“මා ඉතින් යන්න යනවා. මට යන්න අවසරයි.” නන්දන විමලාට බූට් එක දෙයි. පව් නේද?

ජාතික නිදහස් පෙරමුණේ ලේකම් නන්දන ගුණතිලක සහ ජාතික සංවිධායක කමල් දේශප්‍රිය ඔවුන් එම පක්ෂයේ දැරූ සියලු තනතුරුවලින් ඉල්ලා අස්වී ඇති බව වාර්තාවේ. ඔවුන් දෙදෙනා මේ සම්බන්ධයෙන් මැතිවරණ කොමසාරිස්වරයාට ලිඛිතව දැනුම්දී ඇත. ඔවුන්ගේ ඉල්ලා අස්වීමට තුඩුදුන් හේතු සහිත විස්තරාත්මක ලිපියක් ඔවුන්ගේ ඉල්ලා අස්වීමේ ලිපිය සමග මැතිවරණ කොමසාරිස්වරයාට යවා තිබේ විමල් වීරවංශ පක්ෂය තුළ අනුගමනය කරන ක්‍රියාමාර්ග වලට විරෝධය පෑමක් වශයෙන් තමන් ඉල්ලා අස්වූ බව නන්දන ගුණතිලක සිය මාධ්‍ය හිතවතුන්ට පවසා තිබේ.

www.lankatruth.com

විමල් වීරවංශගේ රෝමානු මතක සටහන් කිහිපයක්

සීගිරි, සිරීපාදෙ ගිහින් නැති වුනාට දැන් මම රෝමෙට ගිහිල්ලා තියෙනවනේ. කවුද මේවගේ මට සලකන්නේ මහ රජතුමා මිසක?

දුක් සැප කුමන්දා – අසන නිරිඳෝ වෙන කොයින්දා?

General Sarath Fonsenka nursing political ambitions? – asks Hindu

Chief of Defence Staff Sarath Fonsenka, who as Army chief led the 2006-09 Eelam War IV, has announced that he has “finished his obligations” towards the military.

In his address at the 60th Army anniversary parade here on Tuesday, General Fonseka said: “This may be the last occasion I make an address of this nature to officers and men of the Sri Lanka Army. Although I am still serving in the Army I have finished my obligations dedicated to the Army as I have reached different heights at this time.”

General Fonsenka’s statement created ripples in political circles here. There have been speculative reports in the local media to the effect that General Fonsenka nursed political ambitions.

General Fonseka, who led the 2006-09 Eelam War IV, was relieved of his job as Army Chief and designated as Chief of Defence Staff under a new Parliamentary Act which came into effect on July 15.

His latest statement has attracted attention as a there is the possibility of a general election preceded by a presidential poll in the next few months.

Meanwhile, Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa described the outcome of the Southern Provincial Council election as an “overwhelming mandate” for the ruling alliance.

In his statement on the victory of the ruling alliance, Mr. Rajapaksa said the mandate had encouraged his government to go ahead with its plan to reawaken the nation with renewed strength.

“The clear and overwhelming mandate given by the Southern people at this election is a decisive and strong message to those groups trying to create misconceptions about the government and also to the international community,” said Mr. Rajapaksa.

The election outcome triggered varied reactions among a section of the political parties and the media. The Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), which polled almost 11 per cent of votes cast in the home district of the President, said it was a turning point in the political scenario.

JVP general secretary Tilvin Silva told reporters that the ruling United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) recorded an overall decrease of 25,491 votes when compared with the 2005 presidential election.

http://beta.thehindu.com/news/international/article33084.ece?homepage=true

විමල් වීරවංශගේ මැර සොහොයුරා පොලිස් අත් අඩංගුවේ

මොරවක නගරයේදී ජනතා විමුක්ති පෙරමුණේ ආධාරකරුවන් පිරිසකට ගිනි අවි පෙන්වා මරණ තර්ජනය කොට, පහරදී බරපතළ තුවාල සිදු කිරීමෙන් අනතුරුව පලා යමින් සිටි එක්සත් ජනතා නිදහස් සන්ධානයේ මාතර දිස්ත්‍රික් අ‍පේක්ෂකයකු වන සරත් වීරවංශ පිටබැද්දර පොලිසිය විසින් අත්අඩංගුවට ගෙන ඇති බව Lanka Truth වෙබ් අඩවිය කියයි..

ඩබ්.පී. කේ. එච්. 3944 කාරය හා 64-8027 පැජරෝව පොලිසිය අත්අඩංගුවට ගෙන ඇති අතර අත්අඩංගුවට ගන්නා මොහොතේ සරත් වීරවංශ මහතා කාරයේ සිටි බව පිටබැද්ද‍ර පොලිසියේ ප්‍රකාශකයකු පවසා ඇත.

President tells Wimal Weerawansa to fly a kite; PBJ back at Treasury

Wimal Weerawansa who left Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) in support of the current Rajapaksha regime received a major blow today.

According to Daily Mirror, President Mahinda Rajapaksa has reappointed Dr. P.B. Jayasundara as the treasury secretary with immediate effect, the government information department said today. The Supreme Court last week gave Dr. P.B. Jayasundara relief to resume service in the state sector.

National Freedom Front (NFF) Leader Wimal Weerawansa has earlier said that his party will oppose any moves to re-appoint Dr. P.B Jayasundara to his former post as the Treasury Secretary to the finance ministry saying it will give a wrong impression to the West on state issues.

Lanka e-News reports President has blasted Wimal Weerawansa for making statements to the press without consulting him, as a partner of an alliance.

Tissainayagam and the land of deaf and dumb

Colombo High Court yesterday sentenced J. S. Tissainayagam to 20 years’ rigorous imprisonment for publishing a magazine named North Eastern Monthly which ‘provoked racism’. Colombo High Court Judge Deepali Wijesundara sentenced him after convicting him on three counts indicted under the Prevention of Terrorism Act and Emergency Law. This is an appealable judgement, and I am certain there will be one.

The judgement per se does not surprise me. What surprises me is the local media response. There was not a single print media – in English and Sinhalese, I do not read Tamil – that did an editorial on this. Not a single editor, including Tissainayagam’s own stood for his/her own colleague. Some Sinhalese media, notably Lankadeepa of the very Wijeya Group that employed Tissainayagam for nearly a decade showed no reservations in expressing their pleasure. I thought there was something called ethics in fourth estate. I was wrong. These are the times of invertebrates.

I never knew Tissainayagam personally. I have glanced over some of his articles to Sunday Times. I never read the controversial magazine. Basically I have little idea what he stood for. But as a lawyer none of the above stops me commenting on the case.

What was the basis of conviction? Let me quote from the press release of International Press Institute.

The evidence against the journalist is based on two articles he wrote in the North Eastern Monthly, and a signed confession, which Tissainayagam later said had been written under duress. According to the written submission made by his defense counsel to the court, the confession was tampered with to suggest that the journalist had taken money from the LTTE. The document says: “The only allegation that he (the accused) did (accept money from a terrorist organization), is based on a fraudulent alteration of the Accused’s purported confession.”

In other words, the judgement was not based on any serious evidence other than a confession. The only occasion a court should take a confession seriously is when the behaviour of the accused supports such confession. One makes a voluntary confession only when one is convinced about guilt and regrets one’s actions. In this case Tissanayagam’s behaviour clearly was the opposite. Then the next factor is to whom he made his confession.  Don’t we know about Sri Lanka’s police? Don’t we know how these confessions were taken?

This reminds me the old joke about KGB. Having left no other way of determining the time, Soviet archaeologists handed over a mummy to KGB. They didn’t have to wait for long. Pat came the answer. Apparently, the mummy has ‘confessed’.

As a lawyer, I have appeared for hundreds of ‘JVP suspects’ during the 1988-9 era who had made similar ‘confessions’. So I know how confessions are made. I know who makes them.  Thanks to Inspector K. P. Newton, former-OIC of Angulana Police station and Vass Gunawardena, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), I do not have to mince words explaining. The entire island knows.

Neither does International Press Institute (IPI) mince words. This is what it says:

No less than twelve journalists have been killed in Sri Lanka since 2006,  according to its Death Watch list, with many more harassed, threatened, and arrested.

In January 2009, Lasantha Wickrematunga, editor-in-chief of the Sunday Leader, was shot at close range in the head and chest by two men on a motorcycle as he drove to work in a suburb of Colombo. He was rushed to a nearby hospital, where he received emergency surgery, but died a few hours later. Known for his critical reporting on the government, Wickrematunga was a frequent victim of harassment and intimidation, and predicted his own murder in the pages of his newspaper. The initial results of the investigation of his death have not been released.

Obviously the Sinhalese racists are jubilant. Seeing a Tamil in mess always makes them happy. To them, we have the best police and the leagal system in the whole world.

Sadly, on the other hand, this furthers us from civilised world. Sri Lanka was hardly known for its Media Freedom, but this takes us even lower. No better confirmation of the fact than the following brief story on from Chinese Xinhua:

JOURNALIST SENTENCED TO 20 YEARS FOR AIDING TERRORISM IN SRI LANKA   

COLOMBO, Aug. 31 (Xinhua) — The High Court on Monday sentenced journalist to 20 years at hard labor for aiding terrorism. J. S. Tissainayagam was arrested by the police’s Terrorism Investigation Division in March 2008 for alleged aiding and abetting terrorism through a magazine he edited.

Thanks guys, for your warm welcome to the club. We owe you one.

Premakeerthi De Alwis: Twenty years since JVP terrorists brutally killed him

On the night of July 31, 1989 few masked gunmen led Premakeerthy De Alwis out of his house. Next morning his cadaver was found in a nearby trench with gun wounds in his mouth and hand – symbolising what Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna terrorists wanted to silence.

Twenty years after it was happened, two reasons make this event personally significant for me.

First, just like me, he was an Anandian. He belonged to the same generation of talented Anandians –  A. D. Ranjith Kumara, Ranjith Lal (who directed the movie ‘Nim Walalla’ – a first for a school boy) and Bandula Padmakumara – all who later made their marks in art and media.

Second, and more importantly, he was 42 years when died – close to my own age and with a son close to the age of my youngest.

Enough had been written about Premakeerthy’s talents. Not that he did master pieces like Mahagamasekera, but every song he wrote was momentous in its own way.

Premakeerthy wrote some of his best lyrics for Victor Ratnayake. These include the popular songs ‘Adaraye ulpatha vuu ammaa…’, ‘Kurullanta gee gayanna…’ and ‘Sihina sathak dhutuvemi mama…’. With no TVs and cassette recorders in widespread use the only way we could then enjoy such creations was through radio. I can remember how we were glued to radios when they were broadcast.

Premakeerthy’s other talent was his sarcasm.  This has resulted in some of the unique songs sung by Freddie Silva including ‘Nikan innepaa koema koemahari gahapallaa ban pethsam…’. In another song (which I do not remember the words) he compared human being to other animals and concludes that it is the most dangerous of species.

Gunadasa Liyanage, the veteran journalist, in his autobiography describes how the song ‘Pankiriththaa…’ was born. This was when Riviresa, the Sunday newspaper then edited by Liyanage started criticising a radio programme done by Premakeerthy, who took the criticism in the positive manner. Thus born one of the most popular songs of our times. ‘Pankiriththa’ in the song was Premakeerthy while the ‘Kendheththa’ who critisised others without doing his job was Gunadasa Liyanage. The latter said it never was a barrier to their friendship.

Premakeerthy’s creations never died with him. Even today my kids enjoy the songs he wrote for ‘Dosthara Hondhahitha’ – a children’s’ cartoon series dubbed to Sinhala by Titus Totawatte.

‘Anduna’ was his entry to the visual media. When the authorities decided Pramekeerthy’s face was not photogenic for the visual media, he started this programme without ever showing his face.

There are so many anecdotes about this interesting character.

He was interdicted once, says one. So for a short period Premakeerthy had to stop doing his usual radio programme. He was found not guilty in the inquiry but was strictly advised not to mention anything about the incident on air. Premakeerthy entered the studio while the programme was running live and at an unexpected moment kicked the chair next to him making a loud noise. Then he started the programme saying “ea putuwa vatune, mama neveyi.” (Only the chair was fallen, not me)

It is sad that JVP decided to end the life of such an innocent and talented character. The story goes that he begged for mercy in the name of his kid, who was too small. Unfortunately JVP was not a political force that took such concerns into account. Cold bloodedly, he was murdered. His fault: Announcing at a ‘Gam Udawa’ exhibition and getting into an argument with JVPers at the local bar.

I personally know his family had to live a difficult life after the death. Once Principal of Ananda College invited the Centenary Group of Ananda old boys to do a musical show in support of the family. I remember it was organized and we even had a press conference but the event did not materialize for some reason.

How unfortunate the same JVP that killed artists like Premakeerthy de Alwis now expressing their support to art. It is sad that JVP never remembers him, even when they organize pretentious political party events ostensibly to commemorate artists.

I am sure those who still love Premakeerthy like myself, have forgiven the JVP terrorists, but not certainly forgotten.

Piyasiri Wijenayake – Minister of Murders and Crime

Piyasiri Wijenayake, MP from the so-called Jathika Nidahas Peramuna, the leftovers of the JVP, has been appointed as a minister along with Nandana Gunatilake, a colleague from the same three wheeler party. As if we do not have enough ministers now!

According to the Roman and Dutch law practiced in Sri Lanka, one is innocent until proven guilty and not vice versa.
Having said that, it becomes valid only when there is an independent police force, which unfortunately is a luxury under the current regime.

Had there been an independent police force, Piyasiri Wijenayake should have been behind the bars now. There is enough evidence to prove his guilt for the crime of murdering a young member of JVP.

It is sad that Mahinda mama has fallen into the levels of offering cabinet posts to such characters in a pathetic attempt to save the government becoming a parliament minority. Is this the behavior of an emperor he tries to portray himself to be?

Do ‘maha rajanoes’ of other countries make such dismal attempts to save their crown?

It is sadder that a dubious character like Piyasiri Wijenayake is given the responsibilities of protecting culture. Sakvithi Ranasinghe could have certainly been a better candidate. At least he has not committed any murders.

Velupillai Prabhakaran | වේලුපිල්ලේ පිරබාහරන් | வேலுப்பிள்ளை பிரபாகரன் (1954-2009)

What happened to Velupillai Prabhakaran, the leader of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), or to his body shrouds in a mystery. He could have died in a mass explosion or an aide destroyed the body like Hitler’s, preventing identification. Even escaped (unlikely) he has to live the rest of his life in oblivion. Assuming the political demise of the character, therefore, is logical. He is gone forever. His ghost will no more appear in anyone’s nightmares.

He was a terrorist, no doubt, but Prabhakaran deserves an obituary, even in a language he barely understood.

When Lanka Guardian, edited by Mervyn de Silva then, chose Prabhakaran as the ‘Man of the Decade’ in 1989, there was no dispute. He wasn’t a martyr – Osama Bin Laden too wasn’t when he was considered for TIME’s Man of the Year in 2001 – but Prabhakaran was one individual who changed the destiny of a country. Not that it would have been a Singapore, but at least it could have been a country better known for its tea, than for terrorism.

Sinhalese typically saw him as their arch enemy. (Many are eagerly waiting for the good news to start grand celebrations. It can happen any time now.) Feelings of Tamils were mixed. While some showed a passive solidarity, thousands spend hours on net eulogizing their Surya Thevan – The Sun God. “Terrorist to one” they said “…a freedom fighter to another” Only a handful of educated Tamils saw him in his true terrorist outfit. To the rest he was the typical smiling, child-kissing politician. At least few Tamil boys and girls were ready to exchange their lives for a last supper with him.

There was nothing ‘elusive’ about Prabhakaran, as political pundits liked to remind us. Had he shaved his thick moustache, spoken Sinhalese quoting religious texts and worn national dress probably with a shawl, Prabhakaran could have passed for a typical Sothern politician, with his big belly and smile. Lack of education (He was a tenth standard dropout, just like Wimal Weerawansa) might not have been treated a serious flaw. He could have easily been a minister in President Rajapakse’s jumbo cabinet. In fact, his once second in command made it.

Little is known about Prabakaran’s early history. This is what Wikipedia says.

Velupillai Prabhakaran was born on November 26, 1954 in the northern coastal town of Velvettithurai. A Hindu by birth, he joined the student group TIP, during the standardization debates. In 1972, Prabhakaran founded an organization named Tamil New Tigers (TNT) which was a successor to many initial organizations that protested against the post colonial political direction of the country that pitted the minority Sri Lankan Tamils against the majority Sinhalese.

In 1975, after becoming heavily involved in the Tamil movement, he carried out his first political murder against the mayor of Jaffna, Alfred Duraiappah, by shooting him at point blank range while he was about to enter the Hindu temple at Ponnaalai. The assassination was in response to the 1974 Tamil conference incident, and the Tamil radicals had blamed Alfred Duraiappah, because he backed the then Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) implicated in the violence as well as for allegedly betraying the Tamil nationalist sentiments in the Jaffna peninsula.

In May 5, 1976, the TNT was renamed the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), commonly known as the Tamil Tigers.

Some of these facts are disputed. Contrary to the popular belief, there is a school that believes Alfred Duraiappah was killed by a rival  gang. With nobody to certify, these minor details will now be forever lost.

Prabhakaran’s political origins were closely linked with the splitting up of nation on cultural and linguistic lines in mid 1970s, what was later termed as an ‘ethnic issue’. A radical youth in his early 20s, he was in the ideal position to exploit the increasing gap between Tamil politics and the mainstream. He was more the ‘first among equals’. Uma Maheshvaran, Sabaratnam and even Kuttamani – assassinated by Sinhalese prisoners in the immediate aftermath of 1983 Black July were either his seniors or equals. Instead of condemning, the senior Tamil politicians like Amirthalingam encouraged the growing unrest among youth, certainly to be exploited for their own political objectives. Little did they realize they nurtured a treacherous scorpion, who would one day bite the same hands that fed him. Then it was too late.

Prabhakaran was never guided by any strong political ideology. All he had was shamelessly hijacked SJV Chelvanayakam’s political agenda. His political immaturity never let him change the boundaries of the original map of the mythical Tamil Eelam. It was based on the first colonial segregation of administrative districts (only five then) and included not just present North and East but parts of Puttalum and Polonnaruva districts, where no Tamil inhabitations exist now. Wthere he was too dumb to imagine the majority presenting such a vast geographical area in a plate of silver or that was only a cover for receiving the continuous support of Diaspora Tamils, the younger generations of whom had little idea of the issue is not clear. Now he is dead and gone, we will never know.

Further, Prabhakaran’s mythical state of Tamil Eelam, was a only cut down version of the feudal state Rajapakse is planning to create in South. It was meant to be a monarch, with a royal family and all, not even a twentieth century autocracy. There wouldn’t have been even a trace of modernity. Just like Rajapakse wants to take us few centuries back to the days of King Rajasinghe, Prabhakaran wanted the resurrection of the dynasty of Nallur kings. He certainly wouldn’t have tolerated elections, a parliament or an opposition. Had it ever materialized, it would have been an isolated kingdom, with no Diaspora Tamil ever wanted to return or invest in. In fact, Diaspora Tamils have never tolerated Prabhakaran as their ‘king’ for too long. He was only their instrument against the real or imagined oppression by Sinhalese majority.

What made Prabhakaran’s larger than life image was his ability to survive for thirty long years against both the Sri Lanka forces and IPKF. Rest of the rebels, including Minister Douglas Devananda laid down their arms and joined mainstream, but not him. In retrospective, Prabhakaran’s survival should not be a surprise. The Government of Sri Lanka never. had a consistent strategy to match his. Successive governments attempted to find an everlasting solution to the ethnic issue, through democratic means rather than focusing their strengths on eliminating Prabhakaran or LTTE, till somebody made it his life mission. Past presidents, three of them from UNP, knew when ethnic issue was solved Prabhakaran would cease to exist. However, none of them, till Ranil Wickremasinghe bravely did, sacrificing his political future at least temporarily, offered a viable solution to the ethnic issue. There was hardly any attempt to win the moderate Tamils. So the opportunity was forever lost with Prabhakaran receiving a walkover. The only Sri Lankan leader who ever politically weakened Prabhakaran was Ranil Wickremasinghe. It is not a surprise he fondled such a grudge against Wickremasinghe.

A myth fondly propagated by the present government is that Mahinda Rajapakse alone defeated LTTE. He didn’t. Jaffna peninsula, the historical stronghold of Tamil rebels was overtaken by security forces in 1996, during Chandrika kumaratunge regime. Killinochchi was only their temporary shelter. LTTE was further weakened during the Ceasefire period as the return to normal life after a long last war made many leave the movement. The restart of economic activities were the main reason for the fast disintegration of the LTTE at the time of the fall of Ranil Wickremasinghe’s government. The security forces, under Mahinda Rajapakse regime hit this already weakened set up. So it is unfair for the current government to disregard the indispensable contributions of the former President Chandrika Kumaratunge and former Prime Minister Ranil Wickramasinghe, in making a job lot easier for them. In the dog-eating-dog world of Sri Lanka politics however, it is too much to expect such a gratitude.

Even a bigger myth is that the ethnic issue will vanish with Prabhakaran. Well, he didn’t create it, so why assume his demise would bring end to the hatred between the two communities? Contrary to what President Rajapakse wants us to believe (in vain), the mistrust between the Sinhalese and Tamils will continue. Tamils will never recognize Rajapakse as their leader. So even though the armed struggle is over temporarily the Herculean task of uniting the nation remains to be a task to be completed by a more capable and wiser leader then the present President.

Back to Prabhakaran. Did he achieve anything worthwhile for his community? The answer is a big NO. Ethnic (Jaffna) Tamils are worse off than they were in 1970s. More than half of the Tamil population has already left for good. Thousands of Tamil families had to live with eternal grief of losing one or more family members. Ethnic Tamils, the largest minority in Sri Lanka then, has now reduced to the pathetic third place after Muslims and Indian Tamils. Jaffna, the second most advanced city in Sri Lanka, with its famous education system, is now far behind. As a community Tamils, at least the unfortunate ones to still remain, have moved ten or twenty years backward. They were termed as terrorists across the world. North and East have become more and more economically dependent on Colombo. At least for the next few years, till a UNP government implements a political solution, they will be remotely controlled from Colombo. All thanks to Prabhakaran.

Prabhakaran’s life was a book of mistakes – a manual of how not to do things – but even among them there are three big blunders. First was the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi. Whatever the reasons, with this emotional act, he lost the only possible international ally. (Had India been neutral it would not have been so easy to eliminate LTTE) The second was his decision to kill civilians – irrespective of their ethnicity. Even ethnic (Jaffna) Tamils were not spared in these random killings. The southern equivalent of LTTE, Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) never killed civilians and had a section of masses supporting them till the end. Majority of the Sinhalese were not racists and till mass civilian killings began in Colombo and Anuradhapura some were even politically sympathetic to their cause. Killing of innocents changed that forever. The third and the biggest mistake was Prabhakaran’s decision to indirectly support Mahinda Rajapakse in the 2005 Presidential election. If not for the LTTE’s boycott Ranil Wickremasinghe could have been the President and could have brought a more humane and ever lasting solution to the ethnic issue. Now that opportunity is lost forever. A political solution is only a dream under the present regime.

Prabhakaran is no more a hero than Hitler or Pol Pot, but he is a legend that will live on. I am sure for centuries to come mothers use his name to scare little children. I am personally happy to see the ‘king maker’ gone. In future people of this country will elect their leaders, not Prabhakaran.

(Edited photographs are from www.defence.lk)

Only Tamils are terrorists; not Pakistanis?

It is more than 48 hours Sri Lankan cricketers were attacked horribly by Pakistani terrorists in Lahore and the silence in Colombo surprises me. It is almost deafening.

For a moment imagine the reaction if the same happened here in Colombo. Having probably more suicide bombers than gunmen this is not the type of the attack LTTE would have dared, but for arguments sake, let us assume they did.

I can imagine the series of events that will follow.

Within no time we will see colorful posters from NMAT, JHU and Wimal Weerawansa all over the city condemning the attack with an emotional appeal. I am sure Weerawansa would have come up with a bright coloured poster of Ajantha Mendis in action with the slogan “Kuriru Koti Thrasthavaadhayen Kreedaava Surakimu!”

We would have also seen them calling press conferences one after the other. Newspapers would have been full of statements from every Tom Dick and Medhananda condemning the attack.

I am also sure to have received minimum twenty emails by now how LTTE tried to attack our sportsmen ever since its inception. (I am sure they would have dug enough evidence t prove the case.)

Not to mention the blogsphere. By this time Lanka Libertarian is sure to have taken a round of gunfire on peaceniks. (Yes, the usual lot. Everyone knows the names by heart now; no need to repeat.)

Is this what we see? Certainly not. Enough talk, but I do not see anyone seriously condemning the attack. I also do not see anyone angry. Isn’t that surprising?

Apart from the customary condolence messages from key political parties I do not see anyone bothered at all. The only exception is Udaya Gammanpila, who links the incident to LTTE – so that does not really count. He is contesting the elections, like me, so exploiting the opportunity to win some attention is acceptable. On the other hand Gammanpila will blame LTTE even if mother passes wind.

We see neither posters on walls nor press conferences.

In the blogsphere, Lanka Libertarian, who once wrote ‘i don’t refer much to patriotism in this blog. for instance my arguments for defeating terrorist pussies (with violence if needs be) are based not on patriotism but on preserving human rights, freedom, justice, and democracy’ is maintaining a deafening silence as if this incident has nothing to do with freedom, democracy and justice. Human rights of Sri Lankan cricketers have conveniently been forgotten.

Voice in Colombo has reported the incident but yet to offer his opinion and/or condemn the attack. So are so many other bloggers, Sinhala and English.

Suddenly they have become presenters of facts instead of opinions.

And our friend Ranuka, who once openly questioned me why I don’t condemn LTTE attacks has nothing to say about this incident. Why not he practices what he preaches? (As for me, I normally do not waste space condemning every attack; instead I voice my opinions only on incidents that I think worth talking about)

What does all this tell us?

Those who pretend they are forever anti-terrorist are actually not. They do not necessarily react to acts of terrorism. What they do is overreacting subconsciously to their inner feelings of racism. Tamils are the traditional enemies of Sinhalese for millennia. I will be surprised to see that racism not gone into our genes. This requires an effort from one to control overreacting to Tamil acts, terrorist or not. Most don’t care and let their feelings out. Same or worse done by other terrorist groups are ignored because that does not trigger their racist thinking. This includes racist wolves in libertarian clothes too. (Exaggerating and exploiting them for political gains, as Kurakkan uncle does now is another matter. )

So that is how only what Tamils do are branded acts of terrorism and no matter how brutal and inhuman they be, whatever done by Pakistanis may still not be called the same.

Who said there is no ethnic issue in Sri Lanka?