C. Wijeyawickrema, LL.B., Ph.D.

(This is an essay written by me after MaithripalaS won the EP election. I found it printed in the Sinhala.net (Feb 25, 2015). It becomes relevant again with Dr. Anuruddha Padeniya’s plan to develop a directory” of traitors in (of) Sri Lanka. His idea generated lot of anger from NGO and new Marxist anti-Sinhala Buddhist agents. I suppose that war heroes Sarath Weerasekera and Kamal Gunaratna are also preparing such lists so that like in the American elections, such people can be exposed to the voters at future election.  I consider as a political traitor, any Sinhala person who supports directly or indirectly, knowingly or unknowingly the conspiracy/plan (1) to demolish the Sinhala Buddhist foundation of this island and (2) to balkanize the island to eliminate the Sinhala Buddhist civilizational heritage. These persons must be identified using objective criteria so that the target persons also get an opportunity to show why they should not be in the list. Obviously, bribe-takers at any level or corrupt government or private company servants also become traitors if the offence has national level adverse impact such as the day time robbery of the Central Bank or Indian and Singapore selling deals.

I used 6 yardsticks then, and obviously, more and better factors must be added. I was wrong completely in my placement of Maithripala as a neutral person in the list, and I hope readers will help to develop a new updated list and publish it on the Lankaweb or send the information to Dr. Padeniya for his project. This is some help we can give in a scary situation the country’s fate is hanging on.)

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No shame, no fear (හිරි-ඔත්තප්ප)

Politicians are a corrupt lot in India, USA, UK, EU or in Sri Lanka. But the worst kind of cheaters is found in Sri Lanka because here one can escape easily even if caught red-handed. Double game is so open here. As ‘not promised,’ of the 43 UNP MPs, 41 are ministers of some sort! As ‘not promised,’ Ravi Karunanayaka, an ardent Catholic, goes to worship God Kataragama, in a government helicopter. He was once a chief dayaka of the Kotte Raja Maha Viharaya. Look at the picture of PM Ranil with President MS at the root of the Sri Maha Bodhi. It was as if MS ordered him to appear there with him in a worshipping posture, because previously a lady pupil (Sharmine Serasinha) of the late Ven. Piyadassi, questioned MS, via the anti-Sinhala Buddhist website Colombo Telegraph, why he was worshipping a tree! Ranil did not know even how to pretend! While silent on Udayan, he is angry with Sinhala newspapers Divaina and Rivira!

The politicians in Sri Lanka have no shame, no fear. From JRJ, RP, CBK, RW to MR were all a corrupt lot, and we must expose them for the public good. It is a tragedy for the Sinhalayas, especially the Sinhala Buddhists. I consider Ranil, CBK and MR as dishonest politicians along with a long list of other names (Rajiva Wijesinha is an exception in this regard), not interested in serving or saving the country. Therefore, at the next parliamentary election, these rotten eggs should not be allowed to deceive people, because those who have no fear or shame (හිරි-ඔත්තප්ප) can do anything to save their skin in Sri Lanka’s dirty political waters.

Remove 13-A

Removing 13-A and replacing it with the Jana Sabhas must be the key election issue at the next parliamentary election (to be held under the new electoral system), and I have prepared a checklist to test the behavior of a selected set of talking politicians who are all (except MS who has no more political ambitions) in the game for selfish reasons. A few non-political names are also added because of their public stand on public issues. The table of checklist can have any number of columns added to it, but I decided to limit it to 13-A related items because 13-A is the beginning of the end of the Sinhala Buddhist heritage in Sri Lanka.

Three danger bells

There are three problems that Sri Lanka is facing today which have international connections. They are: (1) Christianization of Asia project of the Pope and the World Church Org. This we have in Sri Lanka as unethical religious conversion of Buddhists and Hindus; (2) Islam fundamentalism of Taliban, Wahhabism, Shari fighters of the ISIS type. This we have as Muslim pockets of inclusive zones with a right to have five wives; and (3) World Tamil movement to have a Tamil country with an UNO flag encompassing the British Madras Province. This we have since 1924 as Tamil separatism which was rejected by the Donoughmore and Soulbury Commissions in 1929 and 1946.

Economic and Moral decline

In addition, Sri Lanka faces the old colonial problem of widening economic disparity between the rich and the poor and spatial inequality due to socio-economic gap between Colombo versus villages. Nobodies becoming Somebodies is happening so fast since 1978 and since 2005, but the people are living on the borderline of food or starvation and health.

Since 1971 with JVP introducing the new method of political killings, and after 1978 JRJ’s open economy, the moral degradation is such that children are willing to sell parents or parents are willing to sell their children for a quick buck. The moral decline is frightening. Parents teach children to lie to get school admissions!

These five different trends are interlinked, and the group of people adversely affected by them predominantly, is the Sinhala people, especially the Sinhala Buddhists.

American-Chinese power struggle in the Indian Ocean

Perhaps, the most important geopolitical variable affecting Sri Lanka is the American attempt to block Chinese expansion in Africa and in the Indian Ocean. Sri Lanka is no more a sovereign country after the 1987 Rajiv-JRJ agreement limiting any local action affecting India. If oil is found in the Mannar Basin, American interests will go beyond Sri Lankan ports. Sri Lanka is not a sovereign state, when one thinks of the American and UK embassy interferences in the North and East civilian affairs, or direct dealings on a daily basis between TNA and Indian embassy office located in Jaffna. There was no foreign coup with regard to the presidential election date as it was an astrology-based, decision taken solely by MR. But, the American CIA and Indian RAW must be playing cat and mouse games all over Sri Lanka day and night. For 100,000 US dollars or a scholarship to a son or daughter to go to a US university who will not betray rules, regulations or principles!

Sinhala Buddhist orphans

What Bodu Bala Sena (BBS) revealed was that all the Sinhala MPs are competing to fight for minority rights and non to look after the Sinhala Buddhists! This is in addition to the Tamil, Muslim or Christian MPs to fight for their own rights, and get laws passed slowly and secretly. For example, UNP cabinet minister Eran Wicramaratne is a pastor in charge of the Assembly of God Church organization accused of engaged in unethical conversions. Not a single colonial law passed adversely affecting the Sinhala Buddhists were removed or modified by the so-called Sinhala Buddhist PMs or Presidents! Even the Kuragala ancient pre-Christian era Buddhist ruins could not be protected under the colonial Preservation of Antiquities Act, because MR stopped it to please a Muslim group. In other countries, this is an offence to impeach or send a president to jail.

Who is seeking Sinhala Buddhist vote?

The table below tells an interesting story. Imagine if we add other columns to show bank accounts, sudden wealth, nepotism, relatives in PCs etc. The table is a checklist, prepared with the information I believe as correct, which could help one in understanding why or why not a particular politician (MPs, PC members, PS members) support or oppose 13-A.  For a Christian, generally, Sri Lanka history begins in 1505, and most politicians at the national scene has a close Christian connection, even if he or she openly profess to be a Buddhist or a Donoughmore Buddihist. Some are Marxists who have no religion until they become very old. Some do not believe Sri Lanka is the country of the Sinhalese (Sinhale not Ceylon), with minority rights protected. The opposition to BBS is a clear indication of an anti-Sinhala Buddhist mind, when that opposition is linked with any or all of C2-C7.  C6 & C7 are in red as most critical characteristics in abolishing 13-A. One important secondary issue is that because MR was a supporter of 13-A, all those who want him back in politics must be presumed as 13-A supporters. Hence the question marks against their names in columns 6 & 7.

It is a blessing that MS is free of any doubt indicated by a question mark.  He has a clean slate so far. He is the only true commoner to become EP. Not a son of an MP or a Colombo black-white. Not even a Thurstan or Ananda college admission; a dry zone colonist farmer’s son. He became EP under most extraordinary circumstances and he is in a position to bring poor Sinhala people of UNP and SLFP under his guidance. This may not be the wish of UNP or SLFP politicians. But by following the Buddhist Middle Path, by balancing the reasonable demands of minorities with the recognition and remediation of historical injustices done to the Sinhala Buddhists, he could prove that he received training for 47 years for the task of rescuing Sri Lanka.

Table- explanation of columns

C = Christian /B=Buddhist                                          C2= Interfaith believer (I)

C3 = Does not believe in a Sinhale                                            C4= said this war is not winnable

C5= supported federal packages                              C6= supported 13-A plus

C7= supported 13-A minus                                          C8= opposed BBS