Enforcing 13th Amendment will not prevent War Crimes against Sri Lanka
Posted on September 29th, 2011
Shenali Waduge
It was never a surprise when Sri Lanka began to be admonished for completely defeating an international terrorist organization. The wave of admonishes coming from foreign Governments including international peace agencies disregarding the success of the first military defeat of a terrorist organization while carrying out the worlds largest humanitarian rescue operation simply reveals the hypocrisies that prevails in international laws & international thinking. Sri LankaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s public is not surprised & Sri LankaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s public is also aware that the ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-wish listsƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ presented by the West including India attempting to entice the Sri Lankan government to agree to various implementations to prevent war crimes against Sri Lanka is only a ploy & Sri LankaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s Government should not fall prey.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Saddam Hussein agreed to allow UN weapons inspectors to avoid US pressures ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…” the outcome was report after report surfacing giving credibility for the US action & eventual invasion of Iraq. The collateral damage caused to a country & its people in order to kill one single dictator who was once the USƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s friend reveals that Sri Lanka should trust no foreign power.
Osama bin Laden remained a friend of the US until his supposed death. Linked to the Saudi royal family, linked to US former President & having business interests, shares & ventures in partnership with US business tycoons how could Osama really have been an enemy? Could the Al Qaeda be just a name to allow US & Western hegemony to reign without questions asked? Gaddafi now is the latest target, a man who handed bagful of money to Western leaders to carry out their political campaigns ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…” ask Sarkozy & Blair & US politicians themselves.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ In the overall gameplan by powerful nations to make smaller nations bow down to its pressures thereby facilitating their ability to take over them geographically & economically raises the need to understand how India is involved & aligned to the West for this sole purpose.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ It is in IndiaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s interest to align with the West portraying itself as part of western pressures to implement its own plans in Sri Lanka. No country other than India will understand the importance of Sri Lanka geographically. True it created & supported the LTTE, it was done so to ensure that India would continue to have a foothold in Sri Lanka & a say politically whether amongst Sri Lankan politicians or foreign political designs.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Knowing the importance of Sri Lanka & not wanting Sri Lanka to belong to western governments as a base, India planned various maneuvers to tie Sri Lanka to India other than the LTTE factor. The 13th amendment wais one such maneuver.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Lest we should forget, the 13th amendment to the constitution came about totally disregarding Sri LankaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s sovereign right. Indian cargo planes invaded our air space, the infamous ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-parippuƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ drop, the eventual acceptance of the Indian Peace Keeping Force signing after the Indo-Lanka Peace Agreement which only JRJ & India knew & signed under curfew which was boycotted by some Sri Lankan ministers including R Premadasa & Athulathmudali. When it came to voting in favor of the 13th amendment to Sri LankaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s constitution only one gentlemen politician prevailed ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…” he was Gamini Jayasuriya who resigned in protest while all other MPs on account of JRJ possessing ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-undated resignation lettersƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ remained mum.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ What did the 13th amendment realistically achieve? Much has been said about the Official language policy of 1956 as being the core reason for Tamil unrest & the ethnic conflict itself. Well the 1990 13th Amendment making Tamil an official language should have resolved all issues, that it did not perfectly depicts that the war mongers were simply looking for excuses to justify a hidden cause.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ What the Indian invasion did was result in the JVP uprising resulting in over 65,000 Sinhala lives & no international NGOs/foreign governments or INGOs raised hue & cry over the loss of Sinhala lives. Today, the JVP has become a unit influenced & maneuvered by Indian intelligence!
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ The 13th amendment set up the Provincial Council system in each province with a high court in each & a wide range of powers devolved to the provinces including police & land powers & a reserved list retained by the Central Government. ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ For Sri Lankans the Indian intervention was similar to bifurcating East Pakistan into Bangladesh. ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ The devolution of powers was in itself a failure with the first Chief Minister of the North-East provincial council making a ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-unilateral declaration of independenceƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ in 1990.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ The IPKF tasked to disarm terrorists failed to uphold its end of the agreement resulting not only loss of security forces but of Tamil civilians & Indian soldiers as well as affecting the unitary nature of the Sri Lankan constitution with powers being devolved along ethnic lines.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ What India has done through the forceful implementation of the 13th A is to divide Sri Lanka communally encouraging communal based politics as seen in the case of the North & East Provincial Councils. It must also be reiterated that IndiaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s 13A was never accepted by the LTTE.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Let it also be noted that the Federal Party conveniently coined so in English to cover the Tamil ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-self-determinationƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ Illankai Tamil Arassu Katchchi was formed by S J V Chelvanayagam in 1949 well before any qualms with regard to discrimination. That the Federal Party lost parliamentary elections in 1952 winning just 3 seats shows that the Tamil community did not favor separatism.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ What the 13A is responsible of achieving is mass waste of public funds & proliferation of public office. Devolving land powers will only mean nefarious activities like smuggling illegal arms, drugs, people & future terrorists ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…” all threats to Sri LankaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s sovereignty. The 13A is invalid so far as it was forced upon a sovereign nation & the 13A & the Provincial Councils should be eliminated & repealed forthwith.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Yet, if Sri Lanka is unable to totally do away with the Provincial Council system, given that funds are disbursed towards its upkeep, a restructuring of objectives need to be carefully looked into.
Realistic devolution would mean giving over to these Provinces a practical set of powers that does not & will not undermine the authority of the Central Government. Let these provinces & officials take care of the provinces vis a vis daily activity. There is no requirement to have separate lists as appearing presently.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Let these Provinces be tasked to uplift the state of national schools, hospitals, clinics, transport at the provincial level & engage with the Central Ministry coordinating these national efforts. All financial transactions must be periodically audited by the Center. No province should have authority to align/coordinate or appeal to any foreign agency/Govt or institute. All foreign transactions must take place only with the Center which includes all procurement of any kind.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Was India ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…” a friend or foe of the LTTE
Does India need to be repeatedly reminded of its deceit towards Sri Lanka? Feigning to be Sri LankaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s friend while clandestinely training, arming, supporting & instructing LTTE action against Sri Lanka & its Government, India cannot escape the truth. It was Sri LankaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s allegiance towards China, Pakistan & Russia towards the end of the military exercise that set India following a double act by pretending to appease Tamil Nadu while extending support to Sri LankaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s Government for in realizing that the LTTE could not raise itself from the present crisis it suited India to be part of the winning team. India out of pure selfishness sided with the operation to defeat the LTTE & that is the undeniable truth.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ The diplomatic trips were merely part of a double standard exercise to show IndiaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s power over Sri Lanka. The families of IPKF soldiers should demand compensation from the Indian Government for India was siding with the LTTE which ended up killing over 1000 Indian soldiers & injuring more than double of that number & subsequently LTTE gratitude for IndiaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s support was by assassinating Rajiv Gandhi though many believe it was a contract by a western intelligence unit.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ What India must in the present context be reminded if it is not aware already is that the 13th A & the insistence of devolving land powers & police is likely to be detrimental for the interests of India. We are all aware of the separatist aspirations of Tamil Nadu & that it was this desire that became imported to buy time for India. It is not that Tamil Nadu has forgotten the hunger for self-determination from India & with LTTE remnants domiciled globally the next phase of that self-determination battle will be disuniting India using Sri Lanka as a foundation. Sri LankaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s LTTE was only a ploy in a larger gameplan to disturb India an aspiring super power. That the West is silent or shown to appease LTTE factions overseas who openly promote LTTE separatism shows that the West is keeping the LTTE movement alive to be used against India. This has always been the WestƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s gameplan ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…” Sri Lanka was merely a tool in that larger exercise.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ India is shrewd enough not to realize this. India is playing a double game by aligning with the West pretending it is unaware of the WestƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s plan while pressurizing Sri Lanka & gaining footholds economically whereby the motive is clear to Indianize south Sri Lanka with North Indian investments & with the move to include ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-Indian laborƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ it would mean legalizing North Indian presence in Sri Lanka enabling India to take care of any insurgency from the North of Sri Lanka or Tamil Nadu in the future.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ What Sri Lanka should & should not agree to
Sri Lanka must tell the world that it is & it will remain a Unitary State with equal rights to every citizen. Sri Lanka does not need to create provisions based on ethnicity, caste, creed etc. Sri Lankans mean all our citizens ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…” there is no requirement for further connotations. As pointed out by all land & police powers should not be devolved.
Tamils need to remember that it was the LTTE that ethnically cleansed the Sinhalese & Muslims from the north and eastern provinces & that was how the LTTE ran a de-facto system. Tamils must not forget how they suffered in the hands of the LTTE, how their wealth were confiscated for a supposed ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-causeƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚, how they had to pay ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-taxesƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚, how their children were abducted & made into child soldiers & Tamils must remember at all times that it was the LTTE that blocked the progress of the Tamils economically, socially & spiritually.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ LTTE was nothing but a mafia unit helped by the Tamil Diaspora for their own selfish interests.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ It is in dismay that we wonder for whose interest Sri LankaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s Foreign Minister is serving. Agreeing that a ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-devolution package, building upon the 13th Amendment, would contribute towards creating the necessary conditions for such reconciliationƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ is more or less noosing Sri Lanka according to IndiaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s gameplan.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ The Tiger Nominated Agents (TNA) are simply mouthpiecing IndiaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s desire now that the LTTE is no more. Tamil people should first ask what the TNA did while the LTTE illtreated Tamils! The present calls for resettlement is hypocritical wherein it is rightfully the Sinhalese & Muslims who should be settled first. TNA is now demanding a re-merger of the North & East. Then there is the Global Tamil Forum that has succeeded to influence foreign MPs both in opposition & government. The success of these endeavors have even resulted in motions against a sovereign government & calls for international investigations into war crimes in Sri Lanka by proxies of the LTTE who are supposedly banned in these very countries. What else is more hypocritical! Much of these anti-Sri Lanka sentiments rests upon the monetary transactions that ensues & the political favors that results clearly evident from GTF hiring Joan Ryan former Home Minister/Labor as its Chief Executive after she lost her seat. She went to the extent of filing an application at the Westminister Magistrates Court to arrest Maj. Gen. Chagi Gallage.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ UN must be continuously reminded that if it is to bring about lasting peace it must also look into the interests of the developing nations. Developing nations need to now band together to demand the bias towards western interests must stop forthwith. Until & unless the developing nations get together & demand that the UN must adapt unbiased approaches, we are likely to see UN mandates & UN resolutions surfacing against smaller nations such as Sri Lanka. UN bias is evident in the manner US, UK, France & NATO are not investigated for war crimes against innocent people ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…” nations that have been invaded without any reason.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ At this point we must wonder whether the push for war crimes by the West stems from more than just monetary contributions from the LTTE. The more we look at this angle we can understand the interest India is showing to control Sri Lanka in the interest of the Indian subcontinent. If Sri Lanka becomes a perfect western base it is detrimental to the interests of both India & China ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…” tomorrows future power houses. While we can empathize with IndiaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s concerns vis a vis the threats that prevails, we must reiterate that Sri Lanka is no countryƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s prostitute.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Let the world not forget that inspite of suffering 30 years of terror Sri Lanka remained resilient. It is one of few nations in the world that continues to provide free education & free healthcare, its infant mortality isƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚¦.its labor laws have been acknowledged by the ILO, there is no case against ethnic discrimination in the workplace ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…” private or public, while the terror prevailed Sri LankaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s government continued with public infrastructure ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…” roads, ports, airports, railway lines, power plants while spending millions on resettling & rehabilitating LTTE men & women who were once brainwashed to kill. These achievements do not qualify any country to be termed a failed state!
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ The airing of a documentary titled ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-Sri LankaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s Killing FieldsƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ telecast over UKƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s Channel 4 prompted the UK Govt to warn the GOSL to investigate alleged war crimes before the end of the year or face consequences. It simply translates to mean that the West is angered because the LTTE is no more.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Where was the West when children were conscripted to the LTTE by force ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…” were these not Tamil children whose fundamental rights were stolen by the LTTE? What is the use of diplomatic niceties if behind the scenes countries are supporting terror ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…” do we need to spend billions on stationing diplomatic officers & maintaining offices just to pose for the cameras & print statements when a total different campaign takes place thereafter!
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Tamils need to know that a piece of paper is unlikely to give them any sense of ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-belongingƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ & it is in their own capacity to want to be shareholders that will enable them to think Sri Lankan. The majority populace are aware that many Tamils though not agreeing with LTTE terror chose to ride on the LTTE bandwagon for it enabled them to apply as refugees & seek citizenship in foreign climes. How else would 1m Tamils reside overseas today, how else would almost every Tamil family member have at least 1 member living abroad. Many of these Tamils who make up the Tamil Diaspora are angered by the fact that their lifestyle has seen a marked change. Today, no Tamil can apply to go overseas as a refugee, getting visas has also become cumbersome, thus new calls for ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-meaningful powersharingƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚, remerger of the North & East ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…” yet Sinhalese cannot be blamed for this. The LTTE was running a defacto Government of its own for several decades. Did the lives of the Tamil people in the North & East improve. Did they gain their fundamental rights? No- these people ended up suffering while their brothers & sisters living in the South amongst the Sinhalese managed to sail to foreign shores on the refugee ticket. Power sharing does not & should not have ethnic dimensions. If the interests of the Tamils were not safeguarded the first place to question this should be amongst the Tamils themselves & we return to the factor of caste which plays an integral role in every aspect of life amongst the Tamils. Caste discriminations amongst Tamils is carefully hidden from international forums & many do not know the exact nature & seriousness of caste factor amongst the Tamils. It is this facet that needs to be highlighted & taken care of first before any other ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-meaningful solutionƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ is looked into.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ What is essential at this stage is for every citizen to think as if he/she is a stakeholder in Sri Lanka. Aligning with parties interested in breaking up Sri Lanka is unlikely to bring the dividends & will only lead to catastrophe.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ It seems pointless showcasing Sri LankaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s achievement post-conflict & no matter what the Government shows as evidence of Sri LankaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s commitment to developing the nation after 30 years of terror is not important to the West or India. This is so simply because wars are just a ploy to advance agendas, terrorists are merely a means of creating sales for arms & ammunitions, peace propagandists & negotiators are people who press for political deals & commitments on the excuse that the discussions are aligned to development goals.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ It is upto the public to ensure its Government elected by the people does not fall prey to these gameplans & does not commit Sri Lanka to several more decades of neo-colonial activity & political slavery.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ We are today a free nation thanks to our brave solders & Sri Lanka must continue to remain a free & sovereign nation, no matter what.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Shenali Waduge
September 29th, 2011 at 5:01 pm
Very true.
No matter what SL does this war crimes BS hangs above our heads as the damoclus sword.
Knowing this very well west, India and LTTE get the MAXIMUM benefits from our “fears”.
Don’t give ANYTHING UNTIL this war crimes BS is retracted. Otherwise it will never end.
“Give us free food, free gold (as Ananda sangari said recently) or we will investigate war crimes.”
We give them free food and free gold.
Then they say, “give us Tamil this and that, othewise we will investigate war crimes.”
We give that.
Then, “give us a Tamil only island (which LTTE failed to achieve) and jump in the sea or we will investigate war crimes.”
We jump in the sea! Or we tell them to go jump in the lake. If MR wants a third term, if BR wants 2 terms, if GR wants 2 terms and if NR wants 3 terms, don’t do it. The maximum they can do is kill a few of us (don’t worry we will not just die like lamb!!) for not doing it but they still can’t break up the country. If we break up the country, they will kill us ANYWAY.
September 29th, 2011 at 8:09 pm
Misleading title!
Who will enforce 13th Amendment so as not to prevent War Crimes Against Sri Lanka and in what context?
Please elaborate .Thanks
September 29th, 2011 at 9:00 pm
13th Amendment was written by Rajiv Gandhi, an air line pilot, before he became the Prime Minister. JRJ successfully blocked it by the 6th amndment. I don’t think by porting history to presnt day and comparing what happend at the signing of 13th amendment is not an analogy. What the Sinhala armed forces did on May 19th 2009 was to defeat INDIA’S Territorial Army. This event cannot be compared to any other event since the surrender of the Sinhala to the Brithsh in 1875. Now let’s look at the sigining ceremony! Pramadase boycotted it because Parbhakeran told him to do so. Pramadase communicated to Prabhrakeran through Sirsena Cooray. Parmadase was a Major in the LTTE army when he was the Prime Minister. Now Lalith Athulathmudali boycotted it because he was the deputy head of the SL Armed forces, just like Gotabaya today. Lalith did not want any military person killed when Indian army came in here. That is why he boycotted the event. If Pramadase wanted to get rid of some one all he had to do was to tell Sirisena Cooray and he conveyed the message to Prabhakeran, in person, the suicide bomber was on the target in one day. Some Examples are head of Upali moters, (a relative of JR) Ranjan Wijyaratne, his Defense Secretary and General Kobbekauwa.
September 30th, 2011 at 7:08 am
Before any future talks with TNA, the People of Lanka should through Petition request the GoSL to first remove :
(1) the Vaddukkodai Resolution to obtain Eelam through violence.
(2) the demand for a separate state, Eelam.
Why these items are still allowed in the Tamil leaders Vellahla Agenda, we fail to understand. All demands are coming through the TNA & Tamil Diaspora (War Crimes charge via the west), and no demands from the rest of the People of Lanka. What we want is lasting peace & prosperity for all.
September 30th, 2011 at 10:54 am
I like the spirit of Lorenzo. We need to develop will to survive, will to fight and will to win. If we are prepared to fight and have proper defense strategies and defence harware, then agressors will think twice before attacking us. It is only the weak that gets bullied. Dump Nirvana, Dump giving up desires, Dump being fearful of pain, just as Indians and Chinese have done and develop defence capabilities and a fighting spirit. If we have more lorenzos Lanka will be safe.
13th A, is unlawful as it was obtained using a threat. It should be dumped. People need to stand up and say so
September 30th, 2011 at 3:51 pm
Fully agree with Ms. Waduge.
India never wanted peace or development in any of its neighbourhoods and never will.
September 30th, 2011 at 3:58 pm
@Kit,
No. JR couldn’t block the 13th amendment with 6th amendment. In fact the 6th amendment was blocked by the 13th amendment. Not just Premadasa and Lalith, every MP, except Ronnie de Mel boycotted this act of treason. Don’t forget JR had banned the TULF (main opposition), SLFP and JVP. He had over 5/6th in parliament. Even with that he could not stop the 13th amendment. Shame on him.
Premadasa distance himself from JR which was very good. Otherwise he would never have become the president. Premadasa was a much better president than JR.
September 30th, 2011 at 4:00 pm
Can anybody explain this to me? Sri Lanka is the only nation in this planet to wipe out terrorism from its soil. It is the only nation to rehabilitate ex-terrorist combatants and offer them education and economic advancement. It is the nation which carried out worlds largest hostage rescue mission. But this great nation is constantly harassed by USA, UK, Canada and some European nations. what wrong has this great Island done?
Let me give my humble opinion. It prevented break up INDIA, which was in “Great Western military plans” for last thirty years. It also gave CHINA safe sea routes to AFRICA and MIDDLE EAST. It prevented creation of a terrorist sub-state, which can be remote controlled from Europe, emerging in the middle of Indian Ocean. That is the nutshell of all this. Amen.
September 30th, 2011 at 11:27 pm
Arvinda has some good points. Western imperialism wanted the resources of other weaker nations. This applies to all impeirialists, including Tamils who invaded other countries. China has not invaded other countries, but had to put up a wall to defend itself.
Part of the problem is our own thinking which appears to stay static, trapped in an era 500 years BC. We need to escape the relogion mind virus and develop desires to survive, to win and not to fear from pain. Trying to give up desires will make us slaves. Learn from the Chinese and Indians. No significant Buddhism in India or China now and see the rapid development after dumping religion.
Of course respect and protect Buddhism as our heritage, but should not stay trapped in 500 years BC era.
October 1st, 2011 at 7:57 am
Ben: While we agree with you regarding the need to raise our state of Awareness re the dangers of SEPARATIST ASPIRATIONS, the method employed to do so should be more subtle and less obviously aggressive (military & gun culture) than employed by North Korea, etc. We vote for the methods used by Switzerland etc. rather than create another N. Korea here. It is the Separatist Aspirations we have to address. It is the Separatist Aspirations in any country that will attract the vultures of Exploitation who will attempt to ‘divide & rule’ for their own benefit, the results of which in Lanka will be that the masses will go on neglect & suffering as they did under 500 yrs of Colonial Rule, and the Environment will degrade too, resulting in disease & death.
To safeguard the People of Lanka, we have first get rid of the Vaddukkodai Resolution which is shamelessly dangled like a sword over the heads of the People of Lanka. Next, we have to get rid of the so called War Crimes charge while taking the LTTE rump leaders to courts over many anti-Democratic activities. By all means ‘dump’ ,(as Ben says), the 13-A too.
October 1st, 2011 at 8:36 pm
Mr. Muhammad, Mr. Muhammad, I do not know where you live and how you know Pramadase. I lived in Maradana long time ago, my teenage years. I will give you a short history of Premadase. Pramadase’s grandmother and grandfather were MALAYALIS. They had a Rickshaw and took English passengers around Colombo Fort. His father carried out the same business. When a prominent Englishman wanted a rickshaw, he pulled the rickshaw, for which he got generous benefits from the Englishman. Pramadase’s father built few shanties for rickshaw pullers and rented them. Pramadase’s name was not RANASINGHE, it was RANAHIN. Sinhala called them HINNAWAS. Pramadase told the general public that he was from Dhobi Cast, but it was not true. Pramadase built shanties from Puchi-Boralle, Paranawadiya, Mariyacade, Panchicawatta and in and around Sucharitha Muddukuwa. Electricity was free for these renters. No one from electricity department dare talk about.
Pramadase was a poster writer for the UNP, with no formal education. Somehow he managed to get a seat on the Colombo Municipal Council (CMC). Then he became the deputy Mayor of CMC. He bribed Registrar General’s clerks and altered his birth certificate to have Ransinghe instead of Ranhin. When he became the Prime minister, a man (I cannot remember his name) wrote a stage play called “MAMMA KAUWDA” and was about to stage it at Tower-hall. Pramadase got him killed. Then he got his thugs to set fire to this man’s house. Why! Because this play disclosed his family roots to Hinnawas and how he altered his Birth Certificate. This was questioned in the parliament. Pramadase’s wife swam in the Temple Trees swimming pool every morning. A journalist published this photograph in a news journal. Pramadase sent his thugs to this man’s house and destroyed all his photos and his cameras then they killed him. Even up to today his body was not found. Again this was questioned in the parliament. Pramadase said he was educated at St Joseph’s College Maradane, but no one could find any such record.
How did Pramadase become the President of new Republic of Sri Lanka? By killing of his opponents. He killed his own Defense Secretary Ranjan Wijaratne. And why? Because Ranjan Wijayaratne went to Pakistan to get modern weapons to the army and while he was out of the country, Pramadase gave Prabhakeran any weapon he wanted. On his arrival in SL Ranjan Wijeyaratne told Pramadase that he has let down the Army. Ranjan Wijeratne lasted only a week after that, he was blown to pieces. Arnthalawa and Kithulthuduwa massacres were carried out by these weapons. If Pramadase wanted someone killed, he told Sirsena Cooray to go and meet Prabhrakeran. Srisena Cooray went to Jaffna and at a secret meeting place passed target information, and then a large sum of money was transferred to a Prabhrkeran account. The target is hit within a week.
How did Pramadase win his impeachment? He paid tones of money to MPs and bought them. Mohammad was the Speaker and he got his support. His son was so upset about the outcome, went to his father’s house and broke windows chairs and kitchen equipment. Mohammad’s son was good friend of Late Lalith Athulathmudali.
MuhammadFS ask yourself this question: why did people in every city, in SL celebrated with fire crackers when Pramadase was blown to pieces?
October 1st, 2011 at 10:56 pm
@Kit,
You are right on some matters but not on everything.
People didn’t light crackers in every city.
And Premadasa’s grand parents were not Malayalis. he did come from the shanties and that was his strength. He knew first hand about poverty. He sorted out the deep mess JR created. You might remember when JR took over the country it was in one piece and peace was everywhere. By the time JR left office the north, south, east and west were on fire. An occupying Indian army was in the country. For the first time in history the nation’s leader who boasted that he could do anything except turn a woman into a man and vice versa was powerless at the feet of the Indian PM! JVP was running all the parts of the country IPKF was not running. 1983 July was another JR adventure that backfired. Vardarajan Perumbal was the Chief Minister of the North-East one province. No one could have sorted out JR’s mess than Premadasa. He did it.
Kit, did you ever think why India didn’t kill JR but killed Premadasa through the RAW?
Because JR was India’s servant but Premadasa was not.
Lalith was another useless defence minister. What did he achieve? Nothing. Indian army invaded the country at the end. JVP ran another country within the country. As if we didn’t have a defence minister.
Premadasa chased away the monkey army. Called the British HC a persona non grata. No one had the guts to do what Premadasa did. That’s why he was killed and JR died at age 90 after retiring from office. We need another Premadasa not a JR.
October 1st, 2011 at 11:04 pm
@Kit
You may not remember that Shiva Pasupathy was former Sri Lankan Attorney General of President J R Jayawardene.
He is the biggest LTTE legal mind. JR deliberately appointed a RAW agent as the AG of the country. Don’t tell me JR didn’t know about this RAW agent. He knew very well and that’s why he was appointed. So that makes JR the only president to appoint a high ranking RAW/LTTE agent into high office.
Look at the support Premadasa has even today. JR doesn’t have half of it.
October 2nd, 2011 at 12:50 am
To answer Fran, there are better models than N Korea. eg Israel and Singapore are democratic countries wth good defence. We also need to learn to compete in a fair, just and legal manner, without our mind being corrupted by religion. If we want to understand a situation, we need to remove all sources of bias, including that provided by beliefs and religion.
October 2nd, 2011 at 7:14 am
Dear Ben: I do understand that State & Religion must be separate in a number of matters. As for Israel as an example of a good democracy which is highly militarised, I would question the arms aspects there which comes in the form of aid from USA.
However, that is Israels problem and not ours. Whilst a country needs a military, very high military activity will take any country in a certain direction that Might is Right which is regrettable as we can see from many present day examples.
From the ongoing debate under this article, it is apparent what needs to be settled is Caste affairs among Tamil people and Class matters in Sinhala society. A relatively contented and secure society with the ideal of high respect for all human life will not need to be highly militarised. Taking a daily Oath of Allegiance to Sri Lanka, a good education, good social manners, good personal grooming, ongoing job creation, etc. and practice of the Core Teachings of every religion will erase Caste & Class more effectively than high militarisation. We may never have a perfect society, but at least we can strive toward it.
I might add that the whole world needs to practice Family Planning on a massive scale with the population of the world nearing 8 BILLION around 2020 (UN). On the existing system of money & the market place, with scare resources, who gets what and how much of it is the question. With all the adverse environmental changes that are happening, we should be co-operating on Survival Skills & Techniques than quarreling and killing each other.
October 2nd, 2011 at 12:43 pm
Please read as ” ….. scarce resources, who gets what …..”
October 9th, 2011 at 8:09 am
Shenali Waduge has again come out with an excellent piece of analysis of the underhand machinations of those wishing to control Srilanka through various means. I agree with what is written, but beg to differ with the final statement in this article, which says, “We are today a free nation thanks to our brave soldiers ………”. This is not quite right. Soldiers of the three forces and the police could protect the nation and achieve set goals ONLY if the leaders are clever, patriotic and are willing to take brave decisions. Therefore, let us also applaud and thank our brave political and administrative leaders, led by President Mahinda Rajapakse and his brother Gotabaya Rajapakse, who are still being targeted by the friends of LTTE terrorists. Politically I have been supporting the UNP from childhood up to the time I left SriLanka, but from overseas I can appreciate the work of good leaders, irrespective of political affiliations. So thanks again to the current leadership of SriLanka and may they get every help possible to steer SriLanka to a prosperous, peaceful and glorious nation.