Don’t you feel sorry for them, Kurakkan Uncle?

Where do these poor people go when they were chased off from their homes? Should the poor people suffer because of the political gimmicks like SAARC that will only boost image of key politicians and do nothing to country?

An eviction order has been issued to 800 families in Glenie Passage, Slave Island, claiming that the land they have settled on belongs to the Defence Ministry, reported Lanka Dissent today.

Glenie Passage, which is a cross road in the Chittappalam A. Gardiner Mawatha, has been housing around 1,500 people of 800 Sinhalese, Tamil and Muslim families for nearly 50 years.

The residents, who have been paying the state taxes, water and electricity bills, have even been included in the voters list. In addition, a minister of the current regime has laid the foundation stone for a project to provide electricity to the area.

Soon after coming into power, the present government has obtained their signatures in agreement to evacuate the area, promising to grant them permanent settlements in return. An attempt to evict these residents without providing them means of resettlement was disrupted after a massive protest, even obstructing the train tracks in Slave Island was held.

Several persons who claimed themselves to be officials of the Defence Ministry had visited the area on July 11th and informed its residents to shift to temporary wood settlements in the Keerakotuwa area in Wattala till permanent houses are built for them. Noting that the residents have illegally settled down in a land that belongs to the war department of the Defence Ministry, these officials have ordered them to evict within a week.

Speaking to ‘Lanka Dissent’, a resident of Glenie Passage said that they would not shift to the proposed wood settlements in Keerakotuwa, which are only about 10 x 10 feet in size. He added that they would evict their present homes only if they are offered permanent housing as initially promised.

UNP parliamentarian, Ravi Karunanayake and several others who visited the area today (July 14th) to look into the matter, informed the residents that the Defence Ministry does not have the power to evict them as it required a court order to do so. The parliamentarian added that he would not allow an unlawful eviction to take place. Speaking to ‘Lanka Dissent’, MP Karunanayake said that neither the Defence Ministry nor the government has the power to evict these residents in such a manner and charged that the government was attempting to portray Colombo as a city sans slums to the SAARC summit. The MP further added that the UNP would not allow anyone; especially not a foreign citizen to forcefully evict people from their homes without legal authorization.

News Source: http://www.lankadissent.com

Lalkantha – the David to strike the Goliaths

I am no fan of Lalkantha. To give my personal opinion, taking all hats off, I am also not in favour of strikes of any kind – least the ones by professionals. Traditionally, it was the left that believed in trade union action, not the UNP. We have always believed in nation building by working more, not less.

Since independence, the damage blind trade union actions have done to the economy is only next to that caused by terrorism. Lee Kuan Yew was dead right in thanking the Ceylonese left leaders, who organized a string of strikes in 1960s which resulted diverting most Colombo port bound sea traffic to Singapore, making it the most favoured port between Europe and China. I would have some more respect for Dr. N. M. Perera, and old boy of my own alma mater, had he not been the one responsible for generating such unproductively.

Having said that, I do not deny my interest this time. It is more as an observer. What stimulates most of us is the contrast in confrontation. On one side we have the entire government mechanism using all its influences like a giant octopus. On the other side we have Lalkantha sahodaraya – who is next to nothing. He is an MP, but that is nothing when compared to the establishment he is fighting against. Lalkantha sahodaraya does not give a darn. His confidence impresses me. He is a David, brave enough to attack the Goliaths – with only a catapult in hand. I wish UNP too had more leaders of Lalkantha’s caliber.

Though I hesitate to endorse this kind of trade union action, I empathise with the public and private sector employees on a fixed monthly salary. With the sky rocketing commodity prices most of them find it hard to make ends meet.

Even the essential items now cost twice more when compared with pre-2004 prices. We hear about families that save milk only for the youngest children in the family – others have to be satisfied with plain tea. We see people buying 250 g of vegetables – they cannot afford more.

This is the ‘development’ brought by ‘Mahinda Chinthana’. Minister of Consumer Affairs is shameless in admitting he has no control over the COL. Poor Ajith Nivard Cabraal, the clueless Central Bank Governor, does not even know how much money his organization prints. The inflation level was 30% last month – the highest in South Asia. It would be a miracle if people do not protest.

Is there a solution?

Here is one: Minister Dullas Alahapperuma wants the poor people to reduce one curry from the plates – so that costs will be less.

Look who is talking. I would be very much interested in knowing whether the minister and his wife are ready to do the same. This couple, average sized human beings just one decade ago (before Dullas Alahapperuma got into politics) now look more like Mr and Mrs. Obelix. I am not kidding. They are two walking globes of fat. An observer is forgiven for wondering whether they are the singular reason for the food crisis in Sri Lanka. How come they have become so overgrown during this short period?

This is the pathetic reality in our society. Minister Dullas Alahapperuma and his wife Pradeepa Dharmadasa who once sang about Sarojaas now shamelessly maintain super-luxury lives on the money robbed from poor Sarojaas. They are light years ways from reality.

Given the enormous amount of food they may seem to consume it might not be too difficult for Minister Dullas Alahapperuma and his wife to cut down one curry from their plates. In fact it would be good for their health too. Both of them badly need reducing so many layers of fat. On the other hand, how many poor people will be able to do so?

Perhaps minister Dullas Alahapperuma might not be aware about the millions in this country who take rice only with one curry (most probably the simple pol-sambol) or those who eat rice only for one meal a day. Does the minister what them to also to reduce one curry from their plates? Does the minister Dullas Alahapperuma want children also to cut down on their food? Isn’t he aware that it might result in mass scale malnutrition? Does his wife, who was so emotional about poor Sarojaas now wants to see them malnourished?

That is why the people take trade union action. The strikes might be unproductive but maintain 109 fat ministers at the cost of poor, while they are starving is far more unproductive. Perhaps that is the point Lalkantha sahodaraya wants to make.

To kurakkan boy this action would bring some poetic justice. UNP’s stance has always been a lean government. Ranil Wickremasinghe government of 2001-4 has given special attention to developing private sector so that mass scale employment opportunities are created outside the government. It was the UPFA government that wanted to limitlessly expand public sector for its political gains. What it did not realize was the short of money to sustain such a huge work force. So it is fair that the same government that did that historical mistake now encounter this. Let us see what kurakkan boy has to say.

Janaka Perera starts campaigning in North Central province

It was certainly low key, but perhaps it is his style. Major General Janaka Perera is already in the job. Yesterday he talked to some of the people in the North Central province, where he will be the next Chief Minister in few months time.

“I don’t take tasks to leave them incomplete. I know what I am doing.” was the message he passed while moving around the Anuradhapura town.

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

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

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

These are some of the sentiments expressed by Tiger sympethisers:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

There are few questions that arises in this backdrop.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

I nearly got arrested yesterday…

Risk is a part and parcel of the life of a lawyer or a politician. One does not become either, if not ready to take risks. The difference is, as a lawyer, one knows when it comes, so can be sort of ready for it. As a politician, it comes anytime, unannounced at most unpredictable times. Yesterday was one such occasion.

My duty was to carry out the island wide protest UNP organized at Bandaragama.

I have been involved in few protests before that but it was the first time that police was so hostile. Unless otherwise they receive instructions from the top, Police generally do not hinder any protests. They too are human beings and know the difficulties in living with the rising Cost of Living. Yesterday it was different. That means someone up in the hierarchy is worried. They might have sensed where the wind blows.

At Bandaragama junction, everybody was supportive to us. Given the harassment, though temporary, we caused to day to day activities of public I expected some form of hostility. There was none. Looks like everybody wants fuel prices down. They do not want to fund the blind war effort of a corrupt government or fill the family coffers of a self-interested, visionless ruler.  

Then came the Police. They want us to stop. As a lawyer I have always been a law abiding citizen, but this is not an occasion I would oblige. Maintaing law and order is imperative, but not at the cost of the loss of civil rights of the people. In any democratic society we have the right to protest. It may affect the lives of public, but we compromising it by winning things far better for them.

When I did not oblige, the police started threatening. The gravity of threat was an indication of the level they have been instructed. There was a brief exchange of words. They raised the voices and threat to arrest me. I was politely explained if that is what they have been instructed, to do so. Visiting courts is nothing new to me. That is what I do everyday. Realised that I would not succumb to their threats they left. We continued our protests.

However, later I learnt that not all my colleagues were that lucky. A women MP has been verbally abused and her car has been attacked by Police at Bambalapitiya.

Overall, the protest was successful. We might not have got fuel prices down immediately, but we have recorded our voice. We have registered thst it would not be so easy to take the poor people of this country for a ride.

Two Bandaragama residents among yesterdays Dehiwala bomb blast victims

To me what differentiated yesterdays Dehiwala bomb blast from the ones happened in previous weeks was the sad news that two of the victims were from my own electorate, Bandaragama.

Mr. Menaka Vanniarachchi died yesterday while 25 year old Ms. Mekhala Niranjala of Ramukkana, Bandaragama succumbed to her injuries today (27) morning at the Intensive Care Unit of the Colombo South teaching hospital. According to what we hear, they were a couple and about to get married next month. As we all know, the merciless bombs do not take such details into account. That is the ugly face of the terrorism.

I also had to perform the extremely difficult task of informing the families of these two victims, after Dr. Ravindra Fernando passed me the sad news from the hospital. The girl was not dead then but her condition was critical and the doctors have already given up hopes. The family of her is personally known to me for a long time.

The other victims from Kalutara district were Ms. Rani Munasinghe of Kalutara North, Mr. Chitral of Panadura, Mr. Roshan Perera of Kalutara South and Ms. Kusum Ranjani Silva of Wadduwa.

I pass my heartiest condolences to the family members of all victims and wish speed recovery for the injured.

It is sad that innocent people continue to die as a result of a tug of war between two power hungry individuals who have no other concern than their own survival.

I am certain the politicians of war mongering political parties like SLFP, JHU and JVP would have badly felt guilty hearing about these unnecessary deaths. No matter how sad we feel, our only consolation is that United National Party does not support this ruthless war, which had claimed so many lives (not to mention the rising Cost of Living as a result of high war expenditure) ever since the Presidential Election of 2005.

What we suffer today is the outcome of the greed for power and money of one political family that has no concern for the country. Unfortunately this family will continue to ruin the country till someone stops it for the sake of the nation.

 

 

Election campaigning…….…in the land of rising sun

I am at Lahugala, in the Ampara district. Write this just after finishing another round of campaigning and conducting pocket meetings.

Entire Eastern province has caught the election fever.

Election campaigning is fun. What adds to our enthusiasm is the awareness of the impending danger.

Pillayan’s henchmen are waiting to kill us. He is a terrorist and should not be trusted. The only shield we have against his arms is the support of the people. Whatever the powers this terrorist has we do not think he can just shoot anyone and flee. But the danger is there, everywhere. We have got over with is now. Pillayan’s terrorism should not stop us in our fight for democracy.

Just a brief background of the work I do.

I am in charge of six villages in Lahugala. They are Panama North, Shastrawela, Panama West, Lahugala, Pansalgoda and Hulanuge. My job is to campaign but I take pleasure in educating them on the danger of electing an armed terrorist – or more precisely letting his get elected through inaction. (That is what Pillayan tries to do. Massive pool riggings are expected on May 10th. That is why I said this is a fight for democracy. If Pillayan wins the losers will only be the people of this country.)

The areas I cover are predominantly Sinhala. Lets say 80%. But there are Tamils and Muslims as well. Travel few kms away the composition changes. For example the nearby Pottuvil area is predominantly Muslim (more than 90%)

JHU tries to do some campaigning here, with the backing of Pillayan’s gunmen, but without much success.  JHU MP Akmeemana Dayaratne thero is using 16 government vehicles. (This is illegal but there is little we can do. Baduth hamuduruvange, naduth hamuduruvange!) We see these government vehicles run everywhere with Pillayan’s henchmen in black sit in the front seats. They do not show arms openly but surely they are under the clothes.

People themselves have started responding to JHU campaign negatively. Villagers ask where were all JHU supported when they were in trouble. JHU had to give up their initial idea of having a political meeting at the Lahugala temple, because villagers vehemently opposed it.

There is no sign of JVP – either faction.

I am still not sure exactly what sort of tricks Pillayan will pay in pool rigging, but even with that I am sure we would win Ampara with a significant margin. That is the level of support we receive at ground level from poor people who no more want to live under the twin tragedies of war and rising cost of living. People are determined to end the suffering and I do not think even the guns of Pillayan can stop that kind of determination.

Finally, this is a beautiful area. I wish I am on vacation. (More about the area on my next posts)

නැණස පෑදේවා! පිල්ලිය දුරින් දුරු වේවා!

The choice in Eastern province is not between a Muslim Chief Minister and a Tamil one. It is also not between Rauf Hakeem and Pillayan. It is between DEMOCRACY and TERRORISM.

Violence has been common in ever election in Sri Lanka, but the level of violence used in Eastern province provincial council is unprecedented.

This is the first time in Sri Lanka history an armed group fights and election battle.

This is the first time one party visits house to house with guns in their hands and threaten voters. Even in 1989 Provincial council elections, which JVP (then and armed group) boycotted this level of violence was not seen.

Poll rigging will be unprecedented. What happened in North Central (Wayamba) provincial council elections in 1998 will be nothing compared what will happen in East in the next week.

The good news however is, even with that Pillayan the shortie terrorist will not be able to prevent the victory of DEMOCRACY in East.

 

Muhamalai defeat - afterthoughts

Rajapakse regime faced its worst military blow in the post-2005 Rajapakse-Prabha war at Muhamali last week. Enemy caught the forces unawares and launched a massive attack that caused serious damages, to both in terms of casualties and morale.

Rajapakse government also took a pitiable attempt to conceal the damage. What they did not realize was the difficulty in concealing facts in this Internet age. The true figures are out now. Casualties from the Rajapakse side estimated to be in the range of 200.

The morale of security forces are all time low now. Just few months ago they were told it is only a matter of days they would capture Prabhakaran. They were given inaccurate information about the size and strength of the enemy. Now badly hit, they might be feeling cheated – by the very regime they fight selflessly to protect.
Political masters of Rajapakse regime should take the full responsibility of this downfall. It is more than pathetic that so many brave soldiers had to give their lives in an unsuccessful attempt in providing ‘political saline’ much required survival of already dying patient – the present government.

One can feel only sympathy for the government. Looks like its bad times (APALA KAALAYA) has just begun. Just look at some of the events in the last one month. Nothing seems to work for Rajapakse government.

Thanks to Jayasundera and Cabraal duo the economy is in shambles. Inflation is at all time high of 28%. If that is no enough, government has no plans of bringing that down. They are just clueless.

The Jeyaraj, one of the most powerful figures of the government becomes a victim of the war he himself was responsible for promoting. This brought government I par with tigers. Whatever little political advantage gained by killing Thamilselvan was set off by the loss of Jeyaraj.

As that was not enough, then we hear the JVP split. For Rajapakse government it is one of the worst things ever happened because now they completely lost the support of red brothers who brought them to power in the first place. They know they can never think of a national level election victory without the backing of JVP.

Then comes the rice crisis and the government acts in the most stupid manner of imposing price controls. Even JVP, a political party hardly known for its economic sense criticises the use of price control mechanisms. It is not fair to blame the Rajapakse regime fully for the rice crisis but no denial that how they reacted made the matters worse. We are gradually back to 70-77 days of ‘halpolu’ and ‘mirispolu’.

On top of all these Rajapakse regime strongly wants at least a temporary victory in North.

What is gets in reality?

A pitiable defeat at Muhamalai. It will long for Rajapakse regime to overcome such a blow - if they ever do.

No, I am not critising the security forces here. They can do nothing. They were forced to fight an unwinnable war. They were forced to fight for the survival of a failing government in its last days. This kind of political wars does not bring anything to the country.

With the sure win for UNP in the Eastern provincial council elections, we hope Rajapakse regime will get the message. But that does not mean that the dame will be over. That reminds me a Sinhalese saying:

“YANA YAKA KORAHATH BINGADENA YANAVALU”