end of Eelam separatist war up to now is credited to be the most peaceful and stable period in 04 decades.

Would this stability have materialized had the person in Mahinda been less strong character than he had been? Would we have enjoyed this stability had Mahinda given in to the pressure by the West especially by the US to spare the lives of the top LTTE leaders including Prabhakaran in the final days of the war so that they can be evacuated by a US aircraft?  What would have been the situation had Mahinda agreed to start negotiations with Tiger leadership just a few days before their decimation due to intense pressure exerted by the West? No leader among his contemporaries would have had the guts to withstand such intense pressure by the most powerful states in the world led by the US. He, however, has to pay the price for his steely resolve. The West and the Tamil diaspora are hell bent to haul Mahinda, his brother- the Defense Secretary and military officers to war crime tribunal.  All the ground work is set for that eventuality with 03 US sponsored UNHRC resolutions passed against Sri Lanka.    

President Mahinda's steely resolve has been a stumbling block to West's agendas

This Mahinda's steely resolve has become a thorn in the flesh to the West which tries to interfere in Sri Lanka's internal affairs so that it dances to the West's tune. With a West's puppet at the helm it would be easy to have separatist movements active in the North which will ensure perpetual instability to the country. It has been a habit of the West to make its target country instable by either sponsoring terrorist origination to attack the country or imposing economic sanctions or strengthening the enemy forces in a neighbouring country or sponsoring regime changes or making the target country an international pariah state. There have been such numerous examples from the beginning of the 19th century up to now. We can find multitude of such examples in the recent past from Iraq to Libya to Syria to Russia.

The valiant effort being made by Mahinda to make post-war Sri Lanka economically strong with China's financial and technical assistance has made the West to intensify its effort aimed at getting rid of Mahinda by hook or by crook. The emerging world super power China's strong presence in Asia Pacific has been the biggest threat to the super power status of the US which is fast waning. So Sri Lanka's instability is a top most game plan of the US in its policies in Asia Pacific region.  

Strong stand taken towards India

No leader in the post-independent Sri Lanka as assertive as president Mahinda Rajapaksha has been when it comes to India's arms twisting behavior against Sri Lanka. All his predecessors had meekly been succumbing to India's bullish acts against this small country which have always been detrimental and disastrous to its survival and well-being. At times Sri Lanka's sovereignty has blatantly been violated by India. President Mahinda's no nonsense; no hanky panky attitude towards India is best exemplified by his strong resolve when it comes to Tamil Nadu fishermen's poaching in Sri Lanka's waters. The Bottom Fishing, the most disastrous type of fishing technique in the world engaged by Tamil-Nadu fishermen in our waters, would permanently destroy our fishing grounds. But no other predecessors of president Mahinda had guts to resist India's bullish behavior towards Sri Lanka.                      

Would Mythripala be as strong as president Mahinda in the event of his election as the future president?

Would Mythripala Sirisena be as strong and assertive as Mahinda not allowing others to interfere the country's internal affairs unnecessarily or forcing her to succumb to their pressures?  Or in other words would Sri Lanka be as stable as under president Mahinda Rajapaksha's rule in the event of Mythripala Sirisena coming into power? Is he as strong character as Mahinda? On top of all the two prominent personalities, former president Chandrika Kumaranathunga and Ranil Wickramasinhe  who are behind Mythripala Sirisena's candidature have been disappointing characters. The former is undoubtedly the worst president ever to rule the post-independent Sri Lanka as one of my previous posts pointed out. Her 11 years' rule had been the most catastrophic and traumatic period to Sri Lankans. Elaborations are not needed to describe who the latter is and his abilities. Both Chandrika and Ranil whose disappointing track records and credibility are well known are going to play very powerful roles in a future Mythripala Sirisena's government. Besides, Mythripala and his backers have already indicated their bowing towards India attitude by rejecting China of which economic power has been the president Mahinda's choice for the country's economic development.      

It is now proved beyond any doubt that Mythripala's candidature is part of the West's game plan to get rid of Mahinda who has become one of the biggest stumbling-blocks to carry forward its set agenda in Asia Pacific region. As I pointed out in my previous post the West's covert attempts to reduce or the complete pull out of armed forces from North and East is part of its destabilizing programme.    

A stable Sri Lanka would be the first and foremost prerequisite for its prosperity. In the event of this cardinal rule is compromised by any future leader Sri Lanka would squarely and fairly be back to its pre-2009 period given the sheer determination of her enemies eagerly waiting to hunt her. Economic prosperity would entirely be dependent on country's stability which is the biggest incentive for foreign investment and the growth of businesses. Sri Lanka's history has taught us a cardinal truth: the weaker the ruler in Sri Lanka had been, the greater the chances of foreign interferences destabilizing the country. Sri Lanka's strong footing towards fast economic growth strongly laid by President Mahinda's rule has made an eye sore to many a Sri Lanka's adversaries who are waiting to pounce at her at the drop of a hat.

Wednesday, December 24, 2014

Are the covert attempts by the West to “demilitarize” North & East aimed at facilitating “normalization” of civilian lives as claimed?

The sheer intensity of efforts being made by the West to reduce the presence of Sri Lankan armed forces in the North and East or the complete withdrawal of them start emerging in every passing day with the date for the upcoming presidential  election draws closer. The latest such evidence was revealed by UNP's former General Secretary Tissa Attanayake who defected to the SLFP recently. One of the clauses in the alleged secret agreement signed between UNP leader Ranil Wickramasinhe and the presidential candidate Mithripala Siresena was to reduce the current military presence in the North by 50%.

Just a couple of weeks back Minister Gunaratna Weerakoon revealed that the then US ambassador to Sri Lanka Michele Sison had offered him a five-year scholarship for his children (and) a house in the US and a green card to facilitate the removal of military camps from the North.      

Are these covert attempts to get rid of military presence from North and East genuinely aimed at facilitating normalcy in the civilian lives as claimed by the West?  Anyone who is familiar with the current post-war environment prevailing in the North and East would prove that military's involvement in the civilian affaires is now negligible. Any civilian who has not been indoctrinated by the TNA would prove that.

As the government has repeatedly declared a significant reduction of military from the former war-zones would pose a serious security threat. Though decimated militarily in Sri Lanka's soil Eelam project is very much active inside and outside the country. Eelam supporters in the West and the Southern India are eagerly waiting till an opportunity comes to strike back as was witnessed some time back with the killing of 03 LTTE carders who attempted to revive an armed uprising, aided by LTTE supports in the West.

An unprecedented development and rehabilitation activities taking place in the North and East has made the region with facilities which even most of the regions in other parts of the country would never enjoy in several decades to come. Construction of almost all the major roads and other connecting roads has been completed. The conditions of the roads, wide and well-carpeted, would even rival a road in a Western capital. Electrification is almost over in the entire North and East, another feat that happened in a few years' time which never happened almost half a century in other parts of the country. Construction of other infrastructure facilities such as hospitals, schools, government officers and agricultural tanks, etc, has also been almost completed.  

This is complete contrast to the conditions prevailed during war time which were akin to remote regions in the African continent. The conditions now prevailing in the region would even facilitate a modestly strong and lightly armed police force with a supportive local populace to withstand a fully-fledged military onslaught in the event of the region is rid of a substantial military presence. As per the full implementation of 13th amendment police powers should be given to the provinces.  Having come to the understanding that the President Rajapaksha's regime harbors a less tendency to implement the 13th amendment fully due to the associated dangers which would pave the way for diving the country, the West's all-out attempt for a regime change has almost succeeded by choosing a candidate with rural roots, a major strength incumbent president is armed with against his political opponents belonging to the Westernized elite in the country.  As noted earlier with very good infrastructure facilities, a police force on the ground with full backing of a local population who wouldn't be challenged by a military, the ground is laid to a fully-fledged separate state in the North and East.

Monday, December 22, 2014

Why is Iran stable while Pakistan isn’t despite both are democracies heavily influenced by religion?

The recent massacre of 132 school children in Peshawar in Pakistan has generated an unprecedented level of sympathy towards the victims from both within Pakistan and outside the country. The call for an all-out war against Jihadists as revenge for the dastardly act, especially within the country, has been as severe and strong as the outpouring sympathy towards unfortunate victims.

Religion being involved in ruling the country in "Islamic Republic of Pakistan" despite being a democracy is blamed to have been one of the main reasons for the chaotic state of affairs which have befallen to the country, home to the second largest Muslim population in the world.  This is explained in the backdrop of the relative stability the secular India, Pakistan's neighbour enjoys since her independence despite having the most diverse ethnic composition in the world.  Except Indonesia, Iran, Turkey and a few other countries most other Islamic states are still ruled by despots or autocrats or military rulers. (Pakistan had also been under military rule more years than under the civilian rule since her independence. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's present government became the first ever recipient of power from another civilian government since independence).

Exemplarily stable Iran

Is too much of involvement of religion in governing the country or in other words the political leadership becoming prisoners of the religious authorities the reason for Pakistan's instability?  Then how can the stability enjoyed by "Islamic Republic of Iran" be explained? Though Iran is a democracy the supreme arbitrator of the government of Iran is a religious authority or in other words Iran is a Theocracy, only such example in the world at present. After Iran and Iraq war that ended in late 1980's the Islamic Republic of Iran has been enjoying stability as same level as a peaceful Western democracy. True! Civil liberties of the people in Iran are restricted to a larger extent and the Revolutionary Guards play a leading role in imposing strict rules to the society. However, the situation isn't as bad as the Western media demonizes Iran.

Problems inherited by colonists and Pakistan military's excessive role

The cause for the present quagmire that Pakistan is bogged down in is to a larger extend linked to the partition of then British India as present day Pakistan and India at their independence from colonist Britain. One of the most pressing unresolved problems between the two countries at the partition was the dispute over Indian administrated Kashmir. (The cause for the two out of three wars that raged between the two neighbours since independence was over this Kashmir dispute).  The supremely prominent role played by the Pakistan military in the Pakistan is linked to the deeply embedded notion that the military is the defender of the nation against the powerful India. Therefore, Pakistan military has been playing larger than life role in the country leading to repeated military take overs of democratically elected governments since its independence. The moment a democratically elected government tries to mend fence with India, there had been a strong tendency of a military take over as the military fears it would lose the privileged position it holds in the society.  On the other hand Pakistan military can be named the only properly functioning and the largest institution in the country given a large amount of wealth it consumes, its professionalism and the sheer size. An American journal mentioned some time back quoting Voltaire who said that "Many countries in the world have armies but Bismarck's Prussian Army has a country. Given the sheer size, professionalism and the wealth it controls the same can be said about Pakistan Army as well"  

Jihadi proxies and the West's excessive interferences in Pakistan      

The powerful Inter Services Intelligence's (ISI) role in employing Jihadist groups as proxies to attack Indian military, the interests in Indian administrated Kashmir and inside India has been an open secret.  The real turning point of using Jihadist proxies by the Pakistan military and its feared intelligence service against the country's adversaries was when the US and the west supported Pakistan militarily and financially during General  Zia-ul-Haq's reign to fight against Soviet forces in Afghanistan from 1979- 1989. Scores of Jihadists groups led by Mujahidin fighters were used to attack the Soviet Forces in Afghanistan. These fighters belonging to multitude of Jihadists groups later gave birth to ultra-extremist and fanatical Taliban both in Pakistan and Afghanistan following Soviet troop's withdrawal from Afghanistan.  These fanatical groups including Taliban have now become a headache to Pakistan military as they control swathes of semi- autonomous tribal areas of Eastern Pakistan. These groups constantly carry out brutal attacks against civilian targets, as was witnessed recently in Peshawar, as well as against the Pakistan military aiming at taking over the power of the country to turn the country to a fully-fledged Islamic state run by Sharia law and gaining independence to the semi-autonomous tribal areas in Eastern Pakistan.  On the other hand Saudi funded madrasas mushroomed across the country in thousands have become breeding grounds for producing Jihadi fanatics. The US's military and economic support to Pakistan and drones attacks carried out against Islamic militants in Pakistan and Afghanistan have also contributed to radicalization of poverty stricken populations in tribal areas which are feeding grounds for Jihadi groups.  

Another pertinent question that begs answers is that whether Iran which is also neighbouring to Pakistan does not use Jihadist proxies to achieve its ulterior motives. Iran indeed uses proxy Jihadi groups. The case in point is Hezbollah which is playing a very crucial role at present in fighting alongside with President Al Assad's forces in Syria against Syrian rebels. Hezbollah is a powerful proxy of Iran as is the case with Hamas in Palestinian. Yet, Iran never allowed those proxy groups to destabilize the country.

Iran's formidable resolve against multitude of odds

On the other hand, given the multitude of challenges and the formidable military powers in the world that have been at work against Iran, one can say that Pakistan is enjoying a very safe position. The only formidable military power which challenges Pakistan at the moment is India. In contrast Iran is challenged by Israel, the US, the UK and many other Western Powers. On top of all while acting as the protector of Shia Muslims in the world which is 10 % against 85% to 95% Sunnis, Iran is constantly challenged by Sunni Arab Muslim world which is led by Saudi Arabia, one of the most formidable military in the region. In less than a decade into founding of Islamic Republic of Iran through the Islamic revolution in 1979 Iran fought a war with Iraq which was militarily and financially supported by the US and the West.    Needless to say the challenge Iran faces due to prolonged sanctions by the West led by the US has been having debilitating affect in Iran's economy.                

Iran's impressive progress in many fields while being reduced to an international pariah state  

Having faced this many number of challenges militarily, economically, socially and ideologically Iran has made vast strides in many fields including being  a leading technological innovator in the region after Israel. Iran's indigenously developed some of the technologies have started to draw attention form the world. The case in point is its drone technology which has produced an array of indigenously developed drones. Mexico has already placed an order for Iranian drones and they would soon be flying over the skies of Mexico. Needless to say that Iran has made an impressive progress in nuclear technology as well to the extent of a few leading Iranian nuclear scientist being eliminated by Israel by assassinations.  The strides made by Iranians in arts and culture too have been outstanding. Iranian movie makers have been able to bag many international awards including Academy awards.          

Why has then Pakistan become an almost a failed state while Iran has been making significant strides in many fields while facing a few times greater challenges than Pakistan? As noted earlier both the countries are heavily influenced by religion-Islam.  

As described above Iran has been able to withstand with a sustained effort foreign Interferences (by the West and other wealthy Arab countries like Saudi Arabia) after Islamic Revolution despite being subjected to become an international pariah state.  On the other hand Iran had been lucky enough not to face similar sort of partition as faced by India and Pakistan when colonists departed though Iran had also been under British colonists. West's interferences in Pakistan since its independence to achieve their ulterior motives have left debilitating effect in Pakistan which seems to be not seeing the light in the dark tunnel in foreseeable future.   The colonial past, again a manifestation by the West has inherited many baggages that have been a persistent and devastating burden to the countries especially in South Asia, here the case being Pakistan.

Friday, December 19, 2014

What would be in store for Sri Lankans in the event of Mithripala Sirisena’s government coming into power with CBK around?

With former president Chandrika Bandaranayake Kumaranathunga's (CBK's) recent insane claim that she had finished 75% of the war by the time she left the office, many a people here and abroad must have jolted into reality what would be in store for them in the event of a government of Mithripala Sirisena's coming into power.  These types of empty, meaningless and ridicules outbursts were order of the day during her tenure. At times they were blatant lies and hate speeches aimed at her opponents.  Her recent public appearances filled with these types of stupid rants insult Sri Lankans' very intelligence.    

Given the prominent role being played by former president CBK for the election of the common candidate Mithripala Sirisena, the former is certainly going to be a very powerful and influential personality in the latter's government in the event of being successful in the upcoming presidential election.  

As said earlier a slightest indication of CBK's involvement in a future government would give nightmarish feelings to anyone who has experienced her rule that lasted for 11 years- a rule that didn't inherit a single productive thing to the country. The period is rather marked with numerous monumental failures and tragedies.

They included massive and unprecedented scale of defeats to our armed forces with thousands of young rural youth losing their lives, an unprecedented scale of resources being lost, going off of bombs and claymores in cities and other rural areas being order of the day with massive civilian deaths, the economy undergoing one of worst periods in the country's history, the level of corruption was at its peak, rule of law was nearly absent with some of her cronies committing crimes with the underworld and etc, etc.

If named a few those devastations that happened in the war front alone they would read thus:  the almost entire fleet of aircrafts of the National Carrier being wiped out by the terrorists, the massive bomb blasts that destroyed the Central Bank and the Sacred Tooth Relic in Kandy, the holiest place for Sri Lankan Buddhists.  The disastrous Jaya Sikuru operation with massive loss of men and resources that eventually resulted in wiping out Mullaithivu and Elephant Pass army camps. (This paved the way for the government to surrender for another round of peace agreement with LTTE terrorists, a ploy for them to get ready for yet another war with the government) and additionally the massive human and material losses incurred to SL Navy, the Air Force and the Police.            

During that period the morale of Sri Lankan citizens was at their lowest ebb with uncertainty hanging around every bit of their lives. On top of all, a good part of the country was about to be handed over to a terrorist outfit on a silver platter called P-TOMS.  To put in nutshell President CBK had been and would undoubtedly be the worst leader ever to rule the country.              

So any Sri Lankan who has an iota of idea what had been going on during CBK's tenure will have second thoughts about what is in store for them in the event of any government coming into power with her backing!

Tuesday, December 16, 2014

Terrorism spares no place on earth- yesterday it was Canada and toady Australia: two countries that used to be most peaceful places on earth!

The above photos from Reuters show some women were breaking down at the site of the siege by Islamist Jihadists at a Sydney cafe after the siege ended yesterday(15th Dec 2014)

For Australians and many others from the West a mere sight of a place that any violent incident takes place such as bomb blasts or a violent siege seem to be enough to become emotional and cry. For many in this part of the world in South Asia these incidents have, however, become a norm. For us Sri Lankans for instance just 05 years ego those incidents, many times horrendous and gory than what happened in Sydney yesterday, had been a part of daily life.

However, those very societies in the West harbour a large number of sympathisers and ardent supporters who give material and moral support to those terrorists who carry out such horrendous attacks against humanity back in their home countries.              

The incident in Sydney takes place in less than 02 months' time when Canada was under attack by Jihadists in last October. Both the countries had been among the few places on earth enjoying for a long period of time very peaceful living conditions free from any violent incidents such as terrorists' attacks. Unlike Canada, however, Australia under Prime Minister Tony Abbott has realised what those terrorist supportive communities who misuse and enjoy his country's accommodativeness and lax immigration laws are up to and have been supportive to Sri Lanka.  As was pointed out when Canada was under attack that country, however, remains hostile towards Sri Lanka and is hell bent to punish her for crushing the LTTE terrorism which had been fed from its inception by generous material and moral support by the LTTE supporters living in Canada. 

Sunday, December 14, 2014

Has M. Sirisena been able to make an impact to M. Rajapaksha’s rural voter base?

It has been a vogue for a few weeks now for some parties and pundits on social media to come up with "ground level or grass –root level surveys" that show "a mass rural voter base" for the common candidate M. Sirisena.  However, these surveys seem to have been having some fundamental flows or either they are just wild imaginations or blatant lies by some parties and individuals aimed at giving an upper hand to M. Sirisena's propaganda campaign.        

 

Except among Tamil and Muslim voters M. Sirisena has not been able to make a big dent among Rajapaksha's voter base and the latter enjoys almost the same level of support that he enjoyed in 2010 among rural Sinhala Buddhist voters. 

 

What matters most for an average rural person is the cost of living, his/her  son serving in the armed forces are no longer coming in their numbers to their rustic dwellings in sealed coffins and a peaceful environment to live in without being blown up by bombs. The rural masses know very well by their past experiences that what a future M. Sirisena's government, if elected, can do about cost of living is almost zero.  They are still fresh with their memories of how former president Chandrika's promise of making available a loaf of bread at Rs. 4.50 in 1994 became a huge flop. So the rural voters know very well that the promise of a possible reduction of cost of living by a future government of M. Sirisena doesn't hold much water.

 

The subjects of corruption, abuse of office of executive presidency, problems of good governance and rule of law under Rajapaksha administration have not been phenomena unique only to the his administration alone. They had been hallmarks in all the previous administrations especially from J. R. Jayawardana's onward. If anyone says that President Rajapaksha's rule is anything different than what we saw his predecessor's administration in terms of the subjects mentioned above, it is an almost exaggeration to anyone who had been a grown- up individual by the time the latter's rule started in 1994. Besides, those subjects are a little relevance to an average rural folk in his/her day today survival.

 

On the other hand if he/she happens to get a rare chance of going on a trip in any part of the country including the North and East, he/she would find that almost all the roads that he/she travels on are wide and carpeted for miles, an almost a dream for him/her who has always seen either gravel or pot-holed roads in his/her life time. If his/her trip happens to be to the North and East parts of the country, visiting almost all the places in the North in particular and the North and East in general would have been his/her a wildest imagination in just a five years ago. So the average village folk doesn't want to see a halt, even for a short period of time, or a reverence of those fortunes even in an iota. He/she is intelligent enough to fathom out what is in store to those fortunes in the absence of Rajapaksha's rule given some of the prominent individual who are around M. Sirisena and the powerful forces backing his candidature.  

 

So M. Rajapaksha rule hasn't certainly made an impact in the minds of rural Sinhala Buddhist voter base to the extent of what former presidents R. Premadasa's rule did in 1994 which paved the way for the former's successor's ascend to power.  The result of the upcoming presidential election would, no doubt, shed more light to determine how a rural Sinhala Buddhist votes when it comes to an important election, a life and death one for him/her in that matter!                      

Monday, December 8, 2014

Two glaring examples of the West’s hand facilitating regime change in Sri Lanka!

Two unmistakable examples to show the West is hell-bent for a regime change in Sri Lanka have so far emerged with Mithripala Siresena's crossing over to the opposition to contest the upcoming presidential election as the common candidate against the incumbent president Mahinda Rajapaksha.

The US offered the Harvard University's Health Leadership Award to then Minister of Health Mithripala Sisrisena some time back. Were minister Sisrisena's services to the health sector in Sri Lanka outstanding to the extent of being a recipient of an award by the US except his efforts to have anti-tobacco advertisements on the cigarette packets? Have there any previous examples of an elected member of parliament in Sri Lanka been a recipient of an award by the US for any outstanding service rendered? Besides any such recognition of an outstanding performance by a minister invariably gives credits to the president Rajapaksha as the former was the minister of the latter's government whose very existence is a thorn in the flesh to the West in general and the US in particular. It also proves that the plans had long been afoot by the West to field Minthripala Sirisena as the presidential candidate against the incumbent.

The other instance has been the Minister Gunaratna Weerakoon's recent revelation that the then US ambassador to Sri Lanka Michele Sison had offered him a five-year scholarship for his children (and) a house in the US and a green card to facilitate the removal of military camps from the North which would eventually help to weaken the present Rajapaksha's government with the Tamil separatists elements like the LTTE raising their heads again. The US is now shouting from the roof-tops denying the minister's allegations. Is the minster Weerakoon is such a fool to implicate the mighty US in such an allegation out of thin air without knowing the consequences?

There must have been many more much stronger and numerous efforts on the part of the West to ouster the president Rajapaksha. If Sri Lankans are lucky enough, at least a few of them would emerge during the president election's campaign period revealing the extent of hatred harboured by the West towards the president Rajapaksha!