MahamahaRaja

There have been momentous events taking place in the Middle East. Tunisia, a small country tucked away in a corner of the world, has ignited a beacon of liberty whose flame had long been doused by neo-imperialist puppet regimes through political oppression, personal intimidation, police brutality, systematic impoverishment, media propaganda, and a reign of terror.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Now, sparks from that beacon have lit the flame of freedom in Egypt, as courageous Egyptians threw aside their shackles of fear and apathy, disregarded class, creed, religion and party, and marched to reclaim their dignity and rights as one mass of humanity. Such scenes brought forth great emotions amongst all who beheld them, and we were overcome with pride and joy for our fellow man.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ But opportunists never miss a chance to sow social discord, and true to form, a duplicitous band of foreign stooges, unelectable political failures, and violent insurrectionists attempted to claim the spirit of Tunisia in Sri Lanka. Of course, I refer to the NGOs, opposition parties, Tamil diaspora and other malcontents who seek to make cheap political capital from a beautiful moment of history.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Unfortunately for them, the very same flame of liberty already shines brightly in Sri Lanka, given even more fuel on 18^th May 2009, and these subversivesƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ attempts at commandeering the noble events of Egypt in recent days was an abject failure, rejected by the people.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ In the Middle East, we have two groups. On the one hand we have the Arab citizens who were fighting against entrenched tyrannies, vicious policemen, machete-wielding thugs and camel-riding stooges. They were fighting with nothing more than their rediscovered freedom of expression and their refusal to give up until they were liberated. On the other hand, we have the despotisms, with their foreign money, weapons, training, backing and media propaganda. In Tunis and Cairo it was a battle between the ordinary people and an unelected, wealthy, powerful, vocal, but tiny elite.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Sri Lankans have been here already. As the twilight of Empire approached, with the sun finally setting on its reign of exploitation and debauchery in Sri Lanka, a similar elite representing similar foreign interests and displaying similar disregard for the ordinary citizens, stubbornly resisted against the Sri Lankan peopleƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s non-violent movement for freedom from imperial servitude.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ In our case, Sri Lankans fought against the imperialist stooges in the Tamil elite who tried to prevent democracy flourishing in Sri Lanka. The Sinhalese and other Sri Lankans fought to reclaim their birth rights to govern themselves, speak their own language, practice their own religion and culture, and live in a free society as equals.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ In the late 20^th century, we had to fight once again for liberty and to preserve our way of life, this time against the children of the Tamil elite who came in the form of terrorists, with their foreign funded campaign of death. Against all odds the Sri Lankans prevailed, in 1948 and in 2009, just as the Egyptians and Tunisians have prevailed in 2011.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ From our history, we know what comes after the people are free, after liberation. We must warn Tunisians, Egyptians and all others fighting against tyranny and foreign meddling of the strategies, tactics and weapons used by the old elite. NGOs, media, corporations, think tanks, selling of ethno-votes in foreign lands, cries of ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-human rights abuses,ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-war crimes,ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ and even ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-lack of freedomƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ are all part of this malicious arsenal.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Then there is the societal aspect. Egypt has Muslims and Christians, the secular and the pious, workers and professionals. Each of these differences are pressure points which can be exploited by an unrelenting elite seeking to restore their ill-gotten privileges and power. In Sri Lanka, terrorism was used in an attempt to fulfil the delusions of grandeur of the former Tamil elite, seething with racial hatred, and embittered and radicalized by their own false propaganda.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Like the Sri Lankans since the war resumed in 2006, the Arabs must stand firm and united. They must not give in to the creation of false histories or the engineering of stories which aim to tear the country apart. They must ignore foreign meddling and lectures, and be masters of their own destinies.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Many diaspora Tamils (descended from the old elite), NGOs, journalists and foreign politicians now preach from the hymn book of humanitarianism, effusing concern and wagging know-it-all fingers when it comes to the responsibilities of the Sri Lankan government and how to deal with the minorities.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ They do this after spending 33 years rejoicing at the sight of butchered Sinhalese men, women and children, gloating at the scenes of brazen suicide bombings and political assassinations, enjoying videos of settlements littered with corpses and limbs of civilians, praising and eulogising dead suicide bombers as martyrs, turning a blind eye as their own brethrenƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s children were used as part of the terrorist war machine, and funding Tamil terrorism through extortion rackets, human smuggling, child prostitution and drug trafficking.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ They decry the 18^th Amendment as an assault on democracy, but conceal the unconstitutional imposition of the 13^th Amendment after an assault on our sovereignty by a greedy Indian. They condemn the baseless allegations that surrendering terrorists were shot, but had no problem with the terrorists slaughtering 900 surrendering policemen (which is just one of many bloody stains on the foreign-backed UNP). They are concerned about the human rights of captured terrorists, but such ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-luxuriesƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ as a right to life and freedom from fear were not afforded to the Sinhalese and other Sri Lankans for over three decades.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ When Tamils leave in their droves from their ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-liberatorsƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ to where their ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-persecutorsƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ live, such that the Sinhalese are now a minority in the capital city Colombo, this is not even reported. When the Sinhalese and Muslims are ethnically cleansed from their ancestral homes in the north, all is fine. But when these Sinhalese and Muslims try to return today, it is termed ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-colonisationƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ by the NGO racketeers, even though this cannot happen within the borders of oneƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s own nation. When Buddhist and Muslim priests and worshipers are gunned down in cold blood, and when Buddhist holy sites are suicide-bombed, all is quiet on the media front. When destroyed temples and mosques are rebuilt by the government, it is called an attack on Tamil culture.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ There is no end to their lectures and stories today, but when the bombs were blowing up left, right and centre, their silence was deafening. This alone shows their bias, their double-standards, and their hatred of the Sinhalese and other peace-loving Sri Lankans.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ No doubt similar enemies of freedom and liberty exist in Tunisia and Egypt. Of utmost importance, Tunisians, Egyptians and Sri Lankans must identify, highlight and punish these traitors, hypocrites and liars, whoever they may be and wherever they are in the world.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ To the people of Tunisia and Egypt, I have a message: As Sri Lankans, we understand your struggle against tyranny, we welcome your new democracy, we admire your peaceful achievement, and we stand ready to help you preserve your new liberty however we can. Congratulations!

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ There is an Arabic word ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-Erhal,ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ meaning ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-Leave.ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ We heard this chant repeatedly through the 18 days of protest in Egypt. I think it is apt in Sri Lanka too: Erhal, diaspora! Erhal, NGOs! Erhal, Ranil!