Galle Literary Festival: Colombo elite’s annual intellectual masturbation?

Two literary events annually overlook the vast majority of Sri Lankans; the good ole State Literary Festival and its recent counterpart Galle Literary Festival (GLF) that happens during this weekend.

The state fiasco, first. ‘Jobs for the boys’ was the raison d’être of the Ministry of Cultural Affairs since its inception in 1956. Compensating the poets, writers and journalists for their time spent in pre-election assistance is expensive. No sensible politician footing the bill on his own. Why not the public pay? No risk at all, because these ‘vandi bhattayaas’ are the same guys virtually run media.

So we have state literary awards and an annual festival – always in September. First is to meet the vandi bhattayaas’ financial needs and the second to boost their egos. Nothing wrong giving some false sense of recognition for the old boys who otherwise earns no social respect – perhaps not even from their wives. (Only JRJ once killed the fun questioning the efficacy of literature)

Take an example. The best short story collection in 2008 was dentist Gunadasa Amarasekara’s ‘Vilthera Maranaya’ (Death at the bank of a reservoir). Once considered a writer of mediocre talent, Amarasekara has lost most of it with age. All what his ‘literary’ contributions since 1980s were petty racist political propaganda. In his political short story collection ‘Gal Pilimaya saha Bol Pilimaya’ (1986) he justifies JVP blowing a fiber glass Buddha statue – according to him, genuine Buddha statues should be solid. Another story is a wretched personal attack on fellow writers Gunasena Vithana and Sirilal Kodikara. That is all what he contributes to society. Hardly any masterpieces.

For the government, of course, Amarasekara still remains a super hero. His racist sound bites have still not lost value in the war against Tamils. So an award once in a while, does no harm. Amarasekara earns few bucks – both directly and in directly; an award sells even most hopeless books. A retiree earns comfortable living. Government is ensured his future support. Everyone is happy. So what if the book is not read by anyone?

Compared to that, Galle Literary Festival, I am sure, is better. Firstly, it does not waste public money. Secondly, it has no political objectives.

Sadly, however, just like the state drama it serves only a chosen tiny group. While the State aims the Talibans, betel chewing and vernacular penning – GLF attracts more sophisticated English writers. These may be prominent personalities among Colombo elite. What impact they make on society, or how many read their work may be discourteous questions.

Just look at the list of participants. Tissa Abyesekera is the only serious contributor to Sinhalese literature. I am told Thavayoganathan Sajitharan has written in Tamil. The rest? Not only they cater only to less than 2-3% and largely Colombo based English readers but do that too in their own snobbish manner. Nine out of ten Colpetty people will not know an Ashok Ferrey. Even after the recent event, not many would still know who my former batchmate Sonali Samarasinghe is. You get the picture. These names matter to Colombo elite – not to millions of men and women we daily meet in streets.

Don’t interpret me wrong. Not that English Literature does not count. Like most former British colonies we too have a history of rich English literature, if I am not mistaken, since the Victorian days. One of the best novels of Sri Lanka, Village in the Jungle, was originally done in English by a British citizen. It was a story of real people; Silundus, Punchi Menikes, Hinnihamys and Babuns– those with flesh and blood.

Has anything from any GLF participant come closer? Don’t think so. It is not just the language that alienates their work from masses. There is a serious gap in thinking. They don’t see what we see; don’t smell what we smell. Even if translated to Sinhala/Tamil we will never take their work with the same enthusiasm we showered Leonard Woolf with. Among the recent English writers, I can think of only three exceptions. Late Nihal De Silva, Carl Muller and Shyam Selvadurai were the only writers who successfully crossed this gap. (Never read Romesh Gunasekera, so cannot comment on him.)

So what objectives GLF serve?

A section of Colombo elite might take a long holiday, eat continental breakfasts, drink lots of expensive wines, exchange yarns about their kids, buy few ornamentals, gain few pounds, may even boost the condom sales of nearby pharmacies and disperse. So much for the literature.

The tragedy is large section of creative writers never benefit from either of these festivals. They become untouchables at state festival because they do not appease Talibans. State shows the rebels the door. (Till 1974 the state did not recognize what we call ‘nisadhas’ as poems) They have no place even at Galle because they do not write in English.

See the poem with this. Will this poet acceptable to any of the two festivals?

Blogging has become the latest and one of the most effective modes of communication among youth. Now we have Sinhala blogs as much as we have English ones. I see some of the best creative works in recent times coming from blogs –poems particularly. Still I do not see the name of a single Sinhala blogger among the GLF participants. Surely it is not the place for them.

At least I am happy that they get some corner in Internet. www.boondi.lk has now become one of my favorites.

If I get killed tomorrow, will President say “Ajith too was my friend”?

I have been silent for a while. There were two reasons. The provincial council elections are around the corner and these days it takes most of my time. Still, that was not the only reason.

For the last few days I have been repeatedly asking from myself: Should I continue this blog? Is it worth the risk? What makes me certain that no black clad men in motorbikes waiting to show their appreciation for what I write here and Face Book?

I am sure I am not the only blogger who had that strange feeling.

Let me not exaggerate my humble efforts. Compared to what mainstream media Sirasa and Sunday Leader/Irudina could do and have actually done, my blog is nothing. I write largely in English and get 500-1,000 daily hits on average. That is still far less than what Defence.lk receives. I do not see anyone perceiving my blog as a barrier to army capturing Mullaithivu. I do not think it breaks SLFP block votes. According to what I hear, or rather I don’t hear, not even 1% of my electorate reads it (this gives me some independence!) So prima facie, me getting killed for what I write here does not even look remotely possible.

Still at the height of the events early January I, or rather my blog, received some limelight. It received more than 2,000 daily hits for a period of about one and half weeks, culminating at 5,700 hits on the day of Lasantha’s funeral. I created two groups in Face Book, for Sirasa and Lasantha and both have now memberships nearly 2,000.

To say the least, this prominence doesn’t necessarily make me comfortable. Certainly not at a time like this.

Me with party colleagues at Lasantha Wickramatunga’s funeral

Whoever attacked Sirasa or killed Lasantha Wickramatunga, did not really scare us. We still had enough guts to attend Lasantha’s funeral and openly critisise these horrendous acts. (This was the same adjective Cheevan Daniel used in his famous commentary to CNN) We wore black saatakas.

What really made most of us rethink was the attack on Upali Tennakone.

Upali Tennakone, the soft spoken Rivira Editor, was no Lasantha. Like almost all Sinhala newspaper editors of our times (with the exception of Victor Ivan) Upali was more comfortable in swimming downstream. He always gave few pages, and usually the headlines for war news. He reserved half-page for the girl friends, wives and relatives of armed force members to show their affection to dearly beloveds in North. He did nothing even vaguely irritating the Sinhala Taliban mind. All could have done was a minor mistake, someone somewhere took too seriously.

Upali Tennakone was attacked in the most brutal manner. He was nearly killed, if not for his brave wife who fought and shouted at attract the attention of passers-by. It could be the same gang. Who was behind it still remains a mystery.

Somebody thought Upali Tennakoon’s life could be spared. That much is clear. Will the same people give importance to the lives of other dissidents?

Much changed after this than did in the aftermath of Sirasa and Lasantha incidents. At least ten prominent journalists and media activists ran away for life. Lanka Dissent went off-line promising its readers it would appear the day the country is more civilized. (I am not sure when) Lanka eNews started publishing diluted stuff. Defence Watch, Corruption Watch and Development Watch stopped. Only one protest against the attack happened – attended by few those who covered their faces with masks. Chamil Jayaneththi, the one brave man to show his face was charged.

Mangala Samaraweera, a former Foreign Minister left the country, fearing for life.

Can an ordinary human being feel safer when an ex-Foreign Minister is scared?

Sadly we live in an era where the life of a human being has lost its value. It is not a surprise. Since it came to power barely three years back, Mahinda Rajapakse government has seen more than 15,000 deaths – one fifth of the total died since 1983 as a result of ethnic war in North and East. Did anyone see the value of these 15,000 lives?

Even at the moment of writing this note, nearly 200,000 civilians, men women, old and young, adults and children are trapped in Wanni, at the mercy of LTTE that prevents their crossing to government controlled areas. I am not talking about LTTE, but about the civilians – like you and me, like our children. How many in our society care for these lives?

Jathika Hela Urumaya, sadly led by few who claim to be ‘Buddhist’ monks see no value of these lives. According to JHU, they are no civilians, but families of LTTE cadre. They should be eliminated perhaps the same was the Yakshas were got rid of at Mahiyangana, 2,500 years ago, according to Mahawamsa.

See the numbers. Will those who do not see the value of 200,000 lives respect just one life?

Under normal circumstances none of us take additional security precautions. We have a feeling that law and order of the society is adequate protection. We know somebody could not just kill and disappear. We know the police will be pressurized by public for action.

These are not ordinary times. We heard the President saying Lasantha Wickramatunaga was his close friend. (Though we never saw the same remorse on his face – as we saw on the day of Anura Bandaranaike’ death. Perhaps he has learnt to restrain emotions since then. Or he was still feeling jubilant of the Kilinochchi victory) If Mangala Samaraweera were killed tomorrow I am sure he too would instantly become president’s friend. President will also remind us Mangala was his campaign manager in the Presidential election of 2005. We know at least the latter is true.

I am sure if I were to be killed tomorrow, President will still say “Ajith was my friend; I am shocked to hear his death” without batting an eye lid. No doubt, everyone likes to be a friend of the omnipotent ruler who rules the land, but it would not be that much fun posthumously.

Should I quit or remain blogging?

Should I try to be President’s friend or remain as plain Ajith P. Perera?

Should one blog even when the Sword of Damocles hanging above one’s head with a single horse hair?

The question is open to you – all my regular readers.

Are all tax payers who paid for this bridge SLFPers?

Overhead bridge at Nugegoda was opened for traffic yesterday. Note the blue flags in the Lankadeepa photo. Is this a manifestation that this bridge was built from the party funds of Sri Lanka Freedom Party?

You may also remember that the initial colours of UPFA were blue and red. This practice continued even after JVP left – probably to indicate that it was a union of more than one party. Now it looks like we are back to square one. JHU’s saffron and LSSP’s, CP’s and MEP’s red are nowhere to be seen. It is just one leader; one party scenario.

You are forgiven if this builds an image of Stalinistic Soviet Union in your mind.

Upali Tennekone, Rivira Editor, assaults and stabs himself to divert attention from Kilinochchi victory

In another conspiracy to discredit the government and divert the attention from the Kilinochchi military victory, spearheaded by the present government under the leadership of His Excellency the President Mahinda Rajapaksha, Upali Tennekone, Rivira Editor, has attacked himself and his wife and then stabbed himself too today morning near his place at Imbulgoda, Gampaha. He has been hospitalised with minor injuries. (Please note ‘minor injuries’. He was not as stupid as Lasantha Wickramatunga to commit suicide)

The fact that no CCTV cameras had been fixed in his vehicle proves beyond any doubt that it is self inflicted. Government powers plan to imprison Tennekone as soon as he is released from the hospital.

Tennekone is said to have insured for a sum of US$ 6,000,000. Journalists have started self-attacking themselves so frequently in Sri Lanka to claim massive insurance that all insurance companies will go bankrupt in near future.

President Mahinda Rajapakse said he was deeply disturbed to hear this incident to discredit his government and the soldiers fighting in North. He also said Upali Tennakone is a close friend of his. He also ordered an independent and fast inquiry.

Few UNP Municipal councilors are waiting to be arrested.

(Well, for a change I thought of telling you the government version of the story)

Death threat to a Sri Lankan blogger?

I knew this would happen sooner or later. In a forsaken land, where no dissenting views are tolerated, the bloggers are going to be the next target. Still I did not expect that to happen so soon. My understanding was what happens in blogsphere still has relatively less impact on society, when compared to mainstream media content. May be I was wrong.

The victim in this case is Shan of BumuturuNu fame, a Sinhala blogger who aligns himself with new left. Not that I agree with him, Trotskyites are anyway an engendered species and make little impact in society. (Once a lecturer of mine describing Dr. Wickramabahu Karunaratne said the only weakness this otherwise dynamic and intelligent leader is a vision not shared by the masses anymore) The question is not that. Does someone deserve a death threat (almost anonymous) for bluntly expressing his views in cyberspace?

The comment in Sinhala (reproduced above) expresses nothing but sheer hatred. The commenter, it seems, is not interested in the arguments. All he wants is to hang the blogger. The blogger is also given a ‘friendly’ advice that he should spend all ‘Dollars’ he earned quickly on food and drinks because ‘otherwise there will be no time for that’. (Talibans usually assumes that all NGOs pay their staff in Dollars – perhaps the only foreign currency they know) Interestingly, the comment is signed in Tamil. The misspelled Tamil word, as far as I know with my little Tamil, is a reference to female genitalia. (Please correct me if I am wrong)

Even sadder is someone abuses my name to put a similar comment. I invite all readers to have a look at comments. It gives an idea how pathetic our Taliban’s have gone down in their behavior in blogsphere.

This is not an isolated case. Apart from threats, filth has become common in Sri Lankan blogspehere. The targets invariably are those who question the politica views of Rajapaksa regime. I receive more than my fair share. Beyond Frame, a Sinhala Blogger, who often antagonizes the Talibans, says he receives the everyday. There are also bloggers who use filth in their posts. (Avoid naming them as I have no intentions provoking them.) Is filth a part and parcel of Mahinda Chinthana, that the good uncle’s supporters use them so generously?

Two weeks back, we could have ignored a comment like that without thinking twice. Can we do that anymore? A question for every blogger – more so if you challenge the political views of current regime.

රාජපස්ස ගොයියාගේ ළමා සොල්දාදුවෝ

පිරබාහරන් ගොයියාට සේම රාජපස්ස ගොයියාටත් ළමා සොල්දාදුවන් පිරිසක් සිටින බැව් මෑතක් වන තුරුම මා නොදැන සිටි කාරණයක් විය. ඒ බව දැන ගත්තේ බ්ලොග් ලිවීම පටන් ගත්තාට පසුය.

පිරබාහරන් ගොයියාගේ ළමා සොල්දාදුවෝ තුවක්කු අරගෙන යුද්ධයට යති. රාජපස්ස ගොයියාගේ ළමා සොල්දාදුවෝ කිසිම හිරිකිතයකින් තොරව ඔහු වෙනුවෙන් අන්තර්ජාලය ඔස්සේ කඩේ යති.

කොහේද මේ ළමා සොල්දාදුවන් හමු වන්නේ?

යන්න සිංහල බ්ලොග් කියවනයට!

වැටුප් නොලබා සිය කැමැත්තෙන්ම රාජපස්ස ආණ්ඩුවට ප්රශස්ති ගී ගයන්නන් මෙහි දක්නා ලැබෙන්නේ දුසිම් ගණනිනි. (ඊට එරෙහි මත දක්වන්නන්ද නැතුවා නොවේ. ඔවුන් ගැන පසුව ලියමි.)

Black July 1983 - Borella

රාජ්ය මාධ්ය ඔස්සේ අප අසන සියල්ල බ්ලොගවකාශයේ වමාරමින්රාජපස්ස ගොයියාට කොන්දේසි විරහිතව කඩේ යෑම දැන් සිංහල බ්ලොග් ලියන මල්ලිලාගේ අළුත්ම තරගය වී ඇත්තේය. මල්ලිලා කීවාට වයසින් අත දරුවන් එතන ඉන්නෙ කීප දෙනකු පමණකි. අනෙකුන් මානසික අත දරුවන්ය.

සාරාංශ කළහොත් ඔවුන්ගේ තර්ක මෙබඳුය. (ඒවායේ ඇලපිල්ලක හෝ වෙනසක් නැත!)

i. අපේ රටේ වාර්ගික ගැටළුවක් නැත. (හරියට එක කාලයක අපේ කවියන් සිරිලක ස්වාභාවික විපත් වලින් විනිර්මුක්ත පින් බිමක් කියා ලිව්වා වගේය. එකම ලොජික් එකය. )

ii. සිංහලයෝ ජාතිවාදීහු නොවෙති. වෙන එකක් තියා 1983දී කවුදෝ හඳුනා නොගත් පිරිසක් කොළඹ දෙමළුන්ට අරියාදු කළ විට ඔවුන් ඉන් බේරාගත්තේද සත් ගුණවත් කරුණාවන්ත සිංහල ජනතාවය.

iii. දෙමළු ජාතිවාදීහුය. (මින් එක බ්ලොග් ලියන්නකු කුඩා කළ යාපනයට ගිය විටක යාපනයේ හෝටලයක් ඔවුනට කෑම සැපයීම පිළිකෙව් කොට තිබේ. පර දෙමළුන් ජාතිවාදීන් කියන්නට මීට වඩා සාධක ඕනෑද?)

iv. මේ සිංහල බොදුනුවන්ගේ රටය. අන් හැම දෙනා (සිංහල කතෝලිකයන්ද ඇතුළුව ) එහි ජීවත් විය යුත්තේ සිංහල බොදුනුවන්ට ඕනෑ විදිහටය. (මීට සමාන තර්කයක් මා ආනන්දයේ උගන්නා කාලයේදී අත් විඳීමට ලැබිනි. ආනන්දයේ සියළුම සිසුන් බුදු මැදුරට ගොස් මල් පූජා කිරීම අනිවාර්ය විය. ඉස්ලාම් සිසුන් පවා එහි යායුතු විය. මීට හේතුව ලෙස දක්වන ලද්දේ ආනන්දය බොදු පාසලක් වීමය. මේ මෝඩ සිරිතෙන් කවරකුට හෝ ලාභයක් විනියි නොසිතමි.)

v. දෙමළ ජනතාවට කිසි ගැටළුවක් නැත. ඔවුන්ගේ ගැටළු සියල්ල 1948 සිට බලයට පත්වූ ආණ්ඩු විසින් සාධාරණ ලෙස විසඳා තිබේ. (පුදුමයකට මෙන් මේ බ්ලොග් කරුවන්ගෙන් වැඩි පිරිසකට අනුව 1948 සිට අප ආණ්ඩු කර ඇත්තේ රටේ පොදු යහපත තමන්ගේ තනි යහපත වෙනුවෙන් පාවදුන් හොර මුළකි. මේ හොරුන් රැළම රට වනසන අතර දෙමළුන්ට පමණක් සාධාරණය ඉටු කළේ කෙසේද යන පරස්පරයට ඔවුන්ට විසඳුමක් නැත.)

vi. අපෙ රටේ ඇති එකම පුරස්නය ළඟදී මෙහි ආ පර දෙමළු මේ තමන්ගේ බිම කියාගෙන ආයුධ අතට ගැනීමය. (මුන්ට තෝසෙ එකක් වඩෙයක් කාල ඉන්න බැරි හැටි! )

vii. ලංකාවේ වාර්ගික ගැටළුවක් නැති නිසා LTTE එක පරාජය කළ සැණින් සියලු ගැටළු මොහොතකින් විසඳේ.

viii. කොළඹ කේන්ද්ර කොට ගත් ඒකීය ආණ්ඩුවක් යටතේ රට පාලනය විය යුතුය.

ඉහත එක තර්කයක් හෝ ප්රශ්න කළහොත් ඒ ඩොලර් වලින් යැපෙන NGO කාරයෙකි. නැතිනම් කොටි හිතවාදියෙකි.(බුදු හාමුදුරුවන් කාලාම සුත්රය දේශනා කොට ඇත්තේ මෙබඳු අඳ බාලයන්ට විය නොහැකිය.)

මෙබඳු අන්තවාදී ජාතිවාදී ස්ථාවරයකට අපේ තරුණ පරම්පරාව පත්ව ඇත්තේ කවර නම් හේතුවක් නිසාද? කාගේ ඕනෑකමකට කෙරුණත් අවසානයේදී මරු දකින්නේ තමන්ගේම වයසේ සිංහල දෙමළ සහෝදර සහෝදරියන් පිරිසක් බව ඔවුන් මෙතරම් පහසුවෙන් අමතක කරන්නේ ඇයි? (පිරබාහරන් ගොය්යා සේම රාජපස්ස ගොයියාද තමන්ගේ දරුවන් යුද බිමට එවන්නේ නැත. අඩු තරමින් යුද්ධ කරන්නට අපට බණ කියන කොළඹ ආචාර්ය මහාචාර්යවරුන්වත් තමන්ගේ දරුවකු වැරදිලා වත් හමුදාවට බාර දෙන්නේ නැත. ඔවුන්ගේ ළමුන් ඕස්ට්රේලියාවේ සරසවි ජීවිත ගෙවද්දී යුද්ධයෙන් මිය යන්නේ අපෙ දුප්පත් දෙමාපියන්ගේ දරුවන්ය. )

මේ බ්ලොග් ලියන මල්ලිලාගෙන් වැඩි පිරිසක් අනුරාධපුරයෙන් හෝ පොළොන්නරුවට නුදුරු මනම්පිටිය පාළමින් හෝ එපිටට අඩියක් හෝ තබා ඇතැයි මම නොසිතමි. උතුරු නැඟෙනහිර ඔවුන්ට ආගන්තුකය. එහි වෙසෙන්නෝ ආගන්තුකයෝය. නැතිනම් සතුරෝය. (එක බ්ලොග් මල්ලියකුට අනුව සත්තුය ) මේ සතුරන් මැරිය යුතුය. මේ වෛරී චේතනාව උදේ හවස රූපවාහිනියෙන් හා ITN එකෙන් මනස විනාස කරමින් වපුරන ජාතිවාදී විසිරණයෙන් තවත් තීව්ර කරනු ලැබෙයි. වෙසක් පෝයට සිල් ගන්නා මේ මල්ලිලාම දෙමළුන්ගේ ලේ ඉල්ලන අන්තවාදීන් වන්නේ ඒ නිසාය.

Black July 1983 - Borella Bus Stand

මේ බ්ලොග්කරුවන් 1983ට පසු උපන් හෝ වැඩුණු පරම්පරාවට අයත්ය. 1983දී දකුණේ සමාජය තුළ දරුණු බෙදීමක් විය. ඉන් පෙර යම්තාක් මට්ටමකට හෝ සිංහලයන් සමඟ මිතුරුව දිවිගෙවූ කොළඹ දෙමළ ජනතාව 1983ට පසු ගුල් තුළ සැඟවෙන මීයන් පරිද්දෙන් සිය කැමැත්තෙන්ම හුදකලා වූහ. (1983ට පෙර දෙමළ දොස්තරවරුන්ගේ නම් සහිත පුවරු ඕනෑ තරම් කොළඹදී දැකිය හැකි විය. දැන් එබඳු පුවරුවක් බේතකටවත් සොයා ගන්නට බැරිය.) මෙසේ වීමේ මූලික හේතුව 1983 අප්රසන්න අත්දැකීම් මත තව දුරටත් දකුණේ ජනතාව ගැන පූර්ණ විශ්වාසයක් තැබීමට ඔවුන්ට නොහැකිවීමයි. අපේ සිංහල බ්ලොග් කරුවන් හැදී වැඩී ඇත්තේ මේ ජාතික වශයෙන් බෙදුණු සමාජය තුළ බව අප අමතක නොකළ යුතුය. (එහෙත් එය ජාතිවාදී වීමට නිදහසට කාරණයක් නොවේ.)

ඔවුන් අධ්යාපනයේදී ඒකභාෂික වීම සේම පැහැදිළි ලෙස දෙමළ සිසුන්ගෙන් වෙන්වීම තවදුරටත් ඔවුන්ගේ එක පාක්ෂික ජාතිවාදය කුළු ගන්වයි. පණ්ඩිතයන් සේ මෙසේ බ්ලොග් ලියන මේ මල්ලිලා වැඩි හරියකට ඇත්තේ සිංහල අධ්යාපනයක් පමණකි. ඔවුන්ගේ ඉංගිරිසි අධ්යාපනය විෂය කටයුතු වලට (බොහෝ විට පරිගණක අධ්යාපනයට ) සීමා වී ඇත. මේ රටේ ආණ්ඩු විසින් (UNP ආණ්ඩුද ඇතුළත්ව ) අන්තනෝමතික ලෙස අධ්යාපනය සියතට ගෙන තමන් රිසි දේ පමණක් විද්යාර්ථීන්ට පෙවීමේ උත්සාහයට වන්දි ගෙවීමට සිදුව ඇත්තේ මේ බ්ලොග් ලියන මල්ලිලාටය. ඔවුහු බ්ලොග් ලිවීම දනිති. එහෙත් එකම රටේ වෙසෙන වෙනත් ජන කොට්ඨශයක ඇසින් ලොව දැකීමට ඔවුනට අවබෝධයක් නොමැත. ඔවුන්ගේ ඇස් ඒකභාෂික අධ්යාපනයෙන් වසා ඇත. කන් වෙන කිසිවක් නොඇසෙන පරිදි ඒක පාක්ෂික ඉතිහාසයකින් අගුලු දමා තිබේ. හැම ළිං මැඬියකුට සේම ඔවුන්ටද ළිඳ වූකලී ලෝකයයි.

මේ තනි ඇසින් ලොව දැකීම උතුරේද මෙසේම හෝ මීට වඩා දරුණු ආකාරයකින් සිදුවේ. 1983ට පසුව උතුරේ උපන් දෙමළ දරුවකුට සිංහලයකු යනු බෝම්බයක් එක අතකින් ගෙන තමන් මරන්නට එන රකුසෙකි.

සිංහල හා දෙමළ තරුණයන් අතර මේ අන්යොන්ය අවබෝධය දුරු නොකොට යුද කාමයෙන් මත්වී සියල්ල තුවක්කුවෙන් විසඳීමට තැත් කරන්නෝ කිසි කලෙක සාමයක් නොදකින්නෝය.

මේ සරල කරුණු කීපය කෙටියෙන් දක්වන්නේ කමෙන්ට්ස් ලෙස කුණුහරුප අසා ගන්නා ආසාවෙන් නොවේ. (කුණුහරුප දැන් මහින්ද චින්තනයේ කොටසක් හැටියට බ්ලොගීකරණය වී ඇත.) කාගෙ කාගෙත් කිල්ලෝටවල හුණු ඇති බව පෙන්නා දෙන්නටය.

1). සිංහල – දෙමළ භේදය අපේ දේශපාලනය තුළ 1920 පමණ සිට තිබුණත් එය ලේ හැලීමක් බවට පළමු වරට වර්ධනය කරන ලද්දේ දෙමළුන් නොව සිංහලයන්ය. ඒ 1956 දී සාමකාමී රැලියකට පහරදීමෙන් සහ 1958 දී එය දෙමළුන්ට පහර දෙන හා මරා දමන ජාතිවාදී කෝලාහලයක් බවට පත් කිරීමෙනි.

2).1948 අප නිදහස ලබන විට යාපනය ලංකාවේ දෙවන ප්රධාන නගරය විය. එහෙත් නිදහසින් පසු 1970 තරම වන තුරුම යාපනය හෝ උතුරු නැඟෙනහිර පළාත් වල ආර්ථිකය නැංවීමෙහිලා රජය මඟින් කෙරුණෙ අතිශය සුළු කාර්ය භාරයකි. ආචාර්ය එන්. එම්. පෙරේරා යාපනය හැඳින්වූයේ ‘මනි ඔර්ඩර් ආර්ථිකයක්’ හැටියටය. යාපනයේ ජනතාව යැපුණේ ඔවුන්ගේ නෑයින් කොළඹ සේවය කොට මාසය අන්තිමට මනි ඔර්ඩර් මඟින් යැවූ මුදල් වලිනි. යාපනය මූලික උතුරු නැඟෙනහිර ආර්ථික වශයෙන් කොන් කිරීම ජන වාර්ගික අර්බුදයේ ආරම්භයයි.

3). 1956 දී මෝඩ ලෙස සිංහල පමණක් රාජ්ය භාෂාව කිරීම නිසා සිංහල නොදත් ඉතා විශාල පිරිසකට රජය සමඟ කටයුතු කිරීම පමණක් නොව රාජ්ය අංශයේ රැකියාවක් ලබා ගැනීම පවා අසීරු විය.

4). 1970 දශකය මැද යාපනයේ දෙමළ තරුණයන් ආයුධ අතට ගැනීමට ආසන්නම හේතුව වූයේ 1974 දී යාපනයේ දෙමළ සම්මේලනයේදී පොලිසිය වෙඩි තැබීමෙන් දෙමළ 9 දෙනෙක් මිය යාමය. දොරේඅප්පා ඝාතනය කරන ලද්දේ මීට ප්රතිචාර වශයෙනි. වෙනත් විදියකට කිව්වොත් ප්රභාකරන්ලාට වේදිකාව සපයා දුන්නේ අපේම මෝඩ ආණ්ඩුවයි. (දොරේඅප්පා ඝාතනය ගැන කථා කරන මේ මල්ලිලා ඊට පූර්වගාමී වූ මේ ඓතිහාසික මරණ 9 ගැන කතා නොකරන්නේ ඇයි? නොදන්නා කමමද?)

5). 1948 සිට අද දක්වාම උතුරු නැගෙනහිර දෙමළ ජනතාව නියෝජනය කළ ඇමතිවරු සිට ඇත්තේ පහකට අඩු සංඛ්යාවකි. දෙමළ කතා කිරීමට පවා නොදත් කදිරගාමර් දෙමළ ජනතාව නියෝජනය කළේ නැත. ආණ්ඩුව අනුන්ගේ බව උතුරු නැගෙනහිර දෙමලුන්ට සිතීම අරුමයක්ද?

මේ කරුණු දක්වන ලද්දේ අර්බූදයේ සියළු වගකීම සිංහලයන් මත පැවරීමේ අරමුණින් නොව, අර්බූදයට දෙමළ සිංහල දෙපාර්ශවයේම දායකත්වය ලැබී ඇති බව පෙන්නා දීමට පමණි. තනි අතකින් අත්පුඩි ගැසිය නොහැක.

ලොව කිසිදු ජාතියක් අනෙකුන්ට වඩා අඩු හෝ වැඩි ලෙස ජාතිවාදී නැත. ඔවුන් ජාතිවාදයට දක්කන්නේ ඔවුනට සමාජයේ විඳීමට සිදුවන අසීරුතාය.

ඒක පාක්ෂික නොවී අනෙකාගෙ ඇසිනුත් ප්රශ්නය දැකීමට සාධාරණ වන්න.

Sirasa TV Liberation: TEN MYTH BUSTERS

Having writing enough, I thought of staying away from this topic. However, many questions raised by Government controlled mass media (directly and indirectly) emails and even blogs remain unanswered. Hence this post. I will make it as brief as possible.

None of us know for sure what happened exactly, or who did it (Except of course, those actually did it) We can only speculate. Still there is evidence. It is essential to separate evidence from speculation. For example, a statement like “Govt will never do such a thing like that at this moment” is speculation; but the white van with professional gunmen came to Depanama is a FACT. Let us not twist facts.

MYTH NUMBER 1: Governments do not take risks at the climax of popularity.

This is a baseless argument. Governments take risks everyday and do more so when they are popular. Then only they can afford to balance the negative impact with positives. (Like introducing Environment levies on the same day of a cricket victory) Even the most populist governments apparently take unpopular decisions. For example, the decision not to reduce the petrol prices, as directed by the Supreme Court, was certainly unpopular, but still Kurakkan regime took the risk.

Then of course, not every section of a govt is populist. There are sections that need not be, having not to face an election. Is there any guarantee that such a section not taking a risk?

MYTH NUMBER 2: Govt/SLFP do not benefit from these two acts.

In short term, may be. Still think the long term impact. Sirasa TV and Sunday Leader publications were the only true independent media in Sri Lanka. Others are controlled by Govt either directly (ITN, Rupavahini) or indirectly (Divaina, Lakbima) Sirasa TV and Sunday Leader were the only media that took the risk of supporting opposition in an election. Silence them and who will benefit? Government or Opposition? Imagine the loss to opposition in a Presidential or General Election without Sirasa and a journalist like Lasantha. Isn’t SLFP the only beneficiary?

MYTH NUMBER 3: This was done to prevent Killinochchi capture receiving lime light

No way. Killinochchi was captured on Jan 2. (Friday) Sirasa attack was on Jan 6 (Tuesday) early morning. Isn’ four days enough for a news item to gain attention? Then again, as Google trends show whatever the attention received for Killinochchi capture was dying down by the time of this attack. If it were to divert attention, why not attack the station on the same night?

MYTH NUMBER 4: Sirasa received their massive insurance claim

There was some stupid email making rounds saying that Sirasa TV received US$ 6,000,000 as insurance. If any insurance company to pay such a large amount within few days the domino effect will lead to another financial crisis. The fact: Sirasa TV has not received any insurance yet. In a case like this, the insurers will try their best not to pay, delay or reduce the payment (particularly when the damage is so high) and it is doubtful what percentage of their loss will be compensated and when.

MYTH NUMBER 5: The damage at Sirasa TV was not substantial. That was how they could start all their programs the next day.

The damage was substantial. The control room has completely gone. What Sirasa does now is running the process manually. Burning somebody’s car not necessarily prevent him from going to office. He still can walk or take the bus.

MYTH NUMBER 6: UNP was behind it.

Ha Ha Ha. Why should any opposition party, let alone UNP, ransack the only free electronic media channel? UNP is not that stupid.

As reported by Lankaenews, a UNP municipal council member has been arrested purely based on one ‘ANONYMOUS CALL’ received by police saying he (caller) saw weapons from a white van was transferred to a Black Defender in front of the HSBC building Rajagiriya. (There are two security posts 500m from this point to each direction. How a van with weapons came through one of these posts remains a question. Is this the security we have in Colombo?)

There is no way to verify the information provided by the caller as he is anonymous. Having noted down the number of the Defender, the caller has also failed to take down the number of white van. Strange, these anonymous callers are.

Unlike in a crime story of Agatha Christie, there is also an imbalance here. One party is privy to all information and has the power to influence the process of inquiry. We have no reason to believe that this party, the prime suspect, will not use its power – to suppress inquires and spread disinformation. The two recent examples of them doing so were the Johnpulle and Mervin Silva cases.

MYTH NUMBER 7: Sirasa TV has moved some of their equipment to S-Lon factory at Ratmalana just few weeks before the incident.

Completely FALSE. No equipment has ever being move to Ratmalana from Depanama. Sirasa TV did have plans to set up two bigger studios (to be used for Reality shows) at their Ratmalana premises, which has become vacant as the factory is moved elsewhere, but this incident has happened before any equipment movement.

MYTH NUMBER 8: Sirasa TV hides its CCTV recordings

Installing CCTV cameras is not a security standard in a private area . It is a requirement but there is no obligation. MTV has not installed any (not a solid decision) because most these areas private, not anyone can walk in like a super market. Absence of CCTV cameras does not mean the police can so easily wash their hands off.

MYTH NUMBER 9: All 15-20 gundaas have come in one vehicle

How come 15-20 men be fit in one vehicle?  They could have come in two or three vehicles. Only one vehicle was needed initially – till they get hold of the guards. Others can easily move in once the gates are open. The guards talk about the vehicle they saw. Other vehicles might have stopped a bit far.

MYTH NUMBR 10: If Sirasa TV is closed, only one rich Tamil will suffer

No way. Out of the MBC cadre more than 90% are Sinhalese. This does not include more than ten times of this number that indirectly depend on Sirasa from Vijaya Nandasiri to a huge network of provincial correspondents. Close Sirasa TV and all of them will be in the streets, looking for jobs soon. Not only that. What the vandals have destroyed was the most advanced digital control system in South Asia. Those who suffer include every Sri Lankan.

I perfectly understand why Mahinda mama’s henchmen bring these otherwise apparently stupid arguments. They are at a bad wicket and even a straw to hang on at this difficult moment is God-sent. These baseless arguments might save the day for SLFP, but can lead to disastrous consequences for the country. Leaving party affiliations aside all what we want is a democratic society where dissident opinions are respected, not repressed. Given the choice, the more ‘patriotic’ act would be save the nation from falling to a bottomless Taliban abyss, than saving a political party on short term.

Lasantha Wickramatunga funeral: Gather near ICTA on Monday 1 pm to attend

Former Leader Publications Editor-in-Chief Lasantha Wickramatunga takes his final journey tomorrow. The cortège will leave the residence at 12 noon and proceed to the Assembly of God, People’s Church down Kirimandala Mawatha in Narahenpita where a one hour service will be conducted from 1p.m. Afterwards the funeral procession will leave the Church to arrive at the General Cemetery, Borella at 4 p.m. and will enter through the main gate.

Those who do not know People’s Church come near ICTA, at Kirimandala Mawatha. It is the next building. In the absence of a map we don’t think Presidents Office mind we using the map from ICTA site as a guide.

Bar Association of Sri Lanka to protest against Lasantha Wickramatunga killing

The Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL) has organized a protest tomorrow at 1 p.m near the gates of the Supreme Courts complex at Hulftsdorp, against the assassination of their colleague Lasantha Wickrematunge, Attorney-at-Law.

The protestors are to proceed to the BASL head office where the association president is to address the gathering and then participate in the funeral of Mr. Wickrematunge.

All concerned lawyers are invited to participate in the protest against the killing of their dear colleague, the BASL said.

Meanwhile issuing a special statement the BASLunreservedly condemned the ‘brutal killing’ of the Sunday Leader Editor Lasantha Wickramatunge, who was also an Attorney-at-Law and life member of the Association.

“The Bar Association calls upon the Government to take all necessary steps to prevent the recurrence of such acts of brutality and to ensure that all citizens of this country, irrespective of caste, creed and political affiliations have the opportunity to exercise their right to life and liberty without fear, as guaranteed by the Constitution of Sri Lanka,” a special statement issued by BASL stated.

The Bar Association expressed concern over the recent threats to the Free Media and in particular the damage caused to the MTV and Sirasa studio complex in Pannipitiya and called upon the relevant authorities to conduct an impartial and expeditious investigation into these incidents and bring the miscreants to justice.

www.sundaytimes.lk

www.citizens.lk: Government wants two nude photos of every citizen for security purposes

Big Brother's face looms from giant telescreens in Victory Square in Michael Radford's 1984 film adaptation of George Orwell's Nineteen-Eighty Four.

The confusing SMS received today from nowhere requesting registration at www.citizens.lk was first taken as a hoax or joke by many. (Interestingly, the text I received misspelled the URL as www.citizen.lk. There is no such site.) The approach was so atypical for government of Sri Lanka. Our brown sahibs were never known for announcing e-government services by SMS. A quick check at Sri Lanka domain registry www.nic.lk verifies the URL is indeed registered to Ministry of Defence, Public Security, Law & Order. Will anyone risk playing a hoax at that level?

The site, unfortunately, further confuses a visitor. It makes one think more along the hoax idea. There is no logo; no photo; no link to the official site of Ministry of Defence (or any other government site, for that matter); no telephone number; no email – well, the list is long.

Do not take it personal guys, but www.citizens.lk is the most stupid site I have seen. Defence.lk is not always known to expressing the truth, but at least its design is decent. Compared to that, this looks as if designed by the same guys who did hedging deal. An online discussion has already begun to talk about its security loopholes.

Assuming this is genuine (I am still not sure) it raises so many questions.

Does government expect all citizens to register through Internet? Does the Defence Ministry babus are so stupid to assume that every citizen has Internet access or knows English? (There is only an English version) What guarantee the government has that everyone enters right information? Cannot somebody enter false information under the name of an ex-lover from a cyber café? How government knows that everyone has completed the process?

The type of the information expected include the ‘Date of Arrival’ and ‘Expected date of Departure’. Well, filling the first is cool. It is the birthday for most of us. How the hell we know the ‘Expected Date of Departure?’ Are we soothsayers? I am sure astrologers will have good business. Predicting the death of 19 million is no small task.

Then, the most important question.

The government already has all this information in multiple places. Ask Grama Niladharis or Election Commissioner. They know all about us. Why does the Defence Ministry need them again? Isn’t it simpler to obtain it from Grama Niladharis?

Further, the government is already is in the process of building a Population Registry under the World Bank funded e-SriLanka program. It takes time because it is complex. Computerising the information of 19 million is not easy. If somebody thinks setting up a web site – that too only in English – can achieve it, we have a big problem there, guys. Just imagine the trouble we had registering 10 million or so mobile phones.

Anyway forget Orwellian possibilities (1984 and BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU!) Big Brother has to be smart. These idiots cannot play Big Brother even if they want to. All they will have is an incomplete database with unverifiable information. What can anyone do with that?

About the nude photos? – Well forget it. I added it to make news more sensational. (Naughty me!)  At least they are not up to that – not yet. Still it is a possibility. As long as we have enough gullibles who would do hesitate to drop their pants upon hearing the words ‘National Security’, I will not be surprised if government actually asks for them.