July 10th 2008

This is hardly the appropriate time to call a general strike based on the issue of disgruntled workers bemoaning a wage increase. It is typical of the JVP that they have chosen to call the shots over this worthless strike which not only disrupts the functioning of the State but also compromises its safety as there is a war against terrorism ongoing at the present!

For the JVP it must be quite easy to circumvent the real issue at hand towards their own ends if this be the case as they do have a history for being agitators and sadly so as what is best for the Nation cannot be decided by whims and fancies of a bunch of Trade Unionists to which it is also fairly obvious that the UNP are also a party to with their particular objective being sticking daggers into and creating obstacles against UPFA Policy per se! and perhaps also suits the LTTE and their cause very well!

Time and history relative to the present have proved that the days of Trade Union power has long ceased to be effective and demonstrative action intended to disrupt no more an effective bargaining tool than yelling from the peak of Mt. Pidurutalagala as it may often go unnoticed by a Nation agitated by the threat of insurgency and distanced from placard carrying demonstrators who are more an abomination than a facility towards daily life!

The JVP and its allies have irresponsibly and blindly called a general strike despite what the Sri Lankan the government is facing without weighing its real consequences relative to the fallout effects it could have as an impediment towards the success of the war against terrorism in the North, and East of Sri Lanka even in the smallest measure as all it does is merely compound the decision making of a Government already fully committed to and involved with the rigours of fighting terrorism and very poor timing by the organisers of this strike and if there was a felt need for it in any sensible reckoning should at least have been shelved towards the greater priority of ridding the Nation of the Tamil Tigers!

The reasons given for the strike hinges on the rise in the cost of living over which issue the attempt is being made to foment the fears and anger of the Nation as opposed to calming and soothing her people whose needs while they merit redress cannot override the need to eliminate the LTTE towards which cause such a worthless strike could be a sublime distraction! and just what the doctor ordered towards easing LTTE anxieties!

It truly is a cheap shot by the organisers of the strike where they have failed in their duty in conjunction with the Media to inform the people about the real cause of the high cost of living which is not restricted to Sri Lanka alone but something which is global and a priority which is outstanding but does not and in Sri lanka's case should not take preference over National Security and the organisers of this strike could well be facing charges of deliberate intent to disrupt the progress of a Democratic Nation by virtue of neglecting this fact.

It is a time where National Unity rather than disunity needs to be fortified to defeat the enemy rather than provide platforms towards their progress in which sense those who organised this strike action should be deemed selfish, misguided as well as unpatriotic towards their homeland which is imperilled by the designs of mendacious terrorists and their supportives regardless of how loud they shout towards justifying their actions!! It even makes some of the more discerning wonder whether the chief organiser secretly harbours terrorist sympathies which probably needs to be fully investigated as an added measure towards National Security!

It seeems to be a travesty of justice that in Sri Lanka the general public appear to be unaware of the real reason for global price hikes, and the alarming increases in prices of every commodity translating to national anxiety and even anger relative to an overwhelming augmentation of what people pay for food, clothing and essential consumer goods while blaming the Government for it which is the easy way out particularly if given a helping hand by the opportunist politicians who fuel their anger regardless of the relativities involved and far removed from deliberate government policy.

Although no panacea, the following quote from US Presidential hopeful Barack Obama highlighted by a fellow journalist on LankaWeb appropriately seems to say it all, that .."All of us feel the impact of the global energy crisis. In the short-term, it means an ever-more expensive addiction to oil, which bankrolls petrol-powered authoritarianism around the globe, and drives up the cost of everything from a tank of gas to dinner on the table……" where the writer quite judiciously also expresses that "It is true that people with low incomes suffer in the continuous price hikes for which the Sri Lanka government is unfortunately not responsible, as it is a global phenomenon. In the present situation that Sri Lanka is faced with, it is not their "bellies" the Trade Union leaders should think about, but it is the country and the war against terrorism in the North."

While the workers in Sri Lanka are being misled by devious and opportunistic opposition politicians to walk out of the work places to ursurp the President and his Administration in umbrage for the rising cost of prices, they seem to turn a blind eye to the patriotic and selfless soldiers who have laid down their lives towards Nation preservation and her integrity so that it would still be safe to walk on the roads unimpeded as their remonstrative disruptions could easily spill out towards a conflicting turn of events which could well be taken advantage of by an almost vanquished LTTE with every hint of support towards their existences whether inadvertently or not!

Simply put The Organisers Of This Misguided Strike Should Hang Their Heads In Shame!