Sri Lanka –Paradise Lost.
Posted on December 5th, 2015
By Charles.S.Perera
As I walked out of the Airport on that wet morning in 2014, the heavy November showers did not dampen my enthusiasm to be in my beloved Sri Lanka. The crowds of our dear women who had spent difficult times in Arab homes in the Middle East were seen with tears in their eyes meeting those who had thronged to meet them with love and affection. Their ordeals over in inhospitable Arab homes they seemed overwhelmed with happiness meeting their dear ones embracing and chatting away with each other. Western countries from one of which I was arriving could not match that happiness, laughter and uninhibited chatter amoung my people which enlivened that wet morning outside the Bandaranayake Airport in Sri Lanka.
Travelling from Colombo to Kandy I saw well laid beds of flower , clean neat paved ways , with well dressed men ,women, and children, a highway stretching clean and neat like a ribbon amoung the pleasing lush greenery. Sri Lanka I thought is a veritable paradise, more beautiful and attractive than Paris the most beautiful city of the world with its old world grandeur. There was heavy traffic, cars vans and luxury buses plying on the highway.
There were no road blocks or soldiers to be seen, but there were crowds of people every where. They were free, happy, peaceful, without fear, having put the past thirty years of suffering out of their minds. That was what I saw all along the way to my village far away from the happy , active crowds, quiet and peaceful where I was to stay for a whole year.
I was happy to be at home and in Sri Lanka. Later I was able to see how Sri Lanka has been transformed into a wander land after a disastrous terrorism had been stopped by the heroic soldiers of a well organised Armed Force, led by the wise and determined political leadership of the President Mahinda Rajapakse.
In the village the people were happy, except few amoung government servants, shop owners, or private sector employees. They were complaining of high cost of living and difficulties they have to surmount with their income. But I found that the standard of living of many of these people had improved, with all modern household amenities, mobile telephones, running water, and improved sanitary conditions.
The problem with them was that they seem to be living beyond their means. The children have to be sent to tuition classes, or sent to schools in town in school vans, or taking loans to improve houses, buy cars or vans. One is never satisfied with what one has and wants to have more. That is human nature. But others living ordinary lives as villagers were happy and speaks gratefully of the President Mahinda Rajapakse who had made their lives better , and above all for the peace he brought to the country which has kept them away from the horror of living under the shadow of terrorism.
Gotabhaya Rajapakse the Defence Minister who coordinated the armed Forces to defeat and eliminate terrorism had within a short time after the elimination of terrorism had taken over the Secretariat of the Ministry of Urban Development for the beautification of cities. He is a genius who made a success of everything he under took to do for the protection of the country , to beatify the country shattered by thirty years terrorism, and his vision of making a peace time army a builder of the nation.
I saw the evergreen land of my birth with a culture nurtured for over 2500 years by the blessing of the Buddha , Dhamma and Sangha, rising up once again in its breath taking beauty as an independent Sovereign state having shed its servility to the West that smeared Sri Lanka trying to efface its Sinhala Buddhist culture introducing doubtful gods and cultures of blood and cruelty, where even the animals were not safe to live in peace.
Thanks to my people who elected a man appropriate to our culture and philosophy, a man with love and compassion a Sinhala Buddhist Mahinda Rajapakse who made Sri Lanka a proud country.
Sri Lanka is at last independent in the real sense of the word, able to take its own decisions to make it a paradise in Asia without discrimination against other communities, demanding the other Communities who were saved from terrorism to ask not for separation but unity to make a Nation of Sri Lankans.
But it’s the West that cripples developing countries as it is well known. West wanted to change Rajapakse Regime in Sri Lanka and bring Sri Lanka back into its fold as a protective State of the West. They were intent on this regime change as Rajapakse regime in Sri Lanka had become a challenge to their white superiority, sore in their eyes, which refused to let them sway their power in the southern seas.
The Chinese Government was aiding Sri Lanka in its development process. The West will not provide government to government aid to developing countries, it only allows its private sector investments like the well known American United Fruit Companies which change developing countries onto Banana Republics”. These investors made countries poorer, giving only a pittance of their earning to the countries, taking away a larger proportion of its earning to America.
President Mahinda Rajapakse had stopped that, and the result is the development of Sri Lanka not line with any other country, but as Sri Lanka.
I took the train to Colombo and enjoyed the lush greenery the newly constructed houses of the people, beautiful school buildings, the paddy fields under cultivation.
The old Colombo of which once an American tourist said that it stinks, has become today one of the most clean cities of the world. The old colonial buildings have been renewed . They are clean and set in spending surroundings giving it an old world splendour which was never their before. The Independent Memorial Hall in the Torrington square is beautiful in a setting of unmatched beauty. The under ground hall has been turned into a Museum containing the statues of those men of all walks of life who contributed to make Sri Lanka what it is today.
The nearby drab colonial building which was once occupied by the Home Ministry has been refurbished and made into a beautiful arcade with its renewed white walls. The garden surrounding it has been tastefully arranged making it a joy to walk about and stop now and then to take a photo as a souvenir. Married couples come in numbers to be photographed against that gracious building or in its surrounding gardens.
A little further away is Nelumpokuna Mahinda Rajapakse Theatre, spreading over a land space of 14000 square meters with a seating capacity of 1288. It has a 690 square meter moving stage, as well as an open air theatre. The construction of it had been financed by China a great friend of Sri Lanka, who actively participated in turning the vision of Gotabhaya Rajapakse into reality.
Walking further away from the beautiful Torrington Square, we come to a glistening white colonial building which houses the Sri Lanka National Museum with lot of old historical artefacts. Taking a three wheeler to Colombo, you can visit another landmark development project the Pettah Floating Market Complex. This beautiful Floating Market is the work of the Engineering Units of the Army and Navy of Sri Lanka. It is a shopping centre with restaurant and refreshment stalls. In the night it turns into a beautiful fairyland illuminated with a solar lighting system.
Not far away is the Fort Railway station the entrance to which has been cleaned to make it a large open space provided for people’s manifestations. The Bus standard has been well organised providing commuters easy access to buses plying to different destinations.
That is not all, there are more surprises in beatified City of Colombo in Sri Lanka. There is the Colombo lotus tower which is going to be the tallest building in South Asia with a height of 350 meters. It is again being constructed by our friends the Chinese.
Incidentally these areas where these beautiful constructions have been done or are continuing to be done were the most crowded and unclean parts of Colombo, the past of which would soon be a memory when urbanisation of Colombo undertaken by Gotabhaya Rajapakse is completed.
In Pettah, you also find the Colombo Gold Centre, unbelievable to believe that it had been set up in an old fish Market building. The transformation had been undertaken by the Sri Lanka Army.
A little further away from Colombo is the Bellanwila Temple. A short distance away from the temple is the Bellanwila Walking Track another idea of the visionary Secretary of Urban Development Gotabhaya Rajapakse. It is around the Veressa River which was a marshy stretch of water now made a paradise for migrant bird watchers, joggers, and those who would like to take a cycle ride around the track.
There is a food court and seats and tables set for those who wish to take a refreshment from the nearby food stalls and sit quietly to watch the evening turn in to a fairy night with automatically lighting up solar lamps. There is complete security provided with the discrete presence of the security guards.
After savouring Colombo’s transformation into that great beauty, leaving other areas which had been touched by the visionary magician Gotabhaya Rajapakse for another day , I decided to take the Southern Highway to Galle. The beautifully laid highway runs 126 kilo meters from Kottawa to Matara . I took it up to Galle in a comfortable bus. It was a visual feast. The European highways are certainly not as attractive as the Sothern highway I took. It had been financed by the Asian Development Bank and the Japan Bank of International Relations. All this makes any Sri Lankan coming from abroad proud of the new developed Colombo city and the highways which are a spectacular attraction.
Galle had always been an attractive town. It is more crowded than when I saw it last. But there are better shopping centers. Unwatuna was very attractive a few years ago . It has now become a crowded beach- a popular hangout for western tourists. There is a large cricket pitch in the centre of the town and from there the road takes you into the Galle Fort. It was built by the Portughese and improved on it by the Dutch. The old fort city has also been renovated by the visionary Secretary of Urban development Gotabhaya Rajapakse.
The old Kachcheri resplendent in its renewed new facelift a revitalised old structure. It is now a beautiful arcade with restaurants and shops. The narrow streets of Galle fort have been cleaned and well arranged to make it a new city without loosing its past historical form. The Old Dutch Church stands out in its immaculate white walls, the light house, the National and the Maritime Museums make the Gall Fort city appealing to visitors.
After enjoying this immense beauty of Sri Lanka in which I immersed myself thanking all the time to those men like the President Mahinda Rajapakse, who with his determination brought peace, and security to Sri Lanka, Gotabhaya Rajapakse who transformed the old to astonishing new beauty, assisted by the peacetime activities of our heroic Armed Forces, I came back to my village in Kandy proud of being a part of this paradise which is Sri Lanka.
In the village travelling in buses and trains speaking to people of divers interests from different stations of life, I came to know how the ordinary people enjoyed their lives in a country free of fear and bursting bombs, trusting and relying on the Armed Forces to maintain that security for generations to come. The unity of Communities they knew is necessary but not at a cost to the newly achieved peace and security.
Sri Lanka is a Buddhist country, the King Devanampiyatissa offered Sri Lanka to Buddha Dhamma and Sangha. There were then no Tamils, Muslims or Christians. Harking back to that time of sacred sanctity the word of the Buddha was heard every full moon poya day emanating from the Temple Trees the residence of the President of Sri Lanka. The television was made beautiful with the radiance of a smiling President Mahinda Rajapakse appearing at opening ceremonies of a road, a bridge, hospital, or a school. Sri Lanka was development oriented.
The TV debates had always dissatisfied UNP politicians looking at all development projects negatively, without even critical appreciation of any. They condemned infrastructure developments saying that people cannot eat roads. Mangala Samaraweera, Ravi Karunanayke, Lakshman Kiriella, laughed at the Armed Forces, refusing to see the risks they take, and achievements they made in their war against the terrorists.
President Mahinda Rajapakse having had eliminated terrorism was determined to develop Sri Lanka and hoped he would be able to win the hearts of the Tamil people by developing the North. Lot of money was spent for that purpose hoping that reconciliation will be more feasible with an enriched North.
All that was though impossible five years ago became possible with the President Mahinda Rajapakse who had the same determination he had to eliminate terrorism, to also develop Sri Lanka. The trains started running from Colombo to Jaffna once again. A well carpeted A9 road was laid like a ribbon all the way from Kandy to Jaffna.
The paddy field were green every where once again and the farmers had rich harvests. Sri Lanka was able to export several agricultural products.
Sri Lanka was self sufficient in the production of rice.
New school building were opened every where. Information Technology was being brought to village schools. The Colombo Port was being enlarged, a second air port at Mattala was declared open. There was no traffic yet but Air Line companies were paying to keep Mattala Air port working to make it an emergency landing air port. No where in the world has great projects become immediately marketable, it takes time to get the attention of consumers.
The development under Mahinda Chintanaya was in stages. First was the elimination of terrorism and bringing peace and security to the country. Second was the development of infrastructure, and development of other sectors including agriculture. Third was to be the improvements to people’s standard of living, and bring down prices to reduce the cost of living.
The President Mahinda Rajapakse wanted to make a far reaching change in the country, giving the benefits of it to its people, and may have thought it would necessitate more than two years to implement the whole of Mhainda Chintanaya. Therefore, he took the risk of calling for an early election before the end of his term of office.
That was a wrong calculation. There was enough he had done for Sri Lanka after elimination of terrorism to have confidence of the people to vote him for another term. But he failed to take into account the Tamils and Muslims who were against a united nationalism and was preparing to vote against him.
Unfortunately the 8 January, 2015, ended his carrier as the President. Sri Lanka lost in him a great National leader who was determined to bring the country forward to develop it to be equal to a developed nation status.
It earned him the anger of the West which tolerates only the countries that develop within the norms set by them.
The West played a leading role in defeating Mahinda Rajapakse at the Presidential elections by gathering the Tamil and Muslim votes against him. His defeat at the January, 2015 elections also marked the lost for the people of Sri Lanka the paradise it became after Mahinda Rajapakse was elected President in 2005.
What happened to Sri Lanka- the Paradise after its loss on the 8th January,2015. will be left to be related in another article.
December 5th, 2015 at 4:12 pm
Very well written Charles,
This is a good record of what happened and what transformation took place. I will keep a print out!!
Now things are deteriorating and soon will come back to their original state of stinking dirt.
At least let’s be happy as a nation that we had a period that we felt proud of ourselves, Proud of our cities. It was the time of Lions.
Now it is the time of Hyenas!! We can not expect anything of that sort!!
December 5th, 2015 at 6:27 pm
Sorry, Charles, you do not write one word about MUSLIM OBAMA! You write In the last paragraph, You state “West played Leading Roll”. No Sir it was Muslim Obama and Tamils for Obama International Umbrella organization. who played a Major roll. Did you hear what happed in the Parliament today? Just asking about Sharia Law, all the Muslim MPs regard of political parties jumped on a Tamil MP. This Tamil MP is a patriotic person who loves Mother Lanka like to see free of OBAMA MUSLIMS.
December 5th, 2015 at 8:06 pm
The loss happened because we have an enemy within the county. The West was able to bring down the country because of the enemy within the country. This same enemy has been the reason why the country could not progress after independence. Whenever we take a step forward towards development the enemy within ensures we take two steps backwards. I do not have the name the enemy within the country. We all know who it is. Actually we have more than one enemy and they are all working in concert to bring down the country.
December 5th, 2015 at 9:25 pm
THE COUNTRY IS SLIDING BACKWARDS AND THE EVIDENCE IS EVERYWHERE….EVEN THOSE WHO SUPPORTED THE “CHANGE” ARE DISGRUNTLED AND FRUSTRATED NOT KNOWING HOW TO SET THINGS RIGHT….THE CULPRIT BEING THE HUGE PRESSURE FOR VENGEANCE FROM SOME QUARTERS.
PROPAGANDA IS WHAT IS RELIED ON TO PUT THE NEW GOVERNMENT ON ITS DESIRED COURSE, BUT THE PEOPLE ARE FULLY COGNIZANT OF THE TRUTH BEHIND IT ALL.
AS LONG AS THE CURRENT PERSISTENCE ON VENGEANCE REMAINS, THE NATION CANNOT TAKE THE STEPS THAT ARE NEEDED TO MOVE FORWARD. THE PROPOSED BUDGET DISPLAYS THE UTTER CONFUSION AND MIRAGE MEANT TO FOOL THE PEOPLE.
December 6th, 2015 at 8:48 am
Despite many advances a gloomy factor is 35% malnutrition among children which does not bode well for the future. and WHO considered it as an anomaly where relatively good healthcare and food sources are available. WHO may not have known the fact that the politicians and the upper class in Sri lanka cannot care less for their own people. You can go on blaming others, no one help you or sabotage you but yourself. Many countries have developed transferring/adopting technologies developed in the West to build their own knowledge based economies. The educated in those countries paid back the expenses the public incurred on them by developing knowledge base economies. But the educated in sri lanka specially technical professional like engineers, scientists and doctors have not contributed to developing any industry like healthcare industry and depend on the productivity of blue collar workers like housemaids you saw at the airport.
December 6th, 2015 at 9:43 am
Charels has written good memories down here of a Lanka resurrected beautifully after some 30 yrs of Terrorism. Thank you so much, Charles ! A brief respite was all that was allowed for Lanka and the Sinhala/Buddhists. The UNPATRIOTIC, the dissatisfied and the vengeful have taken over and that is reflected in the entire environment of Lanka.
The UNP-ATRIOTIC party is now hell bent on LEASING out Lanka on 99-yr leases of 5,000 acres each to foreign investors.
Will this act of stupidity be allowed and country virtually sold out to outsiders ? Leases to foreign companies must be for far smaller plots of land and for at most 30 yrs. Land is premium in Lanka as we have only 25,000 sq miles. Land must be kept for Lanka citizens. It is our Security. We do not want neo-Colonisation. Leases could be extended after say, 30 yrs., depending on good performance toward production, employment and safe environmental practices. It can done so that leasing does not endanger the country and security issues.
As even those who voted for Yahap are unhappy with the govt now, it is time work at grassroots level takes place to yet again resurrect Lanka.
December 6th, 2015 at 1:56 pm
This was a well planned move;to bring in the clause that you cannot change the government for four years was well planned by the enemies;they knew even if it succeeded throwing out MR,the new government would not last long so now people cannot bring it down & are stuck with it.As much as MR & GR should take all the credit for the victory & the success,they should equally get the flak for letting holes in their good governance to lose the election.You make a thriving business empire but then it collapses,who to blame?Not only MR lost,it looks he is embroiled in saving his family & interests that he finds himself unable to take the front now.That’s what is worse here.Losing elections engineered by the enemy may itself not be a new phenomenon but MR finding unable to make a fight of it now is more damaging to the country.The enemy has seen to that too,that too is MR’s own foolishness.Should we not bring a fresh patriotic face to the front to score over our enemy so that they don’t have FCID files to tie him down.
December 6th, 2015 at 3:28 pm
Once again a COOL HEADED comment by charithsls.
The BIGGEST problem with SINGHALESE is they are tied to a PERSON as opposed to a concept. Once they are hooked to a person they don’t let go no matter what he does. If he holds them by the hand and takes them to hell they will HAPPILY go to hell with him.
EVERYTHING he does is CORRECT and everything his PERSONAL ENEMIES does is WRONG.
Even if MR is a god, his power has come to ZERO today. He is UNWILLING to take the lead because he is tied down by FEAR.
MOVE ON PEOPLE!
What matters is NOT MR but SL. MR does NOT equal to SL.
December 6th, 2015 at 3:44 pm
Agree with Lorenzo. Time is ripe to move on.
MR was not known as someone until he became the PM. His close relatives doubted Mahinda ayyya would even get the PMship. But he could defeat Ranil to a vegetable. Similarly someone should be found and supported.
December 6th, 2015 at 4:34 pm
The problems of Sinhala Buddhists are different, and outsiders cannot understand them. Their attachments to persons, friends are lasting. A trusted friend remlains so in the hearts of the Sinhala people. They do not change trust and affection as they change their clothes . It is blind patriotism to think of the country and forget those who contributed to give value to the country. In time to come there may be great leaders who will make Sri Lanka a great country, as Mahinda Rajapakse did defeating a ruthless terrorism and rebuilding the country in a matter of five years. There is none seen in the horizon that can undo the damage done to Sri Lanka by Sirisena, other than Mahinda Rajapakse.
December 6th, 2015 at 5:30 pm
Thank you for your sane comments, Charles. Agree with you.
December 6th, 2015 at 10:17 pm
Yes, MR period will be looked on as a mini-golden age. For five good years, Sri Lanka knew peace and development in a turbulent and destabilized world. I was in Sri Lanka on Jan 8th 2015, I must admit it came as a grave shock when he lost the election. Bringing in my opinion a premature end to as Prof Hudson Maclean says “ten positive years for Sri Lanka under Mahinda Rajapaksha.” There were many faults with Mahinda Rajapaksha’s leadership, no one is perfect. But he deserved at least a further five or ten years of his governance for Sri Lanka especially during a critical time for the whole world. Sri Lanka needed Mahinda Rajapasksha to steer the Ship of Sri Lanka through these very stormy seas globally. Instead the enemies struck back all too soon. Sri Lanka is the loser as we are seeing recently. Sri Lanka will recover back to how it described here by Charles Perera. But it could all have been avoided if Mahinda Rajapaksha was voted back in as he should have been on Jan 8th 2015.
December 7th, 2015 at 5:46 am
Both elections were cheated through computers and other means (see Dilrook’s articles in the L’web on this topic). That is how MR lost. The odds against MR were vast, and he recognised this and that is why he called for elections in the first place !
As RohanJay says ‘there were faults with MR’s leadership, no one is perfect’. I think he had far too much on his plate to handle as some of the people around him were no good.
MR tried hard to help Lanka but was not allowed to. CBK & Ranil (the Sicko Duo) rule the land. Sri Lanka has been turned to the Dark Side by cheat and deceit. The whole world has been turned into some sort of Colosseum, controlled by the Dark Side.
All right thinking people must go on defending MR and what is right for Lanka. Those who do not want to do so can join the Dark Side and watch the consequences of their actions.
It is infinitely kinder to give FREE birth control to all adults to control population growth, than to create heart breaking wars and illnesses to reduce numbers.
December 7th, 2015 at 5:57 am
while it is true that under the 19th A a government can not be dismissed before four and half years of its term,what happens if the PM loses his majority in parliament and becomes ungovernable?
The who ever who can show the support of the majority can be appointed PM and a new government can be formed.
That is what needs to happen,sooner the better.
December 7th, 2015 at 8:21 am
Nak but how can we expect that to happen with egoist slfp ministers who fail to understand that leasing
Land to foreigners for 99 years is not different from an outright sale as generations will loose those lands. The slfp fools should vote against the budget which is a danger to sri lanka.
4
December 7th, 2015 at 9:08 am
Charles has highlighted the greatest danger facing Lanka after the LTTE was removed.
That is the Leasing of Land for 99 yrs, areas as large as 5,000 acres, to foreign entities. It is giving ownership of Lanka Land to outsiders, colonisers and ex-terrorists with some $$ and no care for the country or its People.
Past grave errors :
* Allowed Tamil Dalit illegal migrants into Lanka in vast numbers to encourage Tamil leaders further toward Separatism & Terrorism. The Tamil language in place with other pluses encourage Tamils of TN to think of Lanka as a natural extension of TN, sans Caste and other negative aspects there.
Therefore, the Tamil language must be removed as a National & Official language here. It is a matter of National Security.
* As it is, there are foods and chemicals in our air, water and food, which create illnesses and death. Margarine (causes heart and circulation problems. Prepared Foods in Lanka are yet not labelled properly), and the now banned Glyphosate have caused grave illnesses in Lanka.
The container loads of Glyphosate imported by Killi Mahendran goes unaddressed. Who is responsible to question these things ? Do we have a responsible leadership in Lanka ?
At least Pres MS banned Glyphosate for which we are grateful. That seems to be only valuable action done by Yahap, so far.
December 7th, 2015 at 9:17 am
read as ‘poisons and chemicals in our air, water …. “
December 7th, 2015 at 1:00 pm
Charles is right on BLIND PATRIOTISM of me.
I don’t see the person beyond his use towards patriotism. The day I see no use of a person towards the nation I give up on him.
But Singhala Buddhist people are also learning this.
January 2015 MR won 556,000 votes from Kurunegala.
But in August 2015 MR only won 423,000 votes from Kurunegala.
A massive reduction of 133,000 votes in just 7 months or a 25% drop.
It is like Arjuna Ranatunga winning the world cup in 1996. Should we keep him as captain FOREVER because he won something NO ONE did? That would have turned the SL team worst in the world. Same with MR.
December 7th, 2015 at 1:06 pm
Fran,
Elections were not cheated.
IF they were cheated do you think MR and his supporters will NOT file a court case?
MR accepted defeat without ANY excuse. He certainly didn’t say it was cheated. So don’t believe nonsense.
(Some people say the 2005 election was also cheated. They argue if it were held proper RUN-NIL would have won. Another BS allegation. Some people say the 2010 election was also cheated with COMPUTER JILMART. They argue FONSEKA would have won otherwise.)
All these are just excuses for defeat. But I admire MR’s INTELLIGENCE for not falling to these BS theories.
December 7th, 2015 at 2:12 pm
I think Sangakkara could have batted for another few years.
Mahela ? No.
It should be performance based, not “he deserved” , “we must pay back”, “my liking”, “my love”, “my mental conditions”, “my connections”, “my friend’s close relationship” or “my age” or even my “race and religion” based.
People have the right to live on La La land. Their strategies and predictions too are good only for La La land only.
December 7th, 2015 at 3:13 pm
Lorenzo,
Did you read Dilrook’s articles on the subject of Elections on L’web ?
I cannot speak for MR and his actions on this matter. He APPEARS to have wanted ‘out’ of the Prez seat at that time, and that is probably why he called for elections in the first place ! But, like I said, I cannot speak for him. You have to ask him direct why he did what he did.
The 2005 elections were not cheated. And that is my view. I believe what is credible.
Anyway, past is past. Let us move to the present day problems and the future re Development and Security.
Like I said before, let us drop this topic. It is a lot of speculation and guesswork. Watch the present day leaders and their actions and report on them.
December 7th, 2015 at 3:32 pm
Lorenzo we have our opinions and you have yours. lets leave it at that.
December 7th, 2015 at 3:33 pm
Fran,
That too is speculation and guesswork.
You say 2005 election was fair. Some others say it was rigged. So it is one word against another. NO CONCREATE proof.
“Anyway, past is past. Let us move to the present day problems and the future re Development and Security.”
AGREE.
The war victory is also PAST. We have other problems today that MUST be addressed. TNA including Vigneswaran are running the NPC. We all know they are LTTE proxies. Even they say it. Wigneswaran’s son is married to Vasu’s daughter. His other son is married to Kesarilal’s daughter. BOTH Vasu and Kesari are strong MR supporters. So MR will not go against them and indirectly Viggie and his band of TNA crooks. That is why VASU is hanging with MR.
We have to find a NEW PATRIOTIC MOVEMENT. YOUNGSTERS are needed. They should USE MR to get popular and save the country.
We still boast about WINNING THE WORLD CUP in 1996. But we FAILED to win any world cup thereafter!!! Some people say we should have KEPT Arjuna as captain so we could have won 2003, 2007, 2011 or at least 2015 world cup!!! Like SL.
Live in the glorious PAST but with a BLEAK FUTURE.
December 7th, 2015 at 3:39 pm
Yes Charles.
But our MOTHERLAND is in MORTAL danger today. Lets NOT fight who is right and who is wrong. I was WRONG to work for Maru Sira’s election campaign. Now I regret. Not just me if you visit Maru Sira’s FACEBOOK page you can see MOST of his supporters now regret. MANY of them use FILTH to blast Maru Sira now.
Anyway past is past and our opinions differ.
BUT we CANNOT run away from saving our motherland.
We have to rally behind SOMEONE. I propose UTHAYA GAMMANPILLA. He is educated. Young. A stable family man. He has GR’s blessings. Very calm and collected.
December 7th, 2015 at 4:18 pm
Lorenzo, I have not changed sides. I do not believe UNP could be saviours of my motherland. We knew it from 1948. They started by deceiving Baron Jayatilleke. It was always the left wing parties that bring positive chanfges to countries, whether it is in Sri Lanka or else where. Ananda of USA was the only one who saw through you long time ago. How many more times will you change again ?
I was thinking of Ravi Karunanayake. He is also said to be a Tamil, therefore there is no denying that he will betray Sri Lanka. I thought Lorenzo is the only Tamil who stands with the Sinhala, but now I have to change my opinion on that too.
December 7th, 2015 at 4:19 pm
I missed to say that you are shedding crocodile tears, my dear Lorenzo.
December 7th, 2015 at 5:33 pm
Dear Charles,
I never said you changed sides.
I ACCEPT and REPENT supporting Maru Sira. Like me another 6.2 million regret that. I’m NOT shedding crocodile tears for SL. I’m GENUINELY concerned. Releasing Tamil terrorists endangers some people who worked with me. The few good Tamils still in SL are TERRIFIED.
I haven’t changed on policy. I ALWAYS stand by A UNITARY SINGHELA BUDDHIST SL (where everyone lives in equal personal rights).
Yes I’m different due to my different ethnicity and religion. In our culture what matters is the END GOAL, not who achieves it. Not HOW it is achieved. It is like a RELAY. Not all 4 can cross the line. They have to do their bit and let someone cross the line. But the entire team wins.
Ravi K has NO Tamil connection.
I AGREE with your views about Tamils. I told you so when you and the boss refused to believe me.
Anyway may you live long and enjoy good health.
December 7th, 2015 at 6:02 pm
Who is my boss you mention? I am intrigued… following that your last statement wishing me long life sounds a death wish for me.
December 7th, 2015 at 9:00 pm
When Ex- Army Chief Sarath Fonseka said Sri Lanka Belongs to the Sinhalese but Minorities can live Without Demanding Undue Things!
By
Bandula Jayasekara
One morning the then Secretary to the President Lalith Weeratunga called and asked me, “What have you done? President, Gotabahya and Sarath Fonseka are very angry. What has the journalist you helped visit Sri Lanka written. He has written what General Fonseka didn’t say?” I requested Lalith to calm down and explained to him that Stewart Bell was a respected Canadian journalist from the National Post who always wrote against terror and was considered a balanced journalist and that is why I wanted him to have easy access in Sri Lanka. Lalith said: “It has become a big issue here and its making things difficult for us. The opposition, the international community and , Tamil Nadu are making an issue out of it after the publication.”
I immediately called Stewart, who had written a series based on his visit to Sri Lanka to the National Post. Several articles appeared when he was in Sri Lanka. I respected Stewart as a balanced and very responsible journalist. I knew he wouldn’t get anything out of context. This is an excerpt of the interview General Sarath Fonseka had given to Stewart and published in The National Post on 25 September 2008.
“In an interview Lt Gen Fonseka talks candidly about the war, which he believes will be over in less than a year, and his views on the militant Tamil nationalism that has spilled from Sri Lanka into countries with ethnic Tamil Diasporas, Canada included. “The national leadership basically is determined to solve this problem” he says. “The task given to us is to eradicate terrorism … if we have the same commitment one more year the LTTE’s destination is, I think, decided. In the General’s view, the war is driven by Tamils who want a homeland and have chosen Sri Lanka as the place. But, he says the country’s ethnic Sinhalese majority will never allow the ethnic Tamil minority to break the island apart.
“Lt Gen Fonseka is a competitive swimmer who won the US Green Card lottery, but has remained in Sri Lanka, heading the army he has served for three decades. He is lucky to be alive. On April 25 , 2005, a suicide bomber attacked his limousine in Colombo. He was seriously injured in the assassination attempt and nine others were killed. The Tamil Tigers never claimed responsibility for such attacks but were almost certainly behind it.
“I strongly believe that this country belongs to the Sinhalese but there are minority communities and we treat them like our people” He says. “We being the majority of the country 75%, we will never give in and we have the right to protect the country. We are also a strong nation. They can live in this country with us. But, they must not try to, under the pretext of being a minority, demand undue things”
“He dismisses concerns by international human rights groups about the conduct of his forces, saying that while civilian deaths are inevitable in war, relatively few non combatants have died in the Sri Lankan conflict. The guerrilla’s central problem is man power, he says. During the current phace of the civil war, the Sri Lankan forces have killed 8000 rebel fighters in the north and 2000 in the east, while another 1000 have been killed in air strikes. According to the amy’s calculation , that leaves the Tamil Tigers with no more than 4000 remaining cadres while the Sri Lankan forces have 250,000 men and women and plenty of weaponry. “So it’s a matter of time ” Lt Gen Fonseka says”
I am sure you would have found out what the bone of contention was and why Lalith called me. Stewart told me that morning he had reported exactly what General Fonseka told him, word to word. He added that Sri Lanka should be thankful to him rather than trying to blame him because if he had written everything Fonseka told him, it would have created a huge uproar. Bell said he had it all on tape and if I wanted to listen to it he can play it for me. I told him that I believed him and immediately called Lalith Weeratunga and told him what Stewart had to say. I told Lalith it was wrong to blame Stewart and he was not only a damn good reporter but a gentleman. Lalith listened to me attentively and said ” Ah! Is that so? I will inform them.” I knew Lalith understood what exactly happened. Stewart was not to be blamed.
Later some government henchmen in Sri Lanka tried to blame me for what Fonseka had said. They were looking for a scapegoat. How many people can speak to the media and stand up for what they have said without chickening out and blaming the messenger. I was very angry and was equally hard in my various communications to Colombo. I told them point blank, “Don’t blame me if people don’t know what to say or have no control over their tongues. Don’t blame me for sending Stewart Bell to Sri Lanka. National Post has been very fair to Sri Lanka.” The respected newspaper was the first to open its pages to me as the Sri Lankan Consul General having invited me to speak to the editorial board. They always had the time and space for me and Sri Lanka whilst Toronto Star supported the LTTE and its backers. I was invited on several occasions to write Opinion pieces to the Post.
I travelled to Sri Lanka on several occasions thereafter and even met Gotabaya and Sarath. They never asked me anything on the matter.
Courtesy:The Island
December 7th, 2015 at 10:09 pm
Come on Charles. I don’t pass hints. I say it directly. I wish you and Ananda-USA well.
Not your boss. I said “the boss”. A young man who was in charge of the UPFA campaign of a PC election during MR’s time.
BTW Charles you said you received an email from someone last year saying something about Nanda and Lorenzo. Who was it from?
December 8th, 2015 at 4:09 am
Charles did not mention Nanda. He motioned Fran and Lorenzo.
I KNOW Ravi K has not Tamil connection as one of my friends was his next door neighbour.
It is funny how people loose the ability to trust and not to trust.
December 8th, 2015 at 8:58 am
I find Lorenzo’s statement contradictory :
He says : “I haven’t changed on policy. I ALWAYS stand by A UNITARY SINGHELA BUDDHIST SL (where everyone lives in equal personal rights).
Yes I’m different due to my different ethnicity and religion. In our culture what matters is the END GOAL, not who achieves it. Not HOW it is achieved. It is like a RELAY. Not all 4 can cross the line. They have to do their bit and let someone cross the line. But the entire team wins’.
Repeat, L. says “what matters is the END GOAL, not who achieves it. Not HOW it is achieved”.
This means that Ethics & Morality do not matter. It does not matter that Prabhakaran type rules even for a few years.
All this is utterly CONTRADICTORY TO A UNITARY SINHALA BUDDHIST Sri Lanka which he also wants.
Contradictions cannot co-exist. We cannot eat our cake and have it too. It is mutual Trust and Self Respect that has been broken in Lanka and is in dire need of repair – not outside sources bringing colonisation and caste structures.
The Path matters as much as the Goals. There is no getting away from that. The Laws of Nature holds true for all of humanity.
Let Money serve Mankind, not the other way around.
December 9th, 2015 at 1:49 pm
Lorenzo has said ” Charles is right on BLIND PATRIOTISM of me. I don’t see the person beyond his use towards patriotism. The day I see no use of a person towards the nation I give up on him.
But Singhala Buddhist people are also learning this. January 2015 MR won 556,000 votes from Kurunegala. But in August 2015 MR only won 423,000 votes from Kurunegala. A massive reduction of 133,000 votes in just 7 months or a 25% drop.”
I wanted to remind Lorenzo and others of the facts that happened during the election in August of this year which some people seem to have conveniently forgotten. You say that MR lost a large number of votes. He would not have if MY3 a sly slimy traitor did not buckle the elections by illegally declaring two days before the election that he will not appoint MR as Prime Minister even if he wins. The reason he did it because he had intelligence reports which said that MR party is going to win a majority of the seats (113) at the elections.
See: http://www.lankaweb.com/news/items/2015/08/25/i-wrote-that-letters-sacked-secretaries-because-i-received-intelligence-reports-that-upfa-is-on-the-verge-of-winning-president-%E0%B6%BD%E0%B7%92%E0%B6%BA%E0%B7%94%E0%B6%B8%E0%B7%8A-%E0%B6%BD/
Because of his personal hatred towards MR he doomed the country by appointing the supposedly gay boy as PM who was a proven failure. Now we have the comedy that is going on in the name of Yahapalanaya in the Parliament. No one knows what to do. The MY3, Mangala (another supposedly gay boy and a proven failure) went to Geneva and co-sponsored a resolution against Sri Lanka brought by USA. They thought if they do it money will pour into the country from the West. Now they are waiting with the mouth open and nothing has come in not even the miserable 5% of the GSP. They have to send the RK to China with a begging bowl. I remember RW laughing derisively about the port city project saying MR Govt were clowns. Now they have to eat their words and decide to implement the project. One whole year has gone by with nothing achieved other than dragging people to the FCID and the Presidential Commision. I am sure the people of the country do not care if some people in the MR govt took some money since they achieved so much to build up the country. The Yahapalanaya has taken such a lot of money in the first few months. This was done mainly by Arjun Mahendran a Singaporean brought in by RW who is supposed to have done insider trading for a massive amount. He seems to have skipped the country. Now they are busy handing over the military, the govt and the legal system to the West who will be only too happy to break it up as they have done in many other countries. The very people like France which was telling Sri Lanka to negotiate are now telling they have to kill the terrorists. Who is going to check on their war crimes?
So it goes on. The wheel of Dharma turns and truth always wins in the end.
December 10th, 2015 at 8:27 pm
Nanda, Fran, and Charles; Only person who has seen RANIL PUNKS Birth Certificate is Lorenzo! If so, well, show it to all.