Why I blame Sirasa/Maharaja.

Everyone else blames Merv the perv for the recent Dawson Street incident. I blame Sirasa/Maharaja.

Not that I approve Merv’s dirty job. We know him. I wonder whether this Rastapopoulos ever did an honorable thing in his life. Why mince words condemning him when that makes no difference? Why upset the master by complaining about his ‘above the punishment’ favorite? Let him appoint another ‘special inquiry’ and then go to hell. Should I care?

Instead I blame Sirasa/Maharaja. Not that I have scores to settle. On the contrary, I am an ardent fan of Sirasa. When the vandals smashed its ultra modern studio at Depanama, I created the FaceBook group “Sirasa we are with you, whatever happens”. I have friends at all layers at Maharaja, from top to bottom. From very top to very bottom. One former Maharaja driver now drives me home everyday. The short address book in my mobile starts with a Sirasa employee (Asoka) and ends with a Sirasa employee. (Yasarath). Period.

I blame Sirasa/Maharaja because I believe they still can and should learn. I know its long term objective is to be the best broadcaster in South Asia. An ambitious dream. Still I like to see them achieving it. Any distractions, naturally upset me.
Sirasa/MTV/Shakthi’s achievements within a short period of their existence are momentous. Kingsley redefined radio when it was almost dead. Buddhika turned a new page in political debates. Sirasa news team was always the first in delivery, and when they weren’t CID questioned why. Nilendra created the icons of Shihan Mihiranga and the rest of the super stars. Within just four days of tsunami, Sirasa even beat the government by collecting enough relief material to fill twenty trucks. I can go on, but will stop there.

The sad truth is despite all this, Sirasa faces a serious credibility issue. Sadder that it got into this mess by being independent. But let us face the reality. When the society moves with the singular objective of destroying the terrorist menace of three long decades, any slight distraction is taken with fury. Sirasa/Maharaja paid enough I guess, before realising its mistake. Not that I loved to see the only independent channel being another trumpet for the state. But these are small prices to be paid for a serious long term goal.

Sad that Sirasa/Maharaja had to lock horns with Merv too. In retrospective I see all pre planned. Merv, who could not get even 2,000 votes representing one of the biggest electorate, wanted publicity. He might have preferred good publicity, but even bad publicity is never too bad for a politician. Sirasa News team fell for the trap. It was the vehicle Merv used for creating his image. This totally unnecessary tussle did nothing good to Sirasa. In fact it did irreparable damage.

Few months before its Depanama studios were demolished I suggested Sirasa/Maharaja should try an image rebuilding exercise. I gave even a vague guideline. (Frankly, I never thought things were that bad.) I was listened to but no serious action was taken. I don’t say an image rebuilding would have prevented the attack, but at least Sirasa would have received public sympathy. It wasn’t just Sinhalese extremists complained Sirasa burned their own studio to claim insurance.

Now to Akon. I do not know who initiated, but Maharaja Management to was naïve to endorse the event. I am no pop music fan and I don’t know him from Adam. I have never heard him sing. Still I know bringing him to Sri Lanka is plain stupid. Whether we like it or not ours is a predominantly Sinhalese Buddhist, xenophobic society. It is easy to provoke this society. Merv the perv knows that. It just needs a spark to create a bushfire. I am baffled that Sirasa/Maharaja management never thought about the possibility of a backfire. Can they so easily forget the Shahrukh Khan incident?

Mr.Rajamahendran is one of the nicest men I have ever met in my life. He is a professional with several decades of business experience, but never having been part of the Sinhalese Buddhist society he may find it difficult to understand how narrowly and stupidly it sometimes behaves. Post 2003 era is so unpredictable, that things often surprises even me.

Sirasa/Management should have been educated about these pit falls. I am sure Maharaja has enough middle managers capable of doing this. Sadly I do not see that happening.

I still say Sirasa/Maharaja needs a serious image rebuilding exercise. Sirasa/Maharaja needs to win the trust of the majority Sinhalese Buddhists. That will not happen just by employing 99% Sinhalese. The majority should see Sirasa/Maharaja as a friend not foe. This does not mean they have act like extremists. Understanding what masses and offering them few of their choices is more than enough. There is no need to air eulogies six times a day. Adding few carefully planned serious cultural programs would do. They need to win the respect of the viewers to the extent the latter see the value of safeguarding the channel. Otherwise they will not make a voice even Merv brought down the building flat.

I love to see the day Sirasa becomes the best broadcaster in South Asia. Maharaja should focus on this long term business priority instead of fighting with petty politicians on petty issues.

___________________________________________________________________________
(NB: I use the term ‘Sirasa’ as it is closer to my heart, but I mean the gamut of brands Maharaja/MBC/MTV/Shakthi.)

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)

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.

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

In defence of Rajandran (Killi) Rajamahendran

The local Talibans have found a new adversary Numero Uno. Forget Velupillai Prabhakaran. Forget Killinochchi. Now the game is to ‘liberate’ Sirasa studios in Depanama, Pannipitiya from the thalaivar Rajendran Rajamahendran, Chairman, Maharaja Group.

The shock of that fateful Black Tuesday is still fresh. It was traumatic – even in Sri Lanka, hardly known for its ‘media freedom’. Vandalising the transmission station of the largest private and independent TV network in any country is no joke. It is far worse than Watergate. If happened in a developed country – never will, perhaps – the government might have been history by now. The culprits were no amateur kudu-Lals, who tried to play havoc at another TV station stupidly unarmed. The self proclaimed ‘jaathika veerayaas’ didn’t leave anything to chance and left only once the mission was fully accomplished.

The anticipated public reaction was sympathy, but sadly that was not what Sirasa TV received. Apart from the niche that showed solidarity, the reaction at large was contentment. Even the state spokesmen were open in their enmity. When requested for a voice cut, a minister, once pet of the same network said to have sheepishly walked out. Even the buddy feared seen with them in public. I am not surprised. That was the level of hostility.

Sad, this hostility is directed towards one individual, who does not deserve it – Rajendran (Killi) Rajamahendran, who the Taliban has unsympathetically has branded as a ‘terrorist symphatiser’.

Sadder, Rajamahendran, according to Taliban, has one prerequisite to be called so. He is a Tamil. Ever thought how easy to link a Tamil with terrorism? For example, when present President Rajapakse, then in opposition, represented the human rights of three slain university students, attached to then illegal and armed JVP, nobody branded him a terrorist sympathiser. I am sure Rajamahendran has never done anything that controversial in his entire life. He is not a politician. He is a respectable law abiding self made businessman – who does nothing but runs his business. Sadly he is a Tamil – and has not dropped the last ‘n’ is his name. Not something Taliban easily forgives.

This brief note is not an attempt of white washing. Still it is essential that we put on record some exemplary contributions of Rajamahendran towards his motherland. Not doing so would be sheer injustice – particularly at this juncture – no matter the risk involved.

One – Cricket. This is the only game Sri Lanka had seriously reached the international status. It would never have been possible, without the outstanding contribution of Rajamahendran as Gamini Dissanayake’s number two in the Cricket Board in early eighties. Dissanayake played the key role in achieving test status, no doubt, but he didn’t do it alone. Not everyone knows who foot the bill of the effort of the achievement.

Two – Sirasa TV. This was the channel which taught us to dream. It was what introduced the phenomenon Super Star – the Alladin’s lamp that made the poor carpenter Ajith Bandara, a millionaire entertainment professional. He is not the only one. There are dozens young boys and girls who made it to the top – all because of Sirasa. It was the channel that discovered the talents of Shihan Mihiranga and Kingsley Ratnayake; that demonstrated what quality TV means.

Then, contrary to popular belief more than 90% of the employees of MBC Network, the owner of Sirasa TV are Sinhalese. This is as good as saying if Sirasa TV is down, they who would be the ones in streets searching for jobs. Not only that. Every strike to Sirasa TV equipment at Depanama is a hit to the dreams of millions of poor TV viewers, who gather around TV sets after completing their exhausting days. Call it poor quality, shallow or whatever – but ‘Ran Depaya’ is the only serious entertainment the poor have in this country. Shutting that down will not make anyone populist.

Three – Tsunami aid. The most difficult phase of a disaster is the immediately aftermath. It was Sirasa TV that came to lend a hand to the millions of victims of the worst disaster Sri Lanka ever knew in its recent history. It was Rajamahendran’s Sirasa TV, not even the government, that collected relief of more than 20 trucks on that difficult hour. They were meant to cover the entire island, not any chosen community. (LTTE abducted two trucks, but that was a different story) No media, including the state owned Rupavahini has ever done such an extraordinary community work.

Has any so called ‘patriot’ who points his/her finger at Rajamahendran made at least one tiny fraction of such a contribution to the motherland?

Barack Obama’s skin colour did not matter when US voters chose him to lead the nation. Should Rajamahendran’s ethnicity should be a barrier to genuinely appreciate the good work that he did? Come on, what century do we live in?

Then, do these ‘patriots’ know that Rajamahendran’s MBC network is the media organisation that makes the biggest financial contribution to the government of Sri Lanka in terms of tax? Even if cooperate and income taxes are ignored Sirasa still pays Rs. 90,000 for every half an hour of ‘Ran Depaya’ – Rs. 360,000 per day and more than Rs. 131 million annually. (I don’t know how much they pay for Shakthi TV and MTV) Isn’t this a fair contribution to the state? Isn’t this the money government uses to fight terrorism?

By the way, who are these ‘patriots’? Aren’t they the same petty minded and racist Weerawansa supporters who never mince words when attacking Sirasa TV? Aren’t these the very people who vandalized the Sirasa billboards in the city? Tell me one single reason why they should be taken seriously.

Then why the hell should the ‘terrorist sympathising’ Sirasa TV is allowed to broadcast the Buddhist sermons from the Temple Trees – our monthly reminder of the virtues of the ‘Upasaka Mahaththaya’ who rules us? Why anybody takes the trouble of vandalising those sophisticated equipment in a TV station? Isn’t revoking the broadcaster’s license a simpler, more straightforward and humane solution? Should everyone in this country behave like Mervin Silvas?

This is the hour of solidarity. This is the exact moment we should join hands to protect Sirasa – and in turn safeguard whatever the leftovers of media freedom in this country.

මහින්ද මාමේ, දැන්වත් තමා, පවුල හා පක්ෂය ගැන නොව රට ගැන හිතන්න…

මහින්ද මාමේ, මේ ලියන්නේ ඉතාම වේදනාවෙනි. මගේ පුද්ගලික මිතුරෙකු හා පැරණි නීති සගයකු වන ලසන්ත වික්රමතුංගයන් ඉතාම ම්ලේච්ඡ ආකාරයට මරා දමන ලද්දේ අද උදෑසනය. මේ සිරස රූපවාහිනියට අයත් මැදිරිය ඉතාම කුරිරු ලෙස විනාස කොට දින දෙකක් වත් ගත නොවූ තැනය.

මේ වූකලි කිසිදු රටක සිදුවිය නොයුතු ආකාරයේ තුච්ඡ නින්දිත ක්රියාවන් දෙකකි. මෙබඳු ක්රියා නිතර සිදුවන රටක් හැටියට අප දැන සිටියේ සිම්බාබ්වේය. එහිදී එවන් ක්රියා කරන ලද්දේ තමා හැර අන් කිසිදු නායකයකු නොසිටිය යුතු යැයි අන්ධව අදහන, ජාතිවාදයෙන් හිස් කුහර පුරවාගත් මෝඩ සපෝටර්ලා පිරිසකගේ අනුග්රහය ලබන ඇඩොල්ෆ් හිට්ලර් ආකාරයේ ව්යාජ ජාතිකවාදී බැටළු හම් පොරවාගත් කුරිරු පාලකයෙකු වන රොබට් මුගාබේය. ඔහු ඔබගේ මිතුරෙකුද යන්න මම නොදනිමි. මට කියන්නට ඇත්තේ ශිෂ්ට ලෝකයා මෙබඳු කාලකන්නි වැඩ අනුමත නොකරන බව පමණකි. සපෝටර්ලා එබඳු ක්රියා අනුමත කළ පමණින් සමස්ත ශිෂ්ට ජනතාව එසේ කළ යුතු යැයි උපකල්පනය කළ යුතු නොවේ.

මහින්ද මාමේ, මේ අසික්කිත වැඩ  කරන්නේ කවුද යන්න මම නොදනිමි. එහෙත් රටේ පාලකයා හැටියට ඒ නතර කිරීමට ඔබට යම් පමණක හෝ හැකියාවක් ඇතයි මම සිතමි. කාලයකට ඉහත කවුදෝ නොදන්නා පිරිසක් රූපවාහිනි සේවක සේවිකාවන්ට දැළිපිහි සංග්රහයක් එල්ල කළේය. එය නතර කරන්නට සියළු දෙනා උත්සාහ කළ මුත් අවසානයේ එය නැවතුනේ ඔබ ඊට මැදිහත් වූ පසුය. ඒ නිසා ඔබට මෙවන් ප්රශ්න විසඳීමට යම් මැජික් බලයක් ඇති බව පුහුදුන් අපට වැටහීම සාධාරණය. අනෙක් අතට කිලිනොච්චිය අල්ලා ගැනීමට තරම් බලයක් ඇති ඔබට කොළඹ නගර මැද සිදුවන මැර ක්රියාවන් නතර කිරීම්ට බැරියයි සිතන්නේ කවර නම් මෝඩයකුද?

මහින්ද මාමේ, මට ඔබට සේ දේශපාලන අත්දැකීම් නැත. එහෙත් මට වැටහෙන්නේ මේ සියල්ල කාගේ හෝ මෝඩයකුගේ පුද්ගලික න්යාය පත්රයක් ක්රියාත්මක කිරීමට ගොස් ඇති වූ අතුරු ඵල ලෙසිනි.

මහින්ද මාමේ, මේ රට තනි පවුලකට නොව කෝටි දෙකක් මහ ජනතාවට අයිති බව ඔබද පිළිගනු ඇතැයි මම සිතමි. මහින්ද මාමේ, අප තනි පුද්ගලයෙකුට හෝ තනි පවුලකට ඕනැ ලෙස නටමින් අපේ රට තවත් සිම්බාබ්වේවක් බවට පත් කරමුද?

මහින්ද මාමේ, තමා හෝ තම පවුල හෝ පක්ෂය ගැන හිතනවාට වඩා මේ තීරණාත්මක අවස්ථාවේ රට ගැන සිතීම වැදගත් බව ඔබට සිතෙන්නේම නැත්ද?

මහින්ද මාමේ, මීට වසර තුනකට පෙර ඔබට චන්දය දුන් ජනතාව බලාපොරොත්තුවූයේ මෙවන් යක්ෂයාගේ දේශයක්ද? මහින්ද චින්තන හරහා ඔබ පොරොන්දු වූයේ මෙවන් අවාසනාවන්ත තත්වයක් ඇතිවීම වැලැක්වීම නොවේද?

ඉන්ෂුවරන්ස් ගන්නට සිරස තමන්ටම ගිනි තියා ගත්තැයි කියන ලසන්ත තමාටම වෙඩි තියා ගත්තැයි කියන කොන්ඩේ බැඳපු චීනුන්ට අපි රැවටෙමුද?

මහින්ද මාමේ, දැන්වත් රට ගැන කල්පනා කිරීමට ඔබට හැකිවේවායි ඉත සිතින් පතමි. ඔබ තවම ප්රමාද නැත.

මහින්ද මාමේ, තව එකම ඉල්ලීමක්. මේ ලියන්නේ ලසන්තගේ පුද්ගලික මිතුරකු හා කණිෂ්ඨ නීතිවේදීන් හැටියට එකට වැඩ කළ කෙනකු වශයෙනි. ලසන්ත දැන් මළවුන් අතරය. ඔහුට නැඟෙන චෝදනා වලට පිළිතුරු බැඳීමට ඔහු අප අතර නැත. මේ නිසා මහින්ද අබේසුන්දර, බන්දුල පද්මකුමාර ඇතුළු ඔබගේ මාධ්ය මඩ හමුදාවන්ට තව දුරටත් ඔහුට පහර දෙමින් ඔහුගේ නම කැත කිරීමට ඉඩ නොදෙන සේ ඉල්ලා සිටිමි. එබඳු මෝඩ ක්රියාවක් ඔබ ඉතාම අමාරුවෙන් ගොඩ නඟා ගැනීමට උත්සාහ දරණ ප්රතිරූපයට හානියක් පමණකි.

ඔබට තෙරුවන් සරණයි.

(මේ මට පසුගිය ජනාධිපතිවරණයේදී මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ මහතාට චන්දය දුන් සහෝදර නීති සගයකුගෙන් ලැබුණු ලිපියකි.)

Sirasa, whatever happens we are always with you!

Join the face book Group ‘Sirasa, whatever happens we are always with you!’, if you care for Media Freedom in Sri Lanka. Show solidarity. This is something that should be above your party politics. Controlling media is the first step of building a dictatorship.

Sirasa today, tomorrow it could be YOU. Keep your eyes OPEN.

Sirasa TV Depanama, Pannipitiya attack: Defence.lk still does not know!!

Today morning, we have heard the nastiest ever attack on the media freedom in Sri Lanka. This is an act no civilized human being will ever approve. The people’s right to know the truth, ironically guaranteed by ‘Mahinda Chinthana’ – the election manifesto of the present regime was seriously challenged by the gundas who took the law to their hands. The only true free electronic media station was attacked and vandalised.

The culprits were not identified. The motives were apparent. Somebody badly wants to silence Sirasa TV. It looks like more people than few frustrated bloggers like A Voice in Colombo, Jathika Chinthana Pravahaya, Namal Udalamatta and, Damith Prasanga would like to see Sirasa down. There are more enemies to media freedom.

Surprisingly, Defence.lk that ‘patriotic’ site runs on public money which gives us live commentaries on the capture of every tiny hamlet in North within no time, still have not heard of the incident, after more than six hours. Probably the web master of Defence.lk does not watch TV. Thoththa babas go to bed early.

Who benefits from burning down Sirasa studios at Depanama, Pannipitya? Who wants Sirasa silenced? I do not think I have to answer those questions.

Sirasa TV specially and Maharaja Group at large were certainly under threat for the last few days. It was just last Friday somebody threw a petrol bomb at the same station. So the Police had a definite responsibility to protect them. Unfortunately this is not an era we can expect politics-free government service.

By the way, someone please wake up those Defence.lk guys. They might be still sleeping.