CLASSIFIED | POLITICS | TERRORISM | OPINION | VIEWS

Attempts To Destabilize The GOSL: Patriotism With A Twist

By Darmitha-Kotte

With the steady forward march of our Combined Forces into terrorist territory and with systematic victories through which such territories are being taken over as "government controlled areas in the North", there is one segment of our society that is becoming uneasy. They are now seen to be banding together - be they the opposition UNP, human rights activists in Sri Lanka and overseas, peace activists like National Peace Council here in Sri Lanka and their links overseas, NGOs( both local and international) which have been earning their living through the miseries civilians are facing at the hands of LTTE terrorism, as well as JVP which seems to be using the rising cost of living as their excuse, are directly or indirectly planning actions through strikes or anti-government protests & media coverage( both local and international) & naturally the objective is to overthrow the current GOSL.

Sri Lanka has been engulfed in a "State vs LTTE Terrorism" war for the past 30 years which has brought about insecurity, misery, breakdown in social and economic development plans for the country but enhanced the profitable incomes of "super academic peace advocates and human rights activists" who have dared to make the misery of a nation into a business venture which has proved to be highly lucrative. In the outside world, this misery has drawn millions and billions of US dollars out of Sri Lanka towards them to sell/purchase the required weaponry both for all GOSLs and the LTTE terrorists who have enjoyed their brutal actions against the civil society. What is strange to note, is that while terrorists wreak havoc and mayhem towards the State and civil society-the advocates of human rights and peace opt to remain silent BUT when the current GOSL has planned out a strategy to eliminate terrorism from this country they have become very vociferous in their protests! What is all the more strange is the fact that most of these champions of human rights and peace are persons who have been born, bred on this soil and who have turned out to be extremely good businessmen who don't care what happens to the country as long as they can earn their bread and butter and in the process hopefully, can also earn international awards as well as recognition for shamming programmes which please the" white masters" are famous for their "divide and rule policies" in Asian, South Asian and African countries!
One might expect these sons and daughters atleast, to be faithful and honest with and towards their Motherland but unfortunately the results are negative. When the entire nation is suffering, they should be crying on behalf of our Nation of Sri Lanka and not for the LTTE terrorists.

While the GOSL is going ahead with eliminating terrorism from this country, opposition politicians are now planning and expediting general strikes (by JVP) and "Kahala Nada" campaigns by Ranil Wickramasinghe and his wing of the UNP bourgeoisie (who dance away their free time at five star hotels & clubs) who claim they are speaking out on behalf of the common man who is at the receiving end of the trials and tribulations of a rising cost of living in this country.

Politicians and Their Patriotism:

The highly patriotic JVP is using this same situation to order general strikes through their island-wide network of Trade Unions whose ideologies are far too outdated to survive in the modern world. The irony and hypocrisy of their socialist ideology is that when JVP leaders (including the wife of Rohana Wijeweera who was murdered by the UNP) had to flee Sri Lanka during the UNP regime almost all of them fled to the "lucrative west" rather than the more austere socialist countries. Even the present leader Somawanse Amerasinghe opted to reside in UK. Wide publicity was given to Wimal Weerawanse and his wife Sasha who toured the USA recently. The late Rohana Wijeweera's wife also requested Chandrika Kumaratunga to help her go to the UK. Similarly, there are so many more JVP or known hard-core JVP members who are residing in many western countries. When in Sri Lanka, they preach" socialism" to their party members and trade union members without teaching these members that they must first perform their duties properly before demanding benefits from their employers or The State. Readers will be surprised to know, that trade unions in government organisations have given instructions to Stenographers that they need only to type 8 letters /8 hour day! Would you be surprised as to why there is low productivity in government organisations? This is the patriotism being preached to the "Sahodarayas." If government organisations are running at a loss, no one other than trade unions must be blamed for the problems they create after obtaining jobs using half baked qualifications because even while at universities, they do not encourage JVP students to study and enhance their knowledge, instead of which they are all engaged in sabotaging university administration work and disciplines.

When our country is going through extreme difficulties with an ongoing war against terrorism, it is needless to say that the entire country will have to face hardships for a period of time. Do we ever stop to think of the immense hardships that our Armed Forces are facing in the battle-front? For what are they fighting? Is it not because they want to free this country of terrorism for all of us who live outside the battle zones to live in peace and normalcy, is it not on behalf of all citizens of this country irrespective of whether they be Tamils, Muslims or Sinhalese (or whether they be Hindus, Buddhists, Christians/Catholics or Muslims). At this juncture, when the UNP organisers bullock cart processions in their bid "to alert people against the rising cost of fuel" it reminds one of the saying " Nero is playing the fiddle while Rome is burning" just exposing the mentality of the UNP leaders and their low mentality. Fortunately today, more common people on the streets are proud to throw their lot with the brave soldiers and are willing to suffer for a bit longer if terrorist menace can be wiped out of this country-they are far more patriotic than the opposition politicians.

When the Opposition and UNP leader ridicules himself by uttering cheap statements like "Gotabhaya is a traitor!" he little realizes that people tend to judge the speaker rather than the accused. While the accused is working to eliminate terrorism in this country together with the Armed Forces, the speaker is attempting to destabilize the operations to help the common enemy-LTTE terrorists. Is it difficult to judge who the actual "traitor "is? As it is well known, it is during the Premiership of the UNP leader that UNDP funding was provided for sophisticated communication equipment to be given to the LTTE and their Peace Secretariat in Kilinochchi, it was during his Premiership with the signing of the infamous Ceasefire Agreement(CFA) that the LTTE was given a free hand to earn a daily revenue of Rs.4-5million Rupees/ day by opening the A9 Road from vehicles and persons entering the North, when the LTTE could freely extract Kappang from all projects operating in the North and East, when the LTTE even began to establish their own courts to put people on trial, citizens from the South were intentionally encouraged to tour the North(claiming that there was peace) so that the LTTE could earn money from them.

When the UNP leader went around the western world begging those governments not to help Sri Lanka during the Tsunami because the GOSL was under Chandrika Kumaratunga, these acts must have surely been considered by as being "highly patriotic!."

He also has come out as a champion of Free Media little forgetting what the UNP did during 1978-1994 against journalists who wrote against the brutalities, bribery and corruption of the then UNP regime. Was it "Freedom of Expression" that permitted them to murder the late Richard de Zoysa or lawyer Kanchana Abeypala? Was it human rights and media freedom that saw hundreds and thousands of dead bodies floating down rivers or the burning of bodies on tyres in the middle of the roads?

Human Rights Activists, Peace Advocates & Religious Leaders:

For 30 years the brutal LTTE terrorist movement has been wreaking terror and destabilizing the civil society of Sri Lanka with brutal murders in the North/East and South, bomb attacks on State Institutions, blasting public transport systems murdering and injuring hundreds and thousands( taking into consideration the 30 years), abducting school-going children for their "child brigades", blackmailing businessmen and extorting money (Kappang) for their terrorism, murdering politicians whether they be Tamil, Muslim or Sinhalese in the most gruesome manner if opposing viewpoints are expressed. University students in the North have been deprived of normal university education. What have the champions of human rights and peace advocates been doing for 30 years? Atleast now they should admit that LTTE terrorists do not want peace or human rights! Had the campaigns of these wonderful movements been successful and if they had spent time brainwashing the terrorists into accepting peace, Sri Lanka would not have needed 30 years but, till today these advocates have only been able to profit by the misery wreaked out on the citizens of this country.

However, within these two years when our Armed Forces have gone all out to wipe out terrorism and successfully freed the East and brought about normalcy, when in the North the terrorists are being pushed into difficult corners, all the human rights advocates, peace advocates and anti-Buddhist religious leaders have decided to come out and call for "peace negotiations" and are pushing the GOSL more than they are the terrorists! It is no secret that the Catholic Church has been working hand-in-glove with the LTTE especially in the Mannar region-the domain of Rev.Father Rayappu Joseph who turned a blind eye on terrorist activities while the LTTE were planting Claymore bombs within the Madhu Church premises but was preying for an opportunity to blame the Combined Forces if even one of them went off-fortunately our Armed Forces acted wisely knowing that they were walking into a trap! Where is the patriotism of these Church Fathers?

There has been a spate of bomb attacks on public transport services during the past months which has reported many casualties and deaths. With the intention of diverting attention of the Armed Forces to the South for the terrorists to "get a breather" and hopefully to get Southerners to react adversely against Tamils living in the South among the Sinhalese for them to use such attacks to rebuild their propaganda machines overseas, the LTTE has been murdering civilians at close intervals. There is no doubt that the LTTE is obtaining adequate support from the anti-government/ pro-LTTE factions in the South for them to carry out such operations to bring discredit to the GOSL at a crucial time.

The human rights advocates and peace advocates do not seem to consider these lives and "human lives" worth talking about. It is reported that National Peace Council champion Jehan Perera had made a statement to the Associated Press(AP) and reported on 7th June 2008 in the New York Times(NYK) to the effect that the bomb blasts in the South were "a tit-for-tat" reaction of the LTTE! It is sad that these people fail to differentiate between Armed Forces attempting to eliminate terrorism from the country and terrorists ruthlessly murdering civilians! To quote from the report (quote)" This could be the start of a worsening cycle of targeting civilians" said Jehan Perera of the National Peace Council, an independent activist group. He said the attacks were probably a "tit-for-tat kind of retaliation" by the rebels, who accuse the military of killing ethnic minority Tamil civilians with mines and air raids. "The government must also be careful with its own operations," he said (end quote). National Peace Council seems to overlook the fact that there is a difference between the term "rebels" and "terrorists" as the LTTE has been named even in western countries who declare that the LTTE is the most gruesome terrorist organisation! The other issue that they overlook, is the fact that Sri Lanka does not have an ethnic issue.but an elimination of Tamil terrorists.

Church backed human rights organisations have been conducting a systematic campaign to destabilize the current GOSL and even wrote protests to UN headquarters in Geneva and lobbied against Sri Lanka at the recent conference. Mind you all or most of these groups and their members are citizens of this country born and bred and enjoying wonderful lives in the South. While advocating negotiations and dialogue to the GOSL, they dare not advocate this nonsense to the blood-thirsty LTTE terrorists-why?

In a statement issued by Prof. Rajiva Wijesinghe-Secretary General, Secretary for Coordinating the Peace Process titled "Why Talk(again) Now?"-Peace Secretariat asks Religious Leaders" issued by The Permanent Mission of Sri Lanka to the United Nations Office at Geneva on 6th June 2008, he very categorically explains where the problem lies and questions as to why the Conference of Major Religious Superiors(CMRS) does not address their appeals to the LTTE rather than direct it to a democratically elected GOSL. The last paragraph of his statement sums it all up in proving that the Church and LTTE were working hand in glove to destabilize the government when (quote):" Finally it is sad that only now do the Superiors ask "for the disputed area around the our Lady of Madhu Shrine in the northern diocese of Mannar to be made a "peace zone" and for the government and rebel forces to stay clear of it. No such call was heard when the LTTE used the areas for its weapons and its cadres. No such call was heard when the Sri Lankan forces had surrounded the shrine but carefully refrained from any attack so that there would no sacrilegious damage, simply ensuring that the Tigers had finally to withdraw when supplies failed. No gratitude is now expressed though the forces, having taken over the shrine, handed it back to the custory of the church, which cannot still guarantee that the Tigers will not return, and hence keep the sacred statue still far away( end quote)"

To sum up the entire issue of patriotism in Sri Lanka and the efforts of the Armed Forces and GOSL to eliminated terrorism from this country, all anti-national forces are targeting their appeals, accusations and criticisms at the GOSL and not at the perpetrators who have been violating all norms of human rights, peaceful negotiations and decency-THE LTTE TERRORISTS!

Disclaimer: The comments contained within this website are personal reflection only and do not necessarily reflect the views of the LankaWeb. LankaWeb.com offers the contents of this website without charge, but does not necessarily endorse the views and opinions expressed within. Neither the LankaWeb nor the individual authors of any material on this Web site accept responsibility for any loss or damage, however caused (including through negligence), which you may directly or indirectly suffer arising out of your use of or reliance on information contained on or accessed through this Web site.
All views and opinions presented in this article are solely those of the surfer and do not necessarily represent those of LankaWeb.com. .

BACK TO LATEST NEWS

DISCLAIMER