by D.B.S. Jeyaraj
Last year when speculation was rife about former Army commander Sarath Fonseka announcing his candidacy for the Presidential elections this columnist was among those who warned of adverse consequences befalling the Country as a result of this unprecedented move.
Chief among these was the very strong possibility of an escalation in the continuous process of the military being politicised and society being militarised in the Country.
[Posters for Sarath Fonseka in Jaffna-pic. indi.ca]
I perceived the Fonseka phenomenon as the logical outcome this long process.
Writing in “The Sunday Leader” of November 15th 2009 I described this bizarre turn of events this way:
“On another level the current situation is also the culmination of a long process of militarisation of Sri Lankan society and a gradual politicisation of the military.
There has been a creeping militarisation that has eroded civic, democratic values. The military was afforded an unhealthy paramountcy over the years. It’s crunch time now!
This then is the situation. The nation has come to a sorry state where the former Army Chief is poised to wage an electoral battle against his former Commander-in-Chief. Whatever the outcome of this titanic clash there is no doubt that the country on the whole will suffer irredeemable harm”.
Writing in the “Daily Mirror” of November 21st 2009 I appealed to both parties not to go ahead with this “power struggle” as it would cause serious problems for the country in the long run and urged some compromise. This is what I wrote then:
“Ideally this is a contest that should not have happened. A scenario where an ex-army commander contests the presidency against the incumbent president could trigger off a set of unexpected developments and unintended consequences.
Chief among these is the distinct probability of politics pervading the armed forces and causing irredeemable harm for the Country”.
Events have moved since then and the Presidential stakes 2010 are on. In actuality it has whittled down to a two-horse race between the chief contenders namely the President and the General.
As the contest gathers momentum one of the consequences I was concerned about is very visible.
Despite denials the politicization of the military is on along with a militarization of politics albeit to a lesser extent.
DEW Gunasekera
Communist party stalwart and cabinet minister DEW Gunasekera referred to this process explicitly while addressing a seminar in Jaffna on Jan 2nd 2010.
Comrade DEW observed thus:
“With the entry of General Fonseka to politics, a new element has been introduced to our spectrum of politics which will lead not only to militarization of politics but also politicization of the military”.
While agreeing with him on the question of militarization of politics and vice versa I disagree with him about it being entirely due to Sarath Fonseka’s political entry.
As far as I am concerned the process of our military being politicized has been going on for decades. The militarizing of politics too has been on to a lesser extent.
The Fonseka phenomenon is the outcome of these processes.The entry of Sarath Fonseka into politics is their logical culmination.
Nevertheless Fonseka’s entry has accelerated and expanded these processes in a way never seen before. Regardless of who wins or loses in the election the impact of this politicization of military and militarization of politics does not augur well for the country.
It should be recognized that the twin processes of Politicisation of the military and militarisation of society and politics has to a certain extent become inevitable. Just as nature abhors a vacuum, “politics” cannot be avoided in certain spheres. But one would like some spheres to be kept “uncontaminated” by politics in the larger interests of the country. The armed services are institutions that should be “de-politicised” for the well-being of the nation.
In Sri Lanka there has been a tendency to politicise almost every sphere of activity. Even the armed forces particularly the Army has fallen victim to this course of events. While the roles played by political leaders and defence service officers and officials have contributed to this the personality factor is not the sole culprit.
There have been structural changes and systematic developments over the past years that render the concept of the armed forces being immune from politics an impossible task.
Defence Budget
The defence budget has been increasing over the years. From a miniscule 1-2% in the years after Independence from the British Defence allocations and expenditure has increased to around one-thirds of the total budget. These comprise direct allocations as well as supplementary estimates. Essential services like Education,Health and Agriculture get less than defence in budget allocations.
On another level recruitment has increased rapidly. Together the three armed services number close upon three hundred thousand. Plans in the pipeline aim at increasing the army alone to 300,000 in the future. The army is the single biggest source of employment to males in rurl regions.
Against that backdrop the army becomes a politically attractive proposition. Any service or institution receiving massive fund allocation or providing employment to large numbers in a developing society such as Sri Lanka is very likely to be permeated by the prevalent political culture. It would be difficult to cocoon the armed forces from politics.When fruits ripen the fruitbats swarm.
There is also the question of the role of the armed forces expanding over the years.The army, navy and Air Force are no longer “token” institutions performing exhibition duties. The days of soldiers marching in Colombo with unloaded rifles are long gone. Thiugh they are yet to fight a battle with an external enemy the armed forces have become battle-hardened by fighting a very long war with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).
Even before the war escalated the politizisation of the military has been going on. Due to political causes the Sri Lankan soldier has over the years been “converted” into an ethnic “Sinhala Buddhist soldier.This image has become widespread in the contemporary era. Propaganda efforts by the Government have given a larger than life aura to the army.Projects such as “Api Wenuwen Api” have portrayed the army as an exalted entity in the Country.
The recent years have seen fierce fighting of positional warfare between the Army and LTTE. The nation was galvanised into dizzying heights of patriotic support for the army. Almost everyone referring to the soldiers called them “Valiant soldiers”. The adjective and noun were inseparable in contrived public opinion.
Sections of civil society have undertaken much activity aimed at catering to the welfare and needs of soldiers and families. The kith and kin of soldiers have acquired a new prominence. In rural areas,family members of soldiers are treated with some amount of respect.
National Security
This naturally elevates the Army to a superior status in society. Each and every politician tries to cater to the whims and fancies of the militaristic hierarchy.
Opposition politicians who question the “misconduct” of the army are reviled as traitors. The soldiers regadless of individual shortcomings are held up as role models for society.
The influence of the Army has been impacting heavily on Society and even re-shaping norms and values. The army has not only pervaded society but has become a very dominant force in society.
Sri Lanka has also seen a decline of civil liberties as the anti-tiger war escalated.The pursuit of war was given paramount importance. Several draconian measures were undertaken against tigers, tiger suspects and those perceived as being sympathetic to the tigers. Individual freedom and rights were sacrificed on the altar of national security.
Since most of the victims were Tamils there was very little protest from the majoritarian public. There were some voices who cried out against this erosion of liberty but were drowned out by a raucous cacophony of pseudo-patriotic nationalism. Thus a national security state was in formation.
The army naturally acquires a higher status in a national security state. This is what happened in Sri Lanka that has all the trappings of a national security state behind the thin veneer of democracy. Such a trend could only result in a direct military dictatorship or a dominant role for the military in politics.
In such an atmosphere the Army cannot be kept in quarantine from the hustle and bustle of nitty-gritty politics. More importantly politics and politics cannot be kept away from the armed forces.The politicisation of the military therefore becomes inevitable.
This however is not a healthy prospect for the nation. While noting the socio-political forces at play here and understanding the underlying factors behind these processes it must be realised that these developments are not desirable. Recognizing that such processes are in progress does not necessarily mean acceptance.
Sarath Fonseka
Today we see the politicisation of military process and militarisation of political process proceeding steadily in the country. Both processes have reached a controversial confluence in the form of Sarath Fonseka.
The progressive politicisation of the military has resulted in an Army chief throwing his “beret” in the ring of a presidential contest. The progressive militarisation of society and politics has enabled the polity to be broadly receptive to the notion of a general invading electoral politics and challenging his former commander in chief politically.
Sarath Fonseka therefore is the historic meeting point of these processes. He is the product and personification of these processes. At the same time his entry into politics is transforming the political environment in new directions.
The politicisation of the military has gathered terrific momentum. The political fall-out of such phenomena will be with us for a long time.It does not matter whether Fonseka wins or loses but the consequences of this contest will be felt in the days to come.
To his credit Sarath Fonseka had refused to discuss electoral or party politics publicly as long as he was in uniform. But he did make comments of a political nature against those who wanted the war to end or the political demands of ethnic minorities.After retirement and the plunge into politics the ex- army chief has been very outspoken on local political issues.
He has been critical of the government,defence secretary and high-ranking officers from the defence services. Fonseka has also been frequently playing his favourite tune of claiming sole credit for the war victory.
In a bid to counter this the Govt has departed from military protocol and tradition and “arranged” for serving army officers to speak out against Sarath Fonseka both directly and indirectly.
The govt has also ensured that maximum propaganda mileage is derived from these militaristic pronouncements. Enhanced media coverage is provided.
Jagath Jayasuriya
Thus we have seen statements attributed to the serving army commander Lt.Gen Jagath Jayasuriya in the media. Some of these refute Gen Sarath Fonseka openly. Even meetings addressed within army premises by the army chief find their way into the media courtesy of the Defence ministry websites.There is implicit criticism of his predecessor by his successor. This has never happened before.
Army spokesman Brig. Udaya Nanayakkara has often exceeded his designated mandate by commenting specifically on matters related to Sarath Fonseka.
Apart from this many other high-ranking army officers have been giving media interviews . Chief among them is Maj-Gen Shavendra Silva.
Since Gen.Sarath Fonseka referred critically to Shavendra Silva in an interview given to “The Sunday Leader” the major-general has some reason for defending and clearing himself. Neverthless the practice is not something desirable in the long run.
Other army officers like Maj-Gen Kamal Gunaratne, Maj-Gen Chaggi Galage, Maj-Gen Prasanna Silva and Brigadier Prasad Samarasinghe have all given interviews to the state media.
Most of these interviews ostensibly relate to military matters and the war against the tigers but there is no mistaking the patent political sub-text.
They are all part of a political agenda aimed at undermining Sarath Fonseka and promoting Mahinda Rajapakse. This type of brazen politicking by military officers was something unheard of in the not so distant past.
Gotabhaya Rajapakse
The conduct of Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapakse has been quite controversial in this respect. Despite the fact that he is a top government servant the defence secy has been engaging in political discourse while addressing public meetings.
[Gotabhaya Rajapakse-pic: bbc-Feb 2009]
No ministerial secretary has made direct political speeches before like Gotabhaya in this country. The fact that he is in charge of the all-powerful Defence ministry that oversees the Army, Navy, Air Force and Police sends down very wrong signals that defence personnel playing politics is appropriate procedure.
He has also been giving interviews with political overtones to some of his lapdogs in the media. Gotabhaya does not encourage official press conferences where all journalists can question him openly. He only dishes out interviews to his lackeys like hand-outs.
The Defence ministry website also goes to town regularly with news items against Fonseka and in favour of Mahinda Rajapakse.The Defence ministry and Media centre for National security websites have acquired a notorious reputation for vilifying and attacking people who fall foul of the Rajapakse regime.
The websites have even attacked lawyers appearing for people charged under the Prevention of Terrorism Act. Despite protests there has been no sign of this practice stopping as iit has the full backing of Gotabhaya Rajapakse. It is now the turn of Sarath Fonseka to be at the receiving end.
It is as if “open season” has been declared on the Swan and its supporters.
There is also a marked change in the tone and content of the website items nowadays. There is a concerted effort to bolster Gotabhaya’s image. It is as if there is a “build-up” of Gotabhaya for political purposes. Even the interviews given by army officers are full of praise for Gotabhaya as a military genius and architecht of the victory over the LTTE.
There is no denying Gotabhaya’s role in the war victory and Fonseka is wrong to claim sole monopoly for the credit but these moves to prop up Gotabhaya comprise a naked exhibition of how the defence services in general and the Army in particular are being politicised.
Coup d’etat
The government has also been paranoid about a possible coup d’etat by the General and his cohorts within the army.
An important factor contributing to the rupture between the Rajapakses and Fonseka was the suspicion and fear that Fonseka was building up his own “empire” within the army and could possibly stage a military coup.
This paranoia hastened the process of Sarath Fonseka being sidelined quickly by the Rajapakse regime.
Fonseka has repeatedly denied that he was plotting a coup but his denials lack conviction at times when the general boasts that he could very easily have captured power when in office by simply sending a few battalions down to Colombo.This fuels suspicion that the General had indeed been thinking on those lines and revives the bogey of an imminent military coup.
Against that backdrop many officers suspected of being partial towards the general have been transferred out strategically important positions and/or assigned to insignificant “powerless” posts.
Fonseka’s parent “Sinha” regiment once the pride of the army has been relegated into duties in non-strategic spheres.
It is as if the Sinha regiment is untrustworthy due to the Fonseka connection.Were the regiments one-time mascot “Kandula” alive today the elephant would be shedding “kandulu”.
According to some media reports the parent regiments of the defence secretary Gotabhaya Rajapakse (Gajaba)and army commander Jagath Jayasuriya (Armoured corps)are deemed more reliable and loyal and are entrusted with key responsibilities nowadays.
Ambalangoda Sinhaya
Loyalty however is not necessarily the exclusive preserve of Medamulana alone. The “Ambalangoda Sinhaya” too has his own following in the army.
[General Sarath Fonseka visited the first school he attended in Ampara, on Jan 6, 2010-sarathfonseka.com]
According to an “intelligence” report roughly 75% to 80% of the rank and file is extremely loyal to the retired army commander. As far as the officers are concerned around 40% belong to the Fonseka fraternity. A large number of these are in the Captain to Colonel ranks.
The Fonseka phenomenon has had a tremendous impact on the army. Deep divisions are emerging. There is both a vertical and horizontal split.
Due to necessity the maverick General has been relying to a great extent on the Triple “A” factor. Most of his trusted deputies and lieutnenants are from Ambalangoda, Ananda College and the Army.
Several retired army officers are part of his campaign team. Many old soldiers are helping out as volunteers. These include several “deserters”. Even serving personnel are taking “leave” and joining the general’s election effort.
This has led to all leave being cancelled to the military. This is both to keep the army alert for “election developments” and prevent “vacationing” soldiers doing propaganda for Generalissimo.
In the North and East there is visible a new troubling political trend.Several Military officers serving in those regions are indirectly supporting Fonseka by telling civilian acquaintances to vote wisely by voting for a “Change”.
Ordinary soldiers are more direct and blunt. They are telling members of the public in Tamil to vote for “Fonseka mahathaya” or “General Aiyah” or “Sarath Sir”. There is a groundswell of support for Sarath Fonseka among Tamils and Muslims in the North and East. The flagrant support of ordinary soldiers for Fonseka is also a contributory factor.
Vote-rigging
A consequence of this tendency would impact on the voting pattern.The need to manipulate and rig voting becomes imperative for the Rajapakse regime. Any large-scale vote rigging or booth capturing in the North-East is possible only if the army co-operates or at best does not object.
Given the track-record of past polls there prevails the strong probability of polls being rigged by Tamil groups aligned to the govt. This has become absolutely essential as the voting among the Seven Southern provinces is likely to be a close fight if elections are held free and fair.Thus rigging North-Eastern votes could tilt the balance in favour of Rajapakse.
The outfits led by Kathiravelu Devananda alias Douglas in Jaffna, Dharmalingam Siddharthan alias Sithar in Vavuniya and Vinayagamoorthy Muraleetharan alias Karuna in Batticaloa-Amparai are in a position to manipulate voting in favour of Mahinda Rajapakse.
But this would not be possible to a great extent if the army maintained strict vigil and neutrality. Already soldiers are telling Tamil civilians to vote without fear for Sarath Fonseka and that they (the army) would ensure a free and fair poll.
Another matter causing concern to the Rajapakse regime is the role played by ordinary soldiers in the rural areas. Almost every Sinhala village has some of its people serving as soldiers in the army.
In a climate of patriotic fervour prevalent nowadays the soldiers despite their humble origins enjoy much respect and influence in rural society. As such their views play an important part in shaping village opinion.
The soldiers perceive Sarath Fonseka as one of their own. Generally most soldiers feel that it is they who make sacrifices on the battlefield and that civilian politicians reap the credit and profit. This tendency is prevalent not only in Sri Lanka but in other countries also.
However in Sri Lanka this issue has become pre-eminent. The split between Rajapakse brothers and the General was greatly due to Fonseka resenting the Rajapakse family benefitting politically from the war victory whereas the ex-army chief felt he deserved all credit.
This clash in a sense was a symptom of the love-hate relationship between soldiers and civilians.Many soldiers sympathise and empathise with the General on this account. They carry chips on their shoulders about politicians exploiting their sacrifices and reaping a beneficial harvest.
Power Struggle
The Rajapakse-Fonseka power struggle personifies this soldier-civilian divide. Thus soldiers are increasingly supporting the General as a result.The Rajapakse regime is worried about this and resorting to extreme manoeuvres to counter it.
One such disturbing feature is the “whisper” campaign underway in terms of “caste” within sections of the army.The Rajapakses are Govigama while Fonseka is of Karawe-Salagama parentage. The Govigama caste is the single-largest Sinhala caste group in Sri Lanka. Apart from the “exception” of Ranasinghe Premadasa all Prime Ministers and Presidents of Sri Lanka since Independence are from the Govigama caste.
It is not fashionable to discuss caste publicly or on political platforms. Nevertheless it is a harsh reality. Recent Provincial council and local authority elections have witnessed the “caste” factor being played up overtly to secure “Manape” or preference votes for candidates from particular caste groups.
The Rajapakse regime has commenced working the “caste” campaign within Army rank and file in a bid to dent and damage the solidarity shown by soldiers to Fonseka. There are also rumours that some officers from the Karawe caste group are being treated shabbily. It remains to be seen as to how successful this “caste campaign” would be. But once again the politicisation process of the military continues this time on crude, caste lines.
Under these circumstances there is bound to be much friction before and during elections between the pro-Sarath and anti-Sarath elements in the army as well as society at large. This friction is likely to continue after polls too with ominous forebodings for the future. Again the Army is becoming a casualty of the political war.
There are reports that transfers have been done within army echelons and those high-ranking officers suspected of Fonseka sympathies are being moved out and replaced with Rajapakse loyalists.
There are instances of officers demanding soldiers engaged in postal voting to vote for the President and to show whom they voted for. Several officers with Rajapakse leanings are in “consultation” with para-military elements about the elections.
All this points to a massive vote-rigging exercise being plotted and planned with the connivance of “politicised” officers. This may have prompted Sarath Fonseka to warn publicly that officers indulging in “politics” would be court-martialled when he became President.
Likewise the military grapevine is also buzzing that two serving major-generals and four Brigadiers will be among officers earmarked for “disciplinary action” as “closet Fonsekaites” after a Rajapakse triumph.
If on the other hand Fonseka wins the election there is a distinct possibility of a crack-down on top defence service officers and ex-service chiefs. Ex-Navy chief Karannagoda, army chief Jayasuriya and all army officers who have been doing anti-Sarath politics openly could feel the general’s jackboot.
Dirty Politics
In Sri Lanka almost every institution has been politicised and eroded. The Police service being a disgraceful example. Now it seems to be the turn of the Army. Dirty politics is destroying the institution from within and without.
These unintended, negative consequences arising from the legitimate political exercise of an election are what I was concerned about when I wrote earlier that the Rajapakse-Fonseka duel could cause great harm to the Country.
[President Rajapakse at the Nallur Kandaswamy Temple, Jan 10-pic:Sudath Silva-InfoLanka]
On another level it can also be said that the Rajapakse regime which sowed the wind is now reaping the whirlwind.
The processes of military-politicization and politics-militarization have been going on for quite a while in the country.
It was however the Rajapakse government that provided gigantic fillips to these in a bid to win the war against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in the shortest possible time.
A fetish was made out of the military and widespread propaganda was unleashed to get the youth to volunteer to join the armed forces. These efforts were successful
The Rajapakse regime encouraged the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) and Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU) to visit army camps and boost the morale of soldiers. They also played a part in promoting recruitment
Such politicization of the military enterprise would not have been tolerated under earlier governments but the Rajapakse regime paid scant heed to norms and established procedures
As a result the JVP enjoys much clout among ordinary soldiers while the JHU has influence among officers. Today the JVP is officially supporting Sarath Fonseka and the JHU Mahinda Rajapakse
But loyalties are fractured and there are sections among both parties supporting the candidate opposed by their party hierarchies. This is reflected within the armed forces too.
The Rajapakse regime converted military victories on ground into political capital. In the exercise to co-opt military “credit” for political “merit” the then army chief, Sarath Fonseka was projected to the public alongside President Rajapakse on an equal dimension.
Carte Blanche
Sarath Fonseka was given virtual “Carte blanche” to say anything he wished or do anything he liked. Very often Fonseka stepped out of line as a serving army chief and made political statements castigating political opponents of the Rajapakse regime.
He also vehemently criticised sections of the media.It is strongly suspected that Journalists like Keith Noyahr and Namal Perera were assaulted severely by a militarary unit working under Fonseka.
Gotabhaya Rajapakse warned media association representatives that the people who loved Fonseka and the Country could resent the media and take counter action against journalists perceived as being disloyal or traitors.
Fonseka also made derogatory remarks about the ethnic minorities of the Country to the foreign media and asserted like a Sinhala supremist that Sri Lanka belonged to the majority Sinhalese.
If a serving army chief of any democratic, multi-ethnic country had made such remarks that person would have been dishonourably discharged from active duty. Not so in Sri Lanka where Fonseka was hailed as a hero.
The point I want to emphasise is that the Rajapakse regime has had no qualms about politicising the military and tolerating the erstwhile army chief making controversial statements in the past. Discipline in the defence services was deliberately allowed to deteriorate among the upper echelons as long the politics was favourable to the government.
Cabinet minister and Communist comrade Dew Gunasekera who now laments about the military being politicised by Sarath Fonseka contesting the presidency was eloquently silent earlier when Fonseka supported by the Rajapakse brothers was running riot. Fonseka is a symptom of an on-going process.
Though the military has been systematically politicised over many decades it was the Rajapakse regime that virtually institutionalised this process as an integral part of governmental policy. The lines of demarcation were systematically blurred.
It is an open secret that army personnel were used to paste posters and put up giant cut-outs with the knowledge of superior officers . Thus the politicisation of the army was fostered at a very crude, street level by the Rajapakse regime.
Martial Image
Unfortunately for the Rajapakse’s their “creature” like that of the monster created by Dr. Frankenstein had a mind of its own and began refusing to play second fiddle.
The general had other ideas and thought of cashing in on his martial image for his own benefit instead of propping up the Medamulana oligarchy as was expected of him.
So the earlier posters showing Mahinda and Sarath together were replaced with those showing the Rajapakse brothers –Mahinda, Gota and Basil.
Things changed and it is now the turn of opposition politicians to entertain notions of manipulating Fonseka for their political gain. Once again the perceived “puppet” is likely to show the would be “puppeteers” who the master is if and when success is achieved.
It was also the Rajapakse regime that militarised civil administration to a very great extent by appointing retired defence service officers to key high posts of the country.
Though earlier governments have also done this it was Mahinda Rajapakse who transformed this tendency into established practice.
Several key positions were given to these ex-officers who discharged their responsibilities in a militaristic manner. This is very visible in the North and East where “civilian” posts were manned by ex-defence service officials.
This govt also nominated ex-army personnel to their lists of candidates contesting local authority and provincial polls.
Of course there have been instances of former army officers entering politics as in the case of Richard Udugama, Anuruddha Ratwatte, Sarath Munasighe and Janaka Perera. Both the SLFP and UNP have been responsible.
There is nothing wrong or illegal in a retired army officer entering politics but there is no doubt that the process of society and politics being militarised has accelerated as a result.
Even now speculation is rife that a number of top army officers would be contesting the Parliamentary elections on behalf of the United Peoples Freedom Alliance. Some of these potential “candidates” are bringing disrepute to the Army by their blatant partisanship towards the Rajapakse regime.
Sadly as a result of these developments the military gets mired in politics and politics gets mixed up with the military.
But as stated before this process did not begin with the entry of Sarath Fonseka into politics. It will not end with him either.
SWRD Bandaranaike
How then did this unhealthy trend of politics pervading the military sphere commence?
Once again the finger of guilt points to the man blamed by many for ushering in the age of irresponsible,populist politics-Solomon West Ridgeway Dias Bandaranaike.
It is widely believed that it was under SWRDB that the steep decline of values and standards in the country began.
[Solomon West Ridgeway Dias Bandaranaike and Sirima Bandaranaike]
SWRDB riding the crest of a populist wave had set up a government described as “Apey Aanduwe” or “Our Government”. The rot began setting in with majoritarianism replacing merit and mob rule assailing the rule of law.
It was during SWRDB’s rule that discipline in the army began declining and a debilitating political process began.
The first instance of military discipline being flouted through political pressure was an incident in Mannar.
18 soldiers of the Artillery regiment had a grouse against their superiors for not being given training in vocational skills and began a “fast unto death”.
Under SWRDB “fast unto death” campaigns had become fashionable and an easy way of pressuring the Prime minister into doing the wrong thing or refraining from doing the right thing.
The army top brass was not permitted to deal with this breach of discipline. The Prime minister “helicoptered” to Mannar and pleaded with tha fasting soldiers to give up their fast. Promises were made and the soldiers called of the fast with the premier returning triumphantly after providing orange juice.
In another instance SWRDB appointed a “Buddhist” civil servant as Inspector General of Police instead of letting a serving Deputy Inspector-General become IGP. This was because all three DIG’s waiting in line on seniority basis were Christians.
Ethnic relations began deteriorating under SWRDB and the armed forces were called in to quell the anti-Tamil violence of 1956 and 1958 by the Governor-General Sir Oliver Goonetilleke . When trade unions went on strike certain services were declared essential services and the armed forces were deployed in those sectors.
This practice was followed by his widow Mrs. Sirima Bandaranaike also.
Furthermore in a blatant display of administrative abuse the military in 1961 was assigned the task of breaking up a non-violent civil disobedience campaign by the Federal party seeking equal rights for the Tamil language.
It was then that communal politics entered the army.The 3rd field artillery regiment to be deployed in Jaffna was commanded by Lt. Col Wilmot (Willie) Abrahams. He was ordered not to go to Jaffna at the last minute on the grounds that he was a Tamil.
Ironically his second in command Major W Ignatius Loyola was a Tamil too.
So it was left to the next in line a Burgher Major Wilton A White to take command.
The secretary of Defence at that time was NQ Dias
This was perhaps the first time that politics played “pandu” within the military realm when a commanding officer was disallowed from commanding his troops due to his ethnicity.
Richard Udugama
It was an “open secret” then in army circles that it was at the behest of “Col” Richard Udugama that Mrs. Bandaranaike ordered the “pullback” of Willie Abrahams.
It was Udugama who supervised the break-up of the non-violent Satyagraha by the army in Jaffna.The sight of Udugama standing on a balcony with megaphone and urging hesitant soldiers to use force on the unarmed civilians is a scene etched in the memory of those Satyagrahis to this day.
Udugama was feted as a great hero who conquered the Tamils after putting down this non-violent protest through force.
The army was being thrust into politics.
The continuous pattern of utilising the armed forces to counter civil protests and trade union strikes was resented by the upper echelons of the army.
Most of these officers had been officers in the Ceylon Defence force under the British and absorbed into the Army of independent Sri Lanka (then Ceylon) later. These officers were heirs to the old, honourable military traditions of service and preferred to remain aloof from politics.
Yet the army was being used by the govt as an instrument of force for political purposes.The Tamil satyagraha for instance was a political issue to be resolved through negotiations. Instead the army was ordered to crack down with brute force. Violence was used against non-violence.
1962 Coup Attempt
Increasing disgust at the manner in which the country was being run resulted in some top officers of the Army and Police planning a bloodless coup d’etat in 1962. It was indeed ironic that disdain for politics polluting the armed services resulted in these officers getting involved in politics.
Ethnicity-wise the army at that time was 70% Sinhala, 7% Burgher, 11 % Muslim (mainly Malays) and the rest Tamils. The officers however were more than 40 % Christian. These included Sinhalese,Tamils and Burghers.
The coup never got off the ground as information leaked out and the planners called it off. Investigations were conducted and at least 26 were charged in courts.
The aborted coup had a negative consequence. Since an overwhelming number of suspected conspirators were Christian, Mrs. Bandaranaike became ultra- sensitive to this factor thereafter.
Political “interference” into the administration of the armed forces increased.
A clear bias was shown against Christians and a Sinhala-Buddhist consciousness began growing in recruitment and promotions.
Earlier one out of three officer cadets admitted to Sandhurst military acdemy in Britain was Christian. Under Mrs. Bandaranaike they were all Buddhists.
New recruitment was on blatant religious and political lines. Defence secretary NQ Dias personally vetted the intake and it was said that at least 195 out of a batch of 200 recruits was regarded as being “politically correct” on religious, racial and ideological grounds.
Another glaring example of religious bias was in 1964 when Brigadier Heyn a Burgher who should have been appointed army chief in terms of seniority was overlooked. Richard Udugama, a Sinhala Buddhist was made commander.
1966 Coup Attempt
Ironically, Heyn became army chief in 1966 when Udugama was disgraced for alleged complicity in another suspected coup attempt.
1966 saw the UNP government of Dudley Senanayake passing regulations allowing the limited use of Tamil in North – Eastern administration. The SLFP-LSSP-CP combine in the opposition whipped up opposition on communal lines against it.
It was in this situation that a coup attempt was suspected, detected and foiled. A number of young officers in middle and lower ranks were implicated. An intelligence reprt prepared for the Government of the day warned that about 20% of the army was strongly politicised against the UNP regime and believed the overnment was betraying Sinhala-Buddhist interests to the Tamils.
Three important persons allegedly involved in the 1966 coup attempt were the serving army commander Richard Udugama, former defence secretary NQ Dias and an influential Buddhist priest Ven Henpitagedara Gnanasiha Thero. Rohana Wijeweera known by the nom de guerre “Dr.Tissa” was also suspected of being involved.
1970 saw Udugama contesting on the SLFP ticket and winning. But Mrs. Bandaranaike did not appoint him to any office. Disgruntled he quit govt ranks and together with Prins Gunasekara formed his own party.
The 1971 JVP revolt had its own repercussions. Once again the recruitment process was highly politicised and only those seen as loyal to the government were absorbed into the army.
Anuruddha Ratwatte
It was the age of the KGB. Kandyan Govigama Buddhists were given priority. This was the time when Up-Country youth who had never swam in the sea were taken into the Navy while Catholics from sea-faring coastal stock were left in the cold.
Anuruddha Ratwatte ~ in 1998
This period also saw naked nepotism to the fore. The young lieutenant Anuruddha Ratwatte was made Lt. Colonel and given a prominent role.Later he was given administrative responsibilities. Ratwatte was of course a member of the ruling clan.
In later years Ratwatte entered active politics and was national organizer of the SLFP. He was deputy-defence minister under his niece President Chandrika Kumaratunga. Just as Gotabhaya Rajapakse ran the “war” for his brother it was the Uncle who ran the war for Chandrika.
The return of the UNP in 1977 also saw a reverse form of the armed forces and Police being politicised.Former DIG of Police TB Werapitiya now an MP was put in charge of internal security.
When Stanley Senanayake retired as IGP the next two in line in terms of seniority were two Tamils Rudra Rajasingham and AC LawrenceI. But JR appointed the third in rank Ana Seneivaratne as IGP.
Rudra Rajasingham overlooked as IGP was to succeed Seneivaratne later.Of course the Jayewardena regime then displayed the Tamil trio of Rudra-IGP, Sharvananda-Chief Justice and Shiva Pasupathy-Attorney General as proof of non-discrimination to Tamils.
Under JR it was the turn of the green elephants to politicise the armed forces Political loyalty was the criteria for recruitment.Gradually this practice of politicised recruitment decreased. So too was the case in promotions.
Fresh Oxygen
The practice however did not cease entirely but continued throughout the past decades on a low scale. It was however the emergence of the Rajapakse regime that provided fresh oxygen to this process of politicising the military.
The Sarath Fonseka phenomenon therefore has to be seen as the logical outcome of this process of politicisation of the military. He is not the cause but only a consequence of this long process.
However there is no denying that the advent of Sarath Fonseka on the political horizon has torn the military fabric apart. The politicization of the military is reaching peak levels.
Regardless of who wins at the presidential polls the Country will suffer the long-term effects of the politicization of the military in the days to come.
DBS Jeyaraj can be reached at dbsjeyaraj@yahoo.com
Congratulations Mr. Jeyaraj for a fantastic article. It is like an academic research paper written in interesting way.Encapsulates recent history of military getting politicalised
Absolutely wonderful ,well-researched article. Worthy of being published as a monograph
I am amazed at your work DBSJ. More power to your writing
Astounding article Jeyaraj
I am overwhelmed.
I need to re-read again
Cry the beloved Country
Very thought-provoking timely article DBS
Your love and affection for Sri Lanka is easily seen.Thank you very much
Yes, we are in a difficult time.We can only hope that this militarisation -politisisation processes get reversed after elections
But as you said it may continue to get worse. Big worry then
Hello DBS,
As always, an excellent analysis,probably one of your best.
I only hope that the so called political scientists will learn a thing or two from your article.
May I add the name of Pillian to the list of known poll riggers?
Kind Regards,
Siva.
The real problem is what on earth Lanka is going to do with an army of nearly 300,000 and only one conceivable enemy (India) which could win any contest in an afternoon.
It seems to me we are going to see the further militarization of Lanka because there’s nothing else to do with the soldiers, not because of ex-generals with delusions of grandeur presenting themselves for election.
Good to see President Rajapakse bare chested inside Nallur Temple. This is the first time a President in Jaffna with a bullet proof vest in the north. What a change in life.
Having visited the east and returned from Sri Lanka two weeks ago, I could say that the trend is in favor of Sarath. I reliably understand that then Sarath Silva, former CJ, will be the Prime Minister. If that happens, it wil be a good move in the Sri Lankan politics.
As to the Tamils, we cannot predict anything. As usual wait and see.
Man you are one sneaking tiger!
You just want to create havoc in Sri Lanka don’t you?
Polluting our minds with your non-sense articles!
How can I pollute the mind of a mindless person like you? first get a mind if you dont mind please……………DBSJ
.
We had democracy for over 50 years and it dd not work for us.
Maybe it’s time we try military rule for a while.
We are very well used to that anyway!
Politicians have themselves become militarized by using under world thagas over last 30 years. Good example is Mervin Silva. Mervin has attacked a lot of opposition politicians and offices. Out whole society is now corrupted by all these militarized politicians.
What we now need is a politicized military leader to become the President so that we can first bring low and order and disciplines. Once discipline is maintained, country would automatically develop.
As you said DBSJ – The suffering will start afyer the PE , irrespective of who wins.All these days poor Sinhala Mases were cheated for LTTE. Jan 27th Will be a start of a new cheating ERA among sinhalese masses.
DBSJ RESPONDS:
It is not the Sinhala people alone who will get affected but all the ethnicities living in Sri Lanka. Please understand that the destiny of the Sri Lankan Tamils and Muslims are inter-twined with that of the Sinhalese. There cannot be compartmentalisation
The rigging, ballot-stuffing, impersonation will be done at the polling station – where the army cannot go. It is only the Election Dept officials and the Police who, by law, can be present. And do during the counting.
Like that heavy price the country paid and is still paying for Banda “opening the bottle and letting out the racial
Gennie “(Dr Lee Kuan Yew) the country will perhaps
pay a heavy price for the ill-advised politicisation of the army – courtesy Bros Rajapakse.
ISS
Hi DBS,
Interesting article. Not directly related to this but I have just returned to Toronto after a stay in Sri Lanka so I have my personal observations on the current elections.
My impression is that SF is very popular among the Colombo crowd and the so called intellectuals who consider Mahinda to be a “villager” from “down south”. Now what I don’t know is what do the out-of-Colombo people think? SL elections are not decided in Colombo or in Kandy – these place have always voted for UNP. I don’t think opinion polls are that trustworthy as most people still do not give out the real intentions to outside strangers who conduct polling.
I think the Army is split. I don’t think SF has any support among the officers. If he had, that evaporated with the (in)famous white flag story. Air Force and the Navy hate him.
Amount of false and disinformation put out by both parties are astounding. What is also astounding is some of the stories, again put out by both sides, are so out of this world, no one but a 3rd grade student will believe them! What is painful to observe is also the conduct of the media. These are the first to complain about loss of media freedom and government thuggery. But read any newspaper or watch any TV channel, you can see how biased are they – towards one candidate or the other. How about a bit of non-partisan reporting so that the readers/viewers can form their own opinion? Not a chance with this lot.
As you say, the SF campaign is being led by Ananda College Old boys Association. I was told by a member AOBA that they are “officially neutral”. They better be careful because in the eventuality of a MR win, given the vengefulness of SL politics, Ananda runs the risk of losing their status that they hold now as a premier educational institution.
MR would have been in severe trouble if not for the ineffectiveness of the UNP and JVP that is backing SF. It will be interesting to see what SF will do if he wins, because for most of the people that I met and spoke with, the UNP and Ranil is a joke. So this idea that RW will be an executive prime minister, I don’t think that will fly – I am as sure SF will find a way to wrangle out of that if he is the president.
JVP is an outfit with absolutely no ideas. Their only clout is that they have some control over the Unions and the University Student Movements. Rank and file JVP members are not at all comfortable with this association with the UNP so one can never be sure which way they will vote on the 26th. They tend to be a bit more intelligent that the average Sri Lankan voter and I am sure that they do not buy this argument that SF won the war single handedly.
All in all, it points out to be a very close election. Which I think on the long run is good for SL. For one, it has basically silenced the Western media and INGO campaign to paint SL as a country run by a family. The only issue that they appear to be harping about seems to be how the government is hell bent on buying the election with money and thuggery. I traveled a lot in the country, mostly, Western, Central, and Southern provinces, and I did not get a sense of impending violence at all. People are not hysterical with election fever, they are mostly resigned to the fact that it is something that they have to get over with.
So who will win? Hard to say. If you talked to Colombo, SF has already won and he is now trying to decide on the color of the drapes at Temple Trees. If you talk with the villagers, you are not so sure. They respect SF but they are confused as they also know the role MR and GR played in winning the war. My feeling is that a confused electorate will always vote for safety and in this case it is MR.
What about the Tamils in all of these? I met a few in Colombo, all professionals and business people who will vote for SF. I would have loved to go to Jaffna but simply did not have enough time. Given the amount of people who are travelling to Jaffna and Trinco these days, I am sure they must have problems in finding hotels and places to stay.
Finally, I was really interested in asking the common people (mostly Singhalese) about their attitude towards the minority communities now that the was is finally over. I had been outside the country for most of this time so I did not directly experience any of the action. I was very presently surprised to hear how little animosity that was displayed. Most of them understand to some degree what were the prime reasons for the war and also understands that we need to settle this once and for all. Now is that all just good words? I don’t know the answer to that. I suppose time will tell.
DBSJ RESPONDS:
Thank you for this Ranjan
As for Tamil voting pattern I am concerned about the fall-out if most Tamils vote for Sarath but Mahinda wins by a slim margin
DBSJ
In the photograph Mahinda seems to be surrendering. Has he resigned himself to his fate on the 26th. He has closed his eyes too like as if he does not trust the Fonny’s special forces he is surrendering to. One fatal mistake he is making is he is not holding a white flag.
As for Fonny, you have to admit that if he did not enter the scene, it would have been a dull election with Mahinda romping home claiming he is Dutugemunu. Now he can only shout he is Dutu only because gemunu has decided to take him on.
It was a master stroke by Ranil, just like the way he engineered the ceasefire agreement, thus stopping the momentum of the LTTE, when it was at its unstoppable peak, boredom setting in resulting in traditional infighting and the Karuna split. If they are not fighting the govt they have to fight with somebody no, otherwise they will get bored to death.
Fonseka is the best possible candidate to take on Mahinda and that is the way any election should be, with the best possible candidates pitted against each other. He is an ex-army officer, so what? isn’t the army also a important part of our society. They have saved the country sacrificing a lot. They also deserve to be part of the political process of the country just like any other government servant, because they are also stakeholders of the country. we can’t just call them to do our dirty work like fighting insurrections, helping in natural disaster, manning emergency services and then say you have no say at all in the decision making processes of our country. That is old fashioned stuff of a bygone era.
Let us not be afraid of our forces. They love the country as much as the civilians and both together can work with common objectives of getting this country back on track.
quick question to Shankar #14
Are you really stupid or do you pretend to be stupid for the heck of it?
Excellent article DBS.Keep it up
Fonseka is the best possible candidate to take on Mahinda and that is the way any election should be, with the best possible candidates pitted against each other. He is an ex-army officer, so what? isn’t the army also a important part of our society. They have saved the country sacrificing a lot. They also deserve to be part of the political process of the country just like any other government servant, because they are also stakeholders of the country. we can’t just call them to do our dirty work like fighting insurrections, helping in natural disaster, manning emergency services and then say you have no say at all in the decision making processes of our country. That is old fashioned stuff of a bygone era.
DBSJ RESPONDS:
Politicisation of the military is different from military personnel exercising their political rights individually.All defence personnel can vote for the candidates of their choice. They can contest elections if and when they retire or are no longer in active service. They continue to participate in the electoral process and do have a very big say in electing their olitical representatives.Just as government servants of certain categories are not entitled to engage openly in politics the defence personnel too are debarred from politicking while in service.It is not old-fashioned tohave such regulations and rules. Most democracies maintain strict supervision over the defence personnel and forbid active political participation when in service.Most countries that allowed politicisation of the military have turned into military dictatorships. The price of liberty is eternal vigilance
a
Dear DBS<
Excellent as usual. However reading through your article it appears that the UNP has been more accommodating with public officials eventhough belatedly.
SLFP has always politicised the institutions. All the Depertmens in the country get politicised during SLFP regimes or get further ruined during SLFP tenures.
A case in point is the Attorney General's Department. At one time it was the envy of every public officer. During the tme of DBW, no orders were taken from any Minister. If Ministers had anything to be done through the AG he had to go through the Preisdent. Only the President could request the AG. Yet no illegal orders were carried out during this time.
Chandrika appointed Kamalasabayson (a Tamil) AG and he served 3 governemnts. After he retired CR de Silva was appointed AG and he too withstood pressure. Then, in a bid to get the AG to do his bidding the present President calls for a meeting of the senior officers and berates them. He wanted the senior officers to shield Mervyn Silva and Duminda Silva. The senior officers were all very sad at the turn of events. The man who was associated with the President at this meeting is the Present AG.
The Present AG has instructed the junior officers to vote for mahinda rajapakse. (see the LankaeNews website). The departed AG's will be turning in their graves hearing this piece of news.
Yet we want to carry on this corrupt regime. God Bless SL.
DBS,
Just to say something about your response to my earlier comment: I don’t think there will be too much fall out if the Tamils vote for SF but MR still wins. I think MR is way too smarter that lot of people think. After all he is the only SL Singhalese leader who thought it was important that he learn Tamil so that he can speak to them directly.
He knows, he need the Tamil voter support in the long run and if he did not get it this time, he better earn it for the future. The question is will he have a political future after the 26th? The Colombo political elite who runs the show will wait no time to kick MR into oblivion if he looses on the 26th.
Politicisation of the Military and Militarisation of Politics are two complementary processes. Since Sri Lanka is a small country having a large standing military and police force of 2-300,000 men would mean that at least 4-5% of the population hail from families having members in the forces or police. The fact that over 90% are from the majority community places the percentage at around 10% for that community. Hence it would be difficult to prevent such a significant percentage of the population from expressing their political views.
Secondly society has been militarised due to the sweeping powers exercised by the commander in chief, the president, using the police, stf etc to harrass his opponents. The use of armed body guards by politicians and the open display and carrying of arms has promoted a culture of impunity and rule of the gun in the country. This may have been required during the terrorist threat but is no longer the case. The use of PTA to arrest people on mere suspicion and holding without trial are good example.
Thirdly the adulation of the military following the war victory and the reward them and hold them in high esteem would contribute to militarisation of society. For instance many young children admire and emulate army personnel and wish to join the armed forces. Further the appointment of ex Military Officers to public positions as a reward for toeing the govt line as well as such officers are disciplined and follow orders without questioning.
All these phenomenon are troubleing in the sense that militarisation tends to undermine democracy and human rights especially if this is backed by political power as well. So there shoud be a concious effort by govt to normalise the situation and bring back civilian rule. Also scaleing back of numbers in the forces by offering retirement packages and alternative employment needs to be implemented.
15. Captain Cool | January 23rd, 2010 at 7:57 pm
quick question to Shankar #14
Are you really stupid or do you pretend to be stupid for the heck of it?
——————————————————————————
To be stupid or not to be stupid, that is the question?
Who is he? what is he doing?
DBSJ RESPONDS:
Thank you for this Ranjan
As for Tamil voting pattern I am concerned about the fall-out if most Tamils vote for Sarath but Mahinda wins by a slim margin
—————————————————————————–
DBSJ
Mahinda will win, because his rural vote base is intact, and rural folk always decide the elections in Srilanka.
As for TNA they can’t go for any favours to Mahinda after the election. He will love to give a few good knocks onto Sampanthan’s bald head. Sampanthan should have learnt from Thondaman snr how to always back the correct horse. Sampanthan would not have gone for any advice to Karunanithi, who would have told him to go with Mahinda. Srilankan Tamil leaders always screw up due to their superiority complex.
Good to see Ranjan from Toronto complementing the skills of DBSJ. Look forward to see his writing in this column. Sad that both of you will not spend same amount of time on Sri Lanka affairs after this election. Thanks both of you again.
Great article complying with superb DBSJ standard.
I also believe that SF alone cannot be blamed for politicisation of military & viceversa. CBK and MR & now UNP & JVP should share the blame. Though we cannot expect total neutrality, all military norms & discipline should be maintained.
How nice it would have been if SF & MR were magnanimous in victory.
At the end it is the same old story! Excessive greed & other imperfections of human beings.
This may be a sign of times. First hand info. Location is a pocket of 100 low income houses; receiving well in cash and kind; from a MR’s kingpin to secure votes. The location apparently has 95 household supporting MR. Two of the five dissenting households, hold a grudge against MR, for depriving them of their (illicit) livelihood; yet they have huge posters and hording of MR on display, to avoid reprisal by the neighbors.
Yet again a great article. Amazing research, but don’t you think that militarisation of Sri Lanka should be blamed on the LTTE.?.
Had the LTTE followed a non violance path, there wouldn’t have been so much military power. If one says that LTTE had to be violant, then what purpose did it serve ?.
DBSJ RESPONDS:
The politicisation of the military started long before the LTTE emerged. Using the military to break up non-violent political protests by Tamils was a bad precedent and ultimately had predictable consequences. Militarisation of society accelerated and enhanced after the armed Tamil militancy began. The LTTE challenge necessitated and to some extent justified militarisation and setting up a national security state.It is time to dismantle that state and de-militarise society
It is a good educating article. Political leaders have done so because they did not have a vision for this country. They only had a mission which is very clear.
President Premadasa is the only leader who had a vision and did something good for the country during his period.
Hope the future leaders this country would provide realize and work with a vision.
Let all human being in the first decade of the 21st century start living with a vision for the future.
On the 27th morning . Fonseka will be on a plane to US. Somawansa will be on his way to London, Mangala probably will seek asylum in the Norwegian Embassy.
Ranil will be shouting” Kiri Bath” to anyone who come to Sri Kotha. Sampathan will be there as his coalition partner for the up coming Parliamentary Elections.
Shankar’s comment (#14)shows he hasn’t understood the article at all. It’s like replying “malle pol” when asked “koheda yanne”
Stop talking bull shit Jeyaraj.
You are penning out your mind. 70%-80% army is behind Fonseka. What army are you talking about. Once Mahinda wins with a landslide all this politicising the military and militarising the politics will be over. It was nessesary for the serving army officers to come out to point out the danger of a mad general getting the power. You also will be happy if fonseka comes and march mahinda in front of the gilletin. But it is not going to happen. More patriotic lements in the country are rallying behind him today than in 2005. Once SF is chased away to USA, JVP is wiped, UNP is taken over by a patriotic leader like Sajith Premadasa and people in N&E elect their true representatives all these problems will be over and no body will be able to prevent Sri Lanka becoming the miracle of Asia. Then you can start writing poetry or short stories.
DBSJ RESPONDS:
Machang Laljay or whatever your real name is(its always funny to see cowards like you who cant even write under your own names breathe fire and brimstone in the comments section
I bow to your superior judgement about bullshit. I am sure buffaloes know more about bovine excreta.
About the intelligence report about 75 -80% of ordinary soldiers being supportive of Sarath Fonseka you should try and get Kapila or Gota to give you a copy. But I doubt your comprehending it by reading
Each of us are entitled to our fancies and dreams. I do hope you will realise yours after Jan 26th
By the way its guillotine not gilletin (maybe you were thinking of the blade and got mixed up)
But you are wrong.I dont want to march Mahinda to Paris (no point the French revolution was in 1789)
But I do want to see all the war criminals in all parts of the world prosecuted. You should too
About the miracle part………. I love miracles and I certainly want to see one in Sri Lanka. Dont you?
good article. Dismal situation.hope it gets better.
Sri Lanka is a Land like No other
Sri Lanka is a Land like No other where top Army and Police men in uniform are canvassing for votes for the Incumbent President.
29. Chula | January 23rd, 2010 at 11:16 pm
Shankar’s comment (#14)shows he hasn’t understood the article at all. It’s like replying “malle pol” when asked “koheda yanne
——————————————————————————-
My dear Chula, the gist of the article is that there is increasing influence of the military in our politics and society. What i said was not to worry, this is inevitable because we have relied too much on the military to time and again save this country and do our dirty work. Now if we had good governance and the leaders made the correct decisions for the country, then it would not have been necessary to elevate the military to such levels.
i pointed out that there is no necessity to view the military as an enemy of the people. They are after all the protectors of the people and 3 times they have done this and saved the country. However i agree with DBSJ that vigilance is necessary, because we don’t want to end up as a military dictatorship. The politicians have to do that. They caused the problem and they can see that it does not devour them.
i believe this is just a passing cloud and democracy is secure. We have to be more worried about the tinpot dictators. The sooner the presidency is abolished and we revert back to the days of a primeminister running the country, the better for us. Giving unlimited power to these chaps is like giving the Mona Lisa to a booruwa, who doesn’t know what it is, let alone appreciate it.
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Dear Mr. Jeyaraj
Once again a timely article both informative and insightful.
‘It was Udugama who supervised the break-up of the non-violent Satyagraha by the army in Jaffna.The sight of Udugama standing on a balcony with megaphone and urging hesitant soldiers to use force on the unarmed civilians is a scene etched in the memory of those Satyagrahis to this day.
Udugama was feted as a great hero who conquered the Tamils after putting down this non-violent protest through force.
The army was being thrust into politics’
you can still paint a true picture of the historic turning point, even decades later.
They say the past predicts the future. This kind of ‘leadership’ will be delivered to the people of SL regardless which war criminal wins the election.
ken
A CHANGE OF GOVERNMENT BODES WELL FOR SRI LANKA SINCE IT STRENGTHENS DEMOCRACY AND BRING TO BOOKS THOSE ABUSED POWER IN THE LAST 4 YEARS OF TYRANNY. IF NOT IT WILL ONLY STRENTHEN THE GRIP ON POWER OF THOSE NOTORIUS WHO HAVE BEEN TAGGED WITH WAR CRIMES , NEPOTISM, CORRUPTION. MURDER, MAYHEM AND CONSOLIDATE THE MAFIA. LIKE WHAT WE SAW UNDER MARCOS IN PHILLIPINES, MANUEL NOREIGA IN PANAMA
S.F COMING TO POWER WILL PUT THOSE BEHIND BARS AND CLEAN UP THE MESS. WHETHER S.F. WOULD SOLVE THE ETHNIC PROBLEM IS DOUBTFUL. AND IT DOESN’T REALLY MATTER IF HE DOESN’T.
THERE ARE MORE CHANCES THAT HE WILL PERFORM BETTER SINCE HE IS BACKED BY BETTER PEOPLE.
‘How can I pollute the mind of a mindless person like you? first get a mind if you dont mind please’……………DBSJ
Well said. I like ‘mind games’ like this.
ken
It is the present government which is inching towards a military state.there is no media freedom,corruption ,nepotisms etc etc.the very reason why JVP and UNP decided to make a coalition even if they have differnet ideologies becuase they understood as long as they say isolated from other they are in danger and which will lead to a political anarchy.Introducing millitary into politity too was started by .this government during the PC election and now they are commenting that entering military personel in to politics does not so matching .where has fourty years of experince in politics by incumbent president taken the country during the last six 6 years.passing the credit of wining the war to a sole individual is not fair at all.in fact it is everyone’s dedication which brought the war to an end.but the president is using the war victories to fulfil his own political gains and by calling an unnecessary election at an unwanted time.and which has put the whole country in turmoil
This is a fabulous article with factual support. But, the author has conveniently avoided the foul plays by others such as Tamils, Christians and indeed Muslims too. That’s a reflection of a ‘Sinicism’ on the part of author.
This is the whole problem our country is facing. Every one has their own ‘eye glass’. I find it pathetic. I hate promoting rasicm directly or indirectly.
“everyone has their own “eye glass”. How apt! Sums up your comment very well…………..DBSJ
A fine article. Wasn’t it Chairman Mao who said that all political power grows out of the barrel of a gun?
Alarming analysis predicting gloomy scenario
Sadly it’s the reality. Truth is always troubling
Once again you cleverly avoided my point! As long as you do that, you won’t drive every one on the same path. If that is your intension, what’s difference do you make with the ruthless politicians who have driven the country into madness?
Hey Ramrod, I ain’t some cowboy “DRIVING” those Texas longhorns across the Prairie…………………DBSJ
I like WWF Wrestling! Welcome to world’s wild life federation of Sri Lanka. Where dog’s have taken over humans! I like to see few people executed aftrer being tried, like in Baghdad.
Why do you bother responding to jokers like Athapathu who cant even understand your subtle sarcasm and insist on making asses of themselves Jayaraj?
Because there’s a tender heart beneath the rhionoceros hide dear Nimini……………….DBSJ
Nilmini Dias,
It’s no harm being a joker. But, it does harm when you pretend!
You and your beloved DBSJ have proven beyond doubts that you can not stomach a simple truth. Good for you and your company! You don’t deserve better than this!
Aney Athapaththu ! Tharahavenda epa Machang! Take it easy & go easy on Nilmini will you………DBSJ
Dear Mr. Jayaraj,
Thank you for an excellent and very insightful article. I really enjoyed it.
I do look forward to your next article.
I am continually amazed at your unbiased writing.
Don’t you think that whoever wins this election. Their first task will that of eliminating their political opponents?
MR and SF have their special talents. It is a pity that they could have not worked together for the good of the country.
It is also a pity that Mr. L Kadirigama was assassinated.
If he had been alive. He could have been made PM and started the healing process between the Sinhalese and Tamil people. However, that was not to be. Sri Lanka’s loss.
DBSJ RESPONDS:
Priyanthi,
Chandrika wanted to make Kadirgamar prime Minister in 2004 itself. Maybe to give a knock to Mahinda. The JVP also backed the idea. But Mahinda mobilised the SLFP branches into opposing it with some support from Buddhist clergy. The idea was aborted and Mahinda became PM. Kadirgamar was miffed but was too much of a gentleman to hold a grudge against MR. Mahinda too reconciled with Kadirgamar and accompanied Kadirgamar to the party meeting where the decision on PM was announced. Perhaps Kadirgamar may have been made PM & Foreign Minister by Mahinda after he became President.If so Kadirgamar would have done a much better job than Ratnasiri& Rohitha. This may be why the LTTE killed him in a pre-emptive strike before Presidential elections 2005
But look at what is happening now
Rohitha Bogollagama this small – minded man with a puny intellect is “delaying” the installation of the already constructed Kadirgamar statue and also running down the study institute named after Kadirgamar
How petty
Why do you bother responding to jokers like Athapathu who cant even understand your subtle sarcasm and insist on making asses of themselves Jayaraj?
Because there’s a tender heart beneath the rhionoceros hide dear Nimini……………….DBSJ
DBSJ – I like your analysis no doubt with information from many deep throats in the top echelons.
In my discussions with folks who plan to vote for SF in Sri Lanka, I got the distinct feeling that urban middle class folks see ‘change’ as a good thing and any change is unlikely to be for the worse. Argument runs like‘Padure inna api kohomada bimata watennay’ and think Army Professionalism, with all its tectonic faults is better than the present form of politician rule.
Intererting parallels can be drawn with Asian neighbours with large and powerful armies. Pakistan with nuclear power and Army run businesses, hospitals , schools is an example. SF must be well versed in the tactics used to bring down Zulfikar Ali Bhutto – I recommend readers the excellent novels by Salman Rushdie Midnights Children and Shame.
How do you foresee the future of the JVP – UNP marriage, with the strong men of the army absconding soldiers with their guns also standing behind.
People desrve the sort of government they get. History teaches us that even Lord Buddha could not stop the war between his father’s clan and mother’s clan,
The days for the killers of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the founder-president of People’s Republic of Bangladesh and also the Father of the Nation, who led 1971 liberation war have been numbered.
Mujib, who was popularly known as Bangabandhu (friend of Bengal) was killed with almost all his family members within four years of the successful completion of the freedom movement.
The count down has already started for the convicted as the court has signed the death warrants. Following the final verdict of the Supreme Court (of Bangladesh), the District and Sessions Judge of Dhaka Abdul Gafar signed the death warrants of five detained convicts on January 3 and already been served to them in Dhaka central jail, where they are being imprisoned.
In the deadly assassination attempt by a group of army officers in his private residence at Dhanmondi in Dhaka on August 15, 1975, the killers did not spare Sheikh Mujib’s wife Fazilatunessa Mujib, sons Sheikh Kamal, Sheikh Jamal and Sheikh Russell, daughters-in-law Sultana Kamal and Rosy Jamal, and his brother Sheikh Naser.
Only two daughters of Bangabandhu, Sheikh Hasina (the present Bangladesh PM) and Sheikh Rehana escaped as they were out of the country at that time.
The apex court of the country had confirmed the death sentence to 12 convicts in the sensitive case. Rejecting the appeals of five former army officers, the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court (in its final judgement pronounced on November 19, 2009) upheld the High Court’s verdict sentencing all the 12 retired or dismissed army officers to death on the charge of murdering Sheikh Mujib.
The five convicts who are behind the bar and waiting for gallows include Muhiuddin Ahmed, Syed Faruque Rahman, Sultan Shahriar Rashid Khan, Bazlul Huda (repatriated from Thailand ) and AKM Mohiuddin (repatriated from the United States).
Other convicts, who are hiding in different countries (arguably in Libya, Belgium, Pakistan, India, Hong Kong, Canada) include Khandaker Abdur Rashid, Shariful Haque Dalim, AM Rashed Chowdhury, Abdul Mazed, Risaldar Mosleuddin Khan, and Noor Chowdhury (to be deported from Canada). One convict Abdul Aziz Pasha took political asylum in Zimbabwe and he died there in 2001.
The assassination of Bangabandhu had resulted many ups and down in the Bangladesh politics. Soon after the gory incident, the Mujib led Awami League government was dismissed and Khondker Mushtaque Ahmed took over as the President. Later he promulgated an Indemnity Ordinance on September 26, 1975 with an aim to stop of the trial of Mujib killing case.
In fact, the next ten years witnessed very much slow progress in the investigation. The subsequent regimes led by Ziaur Rahman, HM Ershad, Begum Khaleda Zia etc did not show interest to reopen the case. Rather many of the accused army officers were awarded with diplomatic assignments outside the country.
Then the Awami League led by Sheikh Hasina again came to power in Dhaka during June, 1996. The AL government immediately scrapped the Indemnity Ordinance (later Act) and cleared the way to bring the killers to justice. In the meantime, the First Information Report on the murder was lodged at the Dhanmondi police station on October 2, 1996. The Criminal Investigation Department soon took up the case and started investigation promptly.
After the CID submitted its charge sheet against 20 accused on in January 1997, the trial of case (in the court of Dhaka District and Sessions Judge) started from March 12 in the same year. Later the case reached to the High Court and also the Supreme Court of Bangladesh, where the final verdict was pronounced in November last year.
The Bangladesh government has already launched a diplomatic campaign to bring those fugitives back to the country. Moreover the Interpol also issued red alert to nab them as early as possible. The Bangladesh home minister Sahara Khatun assured the people that Dhaka would adopt all possible measures to bring the killers back to justice.
The final verdict of Supreme Court on the case, as expected, received overwhelm responses from various political parties, civil society groups, media and common people in general of Bangladesh. Most of the group and individuals publicly demanded an early execution of the verdict of the apex court.
The Bangladesh Supreme Court Bar Association termed the verdict as an epoch-making development in history to establish the rule of law in the country. The bar association urged the government to publish a white paper on those who were beneficiary of the killing of Bangabandhu. It also asked the government to bring the absconding convicts of the Bangabandhu murder case back to the country immediately and to execute their death sentences.
‘The Hindu’, an acclaimed Indian newspaper, commented in an editorial that ‘a large section of the people considered the coup and the assassination as part of a sinister and determined plot to turn the nation away from the path of socialism, democracy, nationalism, and secularism’.
“If Bengali nationalism was the guiding spirit of the liberation struggle, a form of Bangladeshi nationalism, with stress on religious identity, was being sought to be established. The most significant outcome of the Supreme Court’s verdict should therefore be a reaffirmation of the dream of 1971,” it asserted.
A prominent English newspaper from Dhaka, ‘The Independent’
highlighted about the post- Bangabandhu assassination scenario in an editorial revealing that ‘there was nobody to protest the killings’.
“Even the police refused to register a criminal case. The people who usurped state power rewarded the killers with prized diplomatic jobs.
Not only that they were also given legal protection under the notorious Indemnity Act,” added in the editorial.
It concluded saying that ‘although we will never get back the great leader who had led us to independence and freedom but at least we will have the consolation of seeing justice done to the perpetrators of this horrendous crime’.
The same annoyance was also reflected in the version of Sheikh Hasina, while she commented, “The killers forgot, a judge is there above all, who sees everything.”
She did not hide her anger with the ‘misleading campaign to glorify the killings’ by a section in the society after the assassination of Bangabandhu.
“They even officially declared-we killed Sheikh Mujib, dare you try us,” Hasina disclosed. Otherwise, both she and her younger sister Sheikh Rehana expressed happiness that ‘the trial has finally ended after 34 years with justice established’.
Soon after the verdict, the Amnesty International appealed Dhaka ‘not to execute the condemned convicts’ in Mujib killing. The UK-based human rights watchdog said in statement, “The killing of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and his family members were grave human rights abuses, and those who committed them should be brought to justice. However, bringing people to justice must not itself violate the human rights of the accused.”
Amnesty International argues that it ‘opposes the death penalty in all cases regardless of the nature of the crime, the characteristics of the offender, or the method used by the state to kill the prisoner’.
The rights body has also called upon the Bangladesh President Zilur Rahman (and PM Sheikh Hasina) to use the constitutional power with an aim to stop the execution of the convicted army officials.
Any honest man should accept the achievement of Mahinda government. There is no need to discover a “corruption scandal”, all of a sudden; we all know the corruption was there in the Army high ranks for 30+ years, as well as corruption among politicians.
It seems DBSJ has got some attributing factors.
We are Sri Lankans, a nation of people of diverse cultures, rich traditions and a long and proud heritage, documented to date back thousands of years, much longer than any comparative Western chronicle found to date. Yet we are branded as ‘3rd world countries’ or ‘developing nations’ and sometimes even as ‘failed states’ by some. Whilst some people are bold enough to challenge the classification, a majority are passive in aspirations of who they want to be as a nation in the future. As always there are a few who are too earnest to accept the classification without even knowing the origins or validity of such classifications as well as pretending to be oblivious to the true facts for political and personal gains, ultimately diluting the potential Sri Lanka has to emerge a winner.
Negativity, ‘no can do’ culture, ‘blame’ culture and naivety of the truth are the true aspects of under-development and third world mentality. A nation would have taken the first step, the moment its people embrace national pride and strive to work towards a common goal!
Srilankan people are the final losers but as usual Tamils will be at the receiving end.
Seeds are planted for another round- Taking a shot at each other for ” Sampanthan-Fonseka pact” and “Douglas-Mahinda pact”.
Finally equal injustice to all the citizen will be established by completing the militarization that started long before tamil militancy.
Just returned from Sri Lanka after spending approx 3 months there. The rural folks are strongly behind Mahinda and urbanites are all for Fonseka. SF lost some ground lately, mostly becuase public are getting wary of the coalition- skeptical about UNP-JVP-TNA , all these opposing parties in the same group.
Mahinda’s victory hangs on how big the voter turnout in the rurual areas..
To Ranjan from Toronto
Glad that you are back home s a single piece.I mean did not get any white van rides.Thanks for the nice piece of info on current politicl situation. My bets are : SF or MR will not get the 50% on the first count. Only rigged ballots will decide the winner
Excellent article DBS. I always look for your articles to read and understand the historical perspectives of the political problems as well as the personnel who were involved in aggravaing the ethnic issues with unimaginable arrogance for political gains. I wish you write for the mainstram media in this country for the Canadian people to understand our problems. You might have your own reasons for not doing it.
Tamil votes, in the current situation in the country, will certainy tilt the balance one way or another. But lookig at the past history of promises and actions of the Sinhala politicians, we cannot be too optimistic of what is going to happen after the elections. However, it is important for all the Tamils in Srilanka to go and vote. LTTE made agrave mistake by boycotting the last elections. It appears from yor article and the other ones, I read recently, majority of Tamils are going to vote for Sarath Fonseka. Assuming, he eventually wins the election and also assuming that he is going to stand by his promises to the Tamil leaders, I don’t think JVP is going to allow him to do anything positive. JVP is obviously what we call in Tamil “sabai kulappi”.
DBS, I have a quetion for you. When I was in the high school at St. John’s college in Jaffna in my “A” level class in th mid sixties, I used to read opinion columns by one Jeyaraj in Daily Mirror. Is that you? I doubt it because you are younger than me.
No Mr.Ganeshalingam.I was born on May 21st 1954.Thank you for sentiments expressed………DBSJ
Dear Jaya, Absolutely wonderful. I am over whelmed. Thanks. Mark martin
An Interesting and refreshing article.
I was surprised why you had left out President’s son Yoshitha Rajapakse who is now an acting Sub Lieutenant in the Sri Lanka Navy. Isn’t it the first time a President’s son getting directly involved? He could become a head of state in the near future too.
I am not sure whether Ravi Jayawardena was in the armed forces during his father’s time.
DBSJ RESPONDS:
Thanks for reminding me. Ravi helped set up the STF during JR regime.He also was involved in procuring services of British mercenaries. As for Yoshita , there is much resentment within Naval ranks about the “preferential” treatment he gets. One thing though, The Navy rugby team is going great guns now.
Please see, “Hooliganism in Colombo”
http://bit.ly/6Jixxn
From the Times UK Archives, June 6, 1956
Out of politics just a comment for our moral improvemnt.
dear DBS,I am sure you know the reason why media dont give much publicity for sucidal news.
For more explanation…do you like a teacher who show pornography to his students,and advice them “dont see this kind of pictures”….
Ranjan
You’re forgetting that Ananda College was also Gotabaya’s college. Mahinda went to Thurstan, where you went if you didn’t get into Royal College, after a spell at Nalanda, which is where you went if you didn’t get in to Ananda College.
Which of course shows how ridiculous the idea that ‘Mahinda is a southern peasant’ is, much as he loves to promote it with gigantic cut outs. Mahinda is a fully paid up member of the English speaking Colombo elite. which has been ruling/ruining the country non-stop since 1948. In 2002 Ranil, then Prime Minister, was asked for a book on English in Sri Lanka, to give a list of Lankan Parliamentarians that preferred to speak in English instead of Sinhala or Tamil. Mahinda was one of the names on that list.
Considering that Ranil was robbed of the 2005 election it is amazing the way he has self-imploded. I’m not at all sure that the UNP is a joke, but the musical chairs of the last four years, plus the fact that Ranil’s chair appears to be cemented fast enough to survive an earthquake, means it is not the force it was.
Much of the collapse in the quality of Sinhalese politicians can be laid at the door of the JVP that killed so many in its reign of terror that becoming a politician became almost synonymous with suicide. The result is that it is almost impossible to find a politician of much talent in any of the mainstream parties; some stand out because of extraneous factors such as name recognition (Sajith Premadasa could probably turn the UNP into the fighting force it once was in little time) but just look at the candidates to be Prime MInister (Ranil, Sanath de Silva for the opposition, and nobody any more for the government) and you realize that in comparison even the Canadians have got it good.
Stephan Johns : Yes Ananda is Gota’s school as well, but let me tell you for fact that Fonseka’s campaign is being staffed and run by very prominent Ananda old boys. In fact what I heard (from AOBA members) was that most of them wanted to come out openly and support SF but apparently a few MR supporters convinced the majority that was not a wise thing to do.
SF’s Ambalangoda connection is pretty tenuous from what I gathered. MR has a lot of support down south. I would not call MR part of the Colombo elite. Colombo elite are the once who came from Royal and St Thomas’ and think that they have a birth right to run the country. I was a Grade 10 student at Thurstan college when Mahinda first got elected to the parliament. He was the youngest MP that time. That year he came to our prize giving and gave a speech that had the college boys standing on the chairs and applauding him.
As for your assertion that quality Singhalese politicians were killed by JVP, that honor should go to LTTE who did not discriminate when selecting people to pump off.
#55 Bob: Thanks for your kind words. I did ride in a number of white vans in SL, but they were all rented by me to get me to various places! Let me tell you what you read about in the media and what you find once you get there are two very different countries.
This a a brilliant article rightly reveals the current political and scocial scenario and the root causes of the cursed nation.
The Cunning and greedy Sinhala politicians starting from SWRD exploited the racist chauvinist mind set of the Majority of the Sinhala people in order to grab power. These mind set put the minorities especially Tamils at a great disadvantage hence the civil war which has brought to the current pathetic status.
Sinhalayas made Tamils victims with their petty thinking and now they have become victims too. No one is immune. It would not have happened the so called Buddhist would have known what is karma?
Lessons learnt in a hard way : ))
Very interesting and semi-sync with some of the things I heard except I heard a lot of soldiers saying they will be for MR in the NCP, I see a scenario where NCP, South, NWP etc all go to MR but CP and WP go to SF along with the minority vote.
Will it bring real change or will it mean the vindictive nature of the winner will come out? The constitution enables a PResident to rule even by himself by taking on powers for a short time.
DBSJ, SL’s biggest curse is Ranil’s Uncle’s Constitution. I doubt if the winner will be willing to change it in the short or mid -term. Will we see a purge in the military with a blood bath?
I will not see a single Sri Lankan feeling sorry for Doctor Dutugemunu Mervyn, and I think a lot of them will flee on 26th.
However, I feel we may see a move towards a society which is even less free. The military is not a democracy. A man who has killed will not hesitate to order to kill. But MR is increasingly becoming isolated surrounded by sycophants. Everywhere I went MR was loved outside Colombo and SF was admired, but a lot of people were saying Mahinda mahaththaya watey inna aya thamai eyaawa kaawey.
I see a situation where more provinces in the Sinhala-Buddhist areas still going with significant margins to MR, but SF winning Jaffna(hence the moves to rig by moving honorable officers like Lewke out) and in CP with the Estate Tamils voting enmasse for SF.
And in CMB with the Muslim, and Tamil and UNP vote I see SF winning with a clear margin now. CBK also did some damage(her dirty decision to back SF is based again not on principle but on a need to payback and also her ambition to be back in politics in Parliament; she is addicted to politics). I find it funny how the woman who was found guilty by CJ Sarath Silva, and the woman whose security was punitively removed by SF are all in one gang now.
DBSJ, I am really sad at what happened to Keith Noyahr, To this date he will not talk about the assault because it dehumanized his manhood. I wish he will not be so afraid even though he is in a safe location. Remember Batalanda under Ranil? Remember the stories? Will we see the emergence of that if we rely on the Military to rule us ? True it will be via the ballot, but what is the guarantee we will not see further attacks if people start criticizing the new President? Where does it show in his nature and his performance that dissension and criticism is welcome?
Lets see where this takes us..
# 62 Stephen Jones,
Ranil W will have the last laugh. Unless the chauvinists have other plans.
The sooner the Sri Lankan polity realizes this the better.
What will happen to the real war hero commanders who decided to speak out for MR? SF threatens to court martial them. SF will destroy the current Commander. He did his best to scuttle that appointment.
CBK once said SF was UNP JHU person and did not agree to give him his extension. He made the smart move when Sarath Silva turned the tables on CBK by latching on to GR MR via GR’s friendship with him even though people opposed the move even within the military.
SF was definitely the man for the moment to win the war. His strategy was brilliant.
But MR and GR fell victim to pettiness and tale carrying like all other leaders before them and badly mishandled and miscalculated SF. They NEVER thought SF will run and that JVP and UNP will combine. They were hoping for a one-sided match against RW. MR against RW would have been like Sri Lanka thrashing Holland.
Now it is like Sri Lanka playing Australia because Australia plays to win and plays a no hold barred game. Do you know 4 of the 6 dead party supporters are MR supporters now? What does it say about army people coming out?
SF will win on Tuesday by at least 500,000 votes now.
Will Sinhalese end up being oppressed like the Tamils were under Velupillai? Will the Sinhalese finally feel what Tamils felt under Tigers?
Ranil IS a joke even to this date. He is going around with his asinine “Poda Mahinda” rubbish. MR at least is taking the trouble to reach out to Tamils by learning and speaking it. Ranil screeches like a girl on camera.. He is best in Colombo 7 in English society with a Whisky in his hand speaking eloquently because he is as widely read as any and his token wife(for political purposes) is said to have made him even a better intellect but IF he ran it would have been like Sri Lanka 600 runs in 50 Overs and Holland 45 runs in 100 overs win..(a silly Cricket analogy because that is the only thing that united us until the Rajapakse thugs forced Murali and Sanath J to appear for him in political ads and on stage)
DBSJ: The military is already split. The current commander has had no choice but to throw his lot with MR; If he did not, he would have been pressured. And he had no choice because SF was gunning for him until the very last day even harassing General Jayasuriya’s ADC. Under SF there will be a massive purge of sitting officers including real war heroes.. Then comes the consolidation and lets see if the Colombo Cocktail Sausage circle will have the balls to criticize SF like they now do with MR.
MR on the other hand fancied himself as a king; his sycophants and cronies portrayed him like that but it is his fault for not stopping it. I saw this sort of sycophancy to some extent with CBK; the crooks including some of her relatives who made money, were all ga-ga about the way they portrayed her. Any of her relatives who had the balls to be critical of her were immediately outcast and made blacksheep. But it became worse because MR did not have that western exposure to overcome this; he also was paranoid about CBK undermining him. Yes indeed it was MR who blocked Kadirgamar from being made PM when the JVP and CBK wanted it. But MR at that time was the “Rightful Heir” because he has suffered and done his time.
I think on Wed morning we can say it was his family including BR who let him down. If he had Mangala Samaraweera with him, he would still not be worried why he is 600,000 votes short now and panicking. I am sad because he is a loved man outside Colombo and SF is an admired man. This should never have happened.
I am sorry to say that you are worse than our state media
Coming from you it’s a compliment I think.Thank You…………..DBSJ
Comment 70 RMM,
I go along with DBJ’s call.He is a seasoned journo who does his research, although he has been away from the scene.
But, good luck to you
Here is an interesting excerpt from an article interviewing Mahinda about him feeding people
“My door is open to anyone to come at any time. It is like that here, it is like that in my village.
There people even go to the kitchen and eat. So am I to stop that? It is like that 365 days a year but it is with my money. I am not like the people in Cinnamon Gardens in Colombo who, when you go to their houses at meal time, eat alone and come out after wiping their mouths asking “Machan, how are you?” I remember it from my school days. We are not that kind of people. We are people from Giruyawe , aisay. Not people from Colombo -07, Kollupitiya”
Now can someone tell me where exactly is his house in the village. I want to build or buy a house nearby. I have done the sums and it looks good. The value of delicious home cooked free meals straight from the kitchen for the rest of my life against the cost of the house and appreciation in value due to Chinese money in those areas. Possible threats
1. Mahinda losing power-highly unlikely. People like him and Premadasa who wait patiently 30 to 40 years for the job, don’t give up power like that once they get it, unless they go out in a coffin. They will kill their opponents, rig elections and if that does not work use the military.
2. Possibilty of money running out. What say i go one day and they say “kaame naa. Meetapasse kade gihilla kanda. salli naa apita”.-highly unlikely. The IMF will always give loans due to our strategic location.
3. India attacking and taking over the Hambantota Harbour-highly unlikely. India is full of old senile leaders who will run to the loo every 2 minutes when they think of an enraged China.
good piece.full of facts
The way I see it is that we have no choice.
I agree that corruption is rampant. But then all the other political parties are corrupt too. (I do not condone this and am just stating a fact.)
However, if SF wins. His first task will be to get rid of all his enemies and detractors. This will include all the Officers of the three armed forces who supported the Government. He has stated this in a speech. (About court marshals and the Welikada Prison being ready for the corrupt.)
This will leave the armed forces weak and Sri Lanka vulnerable to attack is the LTTE re-group.
All the development projects commenced by MR will be stopped by SF as he will not want MR to get the credit.
Also all the parties who helped SF will will want their share of the spoils. These all all enemies who have come together to defeat a common enemy. So there is be infighting too. As SF cannot please all of them.
If MR wins, the corruption will go on. but so will the development. MR will also know by the vote count how the country feels. So hopefully he will try curb corruption, at least to a certain extent as the General Elections are in April.
If he looses the Tamil vote this time. He will have to do something for all the Tamil people to rectify their current plight and try to win their votes before the general election.
So all in all with the choice we are faced with MR is the best out of the bad lot.
However, there is also the fact that if MR wins then when he is ready to retire the next generation of Rajapakses will be ready to take over.
It is really difficult to decide whom to vote for.
Mr. Jeyaraj,
I would really appreciate your views on this perspective. Please feel free to criticize as I would appreciate the views of a veteran
Ranil played a big part in all this as he did not simply have a chance. But used the opportunity to see if he could gain something out of this. Some thing is always better than absolute 0. Therefore Ranil is not naive but a calculating looser – they say people who has nothing lose is the most dangerous!
Very good article.Rajapakse regime politicised military now Sarth becomes boomerang
An excellent analysis of what has been going on in Sri Lanka over the last 50 years.Many articles like these are needed to educate the illiterates of this poor nation.
I am not a MR supporter. But MR did the greatest job for SL in destroying LTTE. If that was not done, we will not be having this election. We would never have been free. Not even 6 months after victory, he has another battle on his hands. You are right; with him we will have massive development plus corruption. But there is no country in the world which does not have this. USA the richest country in the world is very very corrupt. I can give a thousand examples. We cannot eradicate this. But SF does not have any experience in constitution, law or governance. He will end up like the current Fiji dictator who imprisons’ any one who opposes the government. He is even saying it now. SF’s partners, JVP, UNP etc are all corrupt. It is easy to fling mud like what SF and opposition are doing right now but very difficult to achieve what MR did. What are SF’s policies for reconciliation and economic advancement of the country? We don’t hear any credible stuff on these subjects. Do we think if Ranil had another chance, he would have had the capability to get rid of LTTE? Never even in my dreams. We got to give the devil his due. MR needs to be given a chance to build our country after a great war. This is our debt to him as a grateful nation. Well after that if he screws it up, he can be kicked out. In SL unlike Pakistan or Bangladesh, people are highly educated and will not tolerate any further. If the ordinary people benefit from huge developments, I don’t care a toss if the big shots rob money. It happens in the west every day. Has any one seeing Chandrika’s house in UK which the Shell Company bought for her? Mr. Maldof in USA swindled 14 Billion recently and went to jail but no money was recovered!! So what is SL corruption? Incidentally it is in USA where human right kin pins live!! They don’t look at their back yard but preach it to poor countries like SL.
Another excellent piece of writing by DBS.
True, the politicization of the armed forces was long done. But SF made it worse by trying to get the war credit all by himself.
In the process and now on stage, SF has been lying a lot of what happened during the war. Mahinda as the C & C as well as SFs opponent has the right to reply and clarify events. So I do not see any wrong in Gotabhaya or field commanders appear on state tele to reply SFs allegations/distortions. The dignity of the army is more important than protocol.
Another dimension is long waiting.
When confronted with injustice, there is a strong feel among the people in favour of a Military govt. That’s a passing remark. SFs entry has rejuvenated this thinking to stop corruption, misuse of resources and suppress party hegemony. On a personal basis I have faith in Fonseka on this score, despite character assassination by the govt.
But the billion dollar question is ; will his buffoonery coalition is sincere to allow much needed reforms?
There is going to be only one Victor – can the army cope with the obvious divide?
Mahinda is going to win. You heard it hear first. And Sarath Fonseka’s reign of terror will be over for good.
In a few hours from now – SL will become the first ( pariah ) state to elect a WAR CRIMINAL as its Exec President
PS – Please note Mugabe is not a war criminal to compare
Colombo and North for SF overwhelmingly. With the massive margins there which means overall even WP may go to SF. I see NCP, South, NWP, UVa and Sabaragamuwa coming to MR but the numbers will not be enough. So we will have a 2000 US PResidential election sort of situation except with Tamils in the North who vote like a herd as their TNA leaders tell them to and with overwhelming Muslim support for the UNP plus Colombo Tamils who always vote for the UNP, SF will or may pull this off.
Bob: Thanks for your kind words. I did ride in a number of white vans in SL, but they were all rented by me to get me to various places! Let me tell you what you read about in the media and what you find once you get there are two very different countries
Ranjan – You mean this ?? below
A journalist attached to the Lanka e news website was reported missing since last night. Prageeth Eknaligoda was on his way home from work late last night at the time he went missing. The Editor of Lanka e news speaking to Daily Mirror online said that a police complaint has been lodged.
“Mr. Eknaligoda who left his workplace last night had not arrived home. His wife has lodged a complain at the Homagama Police”, said Mr. Senadheera.
He also said that when someone had called Mr. Eknaligoda on his way home he had heard him complain that they were not going in the correct direction.
Hi DBSJ,
This is an excellent article and very informative to boot.
You have a mind like an ecyclopedia
Thanks for the good work.
FORECTED RESULTS – PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION 2010.
# District Registered Voters Total Polled Rejected Votes Valid Votes MR SF Others
# % # % # % # % # % # %
1 Colombo 1,521,854 1,217,483 80.00% 12,175 1.00% 1,205,308 99.00% 543,594 45.10% 650,867 54.00% 10,848 0.90%
2 Gampaha 1,474,464 1,179,571 80.00% 11,796 1.00% 1,167,775 99.00% 595,565 51.00% 564,036 48.30% 8,174 0.70%
3 Kalutara 813,233 658,719 81.00% 6,587 1.00% 652,132 99.00% 340,413 52.20% 309,762 47.50% 5,217 0.80%
4 Mahanuwara 970,456 771,513 79.50% 9,258 1.20% 762,254 98.80% 369,693 48.50% 386,463 50.70% 6,098 0.80%
5 Matale 342,684 270,720 79.00% 3,519 1.30% 267,201 98.70% 138,945 52.00% 126,386 47.30% 1,870 0.70%
6 Nuwaraeliya 457,137 365,710 80.00% 5,120 1.40% 360,590 98.60% 172,001 47.70% 185,704 51.50% 2,885 0.80%
7 Galle 761,815 624,688 82.00% 5,622 0.90% 619,066 99.10% 306,438 49.50% 308,914 49.90% 3,714 0.60%
8 Matara 578,858 468,875 81.00% 3,751 0.80% 465,124 99.20% 243,260 52.30% 218,608 47.00% 3,256 0.70%
9 Hambantota 421,186 345,373 82.00% 3,108 0.90% 342,264 99.10% 187,561 54.80% 152,308 44.50% 2,396 0.70%
10 Jaffna 721,359 468,883 65.00% 5,627 1.20% 463,257 98.80% 60,223 13.00% 347,443 75.00% 55,591 12.00%
11 Vanni 266,975 184,213 69.00% 2,395 1.30% 181,818 98.70% 50,909 28.00% 120,000 66.00% 10,909 6.00%
12 Batticaloa 333,644 250,233 75.00% 3,003 1.20% 247,230 98.80% 111,254 45.00% 131,032 53.00% 4,945 2.00%
13 Digamadulla 420,835 328,251 78.00% 3,283 1.00% 324,969 99.00% 147,211 45.30% 175,483 54.00% 2,275 0.70%
14 Trincomalee 241,133 183,261 76.00% 2,199 1.20% 181,062 98.80% 63,372 35.00% 115,880 64.00% 1,811 1.00%
15 Kurunegala 1,183,649 946,919 80.00% 8,522 0.90% 938,397 99.10% 495,474 52.80% 436,355 46.50% 6,569 0.70%
16 Puttalam 495,575 391,504 79.00% 3,915 1.00% 387,589 99.00% 186,818 48.20% 197,670 51.00% 3,101 0.80%
17 Anuradhapura 579,261 457,616 79.00% 5,034 1.10% 452,582 98.90% 229,007 50.60% 220,408 48.70% 3,168 0.70%
18 Polonnaruwa 280,337 227,073 81.00% 2,044 0.90% 225,029 99.10% 115,890 51.50% 107,114 47.60% 2,025 0.90%
19 Badulla 574,814 465,599 81.00% 6,518 1.40% 459,081 98.60% 241,017 52.50% 214,391 46.70% 3,673 0.80%
20 Moneragala 300,642 243,520 81.00% 2,435 1.00% 241,085 99.00% 140,070 58.10% 98,845 41.00% 2,170 0.90%
21 Ratnapura 734,651 609,760 83.00% 5,488 0.90% 604,272 99.10% 312,409 51.70% 287,029 47.50% 4,834 0.80%
22 Kegalle 613,938 497,290 81.00% 4,973 1.00% 492,317 99.00% 250,589 50.90% 238,281 48.40% 3,446 0.70%
TOTAL 14,088,500 11,156,775 79.20% 116,372 1.00% 11,040,403 99.00% 5,301,713 48.02% 5,592,977 50.66% 148,974 1.35%
Guys why do we always mistake lose for loose. Lose is as in Win or Lose; but loose is like loose change or a loose cannon.
Anyway, minorities will decide the election. Don’t think the opposition is Gandhian Ahimsaa waadiyas! Look at the casualty toll.
DBSJ, do you have a verdict? Polls are too close. Some say MR by 53% others say SF by 55%.
and rumour has it that Dr. Meryvn Silva has fled to London..Is there any truth?
It’s dicey to predict because we dont know the extent of possible vote rigging. Mervyn was seen in London early this week.Dunno whether he’s there now or gone elsewhere…………..DBSJ
Several people are visiting the country and even going safely to North & East without having to spend more time and money and some have even commented about that here. I also heard many unmarried tamil women in their 30s and 40s are getting married to expatriates who were unable to visit the country earlier. There are discusions about marrying young widows and sponsoring orphans.
I only hope that this change is not changed by the “change’.
You’ve evidently forgotten the JVP saying that 48 was emancipation for Royal College and St. Thomas, and 56 for Ananda and Thurstan, but it was the JVP in 89 who would bring around the emancipation of those in the local school.
Mahinda’s father was a career politician and lawyer, and Mahinda spent his childhood, not in a village in the deep South, but in an MP’s apartment in the center of Colombo.
Whole election show is not needed.
MR will remain as President on the 28 th, irregardless of the outcome.
He and his company just can not afford not to be in power.
Either votes were counted already or he will stay in power to ” save the motherland from local and foreign conspiracy”
He may get the blessing from Maha Sangha as well.
Sri Lanka is well trained to put down any protest, no need to worry.
#87-Bob
I am skeptical of theWanni turnout of 70 percent. Many of them have not even registered according to the elections Commissioner. According to this forecast the tamil votes are the clincher, but if they have got the vanni turnout wrong as it seems, then it seems to be a biased forecast.
•83. bob:- In a few hours from now – SL will become the first ( pariah ) state to elect a WAR CRIMINAL as its Exec President
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Roosevelt who killed or maimed more than 2million Japanese from atomic bomb, Linden Johnson who used agent orange on Vietnamese civilians, Roosevelt who allowed 3000 US sailors to perish in Pearl harbor when he knew the Japs will attack & even the date was known, Churchill and Both Roosevelt who knew Stalin’s concentration camps and Gulags which accounted for the killing of more than 17 million people which puts Hitler’s atrocities to second place, but did not do anything about it because Stalin was with them are not war criminals? What about Blair, Howard and Bush who invaded Iraq and killed so many civilians in air strikes , when there was absolute no justification for their actions but only the greed to get at Iraq oil resources (which Howard was forced to admit during his run up to elections against Kevin Rudd)are not war criminals?
DBSJ RESPONDS:
It was not Franklin D Roosevelt but Harry S Truman who approved nuclear bombing of Japan. Roosevelt died on April 12th 1945 and his vice-president Truman succeeded him. Hiroshima was N-bombed on Aug 6th 1945 and Nagassaki three days later on Aug 9th.
Bob: I did not say that white vans do not happen. I am not naive. But what I am trying to say is that if you have been fed a daily dose of Western reporting on Sri Lanka for the last few years compounded by the pro-LTTE propaganda put out by the diaspora in the Western capitals, you would be surprised at what you find when you get there. Things are not just black and white but comes in every shade of gray.
Stephen Jones: The fact that Mahinda, the son and the nephew of two prominent politicians could not get into a school like Royal or St. Thomas’ in the 60s alone tells you which side of the “Colombo elite” divide he was in. As you said earlier, my poor alma Mata, Thurstan College was not the one you had to be from, if you intended to get ahead among the Colombo elite. This was the time when you could even not get selected to the national cricket team if you were not from “The chosen schools”, let alone into the circle of movers and shakers.
Letest news. At least Four bomb explosions have been heard in Jaffna. This has been confirmed by an independent election monitor. This may be to frighten the general public from venturing out to vote.
MR knows that a 75% of NorthEast voter turnout will be doomsday for him. Thats why Lewke was transferred out.
#91-fran
MR will remain as President on the 28 th, irregardless of the outcome.
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An important factor you are not taking into consideration is the army rank and file factor. I agree with DBSJ that they are owerwhelmingly in favour of their former boss. They have even showed their postal votes to their superiors. 200000 guys with guns are the most powerful bloc in the country. So if MR is thinking of his usual monkey pranks he better get ready to be shot.
MR is a fool to have had such a risky election against all advice. he should have first put his house in order when he was caught napping due to the shock Fonseka factor. All along he was taking it easy and letting the country go to the dogs because he was thinking ranil was going to be his opponent. It’s recklessness and bad judgement on his part to continue the same way when the opponent has become such a formidable guy. The COL is the biggest threat to him. The prices compared to 4 years ago are unbelievable.
People are grumbling that everything except excreta is being taxed to their eyeballs. does any foolgo for an election at a time like that. And added to this is the corruption factor. You can’t fool all the people all the time. He has also not made any real attempt to get probably the decisive tamil vote, thinking he can rig it i suppose, but the army will be vigilant.
under the circumstances the best he can do is only to sqeak through.
Ranjan from Toronto
When you were in srilanka did you comment on this blog and tell us you were there. If not why?
#93
Only two people stand out of all the war criminals mentioned, by crime against its own people.- Hitler and Stalin. Hitler killed himself , Stalin died as a paranoid and delusional man.
SL/ Mahinda R is a proud member of the exclusive club.
He has to try hard to take an alternative path than the above.
#96
Shanker, I can not agree more. I did not speak about the 29th. and just left it open as the turn of events are so dramatic, May 2009 seems 50 years ago.
#97 Shankar: When in Sri Lanka I have many things to do on a very limited time. So reading and writing to blogs would not be on my list of priorities. In fact I could not do even half the things I planned to do there.
DBS, Kandula is the official name given to the elephant serving as the mascot of the Sri Lanka Light Infantry, not the Sinha Regiment; and the name is given when the animal is ceremonially appointed mascot. It is then passed on to the next mascot when the incumbent retires.
The mascot of the Sinha Rifles is Kruger — an African lion presented to the regiment by the Cape Town Rifles of the South African Army.
i like your writing.. i dont agree with you.. but love reading you..
I love having you on board……….DBSJ
98. Fran :-I have mentioned just a few. The greatest criminal and murderer was VP. I suppose you would never wish him a terrible death although you would in the case of MR. By the way Roosevelt and Churchill in my recollection had peaceful deaths. So let us not twist the story to fit our state of mind ok
Dear DBSJ
Another eye opener.When ever Dr Faustus makes his treaty with the Devil one day Mephistoples will come to claim his immortal soul.This tale holds good over the ages.
Revi Unni
On the whole, not many Tamils will vote at this election. For them both Rajapakse and Fonseka are the same. If you talk to a few of them, you will understand that they have a dilemma. That is; Like Jews before 1948, they have no country. That may be a problem for Tamils, but that should not be a problem for Sinhala people because the vast majority of them or over sixty million Tamils live in India. Why should we allow tiny Sri Lanka to be their base home land.
For over seventy years, Tamils have been doing their sneaky work to divide Sri Lanka on the pretext that they are an ancient race in Sri Lanka, and they have problems in Sri Lanka. But none explains the problems they face.
LTTE leader, Piripaharan tried to solve their problems with an Eelam exclusively for Tamils in the North and East of Sri Lanka. He didn’t say how that Eelam would bring about solutions to the majority of Tamils that live among Sinhalese but outside the North and East.
Since LTTE and Piripaharan had been wiped out, Sinhalese expected Tamils to settle down and live peacefully with them. But, have they shown any signs for peace? No. Diaspora Tamils started looking for new Piripaharans to revive their fight for Eelam. No wonder the government have to be on the vigil.
The US and their IC and our opposition leader think we are a puny country and should have acted as such. It is not a secret that Rajapakse not only ignored the call by US to let LTTE leader Piripaharan go free but wiped them out en masse. Rajapakse had shown IC that he could even beat them at their own turf such as UN human right council. Neither have they liked Rajapakse making friends with China, Russia, Iran and many other countries that are standing against them. No wonder busy bodies of IC started to conspire for Rajapakse’s blood.
Sinhala nationalists hate the IC, Norway and their NGOs for their under hand support for LTTE during the war. So, IC and company conspired with the opposition and cajoled Fonseka, the army commander to contest against Rajapakse. It is the IC and company that financed Fonseka’s election campaign. IC wants to revive LTTE rump, destabilise this country and plant their arbitrators here once again.
Whoever wins the Presidency today, he should leave no room for Eelamists to raise their head. Having said that, as in 2005, IC and the Eelamists will lose this time as well. IC may have manipulated international papers to portray that Sinhala nationalist vote is divided, 50-50. They may also have inculcated their NGOs and INGOs parasites to write fairy tales about Fonseka winning the Presidency. But, that’s not the true picture here in Sinhala villagers like the one that I live.
To tell the truth, I am yet to find anyone who had voted for Rajapakse’s party at the last PC elections throughout 2009 that had abandoned them since. True, staunch UNPers that had been on hibernation have come out to disseminate all kinds of gossip and tittle-tattle against Rajapakse brothers. But the none-card carrying silent UNPers are still silent or rather dismayed about their pact alliance with extremist JVP. Whether those UNPers will go to the voting booth on 26th is doubtful. Even with their vote, Mr. Fonseka would get less than 40%.
Ranjan
Claiming victim status because you were only in the second rank of the elite won’t wash.
Very good article written by a good journalist. See how many people like this,
Postal Vote count so far running at 70 – 30 in Raja’s favor, does not point out to a good day for Fonseka.
Like to hear from anyone who got most recent results.
Cheers
Furhter to Comment 72.
DBSJ was right on the money with his call. But it is going to be a landslide victory for the incumbent.
The results so far indicate that the UNP vote has decreased significantly and Ranil will pay for it, unless he can hatch a another plot.
As old Bala said Ranil is a cunning fox. but this time the fox has been caught in a death trap.
Ranil’s deal to latch Sampathan has backfired on Fonseka as well as ranil himself. A lot of Southern Sinhalese who are UNP supporters,especially in area like Galle and Matara have deserted the party.
As a layman (or village idiot of politics), I , not long time ago, predicted MR would win by a landslide margin; After reading a lot about SL policitical situation and having talked to friends/relatives in Lanka, I changed my mind; Now it seels MR would win by a narrow margin.
I do not know which one of this 2 will do ‘better’ things for Sri Lanka; Or should I say, I do not know which one if thie 2 will do less harm.
I do not line these 2, but I always like the country I grew up, studied, and spend my best years in.
DBS,
In an earlier comment I said that SF’s Ambalangoda connection is tenuous. The poll results are in. MR has won Ambalangoda by a huge margin.
Stephen Jones: I am not claiming to be a victim. I am proud of my school and I believe that I have done OK in life. So no complaints.
Fonseka during his last hustings had threatened to strip off the uniforms of the Current Army Commander and his Officers on the 27th.
I believe he is now cornered in a Colombo hotel with his arms dealer son in law and ,the two daughters waiting to escape. The Army is surrounding the hotel in case he will cause any mischief using his ex Army thugs and the JVP, UNP hoons.
What a sorry plight for this self appointed War Hero and the best Army Commander in the world.
How come in some districts 100 per cent voter turnout. moral of the story is if you rig don’t overrig.
Fonseka and family are at a hotel getting ready for the airpor, but army has surrounded it.
Murali would have been in a dilemma. On one side Arjuna who fought so hard for him, but also Mahinda who supported him always through his trying times. Glad he made the correct decision and supported Mahinda.
Murali who loves the country a lot will not be able to stop himself from entering politics, to do something for it, hence we might at last get the first decent major politician, that most are pining for.
The hundred percent turnout i mentioned has been subsequently corrected to about 75 per cent. So hopefully it will be not a rigged election as i first thought.. Sarath getting a drubbing. Doing much worse than ranil last time. So what is all this talk of a tight contest.
This is the sweetest of all victories for Rajapaksa.The majority Srilankans who are the poor, regardless of their ethnicity will be the biggest winners.
They cowardly leaders of the bankrupt and nearly bankrupt political parties, well supported by by the foreign interests,who were hell bent on destroying the Rajapaksas , put up this ignorant,rude vengeful and greedy soul to destroy a man who fought against all odds to liberate the country from thirty years of mayhem,whilst still maintaining good economic growth.
Had this plot succeeded Srilanka would have gone back to the dark ages.
Thanks to the poor, but smarter masses who realized the bogus and cunning nature of the propaganda dished out to them in bucket loads,the country has been spared the disaster which the opposition would have delivered had they succeeded.
This is a new dawn in the history of Srilanka. I am confident that the President will bring home the bacon to all poor , battlers irrespective of whether they are Tamil, Sinhala,Burghur ,Muslin or any other.now that they have rewarded him with this magnificent victory.
Given the margin with which Mahinda is trouncing Sarath F, one wonders what would have happened if Ranil ran.
It turns out that the tight contest was a figment of imagination of the Colombo elite or a well thought out disinformation campaign.
It also points out that Western concepts of opinion polling and telephone surveys and running lection campaigns based on such are really are not suitable in a country like SL where the majority do not take part in such exercises and/or will not provide truthful answers to strangers who do polling.
110. sydney_tamil — Many are not grateful like you. I admire your frankness. Secondly I don’t think the election was rigged. Many outside SL who are foreigners but who have been in SL and watching the election are also of the same opinion. If it was rigged, how could one rig all the districts?
Rajapaksa triumphs and Tamil representatives like TNA make another fatal error in supporting Fonseka. The SLMC has been dealt a blow as well. It would have been so wise for the TNA to support Rajapaksa – he never forgets his friends.
Mahinda has even won Colombo – a UNP bastion.
Just keep continue your job. Wonderful article. Admirable.
Many thanks.
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