Destructive Vengeance Beyond Reason in Sri Lankan Protest
Posted on July 14th, 2022
Fair Dinkum
A Russian film crew was given access to the home of Ranil Wickremesinghe and his brother, who lived in a neighbouring house that was also destroyed by protestors according to him, appears describing what occurred, and the damage caused, including the destruction of artworks and 2,600 books which had been handed down from Ranil’s ancestors and which he intended to donate to libraries for future Sri Lankans.
While the burning of his house is itself a criminal act in which the perpetrators MUST be brought to justice, this destruction of the nation’s history in terms of burning artifacts, sculptures and paintings of the colonial era, and historical texts is a far greater crime against the Sri Lankan nation. It disgusts me. Who needs the Tamil Tigers when Sri Lankans can do a better job at destroying buildings and the nation’s treasures by themselves! The Tigers will be jumping for joy in their graves at this destruction, and the icing on the cake is the knowledge that the Sinhalese, joined with their Tamil brothers, are now working for the Tamil Tigers.
It is evident that rogue elements have infiltrated into the protest movement which means the leaders of this protest movement (whoever they may be) are either complicit in allowing rogue elements to penetrate their movement, or unable to control them. Either way, the leaders should be identified and held accountable for what has occurred. The credibility of this movement has been damaged by these actions and it can no longer be regarded as a genuine democratic protest movement. These rogue elements are intent on inciting evil acts designed to wreck the nation, ferment chaos, cause as much destruction as possible, and seize power for themselves.
Ranil Wickremesinghe has not been accused of corruption and regardless of the circumstances in which he became Prime Minister (which are not ideal), under the Constitution, he is legally the President until fresh elections are called for. Sri Lanka cannot allow protestors to make over twenty demands for instant action, including the demand for a new constitution, a new leader, by seizing government buildings and creating chaos until their demands are met. This is the law of the jungle. It is not a genuine protest movement. There is a proper democratic process Sri Lankans need to go through which is: (1) stand for parliament, (2) get elected, and (3) bring their demands or proposals to the parliament for a vote. Letting unelected and unnamed protestors dictate demands is not just an attack on democracy, but an attack on the democratic processes on which the Sri Lankan state is built on.
Some decades ago, during the JR period, an Israeli MOSSAD officer described Sri Lankans as monkeys just down from the trees”. I found it offensive back then, but I am having second thoughts as it is beginning to seem like an accurate description given what I have seen take place …
The last part of the news item refers to the implications of Sri Lanka taking out a further loan from the IMF.
It’s time the Sri Lankan government used the law enforcement to remove the protestors from government buildings as they are clearly obstructing the country from moving forward, and wrecking the nation far more than the Rajapakse’s. Authorities must be allowed the space to implement a democratic process to bring about fresh elections. Protestors must never be allowed to hijack the democratic process in a coup d’état which was what we are now witnessing taking place.