ලක්ෂ පහක් කියන්නෙ උඹලට ස්වීප් එකක් ඇදුන වගේනෙ…

ලක්ෂ පහක් කියන්නෙ උඹලට ස්වීප් එකක් ඇදුන වගේනෙ…

කුරක්කන් මාමා අඟුලානේ තම දරුවන් අහිමි වූ දෙමාපියන්ට මෙසේ කීවේදැයි අපි නොදනිමු. සමහරවිට ඔහු, අද ඔවුන් තමන් හමු වූ අවස්ථාවේ එසේ සිතන්නට ඇත. මන්ද උතුරු නැඟෙනහිර යුද්ධයේදී රටට අහිමි කරන ලද දහස් ගණන් ජීවිත වලින් එකක් වෙනුවෙන් වත් ඔහු සතයක් වත් නොගෙව් නිසාය. බෝම්බ වලින් මියගිය වැඩිහිටියන් වෙනුවෙන් ඔහු ගෙව්වේ ගෙඩි රුපියල් 50,000 කි. දරුවන් වෙනුවෙන් රුපියල් 25,000 කි. මේ නිසා කුරක්කන් මාමාට අනුව ලක්ෂ පහක් යනු ජීවිතයකට ලොකු මිලකි. ඒකත් දෙන්නට ඇත්තේ ලෝබකමින් විය හැකිය.

ජීවිතයක් ලක්ෂ පහකට මිළ කොට එය දෙමාපියන්ට ගෙවා අත සෝදා ගෙන තමන්ගේ වගකීමෙන් නිදහස් වන්නට රටේ නායකයාට පුළුවන්ද? මේ මරා දමනු ලැබ ඇත්තේ තමන්ගේම දරුවන්ගේ වයසේ තරුණයින් දෙදෙනකු බව ඔහුට එතරම් ලෙහෙසියෙන් අමතක කළ හැකිද?

තමන්ගේ හිතුමතයට අහිංසකයන් මරා දමන තැනට පොලිසිය එක රැයින් ළඟා උනේ නැත. ඒසා බල සම්පන්න පොලිස් විජිතය ගොඩ නැඟෙන්නේ කුරක්කන් මාමාගේ පූර්ණ ආශිර්වාදය මැදය. සුදු වෑන්වලින් දවසට පහක් ගණනේ කෙරෙන පහර ගැනීම් බොරුකතා කියා කිසිම පරීක්ෂණයක් නොකර ඒවා අතුගා දමන්නේ කුරක්කන් මාමාගේම පාලන තන්ත්‍රයයි. මවිබිම පුවත්පතේ ලේඛිකාවක් කිසිම හේතුවක් නැතිව අත්ඩංගුවට ගත් විට පොලිසියේ ක්‍රියාව සාධාරණීකරණයට එන්නේ කුරක්කන් මාමාය. මාධ්‍යවේදීන් එකකුට පසු එකකු මැර ප්‍රහාරයට ලක් වීමේදී කුරක්කන් මාමාගේ ගෝලයින් කියන්නේ ඒ රට යන්නට මඟ පාදා ගනු පිණිස තමන් තමන්ටම ගහ ගන්න බවය. සිරසට ගැසීම ගැන කිසිම පරීක්ෂණ‍යක් සිදු නොවේ. ලසන්ත වික්‍රමතුංග තුච්ඡ ලෙස මරා දැමේ. කුරක්කන් මාමා මේවා අසා කවර හැඟීම් පහළ කර ගත්තේද අපි නොදනිමු. සමහරවිට ජීවිතයේ අනියත භාවය ගැන සිතා භාවනා කරන්නට ඇත.

පොලිසිය වැරදි ආදර්ශ ගන්නේ කුරක්කන් මාමාගේ මේ වැරදි ක්‍රියා කලාපය නිසාය. වැරැද්ද වැරැද්ද සේ පිළි ගන්නටත් ඒවාට දඬුවම් කරන්නටත් කුරක්කන් මාමාට කොන්දක් හා ඕනෑකමක් තිබුනේ නම් පොලීසිය මේතරම් හිතුවක්කාර තත්ත්වයකට පත් වන්නේ නැත.

මේ නිසා මහජන මුදලින් ලක්ෂ පහක්, තමන්ගේ පොකැට්ටුවෙන් ඇද දුන්නාක් මෙන් දී අත සෝදා ගන්නට කුරක්කන් මාමාට පුළුවන්කමක් නැත. අඟුලානේ පොලිස් වෙඩි පහරින් මළ තරුණයන්ගේ අවතාර ඔහුගේද සිහින වල හොල්මන් කරනු ඇත්තේය.

Appeal for funds – Ajith P.Perera, Chief Organiser UNP, Bandaragama, Candidate No. 1 – Kalutara District

This is an open request for all those who believe in a united and prosperous Sri Lankan nation. Be you a Sinhalese, Tamil, Muslim or any other I am sure you know United National Party (UNP) is the only party that can make that dream happen without prejudice to any community or individual.

I, S. Ajith Padmakantha Perera, stand for the Western Provincial Council Elections 2009. I also plan to stand for the forthcoming General Elections, representing Kalutara District. Now I am the organiser of the Bandaragama electorate, the most populous in Kalutara District.

Professionally I am a lawyer. More information on me can be obtained from the blog I run for the last one year at www.bandaragama.wordpress.com. This was the only site that communicated the news in the aftermath of Sirasa TV vandalism and the murder of Lasantha Wickramatunge in the backdrop of all mass media being indirectly silenced by the government. You may also remember my activism through the Face Book groups ‘Our tribute to Lasantha Wickramatunga’ and ‘Sirasa, whatever happens we are always with you’.

Knowing that you would always give a hand to a professional I humbly request your assistance for my campaign.

I will be grateful if you can make your contributions to the following account:

Account Holder’s name: S. A. P. Perera
Bank: Peoples’ Bank, Panadura Branch
Account Number: 148200141399190

There is no limit. Even a contribution of USD 10 matters. My intention is to have a large number contributing in small chunks rather than expect higher amount.

If you need to contact, please free to call me on my mobile number 0777-668993 (if calling from Sri Lanka) or 94-777-668993 (if from outside).

The extract from a blog post I have done sometime before will give you an overview of my political stance.

Thanking you in advance, I remain.

Yours Truly,

Ajith Padmakantha Perera,
Chief Organiser of UNP, Bandaragama
Candidate in the Western Provincial Council Elections,
No. 1, Kalutara District

Change UNP; Change the nation

A large section seems to think that UNP should blindly support Kurakkan uncle’s war agenda to earn its popularity. I vehemently disagree.

Firstly, why UNP, the only political party with a clear stance on the ethnic issue follow others’ formulae? UNP fervently opposes terrorism of any kind, but simultaneously believes the long term solution to ethnic issue can only be political. ‘Military solution’ is an oxymoron. War victories by the current regime will only be meaningful if supplemented with corrective measures to age old Tamil grievances. Otherwise, terrorism will soon raise its ugly head behind another acronym. Elimination of JVP in 1971 in a genocidal manner did not prevent Sinhala youth taking arms two decades later. Why should that change for Tamil youth? As long as breeding grounds exist, procreate the mosquitoes.

Secondly, the extended intentions of war agenda are dangerous and damaging to the nation in the long run. The war is not just to eliminate LTTE (if so, UNP finds no problem backing it) but also a long list that includes human rights of the Tamils in North and East; Tamil political parties first and the entire opposition later; any dissent voices including those of journalists and eventually the very foundation of democracy. All what Kurakkan uncle wants it to create Sri Wickrama Rajasinghe type dictatorship and continue the legacy of feudal rulers.

Sorry, No. Whatever the name, UNP has no intention of blindly supporting such a feudal dictatorship. We stand for democracy and not feudalism.

The policies of United National Party are crystal clear. They remain largely unchanged from the D. S. Senanayake days and will not change in the foreseeable future. Let me repeat in a nutshell and as I understand.

1. Unity and Equality: United National Party, as its name rightly suggests, is the party of united nationalistic political forces. UNP believes in equality. We do not think one’s ethnicity, race, gender, religion or any other attribute should stand in the way him/her enjoying citizens’ rights and privileges. We believe the country belongs to all Sri Lankans, and not to one ethnic or religious group.

2. Devolution of Power: UNP believes in an undivided (Eksath) Lanka; but not necessarily a system that concentrates power in Colombo. We have seen the flaws of such Colombo-centric governance and introduced Provincial Councils as a solution, which SLFP and JVP initially rejected, but now faithfully follow. We believe in devolving power, not only to Tamils in North but to Sinhalese in Hambanthota as well, instead of accumulating it in the hands of dictators. We believe empowering people not only at regional level but every stratum.

3. Economy: We believe in free markets; liberalization and globalization. We do not espouse unrealistic socialist dreams. We trust the private sector for its abilities. We do not equate suppressing the private sector to nation building. Economy has always thrived under previous UNP governments and there is no doubt it will continue to do so under a future UNP government.

4. Poverty Alleviation: Nobody understands the necessity of poverty alleviation than the UNP. We do not think poverty can be eliminated by redistributing public wealth. UNP had once spearheaded the most effective poverty alleviation program in Sri Lanka, under President Premadasa. What we look for is that. Beat poverty by creating more and more employment opportunities. Let poor stand on their own feet.

5. Employment Generation: UNP strongly believes more and more employment opportunities are the only way towards prosperity. It plans to achieve full employment by developing the private sector and not fattening the already overloaded government structure. To stimulate private sector growth UNP will also give utmost importance to infrastructure building. These may not be the highest priorities in populist agendas but we think in long term and not just the next six years.
I guess all UNP lovers should be proud that in spite of the immense pressure that we still stick to our original principles. We have no intention of changing these policies to enter the populist game.

The relatively poor performance at the recent Provincial Council elections was nothing but a symptom of poor organization. While working in the Eastern and Sabaragamuwa Provinces I have witnessed this firsthand. I visited many areas untouched till then. Given time limitations, even I could not visit so many areas. We surely need more man power. Strong and committed organisaers at ground level was the need of the hour of UNP at the Provincial Council elections. We could have obviously done much better with a stronger organization.

Fortunately we see the remedial measures are already on the way and an improvement of the situation. Western Provincial Council will be the Waterloo for SLFP. UNP is geared to easily win all three districts. We have a solid unbeatable organization in most areas. The challenge is only to repeat that victory at the next Provincial council elections, to be followed by the General Election.

What UNP seriously need are true leaders who can make that victory happen. Fortunately we see many dynamic leaders emerging from the Western Province. This phenomenon needs to be replicated in the other parts of the country. That needs Change; stating from the Change in the way we act.

Barack Obama could make that Change within a period of one year. What made the ‘One woman race’ to end with a first American-African in White House was his sheer determination and organization. I see the same happening in the UNP now.

We are ready to Change the nation. Before that we need to Change UNP.

Let us start with the Western Province.

Who attacked Sri Lanka cricketers in Lahore: According to Conspiracy Theorists

See, No CCTV cameras!

Yesterday, Sri Lanka cricket team was attacked by ‘unidentified’ gunmen in Lahore; unknown to Pakistan police that is. Not to us. Our Conspiracy Theorists are far more advanced and smarter; especially after recent Sirasa attack, murder of Lasantha Wickramatunga and physical attack on Upali Tennakoone.

Don’t we know after every one of these incidents our Conspiracy Theorists lost no time in concluding the culprits? For example, now we all know Sirasa burned itself down (to claim insurance of US$ 6,000,000) with the help of a Municipal Councilor from Kotte – who just happened to be there at nearby Devram Vehera couple of hours before – and Lasantha Wickramatunga was killed by LTTE. Don’t we? (Come on, there are the facts: Police even found the son of the first cousin’s second cousin of the guy who picked Lasantha’s mobile phone has the number of the sister of the girl friend of a suspected LTTE suicide bomber.)

So we are sure people are interested in the opinions of Conspiracy Theorists about yesterday’s incident.

President Mahinda Rajapaksha:

Kumara Sangakkara is my close friend; as close as Lasantha Wickramatunga once was. So are Tilan Samawareera and Mahela Jayawardene. Ajantha Mendis too is very close to me. All are my close friends. So I was deeply shocked to hear this brutal attack. (At least this time I didn’t ask “oluvatama dheelada?” when somebody phoned me to inform.) This is a planned attempt to discredit our government’s military victories in North. I immediately ordered IGP use not one but TEN police teams to probe. (You see, with every incident we are increasing this number!) I also advised Dr. Hector Weerasinghe to send a special team of specialists from National Hospital to Pakistan and Rohitha Bogollagama to accompany them. But it was difficult to get tickets in short notice, so only Rohitha went, in the end, of course with his family and some family friends as usual.

Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksha (interviewed by Chris Morris of BBC):

What is Sri Lanka cricket team? (Heh Heh Heh) There are so many attacks everywhere. In the whole world there are attacks. Why are you asking only about Sri Lanka cricket team? (Heh Heh Heh) I am not concerned about that. People are panicking. Why people are worried about one cricket team? (Heh Heh Heh) LTTE kills so many people. Why you are not asking about them? (Heh Heh Heh Heh Heh) Somebody even reported this to CNN. I am going to put him in jail as soon as I can.

Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage:

I know for sure the Municipal Councilor who did this. Pakistan police received an anonymous call on 119, about the transfer of arms from a black defender van to a white van. This was done in front of the HSBC Lahore branch. So I can say for sure it was the Sri Lanka cricket team itself attacked themselves to claim US$ 6,000,000 insurance with the help of this Municipal Councilor. Otherwise tell me why they did not have CCTV cameras fixed in their vehicle?

Voice in Colombo (The Blogger):

Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage (One of the worst mouths out of 100 odd ministers we have), after a long time has said something meaningful. He asks “Why the attackers of Sri Lanka cricket team, were not captured on the CCTV system in the van?” Actually this was a question came to my mind; the first time I heard the story of the attack. (So I too am as intelligent as Mr. Aluthgamage)

Now these are the questions!
1) Wasn’t there a CCTV system fixed in the van that transported Sri Lanka cricket team?
2) If there were CCTV; then where are the footages of that incident?
3) If it was disabled or damaged by the thugs; why wasn’t it mentioned in the news?
Now answer!!

Lanka Libertarian (The Blogger):

in fact these peaceniks (except for few idiots, in literal sense) already know who did this well enough. they just ignore it and parrot the terrorist propaganda by deliberate choice. by peaceniks i mean people who think peace is worth any cost (even cost of human rights, justice, democracy, and freedom ). that is people like paikiasothy saravanamuttu, jehan perera, jayadeva uyangoda, sunila abeysekera, sunanda deshapriya, nimalka fernando, rohan edirisinha, jeevan thiagarajaha, and their ilk (and their underlings like sanjana hattotuwa). and their fellow travelers in the sl blogosphere like hypocrite indi.ca/padashow.wordpress.

Udaya Gammanpila of JHU:

There are wolf attacks and fox attacks. I think this is a dog attack.

IGP Jayantha Wickramaratne:

Yes, according to the President’s orders we have appointed TEN police teams to look into this. We have given highest priority to this matter. These TEN teams will certainly find the culprit in the same way they have found the culprits behind Lasantha Wickramatunga murder and Sirasa TV and Upali Tennekoone attacks, as soon as possible, that means next week, or if not week after, if not next month, if not month after, if not next year or the year after…

(No, I didn’t write this. Simply do not have time with an election around the corner. Just received by email with a request to post anonymously. – Ajith)

Sri Lanka’s broken institutions

By Basil Fernando

In recent weeks there has been a convergence of ideas within and outside Sri Lanka that the most important obstacle to the achievement of human rights is the failure to investigate and prosecute crime.

Many journalists have fled the country, realizing that justice and protection are impossible. The Bar Association of Sri Lanka has come forward more strongly than ever to demand protection for its members so they may practice their profession without reprisals. Many civil society groups have got together to defend freedom of expression and the right to life. In all discussions within the country, the absence of the rule of law has been identified as the cause of the people’s insecurity.

Ten U.N. experts have strongly expressed their concern about the shrinking space for critical voices and the fear of reprisals against victims and witnesses. This, along with a lack of effective investigation and prosecution procedures, has led to impunity for human rights violators. Six former U.S. ambassadors have also spoken in the same vein and asked the president of Sri Lanka to provide clear leadership in dealing with this situation.

This convergence has been thrust forward by the assassination of journalist Lasantha Wickrematunge. Wickrematunge walked into a death trap he knew was waiting for him and was killed on Jan. 8. His deliberate action exposed the traps that await citizens who dare to express themselves.

Whatever one’s views of Wickrematunge’s writings, it cannot be denied he made a bold decision that will not be easily forgotten. In enormous political and social crises individuals sometimes make decisions to save the lives of others, heedless of the peril they bring upon themselves.

Sri Lanka’s public institutions are collapsing, particularly its criminal justice system. This has finally come to widespread attention both locally and internationally. In fact, the Sri Lankan Parliament drew attention to this as early as 2001 when, in a rare demonstration of unanimity, it adopted the 17th Amendment to the Constitution to deal with the problem.

The Parliament identified politicization as the cause of the collapse of public institutions – direct interference by the government and politicians into the workings of public institutions, depriving them of independence and the capacity to uphold proper norms and standards. The failure of the police and justice system to investigate and to prosecute crimes is a result of this politicization.

It is an enormous advance that the demise of the criminal justice system has been widely recognized in Sri Lanka. However, the problem remains as to how to resolve the situation.

The six former U.S. ambassadors told the president, “We urge you to take steps to reestablish accountability and the rule of law in Sri Lanka. Investigations have been promised before but have been futile.” They further stated, “Only you can provide the leadership and clear direction that will make this happen.”

Wickrematunge also addressed the president in a statement published posthumously: “In the wake of my death I know you will make all the usual sanctimonious noises and call upon the police to hold a swift and thorough inquiry. But like all the inquiries you have ordered in the past, nothing will come of this one, too.”

These two positions, one expressed by the six ambassadors and the other by Wickrematunge, express the complexity of the problem of justice in Sri Lanka.

On one hand, power rests entirely with the president. Only he is legally authorized to take steps to reform the present situation. On the other hand, in actual experience presidential interventions have meant nothing more than public statements. They are not backed up by a clear strategy or action to revitalize the administration of justice.

The absolute power of the president and the independence needed for the functioning of public institutions are at loggerheads. The result is that almost all functions come under the direct control of the president. As a former minister of the present regime pointed out, no minister has any real power.

In a well-functioning state it is not the duty of the head of the state to decide who is to be investigated or prosecuted. It is not for the head of state to decide on the details of contracts, tenders, appointments, transfers, promotions, the disciplinary control of civil servants and similar details of the administration. These are done by independent institutions, which are regulated by law.

Each institution performs its functions with relative independence within the parameters of professionally acceptable standards. The abandonment of institutional independence in favor of the executive president as the sole controller of everything has created the institutional confusion and collapse that exist today.

Now that there is consensus that the criminal justice system in Sri Lanka is a failed system, the cause of this situation must be addressed. Only a thorough and well-researched analysis of the problem can provide positive practical action for change.

Some research has been done into the crises facing the criminal investigation system and the prosecution system under the Attorney General’s Department. More work is needed in these areas to help shape public opinion locally and internationally in order to achieve the required change.

Basil Fernando is director of the Asian Human Rights Commission based in Hong Kong. He is a Sri Lankan lawyer who has also been a senior U.N. human rights officer in Cambodia. He has published several books and written extensively on human rights issues in Asia. His blog can be read at http://srilanka-lawlessness.com.

http://www.upiasia.com/Human_Rights/2009/02/13/sri_lankas_broken_institutions/2103

Who is Lasantha Wickramatunga? (Ha Ha Ha) කවුද ලසන්ත වික්‍රමතුංග කියන්නේ? (හික් හික් හික්)

කවුද ලසන්ත වික්‍රමතුංග කියන්නේ?

මේ අසන්නේ ආරක්ෂක ලේකම් ගෝඨාභය රාජපක්ෂය. ඉනික්බිති වියරු සිනහවක් පාන ඔහු යුද්ධය නිසා කීදෙනෙකු මියගොස් ඇත්ද විමසයි. මේ එක් මිනිස් ජීවිතයක අගය අවතක්සේරු කිරීමේ වෑයමකයි අවංකව අපි නොසිතමු.

හැම ආගමක්ම මිනිස් ජීවිතයකට ගරු කරන්නේය. මහායාන බෞද්ධයෝ හැම මිනිසකුම මතු බුදුවන බෝධිසත්තයෙකැයි අදහති. ක්‍රිස්තූන් හා යුදෙව්වෝ දෙවියන් වහන්සේ තමන්ගේ රූපකාය මිනිසාට ලබා දුන්නේයැයි විශ්වාස කරති.

මදුරුවන් සිය දහස් ගණනක් මැරූවෙකුට මදුරුවකුගේ ජීවිතයක වටිනාකමක් නැත. ඒ වටිනාකම දැනෙන්නේ සාමාන්‍ය මිනිසුන් වන අපටය.

කෙසේවෙතත් උත්තරයක් අපේක්ෂාවෙන් මේ ප්‍රශ්නය නැඟූයේ නම් රාජපක්ෂ මහතාට පිළිතුරක් ලබා දීම අපේ යුතුකමකි.

කවුද ලසන්ත වික්‍රමතුංග කියන්නේ?

ඔහු ඔහුගේ තෙදරුවනට දයාබර පියෙක් විය.
ඔහු ඔහුගේ බිරිඳට දයාබර සැමියක් විය.
ඔහු ඔහුගේ දෙමාපියනට දයාබර පුතෙක් විය; සොහොයුරු සොහොයුරියන්ට දයාබර සොහොයුරෙක් විය
ඔහු අප වන් මිතුරු කැළකට දයාබර මිතුරෙක් විය. ඔහු බොහෝ දෙනකුට ආදරය කළ මනුෂ්‍යයෙක් විය.
ඔහු එබඳු අවාසනාවන්ත මරණයකට ගොදුරු නොවිය යුතු ශ්‍රී ලාංකික පුරවැසියෙක් විය.
අවසන, ඔහු මිනිසෙක් විය. මදුරුවෙක් නොවීය.

Who is (sic) Lasantha Wickramatunga? Asks Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksha. Then he laughs hysterically and queries how many died in the war. Does one life matter? We sincerely hope it is not what he implies.

Every religion gives utmost importance to human life. Mahayana Buddhists believe every human being is a Bodhisatta – somebody waiting to attain Buddhahood in a next life. Christians and Jews believe God created man in his own appearance.

For somebody who has killed hundreds and thousands of mosquitoes the life of one mosquito means nothing. For us, the ordinary human beings, there is a big difference between a human life and the life of a mosquito.

If Mr. Rajapaksha raised this question sincerely looking for an answer, shouldn’t we provide one?

Who was Lasantha Wickramatunga?

He was a loving father to his three children.
He was a loving husband to his wife.
He was a dear son to his parents; dear brother to siblings.
He was a dear friend to many of us; he was dear to everyone who knew him.
He was a citizen of Sri Lanka, who shouldn’t have died in that pathetic manner, irrespective of his politics.
Finally, Lasantha Wickramatunga was a human being, not a mosquito.

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.

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

ජාතියේ මැර දේවතා එළි රෑ පුරා දැල්වී තියේ…

නෙත් පුරා එක හීනයේ මුළු ලෝකයා නිදනා රැයේ
ජාතියේ මුර දේවතා එළි රෑ පුරා දැල්වී තියේ

මේ පසුගිය කාලයේ අපේ රටේ ‘දේශප්‍රේමීන්’ කියා තමන් විසින්ම හඳුන්වා ගන්නා ලද ජන කොටසක් පතුරු ගසන ලද ජනප්‍රිය ගීතයක කොටසකි. මේ උදවිය හැම දාමත් අපට කීවේ කාට ගරු නොකළත් රණවිරුවන්ට ගරු කරන ලෙසය. ඒ යුද්ධයට පක්ෂ විපක්ෂ භේදයක් නැතිව ඔවුන් හැමදෙනාටම රැකවරණය දෙන නිසාය. මේ තර්කයේ සාධාරණත්වයක් තිබිණි. ලොක්කන්ට වැඩියෙනුත් සොක්කන්ට අඩුවෙනුත් බෙදුනත් හැම දෙනාම ජාතික ආරක්ෂාව භුක්ති වින්දෝය. එනිසා හැම දෙනාටම ආරක්ෂක හමුදා ගැන ගෞරවයක් තිබුණේය. කිලිනොච්චිය අල්ලා ගත් විට දේශපාලන භේදයක් නැතිව ජනතාව ඒ හැඟුම්බර අවස්ථාව සැමරූහ. මගේ මිතුරකු කීවේ ඒ ගැන Breaking News එකක් නොදුන් සිරස පවා ආරක්ෂා කරන්නේ රණවිරුවන් බවය.

මේ කතාව කියා යාන්තම් දින දෙකක් යන්නටත් මත්තෙන් සිරසට මැර ප්‍රහාරයක් එල්ල විය. ඒ සංවිධානාත්මක කල්ලියක ගෙනි. පහළොස් දෙනකුගෙන් පමණ යුතු ඔවුන් පැමිණ තිබුනේ සුදු වෑන් රියකිනි. මේ වෑන් රථය එන්නටත් යන්නටත් ඇත්තේ මුර කපොලු හරහාය. දෙපානම ඇත්තේ ජයවර්ධනපුර නව පාර්ලිමේන්තුවට කිලෝ මීටර දෙක තුනක දුරිනි. එය වෙත එන හැම පාරක්ම ආරක්ෂා කර ඇත. එහෙත් එදා රාත්‍රියේ මේ මුර කපොලු කිසිවක මුර දේවතා එළි දැල්වී තිබු බවක් පෙනෙන්නට නැත. සමහර විට දේශප්‍රේමයේ කරන්ට් ප්ලග් එක ගලවා තිබුනා විය හැකිය.

ඊයේ ලසන්ත වික්‍රමතුංග ඝාතනය කරන ලද්දේ අත්තිඩියේදීය. මේ ආසන්නව හමුදා කඳවුරු පවා ඇති බව මට මතකය. රත්මලාන ගුවන් තොටුපළ ආසන්න ප්‍රදේශයේ ආරක්ෂක විධිවිධාන නැති වන්නට කාරණයක් නැත. එහෙත් ජනාධිපතිගේ සිට අන්ත දුගියා දක්වා හැම දෙනාටම අනිවාර්යයෙන්ම ලැබිය යුතු ආරක්ෂාව ලසන්ත වික්‍රමතුංගට ලැබුනේ නැත. ඔහු පසුපස හඹා ආ ඝාතකයෝ ඔහු දිවි උදුරා ගත්හ. එහිදීද මුර දේවතා එළි නිවී තිබුණු සෙයකි.

කිලිනොච්චියේ මුර දේවතා එළි තවම දැල්වේද යන්න මම නොදනිමි. එහෙත් කොළඹ නම් අපට දැන් වැඩිපුර පෙනෙන්නේ මුර දේවතා නොව මැර දේවතා එළිය.

එනිසා අදාළ ගීතයද මෙසේ කාලානුරුප වෙනස් කිරීමකට භාජනය කිරීම සඳහා රචකයාගේ විරුද්ධත්වයක් නැතැයි සිතමි.

නෙත් පුරා එක හීනයේ මුළු ලෝකයා නිදනා රැයේ
ජාතියේ මැර දේවතා එළි රෑ පුරා දැල්වී තියේ