Reversing Fifty Six Policies
Posted on October 24th, 2013
S. Akurugoda
According to local and foreign media reports, the bill for the establishment of two casino projects, including one backed by Australian gambling mogul James Packer is withdrawn temporarily, after protests from within the ruling coalition’s ranks, is expected to be passed when it is eventually introduced because President Mahinda Rajapakse’s party has a majority in parliament.
As per Australian media,‚ Investment Promotion Minister Lakshman Yapa Abeywardena‚ denied the bill has been axed, , saying it was being reworked so that the 10-year tax holiday was confined to the hotel operations and not the casino side of the business. The Minister expected the bill would be introduced in about a month, with the government hoping to take five per cent of all casino revenue irrespective of the profits.
According to a Minister’s statement given to Divaina, there is no decision as such to provide restriction for local gamblers to enter these casinos.
Whatever the level of opposition, it is definite that the government has determined to go-ahead with this project, similar to its determination to go-ahead with NCP election despite the level of opposition to it from nationalist groups . Apart from the JHU, all other political parties, UNP, JVP, TNA and individuals who are opposing the project are the very same people who oppose everything done by the government. Involvement of these opposition political parties, in fact, dilutes the opposition to the project since the general public knows very well that their opposition is not genuine.
One of the reasons justifying the establishment of casinos is that the casinos are already existing and nothing new.‚ Today, the Minister of Higher Education says there is nothing wrong with Gambling as he himself played casino while he was in America. According to a main news item of Divaina, he is even encouraging Sri Lankans to play casino. It is not surprising, if the Ministers of the day encourage prostitution with the same experienced they may have with that profession too!
The SLFP led MEP formed by the late SWRD Bandaranaike made a silent revolution in 1956 by attempting to give the lost rights to the people who civilized the land for more than recoded 25 centuries. Thereafter the SLFP governments led by Mrs Bandaranaike also attempted to continue the steps taken in 1956 towards this direction.
Let us go through some of the main changes made since 1956 and their‚ the current status.
One of very first act of the MEP led by SWRD did was to stop horse racing, as gambling was not considered in line with the county’s culture. Although the horse racing is not yet commenced, there are other form of racing which we, as ordinary Sri Lankans, have not seen in our soil before, such as motor racing, are being introduced to satisfy the ‚ children of a high-ranking child of 56. It is pity to see that the very same SLFP which stopped gambling in 56, forgetting its past, ‚ is now trying its best to promote another form of ‚ gambling on large scale by inviting gambling mogul like James Packer and encouraging to play casino, saying that there is nothing wrong with it.
Among the handful of ministries (less than 15 ministries, as I remember) of the SWRD-â„¢s government, there was one newly created ministry of Cultural Affairs to uplift the countries Sinhala Buddhist culture.‚ Do we have the same status to promote our culture within the largest cabinet (of the world) of the current SLFP led government?
The Sinhala Only as our Official Language is no more. Today some ministers of the SLFP see the official language Act of SWRD as the main cause for the Tamil Terrorism and they make public statements in support of their claim without knowing the real facts.‚ While the SLFP led government of the day is making every effort to implement the Tamil as an official language throughout the entire country, it will be interesting to see the status of Sinhala as an official language in North and East of the country with time to come.
SLFP under Mrs Bandaranaike was against the 13th amendment and her party refused to contest the PCs at the beginning. But her daughter hijacked the party ‚ tried her best to reverse the 1956 policies with the full blessing of the hardcore federalists led by old Marxists parties. She managed to brainwash the SLFP politicians against the very principles of the party formed by her father in 56 ‚ and brought in many to support her Mahajana Party way of thinking.‚ The current leadership of the SLFP is not only implementing the 13A as it is, without any apparent obstacles from his party or from the constituent parties who were vociferous against 13A earlier, but has promised to India to do more, even 13 plus.
President Mahinda Rajapakasa had to look for MPs in order to secure the numbers in the parliament after his first election as the President. He had no other alternative but to grab whoever who crossover from other political parties to form the required majority. As a result, number of hardcore federalists, UNPers ‚ who crossed over due to personal reasons and other MPs representing political parties formed on racial basis within the SLFP led ruling party are enormous ‚ and their influence in addition to corrupted officials, when reversing policies of 56 is not surprising at all. ‚ ‚
October 24th, 2013 at 12:58 pm
“Today, the Minister of Higher Education says there is nothing wrong with Gambling as he himself played casino while he was in America.”
This is DISGUSTING!
Gambling is a SIN, a MORAL WRONG and it should NOT be promoted.
However, in this case ONLY putting up such a place in the JIHAD CAPITAL of Slave Island-Maradana is a good thing. This area does NOT look like a part of SL anyway. It looks more like a part of PAKISTAN. Disrupting this JIHADISATION cannot be done easily. This casino will do it.
Locals cannot AFFORD to gamble in this casino because it is too expensive. For the locals there are LOTTERIES every day!! That is GOVERNMENT SPONSORED and government owned gambling. This is how the govt. is PROMOTING gambling targeting the POOR!! MILLIONS of POOR people buy these tickets everyday. STOP these lotteries.
e.g. development lottery, makkal champathai, lotto, etc., etc. etc.
Only the rich ENDIANS (ALL CEOs of major corporations are Endians), Arabs, COLOMBIANS, TNA Tamils, tourists will WASTE their money in these casinos. Let them. And STOP the DAILY LOTTERIES that suck out BILLIONS from POOR people.
October 24th, 2013 at 3:31 pm
1956 and 2005 were the BEST elections that saved SL.
By reversing their decision MAHINDIA is insulting the Sinhela nation.
Thanks for telling the truth.
When MAHINDIA leaves office, SL will be WORSE OFF than when he took office in 2010 (second term).
Federal, Marxist and UriNePee spies in the SLFP are around 20 to 30 MPs. MOST others are also YESMEN.
By some “miracle” if the parliament’s roof collapses (for one) and most of them die, that wil do good for SL. Then the NEXT LEVEL (next in preference votes) MPs will come to parliament. They are NOT THIS BAD. They are CLOSER to the people.
October 24th, 2013 at 4:21 pm
THE MINISTER OF HIGHER EDUCATION, OF ALL PEOPLE SAY, THAT THERE IS NOTHING WRONG IN GAMBLING.
THIS STATEMENT IS VERY EDUCATIVE INDEED. STUDENTS WILL LEARN FASTER TO GAMBLE. DAMNING IDIOT.
I HAVE WORKED ON TWO RIVER BOAT CASINOS. Here is the story:-
People come to the Casino thinking that they can win. Ninety five percent 95% lose all their money. Just a handful would win a Jackpot. There is a small chip in the Gambling Machine that could be adjusted to never give a Jackpot, but to give a measely amount, so people play with that too and go home empty pocket. Ladies become slaves to gambling. They bring their husbands money and “donate” it to the machine and go away. Machines are equipped with crazy sound systems and blinking lights. If somebody wins $50.00 it makes such a din, that all others turn their heads and look, and keep putting more money. Here is an incident I will never forget. A regular gambling lady was on a machine that reflected the Jackpot to be $7500.00. This Lady had already put into the machine $4,000.00 to win the $7,500.00. The husband came looking for her, and pleaded with her to stop gambling and go home with him. When he asked how much she has lost, she said $4,000.00. The husband started crying loud for the whole floor to hear. It was a very sad sight. He was crying and saying that the money was meant for the children. Most people who were gambling got up and exited the floor. The husband pulled the wife by the hand and forcibly carried her, while she was wriggling and shouting. The Security had to come along the Managers and escort them out. LIQUOR IS SERVED FREE.
THIS IS WHAT THE DAMNING IDIOT WANT THE PEOPLE OF SRI LANKA TO EXPERIENCE.
GAMBLING IS A CURSE, AND THOSE WHO INTRODUCED IT TO SRI LANKA, WILL BE CURSED. THEIR FAMILIES TOO WILL BE CURSED.
The white collar worker will have no food to put on the table if this trend continues. Peoples lives will take a downward journey, compliments of the Minister of Higher Education, a blinking idiot. This is a Buddhist Country.
The Parliament roof will surely collapse, to save the poor people of Sri Lanka.
October 24th, 2013 at 5:49 pm
Gambling is gambling whether it’s casino, horse racing or dog racing. Just look the number of Bookies in Sri Lanka. Daily millions of ordinary people gamble their hard earn money and go home empty hand. Government collect tax on bookies and they operate legally.
Who are the owners of these leading bookies?. Some of them are main “Dhayaka” of leading temples and some are Buddhist Associations President, some are prominent Politicians. Nobody talk about these people not even leading Buddhist priest or any politician.
Casino will lead to many other bad habits & activities which nobody can even imagine today!
October 24th, 2013 at 6:18 pm
Govt is the BIGGEST GAMBLING operator in SL!!!
Lotteries board comes under the Finance minister. Finance minister used to be the Buddha sasana minister too!!!
(It changed when BR became the finance minister.)
It MUST stop. BUST the national lotteries board the biggest GAMBLING operator in SL that sucks up billions from poor people EVERY DAY AND NIGHT.
How many lotteries are there? For 7 days there are more than 10 lotteries. POOR people waste BILLIONS on these.
Government lotteries MUST STOP if gambling is to stop. Otherwise it is BS.
On the Slave-Island-Maradana five star casino, it is a GOOD THING because it
1. will disrupt the JIHADIZATION of this area.
2. will NOT affect ordinary SLs. NO ORDINARY SL has the means to gamble in a damn CASINO RESORT!! There are plenty of casinos even today but ordinary SLs are NOT going to these!!
3. will DESTROY COLOMBIANS (heavy gamblers and have the money), Endians, etc. It is GOOD for SL to destroy them FINANCIALLY.
Gambling is a CURSE. USE it carefully against the ENEMIES of SL (and non-SLs) not allowing pro-SL people fall into it.
October 24th, 2013 at 6:28 pm
Look at this.
“Aug 15, 2013 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s state-run National Lotteries Board (NLB) expects revenues to grow 16.2 percent to 14.7 billion rupees in 2013, a top official said.
Chairman Chaminda Athuluwage said revenues have doubled to 12.7 billion rupees in 2012 to 2009 from 6.2 billion rupees in 2009.
NLB is offering its highest prize money in its history of 50 million rupees and 50 Micro Panda cars to celebrate 50 years in operation. The firm was set up in 1963.
Athuluwage said NLB paid over 1,500 million rupees as taxes to the said last year and this year it is expected to go up to 1,700 million.
NLB has 16,000 sales agents around the country.
This year it has paid 3,761 million rupees as prize money and created paid prizes of over 10 million rupees to 14 winners.”
Poor SLs gamble and they waste rupees 14,700,000,000 every year and it is doubling every 3 years!!! This is the BIGGEST GAMBLING operation in the country. STOP THIS!
October 24th, 2013 at 6:43 pm
THIS MINISTER OF HIGHER EDUCATION IS AN IMMORAL AND DESPICABLE CHARACTER, AND THIS IS THE QUALITY OF THE INVERTIBRATE IMBECILE MINISTERS WE HAVE. THE MINISTERS CAN RUIN THE PEOPLE WITHIN 10 Years. Resultant losses:- 1) people will go to the novelty of it They will enjoy the environment, More visits for developing playing time.stc.NOW, The Rich man brings hi commissions. The whit collar worker brings half hi pay packet. Slot Machine sucks it in. To catch up for the money they drink like hell because it is free.
Casino Gambling is a malignant disease, that will even inveigle the Pettah Naataami, to get into a pair of longs and visit. The place is so elegantly dressed up, with beautiful colouful carpets that it looks a different world, to the eyes of the beholder. These foreign Australians Gambling kings get the scent of who has the money. They know that all Ministers and their siblings, earn plenty of commissions on big deals, means BIG DEALS and they fly about in Ferraris and Lamborginis, and they need a stage to showcase their extravagance, and high flying living THIS IS WHERE THE FACKERS TAKE ON THE GRREN HORNS AND TEACH THE A BIT OF TRADE TO THE GREEN HORNS. People showing that they are nothing short of fancy money. ROOM WILL be at a start given free and they will know where the moneys is.The Management will already be having the heavy list patrons on 6their lists. They cant get away.
There will be well dressed surveillance crowd in civils who will lead the Mexicon Style Mafia into the playining net,
AAA~ THERE WILL BE ONE TYPE OF PATRON WHO DRESSES TO KILL, CARRYING HIS BRIEF.
BBB~ The other flimsily dressed but wit a bulging hip-pocket with wads. The First Guy will srart flashing hi wads into the machine. The flimsy dress guy is thinking how much to put in, He has to think of home too, Wife and children are waiting to eat.He has to put food on Table.
THIS CASINO BUSINESS IS NOT FOR SRI LANKANS. IT WILL BE THE RUIN OF THEIR CULTURE, THEIR RELEGIOUS BELIEFS, AND THE CONTROL OF INCOME FOR FOOD CLOTHING AND SHELTER. LIVES THE MIDDLE CLASS PEOPLE WILL BE RUINED FROM DAY ON.
THE SAYING ON THE CASINO IS:_”””IF YOU DONT COME TO THE CASINO YOU WIN.”” ” IF YOU COME TO THE CASINO YOU LOSE ”
I Have been to the Reno Hilton in Nevada many times. Adjacent to the reception Counters are all Gambling machines. The whole lobby is full of machines. The RICHEST people play on these machines, RENO IS THE ONLY CIT IN USA WHERE PROSTITUTING IS LEGAL. MANY THAI GIRLS ARE WAITING IN THE LOBBY WAITING FOR RICH CLIENTS. ANOTHER INCIDENT, will tell LATER.
October 24th, 2013 at 8:00 pm
Jayasiri said
“I am in agreement with Ananda – USA, that we get rid of ANY INDIANESS in Lanka espeially in Colombo. KEEP COLOMBO FREE of Indians, Tamils & Muslims. ”
Jayasiri, Thank you for agreeing with me on the need to REDUCE Indian PRESENCE and Indian INTERFERENCE in Sri Lanka’s Internal Matters.
However, your next statement ” KEEP COLOMBO FREE of ….. Tamils & Muslims” if that refers to Sri Lankan Tamils and Sri Lankan Muslims, if implemented, is fraught with danger for Sri Lanka. Let me explain.
Native-born Sri Lankan Tamils and Sri Lankan Muslims are Sri Lankan citizens who have an inalienable right to live anywhere in Sri Lanka, just as Sinhala people do. The right of Sinhala people to live in the Northern Province and Jaffna is currently denied by Tamils … and that is a situation that must be changed IMMEDIATELY, and is partly what we are fighting for: EQUAL TREATMENT for the majority Sinhalese to live anywhere in Sri Lanka, just as minority communities do currently
Only people who commit CRIMES against Sri Lanka can be DENIED that and other rights, by PROSECUTING, CONVICTING and PUNISHING them appropriately for those CRIMES, as provided by Sri Lankan Law, up to and including fining them, imprisoning them, and /or executing them. However, under no circumstances can they be expelled from Sri Lanka for any reason if they are native born citizens. We can execute them for due cause as punishment, but we cannot deport them … if they are native born citizens. Naturalized citizens, illegal immigrants, and non-citizens do not enjoy that protection from deportation.
The right to live where one was born is not only a right protected under Sri Lankan Law, it is also an Internationally recognized Fundamental Human Right protected by the United Nations.
Indians … as foreign busybodies interfering in Sri Lanka where they have no business to be …. can be expelled in the interest of protecting Sri Lanka’s Sovereignty without violating any law. India enjoys the same right to expel non-native born residents with respect to its own territory, to protect itself.
October 24th, 2013 at 9:45 pm
Susantha,
As Lorenzo said gambling is already there, in the form of Lottery Board for 50 years but getting worse lately.
In Singapore, locals have to pay s$100 to go into Marina Bay Sands ( the boat on a 3 buildings Casino) and ordinary Singaporean don’t go. Free for foreigners.
Let packer come in, charge Rs 20,000 to go to that building and ordinary Sinhalayas will not go. Only the rich Colombo Saudis and Colombans will go. Then Charge taxes , say 30% of ALL INCOME. Nothing wrong in this if there is a proper government. Problem is unlike Singapore, there is NO GOVERNMENT !
October 24th, 2013 at 10:00 pm
As the saying goes ” All are chiefs, no Indians”. Every body tells Sinhalese must occupy north. Who is there to go to north?. One thing there isn’t enough Sinhalese to go round, even if there there is a few who would like to go the place has to be sanitized first. Get rid of the Udayan type of people who would have nothing but a separate state. This morning one old guy there was telling the BBC how horrible the SL government is and showing photos of some damaged machines by some thugs. These are the people who should be removed first before any meaningful development can take place.
Also, our Buddhist leaders should tell Sinhalese to double the population as soon as possible if they want to safeguard the country.
October 24th, 2013 at 10:18 pm
IF ordinary SLs go to casinos then it is DOOM. This lotteries gambling must stop which is the WORST gambling in SL. Horse and dog betting should also STOP.
The problem is IF the casino act is passed casinos may mushroom. That is a HUGE RISK. It must not be allowed.
But if this Slave-Island-Maradana five star casino is the ONLY one (and some in Jaffna too), I would support them.
Casinos are BAD. NO argument. THAT IS WHY SL’s enemies must suffer the casino curse.
Killing is bad. But it becomes GOOD if the casualties are SL’s enemies. Same thing.
October 24th, 2013 at 10:33 pm
Tamil newspapers, radio news and TV news play a BIG ROLE in arousing racism.
If you read some Tamil dailies you will be shocked at the ULTRA RACIST ASSUMPTIONS they all seem to ASSUME when writing them.
Some are outright SILLY but foolish Tamilians believe them.
e.g. During the war SLAF helicopters brought army wounded to Ratmalana. They were taken in ambulances to Colombo hospital through Wellawatte, Dehiwelai, Bambapidiya, etc. For obvious reasons they travelled FAST. Tamil newspapers wrote they travel through Tamil areas and travel fast to kill Tamils to take revenge for wounding them by LTTE!!!
Then they build upon that.
e.g. An elderly Tamil women narrowly escaped death when a “killer van” or a “corpse van” (referring to an ambulance) carring angry wounded soldiers went fast at Wellawatte junction.
October 25th, 2013 at 12:34 am
RIDICULOUS! Sri Lanka is accused of War Crimes under firefight conditions on the battlefield, yet Sri Lankan Courts sentence an LTTE Mass Murderer who blew up 68 civilians riding a bus to 5 Years Rigorous Imprisonment, and a year of “Rehabilitation” assistance to help him succeed in life thereafter!!
This guy should have been sentenced to DEATH, then stood up against a wall and SHOT without further ado!
With this kind of MOLLYCODDLING of Mass Murderers how do you expect to DETER terrorism? Kill 68 innocents and get off with a slap on the wrist!
The basic problem is that we DON’T VALUE THE LIVES of our own citizens Highly Enough! We Pukka Sahibs have IMBIBED the Colonial Mindset of the dear departed British overlords … Lives of our Brownies are DIRT CHEAP to us Brownies!
This would NEVER HAPPEN in the country of that Holier-Than-Thou Global Defender of Humans Rights and Democracy … the USA. Any terrorist who murders US citizens either gets BUMPED OFF one way or the other, or KIDNAPPED, PROSECUTED, CONVICTED and GASSED to DEATH.
Now THAT is what I call DETERRENCE! Is it too much to expect the GOSL to follow in the footsteps of this Champion of Democracy?
The DIFFERENCE you see is that US citizens didn’t hang on to the Colonial Mindset of their unceremoniously booted out British masters! Now the mantra is: ONE US life is worth the lives of 100 Brownies in anywhere in the developing world!
…………………………
Sri Lankan court jails LTTE member over 2006 bus bombing
ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
Oct 24, Colombo: A Sri Lankan court today sentenced the Tamil Tiger suspect arrested in connection with the 2006 bomb attack on a bus in Kebithgollewa in North Central Province.
Anuradhapura High Court today sentenced the LTTE suspect, Mahilingam Muthulingam, also known as Indran, to five years of rigorous imprisonment for his role in the bombing of a commuter bus.
The Judge also ordered the Prison Commissioner General to send the convict for one year rehabilitation after he completes the 5-year jail sentence.
The claymore attack on June 15, 2006 on a morning commuter bus killed 68 civilians including school children and injured at least 65 people.
The suspect was accused of signaling his accomplice from a nearby tree top to trigger the bomb.
Indran, had joined The LTTE in 1990 and was a member of the Charles Anthony Brigade. According to a statement given by the suspect to the police eight LTTE cadres were involved in the attack.
October 25th, 2013 at 1:00 am
Ananda,
Calm down friend ! He was doing his job, only a little fish, haal messa , signalling to kill people.
There are others KP, Karuna etc. big sharks enjoying life after killing so many.
There is no point giving him death penalty, the root causes for his foolishness should be eliminated.
Scrap 13A, publish and declare India had terrorist camps thus ask for apology, compensation to pay 68 innocent people and more, jail ALL terrorists for LIFE . Government is not even thinking on these lines, instead ChuGiam is important to MR.
Even a supreme court judge declared Prabha as a hero. Why can’t they jail him on terrorism charges ?
October 25th, 2013 at 6:57 am
UNP, the business man’s political party, OPPOSES Casino Bill !
UNP continues to say ‘No’ to casinos
WEDNESDAY, 23 OCTOBER 2013 16:25 – Daily Mirror
The main opposition United National Party (UNP) said today that it would continue to oppose the Casino Bill notwithstanding the format it would be presented in.
“We will not approve the introduction of casinos in any form. We will continue to protest whether the Casino Bill is amended or not. We have opposed casinos in past and we will continue to oppose them,” UNP parliamentarian P. Harrison told a news conference.
He said the government was determined to legalise gambling instead of taking action to improve sectors such as health and education which require so much of attention.
Mr. Harrison said the suggestion to ban Sri Lankans from going to casinos was not practical. “This will be carried out for a day or two. After that everyone will start going to casinos.” he said.
———-
Agree with Nanda : Scrap the 13-A !
October 25th, 2013 at 8:39 am
FRAN !! What you say is quite right. Everybody will start going to casinos. Nobody can stop anyone going there. Everybody feels that they can win something, it is a pipe dream. I have worked in two River boat Casinos, and have seen the miserable life of the Gamblers. I promised to tell another story, so here it is:- Two women who were gambling were watching a man putting quite a lot of money into the machine. I was there on the Boat that day, though I did not see the event. I only heard what happened later. The two women decided to get friendly with the man, and inveigled him to go out and have a nice time.The man apparently thought he has hit another Jackpot. He had gone and came back hours later only with the underwear. The two women had taken all he had. American Police was smart. They somehow caught the two women. May be that they would have finished their jail terms by now. This happened about 12 years ago.
It is undemocratic to ban anyone going to a Casino. So it would not happen, though some political nit wits think it can be done.
October 25th, 2013 at 12:26 pm
Only 5 years prison for killing 68 Sinhalese!!
This is a bloody insult to the victims. He should have been put to death long before reaching courts.
October 25th, 2013 at 1:28 pm
LORENZO ! Even now it is not too late. What kind of Justice is that ?
Nanda !! In USA, if anybody accidentally sell a lottery ticket from any convenient stores, to anybody under 18, he is in BIG BIG trouble. It will be JAIL and nothing else. The authorities send decoys into these stores, to purchase Lottery Tickets, Cigarettes, and Beer or Liquor. Totally prohibited to sell to anyone under 18. Even at my age, if I ask for a lottery ticket, they often ask for my Identity.
On the contrary, little children in Sri Lanka are selling lottery tickets. Those children do not go to School for reasons of poverty.
October 25th, 2013 at 3:01 pm
Nanda,
Knowingly giving the signal to kill hundreds of innocent people, is a PREMEDITATED ACT of MURDER deserving a sentence of Murder in the First Degree. It much worse than burying the IED! This is not a wild young man “sowing his oats”; this is WAAAAY beyond “foolishness” as you characterize it.
Yes, there is a POINT in giving him the DEATH penalty …. DETERRENCE of others of similar mind. All indications are that the Eelamists are gering up another round of the serial Eelam Wars …. and DETERRENCE of INDIVIDUALS by convincing them of SWIFT and CERTAIN SEVERE PUNISHMENT is ESSENTIAL. So, he MUST PAY the ULTIMATE PRICE for his “foolishness” … Paying to maintain him for LIFE in PRISON, is adding INSULT to INJURY to the law-abiding Sri Lankan citizen.
“Keeping Calm” may send hundreds of patriotic law-abiding Sri Lankans who defended innocent citizens straight to War Crimes Tribunals in The Hague, while Eelamists who murdered over 150,000 innocents, slicing and dicing entire villages full of people in the dead of the night in their ethnic cleansing pogroms, blowing to bits buses and trains full of people, kidnapping and brainwashing tens of thousands of children into mindless emotionless automatons, and forcing hundreds of thousands of civilians to form human shields for them to hide behind, are being “rehabilitated” and set free, by our OWN Judges!
Something is VERY WRONG in this PICTURE …. and I know what it is …. it is our own FOOLISH Mindset.
So don’t keep Calm … my friend …, open your window … and yell at the top of your voice …. “HECK NO! I WON”T TAKE THIS ANYMORE! STOP MOLLYCODDLING TERRORISTS! I WANT JUSTICE & SECURITY for MY FAMILY, MY PEOPLE & MY COUNTRY”!
Try it NOW my friend … it will at least CLEAR THE COBWEBS from your throat!
October 25th, 2013 at 3:12 pm
“He should have been put to death long before reaching courts.”
Actually, all courts should be cleaned as a matter of urgency ! Nowadays the courts are terror camps ! you become a justice and then declare terrorist as heroes ! isn’t that not an insult to all lives lost ?
Before courts, Loo college should be cleaned of UNP, Jihadist and LTTE sh–. These are urgent actions needed.
Look at the BAR association ! It is a bar with drunken UNPiers and Jihadist !
Its president failed all 4 subjects in A/L, yet went to Loo college and became youngest chairman of a government corporation under UNP, he is paying back now by betraying the country !
October 25th, 2013 at 3:28 pm
Ananda,
Killing hurts the killer, not the killed.
Killing, revenge , jubilation on guilty verdict are western culture. Show the difference between Sinhala Buddhists and the western barbarians. Do not take revenge just because of MR betrayed all of us. Take proper action without hatred.
Make no mistake, I am not saying this LTTier is given an appropriate sentence. But whatever the sentence given you cannot bring back the lives lost. What you can bring back is the proper justice for Sinhala people first and for the rest second by good governance.
All the problems are from our inherited “western democracy”. What we need is no elections but a just government, let it be a military one. As Lorenzo said only option left is a military government.
October 26th, 2013 at 11:04 am
Nanda,
Westerners are not barbarians anymore than we are, and the putting to death of those who have mercilessly murdered others … is not for revenge or to be celebrated with jubilation … but to DETER those who would emulate them in the future without fear of RETRIBUTION. We cannot blame our every failure on the West; it is time we ourselves bore that responsibility, understanding and learning from world history the choices we must make to preserve a stable and peaceful society in Sri Lanka. In particular, punishment of evil doers is ESSENTIAL to preserve the lives of the vulnerable innocents in the system of Crime & Punishment that all nations practice in one form or another to protect their citizens. They can’t wait, and neither can we, for either divine intervention, or for the Karmic Cycle to catch up and punish the evil doers in their Samsaric Voyage. We must act ourselves, in our time.
As a Sinhala Buddhist I try to follow in the footsteps of the Lord Buddha …. but only as far as I can practically … for I also know that there are some PRACTICAL things abhorrent to Buddhism that we must do, in this imperfect world, if we are to survive. And we, the People of Sri Lanka, MUST SURVIVE, no matter what.
Consider what we ourselves have experienced … and hopefully learned … in the past 30 years of Eelam Wars. Successive governments of Sri Lanka tried very hard not to resort to war and to negotiate a reasonable settlement. That policy of SUPINE APPEASEMENT only FURTHER ENCOURAGED the Eelamists into adopting the most reprehensible forms of violence … for they came to believe that the Sinhala people with their non-violent BUDDHIST MINDSET can be terrorized and cowed into IMPOTENCE, and that everything we have and treasure can be stolen with impunity … simply by ratcheting up the volume and intensity of their violence.
But they had forgotten, that before we became Buddhists, we were Sinhalese. Despite the moderation and suppression of our intrinsic warlike Sinhala character by Buddhism, that Sinhala courage has come through to assure the survival of our people throughout our history. That is another story that I have related elsewhere, and need not recount here.
After 30 years of back-pedalling, the MR GOSL arrived at the correct conclusion …. a conclusion I myself had come to and STRONGLY ADVOCATED 20 years before … that ONLY TOTAL MOBILIZATION of the Nation and its People to FIGHT & WIN a WAR OF SURVIVAL would stop the arbitrary violence being inflicted daily on Sri Lankan citizens. NO HALF-WAY MEASURES would be sufficient. NO AMOUNT of Buddhist Compassion, Meditation and overnight Pirith was able to STOP the Eelamist Onslaught, and would not be able to. That is, unless we are willing to lay down and die as a people, we must be PRACTICAL & FIGHT for our own SURVIVAL, for NO ONE ELSE will do so.
It is the RESULT of that DECISION by the GOSL to FIGHT the WAR the way it should be fought to WIN, that has FINALLY brought peace to ALL people of Sri Lanka, who now can go to the Buddhist temples and chant Pirith to their mind’s content. Now, we must PROTECT what has been WON, and DETER future DISASTERS, by SEVERELY PUNISHING all Evil Doers using the Law of the Land. Failure to do so, as in the preceding 30 years, will only RESURRECT that LAWLESS CHAOS!
You say MR betrayed us. Actually, if it was not for MR, there would be NOTHING to BETRAY today. He is the reason why we are all so cock-a-hoop today and able to pontificate on all forms of further consolidation of his achievements.
MR came through for us, weathering immense foreign pressure to stop the War of National Liberation from Terror, at great personal risk to himself and his entire family. Therefore, “betrayed” is too harsh a word to apply to this one-of-a-kind patriotic leader, Mahinda Rajapaksa. He deserves our respect and support like no other Sri Lankan leader, for he has EARNED IT the hard way.
Yes, we are disappointed that MR has not yet REVOKED the 13th Amendment and DISMANTLED the Provincial Council System, but that does not amount to “betrayal”!
Perhaps MR is giving the TNA sufficient rope to hang themselves with anti-national activities that will provide the necessary ammunition for him to act. Yes, I am unhappy about this delay while the Eelamists tegroup and grow in strength, just as I was unhappy about all the preceding Governments of Sri Lanka that FAILED to MILITARILY CURB the LTTE. Every bit of evidence and good sense I have, that led me to advocate a MILITARY VICTORY 20 years ago earning me the reputation of being a war monger among my friends, tells me that this failure puts Sri Lanka in mortal danger. I will continue to respect and support MR, but will continue to STRONGLY ARGUE for the GOSL to REVOKE the 13th Amendment and DEMOLISH the Provincial Councils.
October 26th, 2013 at 7:21 pm
GREAT! Let us kick India out of the Sampur Power Plant project and give it to the Japanese!
Japan has always stood by Sri Lanka, and Japanese build high Quality Power Generation Equipment.
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Japan’s Sumitomo Corporation to assist power generation in Sri Lanka
ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
Oct 26, Colombo: A Japanese diversified conglomerate has expressed willingness to assist the development of Sri Lanka’s power sector, the Economic Development Ministry said.
Japan’s Tokyo based Sumitomo Corporation, a leading integrated trading company engaged in diverse businesses based on its global network, has offered to contribute to the power development in Sri Lanka.
During a meeting between a delegation of the firm and Economic Development Minister Basil Rajapaksa held at the Ministry premises in Colombo on October 24, Sumitomo has announced that it is ready to invest in power generation and distribution, provide technical and engineering expertise and the necessary financial support.
Senior General Manager of Sumitomo Corporation India (Pvt) Ltd. Yusuhiko Siromawa has assured Minister Rajapaksathat Sumitomo is planning to assist in the first, second and third phases of the coal power plant project now under construction in Trincomalee.
The Sumitomo Corporation has also expressed its intention to build a anothe thermal power plant with Japanese aid.
October 27th, 2013 at 11:34 am
The GOSL is discharging its responsibility by BUILDING ESSENTIAL INFRASTRUCTURE at a RAPID PACE.
It is now up to Sri Lankan Patriots, within Sri Lanka and Abroad in the Expatriate Community, to do their utmost to introduce New Technologies and New Businesses to Sri Lanka that leverage these new infrastructure developments to GROW Sri Lanka’s Economic Strength and Technological Expertise at a good profit to themselves.
ALL Expatriates should ask themselves: “Is there any useful skill or knowledge that I have, however big or however small, that I can exploit to introduce a novel capability, product, or service to Sri Lanka geared to the LOCAL or the EXPORT market?
Now is the time to stir yourself and stop being a mere observer of events in Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka is on a roll to achieving its Grand Vision of becoming the New Wonder of Asia. The GOSL is doing its part; we should do ours!
Ask not what your Motherland can do for you, but what ypou can do for your Motherland!
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Sri Lanka President opens Chinese funded expressway linking Katunayake airport to capital
ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
Oct 27, Colombo: Sri Lanka’s President Mahinda Rajapaksa today declared opened the Colombo – Katunayake Expressway (CKE) , the 26 kilometer high speed expressway linking the country’s main Colombo International Airport to the Sri Lankan capital Colombo.
Opening Sri Lanka’s second expressway, President unveiled a commemorative plaque at the entrance to the CKE at Peliyagoda and drove his vehicle to the Seeduwa Control Exchange where he paid the toll.
He inspected the video system at the Seeduwa control stations and proceeded to the Katunayake Exchange where he was received by flag-waving school students.
Addressing the occasion the President said with the opening of the highway the government has proven that it can successfully meet any challenge thrown at the government.
He emphasized that the development of a country is gauged by the development of a road network in a country and the expressway declared open today will provide benefits to both the local and foreign people.
Reiterating that the country has achieved peace and there was no bloodshed or terrorist activity in the country after 19th May 2009, the President appealed to the people to give their fullest cooperation to the development programme being implemented by the government for the benefit of the future generation.
He noted that when the government is making effort to develop the country certain elements are making various allegations against the government and therefore, the government has to spend much precious time to file response in Geneva to the allegations.
The 25.8 kilometer long expressway was built at a cost of US$ 291 million with a loan from China.
The CKE is expected to reduce the travel time between Colombo and the Airport to about 20 minutes. Speed limit will be 80 kilometers per hour (50 mph) for the first eight kilometers (5.0 mi) and 110 km/h (68 mph) for the rest of the road.
First Lady Shiranthi Wickremasinghe Rajapaksa, Prime Minister D.M. Jayaratne, Chinese diplomats, ministers and parliamentarians also participated in the event.