Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunge to lose her civic rights?

There is a move to quash the civic rights of the ruling Sri Lanka Party’s Senior Patron and former President Chandrika Kumaratunga, ‘Lanka Dissent’ learns through reliable sources.

After retirement as head of state, Mrs. Kumaratunga spent most of her time overseas and kept away from politics, before coming into the limelight once again as a result of her controversial speech at the first delegates’ conference of the SLFP Mahajana Wing on June 12th.

Thereafter, Minister Janaka Bandara Tennakoon told the media that he would propose to the party’s Central Committee to suspend the ex-president from SLFP membership for her remarks concerning the party and President Rajapaksa.

Again, delivering the Felix Dias Bandaranaike Memorial Oration on June 26th, she made a scathing attack against the prevailing political situation.

Now, according to reliable sources, quashing her civic rights has been mooted to the president by senior government leaders and a group of senior lawyers in the SLFP as a means of preventing her possible comeback to politics to challenge the present regime.

These lawyers have reportedly handed over a document to Mr. Rajapaksa about how an ongoing Supreme Court hearing against Mrs. Kumaratunga could be used for this purpose.

This case relates to the ex-president’s alleged use of executive powers to handover 140 acres of prime land from Battaramulla, owned by the Urban Development Authority, to a businessman.

http://www.lankadissent.com/en/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=390:govt-move-to-quash-chandrikas-civic-rights&catid=1:latest-news&Itemid=50

Can fake ‘nationalists’ working with tiger sympathisers block Major General Janaka Perera’s victory?

On the verge of obvious defeat the government has made plans to use a set of their henchmen in the guide of ‘nationalists’ to undermine the role played by Major General Janaka Perera as a top military officer.  Some of these contracted fake ‘nationalists’ have already started working on their agendas, in mass media and Internet.

Simultaneously, the overseas Tiger sympathisers too have started a parallel campaign against Major General Janaka Perera.

These are some of the sentiments expressed by Tiger sympethisers:

In the mid-eighties, Gen. Perera worked in the eastern province helping to create a wedge, breaking up the contiguity of Tamil Eelam, the Tamil Nation, comprising of the North and East of Sri Lanka. The area connecting the North and East was ethnically cleansed of Tamil people. Tamil villages were evacuated at gunpoint, hundreds were murdered and others fled out of fear, to make way for State sponsored Sinhala settlements. As a reward for this ‘heroic’ act a Tamil village (Munkindimalai) was renamed Janakapura (Janaka Town). 

In 1995, he was appointed as Commander for the Welioya Brigade. Large-scale civilian killings took place in Manal Aru (Weli Oya) during this period.

President Kumaratunga’s decision to resume the war against the LTTE in October 1995 propelled Perera back into a position of power. He was appointed commander of the elite 53rd Division of the Sri Lankan army which played a key role in ‘Operation Riviresa’.

Over a thousand Tamil civilians arrested by the security forces disappeared (Amnesty International, the international rights watch dog, estimates at least six hundred while the US State Department states a figure of seven hundred), in the area under Janaka Perera’s command. Despite widespread rumors, these disappearances could not be verified because of the media ban on the war zones.

Interestingly these were the same feelings coming from some of the self proclaimed ‘nationalists’ on Internet including the typical Rajapakse lackeys like Lanka Rising.

Take the following extract by a blog post by Dilrook Kannangara, one such self proclaimed ‘nationalist’.

What changed Janaka Perera from the much loved soldier in the 1990s to a despicable traitor? Although he doesn’t seem to have the faculty to explain it to the nation, it can very well be inferred from the turn of events. Possibly there can be pettier reasons than the foregoing, which, to say the least, are not even worth exploring. It is possible that alleged war crimes petitions against him played a major role in shifting his allegiances. There were many such petitions organised by pro-LTTE groups against him.

One such allegation was ethnic cleansing of Tamils in the East and the North-East of the island paving way for Sinhala settlements that were allegedly not there previously. Mungindimaalai, a Tamil village was thus ethnically cleansed and was renamed Janakapura which has a majority of Sinhalese settlers.

There seems to be also paid writers to comment on the character of Janaka Perera. (No dearth of such people – specially the retired public sector officers who have no work and need some hard cash. They will even insult their mothers if somebody pays them thousand rupees) Here is one such comment:

The capture of Wijeweera was similar. It was an operation planned and conducted by a very capable officer, Colonel H ( Now Maj Gen), and when they were about to set off on the operation, Janaka heard about it and asked the Army Commander General Waidyaratne to permit him to accompany the troops, which he first refused, and later permitted. Janaka merely went along for the ride, but made sure, as the senior officer, to take all the credit. All this can be verified from Gen Waidyaratne’s report, which still exists, unless it was ‘censored’ by Janaka. During the UNP regime he was appointed Military Liaison Officer to the Ministry of Defence, because of his father’s very close political connection with the UNP, and particularly with President Premadasa. During this period when he had access to Ministry records, it is alleged that he falsified many officer’s personal files, cleaned up his own personal file and destroyed records that described his inefficiency.

There are few questions that arises in this backdrop.

How come these self proclaimed ‘nationalists’ share the same platform as the tigers and their sympathisers?  How come their stance on Major General Janaka Perera overnight turned from a well respected ‘War Hero’ to a turncoat traitor?

The more interesting question: Can the joint effort of LTTE and UPFA defeat Major General Janaka Perera in the provincial elections?

At least we have an answer to the last question. It would be a tough fight no doubt, government is going to put their full force, but still they will never be able to prevent his victory in the elections. For that we are certain.
 

Burma, Tibet and Sri Lanka: There countries that assult Buddhists monks

First Lady Shiranthi Rajapakse is a Catholic devotee. Had Catholic priests been tear-gassed and beaten by Police in the middle of Colombo she would have felt down.  She would have not liked to see a beaten Catholic priest is being forced to a police jeep as if he were a common criminal.

However, I am not sure without a Buddhist background she would have felt any empathy when the Buddhists monks were tear-gassed and beaten by Police last week.

I do not what religion President’s sons follow. But all three of them have schooled at an Anglican college. Had the Anglican priests were beaten so unsympathetically they might have felt sad. Again, without any Buddhist background it is doubtful they would have felt the same for Buddhist monks. Probably for them Buddhist monks are a set of aliens arrived from another universe.

Unlike them, I have studied at a school with a very Buddhist background. This is what makes me sad. Whatever their politics (I do not approve Buddhist priests getting into politics) Buddhists monks should not be beaten in this manner. There are better ways to handle situations. There is a big difference between armed terrorists and unarmed protestors who use only means of non-violence.

Sri Lanka is not the only country where Buddhists monks get such harsh treatment. Burma and Tibet (China) are two good examples. However the situation is not the same Burma is ruled by a Christian junta government, which is obviously hostile to Buddhists. Tibet is under the control of Chinese communists, which does not give a darn about Buddhism.

Sri Lanka is different. We are ruled by a leader who does not even miss a single opportunity to project his Buddhist backgrounds. We also remember how he carried ‘mal vatti’ from temple to temple before the elections. Can we expect such harsh treatments to Buddhist monks from a ruler who claims to be a devoted Buddhists upasaka mahattaya? That is what puzzles me and most of the Buddhists in this country.

Burma, Sri Lanka and Tibet are all predominantly Buddhist societies. Unfortunately these are the same places where Buddhist priests receive the worst treatment from the governments. Surprisingly the majority of Buddhists in these countries maintain their silence. Not a single Buddhist organization yet condemned the ruthless attack on Buddhists monks last week. Have the Buddhists become so spineless? Has somebody robbed the spines of the Buddhists?

 

A ‘Buddhist’ upasaka ruler assaults ‘Buddhist’ monks in a ‘Buddhist’ land

Today is a sad day for the Buddhists in Sri Lanka. It was like the day the Kalinga Magha completely demolished the ancient Anuradhapura kingdom; the day that Portugese burned down Veedagama Raja Maha Vihara; the day that King Rajasinghe I, banned following Buddhism on the advices of his purohita Aritta Kee-vendu. Today, a ruler of our times took away his white clothes to play the role of Kalinga Magha.

Which Buddhist does not feel regretful when their religious leaders are physically beaten by the Police-wallahs without showing any sympathy? Wouldn’t the Catholics feel sad if Catholic priests were tear gassed and baton charged? Wouldn’t the Muslims feel sorry if their Mowlavis were physically harassed by the Police? Shouldn’t we feel twice sorry as this happened when a leader who had promised to save Buddha Sasana ruling in Sri Lanka? Shouldn’t we feel thrice sorry when this happened at a time a political party representing Buddhist Bhikkus is a major player in the government?

Please don’t get me wrong. I do not endorse what the student Bhikkus have done. It is also no secret that these Bhikkus were motivated by JVP. Religion and politics is a dangerous mix. It would have been good for everyone if the Buddhist Bhikkus stayed out of politics. On the other hand, no denial that they are part of the society. Like any citizen they have rights to protest as long as such protests are peaceful. There are better ways to address such activities. Beating and tear gassing Buddhists monks will not be taken lightly by the Buddhists in Sri Lanka who daily take the wow “Sangan Saranam Gachchami”.

We have seen similar things happening in Burma – but there is a difference. Though Burma is country with Buddhist majority, it is not governed by a Buddhist leader. On the other hand Sri Lanka is governed by a leader who loses no opportunity to portray his ‘Sinhalese Buddhist’ image, from carrying ‘mal vatti’ at temples to publicly listening sermons at Temple trees at every Poya day. Is it the same individual who ordered this assault against Maha Sangha today? Can we think that the ‘Upasaka Mahattaya’ in white clothes can be so ruthless to beat the Maha Sanga he worships publicly?

This is not the first time Buddhist monks have protested. They protested during the Chandrika Kumaratunage government and also Ranil Wickremasinghe government. Those leaders, perhaps showing more wisdom, faced them in intelligent manner.

During the two years when Ranil Wickremesinghe was in power – and when protests by JHU and JVP at their height – no Buddhist mink was ever beaten by Police.

However, it is not possible to expect such wisdom from every ruler. There are rulers who know nothing but fighting. Like Choppes Pachcha Siras in Maradana, all they can do is to show their muscle. They never consider whether it is a journalist, an innocent citizen or a religious leader. Physical violence is used at maximum for anybody who comes against them. That is what Hitler did, Mussoloni did, Marcos did and Musharaff and Robert Mugabe doing currently. That is exactly what happens in Sri Lanka too.

Perhaps this is a good opportunity for the so called JHU Buddhist monks also to come up and express their opinion about Kurakkan government physically assaulting Buddhist priests. Do they condemn this attack? Or do they endorse it? We are happy to listen to them. Mr. Champika Ranawaka, you have anything to say?

Mugabe’s Zimbabwe, Musharraf’s Pakistan and Rajapaksa’s Sri Lanka – ALL in FAILED STATES list! (Should we be surprised?)

Sri Lanka has once again been included in the Failed States Index by the Foreign Policy and The Fund for Peace which rank the countries where state collapse may be just one disaster away, reported Daily Mirror, along with Zimbabwe and Pakistan.

Sri Lanka has been ranked 20 in the list of 60 failed states with Somalia claiming the number one spot and the distinction of being the state most at risk of failure.

The rank order of the states is based on the total scores of the 12 indicators. For each indicator, the ratings are placed on a scale of 0 to 10, with 0 being the lowest intensity (most stable) and 10 being the highest intensity (least stable). The total score is the sum of the 12 indicators and is on a scale of 0–120.

Founded in 1970 by Samuel Huntington and Warren Demian Manshel, and now published by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington, D.C., FOREIGN POLICY is the premier, award-winning magazine of global politics, economics, and ideas. Its mission is to explain how the world works—in particular, how the process of globalization is reshaping nations, institutions, cultures, and, more fundamentally peoples daily lives.

In 2007, several countries that have long served as the poster children for failed states managed to achieve some unlikely gains. The Ivory Coast, which unraveled in 2002 after a flawed election divided north and south, experienced a year of relative calm thanks to a new peace agreement. Liberia, the most improved country in last year’s index, continued to make gains due to a renewed anticorruption effort and the resettlement of nearly 100,000 refugees. And Haiti, long considered the basket case of the Western Hemisphere, stepped back from the edge, with moderate improvements in security in the capital’s violence-ravaged slums.

Bangladesh took this year’s hardest fall, set off in part by postponed elections, a feuding, deadlocked government, and the imposition of emergency rule that has dragged on for more than 18 months. These political setbacks were followed by greater economic hardships after a devastating cyclone in November flooded large swaths of cropland and left 1.5 million people homeless. In nearby Pakistan, also one of this year’s worst performers, a beleaguered President Pervez Musharraf sparked waves of violent protests when he dismissed the head of the Supreme Court and declared martial law. In a tragic close to the year, the assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto left many wondering about the future prospects of this fragile, nuclear-armed state.

How JVP ruined the family lives of Anjan Umma, Sunil Handunnetti and Wimal Weerawansa

Anjan Umma MP was lost for few days. Looks like Wimal Weerawansa has found her. According to Daily Mirror, she is about to join the newly formed Weerawansa’s Jathika Nidahas Peramuna or NFF. (Unlike ‘godayatik’ JVP which still abbreviates its Sinhala name, post modernistic Weerawansa seems to like the English abbreviations NFF rather than ‘JNP’)

Umma’s episode tells another filthy aspect about the political style of JVP – how this political party, which boast about its purity shamelessly intervenes to the family lives of its own people.

Umma’s husband is still an ardent JVPer. When she went hiding, even her husband did not know where she was. Looks like she has sacrificed her family for the party – that too a party that believes in the Sinhalese Buddhist supremacy and undermines her own Muslim identity. Is that a worthy sacrifice? Will her family approves that. Only time will tell. The question is not that. The question is should a political mater like this should split a family. Her husband goes on media to critisise her act – probably on the instructions of JVP. Will their marriage last after today’s developments?

This with the earlier Handunnetti and Weerawansa’s suicide attempt episodes are examples of JVP’s control over the personal lives of its members. The party has taken the right of their own men to lead normal lives.

The woman who lives with Handunnetti and identifies herself as his wife was neither his love not his choice. That was a selection of the party. Handunnetti was force to marry and live with her. She was the in-house spy. When Handunnetti made plans to leave party and migrate she promptly betrayed her ‘husband’ to the superiors.

When she found the suicide note of her husband, Wimal Weerawansa, Shirsha Udayanthi (Shashi) Weerawansa too did a similar thing. She faxed it to party office, so that party could send five of its cadre to ‘protect’ him. Wimal Weerawansa trying to commit suicide is no surprise. He is somebody who wants to achieve beyond his own capacity. He is also a coward, contrary to the public image. When such an individual wants to take life (We still do not know whether he physically attempted suicide, probably yes) the first thing a wife should have done is to take him to a psychiatrist. Why fax suicide note to party office? Probably because her job too was to spy Weerawansa. If Shashi Weerawansa too is still an ardent JVP member Wimal is in a sure fix. Like Anjan Umma, he too has to select between the family and party.

Why, unlike any other political party, controls the personal lives of their people? Is this what Wijeweera sahodaraya preached? Or is that something they have learnt from their communist masters in China? Whatever it is, we can have only sympathy for the poor JVPers. Surely these three cannot be the only victims of this strange practice.

Major General Janaka Perera – the next Chief Minister of North Central Province

United National Party today decided to appoint Major General Janaka Perera as its candidate for the post of Chief Minister in North Central Province. 

Major General Janaka Perera was the former Chief of Staff of the Sri Lanka Army and one of the most distinguished generals in Sri Lanka.

He was educated at St. Joseph’s College, Colombo and joined the Sri Lanka Army as an Officer Cadet and received his training at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in England. After completing his training he was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the Sri Lanka Light Infantry, later he transferred to the newly formed Commando Regiment. Maj Gen Pererea is a graduate of the Royal College of Defence Studies.

As a Colonel, Janaka Pererea took a major role suppressing the JVP insurrection of 1987-89. He was the Provincial Commander of the North-Western Province as well as being in charge of the special operations of the ‘Operation Combine’ in Colombo which led to the capture of the JVP leader Rohana Wijeweera.

In the following years he played a significant role in safeguarding the defence of Sri Lanka. His contribution for the Sri Lankan military effort during the Eelam War III was exceptional. Brigadier Pererea was one of the key players of the Operation Riviresa which lead to the liberation of the Jaffna peninsula. During the operation he commanded the 53 Division which consisted of the Independent Brigade, Air Mobile Brigade, Armoured Brigade and an Infantry Brigade. Later he was promoted to the post of Deputy Chief of Staff and also had functioned as Commandant, Sri Lanka Army Command and Staff College.

Unlike Gotabhaya Rajapakse, who abandoned and ran away from Army in the most difficult times, Major General Janaka Perera never abandoned the forces, in spite of the immense risk he and the family had to undertake for his military activities.

He once again distinguished himself after the fall Elephant Pass in 2000 which forced the SL Army units in Jaffna to fall back. Undertaking the Operation Kinihira after being appointed Commander Security Forces Jaffna, Major General Perera launched an effective counter attack that halted the LTTE advance and succeeded in established the current defense line in the Jaffna peninsula. This prevented the SL Army from being forced to evacuated from the Jaffna peninsula or due to the lack of transport ships, the prospect of being cut off.

Major General Janaka Perera was made Chief of Staff of the army in 2000 but retired in 2001. Following his retirement he was made Sri Lanka’s High Commissioner to Australia and later Sri Lanka’s Ambassador to Indonesia, but was recalled before his term ended.

Like most of the honorable military figures in Sri Lanka like Lieutenant General Denzil Kobbekaduwa and Former Air Force Chief Harry Gunatilake, Major General Janaka Perera is a firm believer of a political solution to ethnic issue and sees the military activities only to safeguard the country and a means for force LTTE to the negotiations.

Anarkali Araksha and Mahinda Chinthanaya

She is back in news. Daily Mirror reports a commotion at a leading five star hotel recently saw film star Anarkali Akarsha and Western Provincial Council Member Duminda Silva seeking police help to settle a dispute between them. This post has nothing to do with that incident. One’s personal life is a domain which others should not trespass. Sorry to disappoint you, but I see things more from the political angle.

Anarkali is a popular young actress whose celebrity has much to do with appearances than talent. Nothing wrong with that. Whatever the ascriptions, there is no question that she has achieved stardom at relatively young age. She, among others like Shihan Mihiranga, Roshan Ranawana, Bhathiya & Santhush and Pradeep Rangana,  is a stylish icon of the Y Generation of Sri Lanka.

Anarkali is also a political activist. She, with her then partner Duminida Silva was seen campaigning for Rajapakse-Pillayan alliance during the last Provincial Council elections. That is her choice. There is nothing wrong her campaigning for any political party she thinks best. It is a right any ordinary citizen enjoys in any democratic society.

There is another angle too. Let us get back to 2005 Presidential Elections. Does anyone remember the card current President Sri Rohana Jana Ranjana Rajapakse used? Passing his trade Union cap and red shirt (used in street protests) to good ole Vasu, he donned the kurakkan shawl with a saffron tinge. So the ‘angry street protestor’ became a staunch Sinhalese Buddhist. Then the Sapumal Kumaraya started the military campaign for a unitary state, interestingly forgetting all about Human rights he himself once used as a tool for self-promotion in international circles.

Now where does Anarkali fit in this picture? Where is the intersection between Sri Rohana’s Sinhalese Buddhist universe and Anarkali’s modernist Y Generation cosmos? Even a blind can see the two are light years away.

So why does modernist Anarkali politically support the feudal lord Sri Rohana? What common ground they have?

The simple answer is whatever the mask they wear in public; both of them are not what they want to show us. Mr. Kurakkan’s nationalistic thinking is only skin deep. Anarkali might be more honest, but her modernism too go too far. With those shawls taken away there is enough common ground between the two.

This demonstrates the appalling state of Sri Lankan politics. So many get carried on with external appearances. Especially the rural crowds blindly vote for one who wears a sarong, mistaking him to be one of them. Little do they know wearing a sarong or carrying ‘mal vatti’ are only political gimmicks.  The real person inside the sarong can be different from the image. 

Perhaps Anarkali might canvass for UPFA in forthcoming Provincial Council elections too. She might temporarily dress in a saree and go from house to house begging in what little Sinhala she knows. The voters too might listen to her and vote for the man in sarong. Perhaps her dazzling looks will make them forgot that they no more get the fertilizer subsidy they were promised under Mahinda Chinthana, or  now they have to pay twice or thrice more for a packet of milk powder.

When will this farce end? When will the voters realize they were shown only magic to rob their vote? When they realize they should vote for a party that has solution to their burning problems rather than getting dazzled with the tricks of swindlers?

I do not think anyone has readymade answers right now. 

Defence.lk Gobilas show their true racist colours

Should a Ministry website that runs by the tax payers’ money act racist? (NB. The tax payers in Sri Lanka are not just Sinhalese)

Should a ministry website that does not recognize it as a general news site run stories not relevant to its mandate?

Defence.lk Gobilas try their best to demonstrate their intention is only to present defence related news (Please note, in Sri Lanka ‘DEFENCE’ is synonymous with  ‘WAR’) but unfortunately their true racist slip sometimes becomes too evident.

Can Defence.lk Gobilas tell us what the news story ‘Tamil Gangsters to be sentenced for murdering youth by stabbing – London’ has to do with the mandate of Defence Ministry?

There is no mention in the story the accused are Tamils of Sri Lankan origin. (Contrary to the loaded ‘news story’ in Defence.lk implies they are not yet ‘sentenced’.) Perhaps the Defence.lk Gobilas do not know there are other countries from which Tamils migrate to UK.  Even if they were Sri Lankan Tamils there is no evidence they are linked to LTTE. So how does the story of four Tamils in South London killing another of their own becomes a security concern for Sri Lanka?

So one of the following messages can be what Defence.lk wants to imply either intentionally or not.

1. All Tamils abroad are gangsters. They also collect money for LTTE and kill those who don’t contribute
2. Tamil abroad brings ‘bad name’ to Sri Lanka. They live dubious lives abroad.
3. All Tamils are gangsters/terrorists. So the only way to attack terrorism is to attack Tamils.

However, I do not blame only the blind government for this. This is also the fault of Sri Lankan Tamils. As they have indicated in 2005 Presidential Election, the majority of Tamils of Sri Lankan origin does not want to be in the democratic arena. When they avoid voting they lose their influencing power. Ruling party knows that too well, and subjects Tamils to  humiliation, knowing well they will not vote against.

That is why we see government websites like Defence.lk acting racist at the drop of hat. They aim for Sinhalese vote banks. They do not care for Tamil votes – which, in reality do not exist.

Unless we can bring all communities in Sri Lanka within the democratic framework, this will continue.

(PS. The term ‘Gobilas’ is used as the plural to connote the character of Dr. Paul Joseph Goebbels, Minister for Public Enlightenment and Propaganda in Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945, from who the Defence.lk guys have learnt their first lessons.)

Ananda College Centenary Group get-together 2008

The days I have spent at Ananda College were among the best in my whole life. (The photo below was taken with some of my classmates immediately after we have done A/Ls in 1986, with me in the middle.)

Though we can never go back to that past in reality, it is great to meet some of my schools friends annually at the group get together.

Last year we had the Centenary group get together at the Holiday Inn Hotel. (We call ourselves ‘Centenary Group’ because we completed our studies on the same year the school completed 100 years) This year too the venue is same and the date will be July 12, 2008. These are some of the photographs taken during the last year’s event.