Ajit Randeniya

British right wing polemicist Frank Johnson coined the term ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”CommentariatƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ to refer to the usually university educated politically active ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”metropolitan middle classƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢, especially those with political, media, and academic connections who see themselves as the arbiters of conventional wisdom and morality. Dr Gunadasa Amarasekera probably alluded to the parallel group in Sri Lanka when he referred, somewhat more harshly, to ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”English speaking Colombo pariahsƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Irrespective of the description one chooses to adopt, the commentariat is distinct and different from the largely unrepresented ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”Silent MajorityƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ in most societies; the working class, the peasants and artisans who make up the rural masses whom these people might consider ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”hoi polloiƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ This distinction is nowhere more apparent than in Sri Lanka where before the last presidential election, and following the arrest of Sarath Fonseka, the commentariat has been expressing opinions that are as remote from reality as Mangala SamaraweeraƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s expectations of becoming politically relevant or significant again.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ The presidential election showed that the Sri Lankan public have a much more sophisticated knowledge of what and whom different bidders for their vote represented, and what the country needed at this juncture. The commentariat and their opinions of nepotism, corruption and ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”culture of impunityƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ were totally disregarded by them, showing clear judgement of the massive fraud and conspiracy Fonseka represented.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Subsequent events have proved their judgement totally accurate. Despite this, the commentariat does not seem to have learnt much; they continue to keep pontificating in the same vane on the connected, but separate issue of FoneskaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s arrest, often throwing the same accusations that failed to make a riffle at the presidential election.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ The unimaginatively common line adopted by this group on the dishonest foreign agentƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s arrest seems to range between the rather benign position of ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”the president should have been magnanimous in victory to enhance his own imageƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ to the more venomous lie that ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”the president and his family have embarked on a paranoia-based mission to consolidate power, suppressing all opposition to their ruleƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Both these positions and all variations in-between are based on irrational and internally self-contradictory, in-bred belief systems that exist among these people. Importantly, they appear to totally ignore, or distort the facts on, the alleged offences committed by Fonseka while he was Army Commander and subsequently.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ On the point of president not being magnanimous, these are the same people that shouted until their voices were hoarse that there was a ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”culture of impunityƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ in Sri Lanka in relation to law enforcement; in chanting this mantra, they ignored that the difficulty the police found in enforcing the law was caused by the peopleƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s unpreparedness to come forward with information or evidence, or as witnesses, on murders ranging from that of Rajan KadiragamarƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s to Lasantha WickrematungaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s, due to the ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”war psychosisƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ that existed; people simply wanted to mind their own business: the charge was baseless, and they knew it.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Following FonsekaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s arrest they are demanding that President Rajapakse refrains from enforcing the law! If President Rajapakse, as part of his victory celebrations (which was labelled as triumphalism!), exercised his power to pardon the suspect who was in custody for WickramatungaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s murder, they would have not accepted that as a magnanimous gesture, but used it as more grist to the fraudulent propaganda mill. But when Fonseka is arrested legally, they are demanding his release, speaking of magnanimity!

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ On the other point of the Rajapakses taking revenge on enemies and consolidating power, why would a person who won a massive victory want to do that even before a month has passed since the resounding victory? Why would a popularly elected president want to adopt such desperate measures when all his enemies (Ranil, Mangala, Somawansa) are eating dirt today on the orders of the Sri Lankan masses? Where is the logic in this supposition?

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ The bottom line is that FonsekaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s arrest was done on legally valid grounds. Both him and his foreign handlers need to be taught the lesson that such tactics will not succeed against Sri Lanka. His arrest was needed because he has broken the law and he imperilled national security to unprecedented levels; had he become president, Sri Lanka would have become an ignominious American satellite state, bring shame to a 3000 year old civilisation. Now this ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”anti-corruption campaignerƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ has to explain the source of fresh, consequently numbered US$ notes to the value of Rs 75 million!

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ While Fonseka is doing that, the commentariat can educate themselves on the essentials of the current geopolitical situation; it surpasses belief that some of them who are seasoned university academics in medical, science and engineering fields do not seem to possess even a minimal acquaintance with the record of American foreign policy, captured by Zionists, to manipulate the developing world, with an utter disregard for the suffering and misery of the billions of poor. They should take up reading the works of the likes of [Noam] Chomsky, [Edward] Herman, [Howard] Zinn and [Susan] George to understand as to how mistaken they are in what they believe, profess and campaign against.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ The commentariat are looking at the Sri Lankan situation and issues from the standpoint of a privileged minority who from their opinions based on western corporate media propaganda, with the leisure, the facilities, and the training afforded to them by their incomes that the poor can only dream of. They seem to be unaware that their view of the events of current history of the world is one covered by a veil of distortion and misrepresentation.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ The US media serve as Ministry of Propaganda for a war criminal regime. A world population, including Americans, incapable of thinking for themselves, or reading between the lines, accessing corporate and cable media on BBC, CNN, Al Jazeera and other such traps are brainwashed.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ The gullibility of educated people in the developing world, such as our commentariat, and unconcern of the American people, has been partly responsible for more than 1.25 million dead, 4 million displaced and untold numbers of maimed and orphaned Iraqis.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ There are no accurate statistics on the death toll in Afghanistan, but even the American puppet regime of Mohamed Karzai protests regularly about the repeated killings of women and children by US and NATO troops.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ The American Zionist establishment has shown that it is an evil group who have no qualms about lying and deceiving in order to create domestic chaos, civil wars and kill innocent people in developing countries to further their undeclared agenda. Barrack Obama, who promised “change” is too intimidated by the neocon’s success in brainwashing the American population to do what his supporters hoped he would do.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ What Sri Lanka needs is not the so-called two-party ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”democracyƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ of the type the US and EU Zionists are attempting to thrust upon us. Plato observed in the 4th century BC that ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”the most aggravated form of tyranny and slavery arises out of the most extreme libertyƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢. Lectures on the two-party system, or even on the substantial democratic values that have been in part realised in Western society, are a monstrous irrelevance, given the plundering of global natural resources required to raise the level of economic development and democratic institutions in that part of the world.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ What we need is a system of government focused on national development, based on our own political and cultural heritage and our national endowments rather than a foreign model based on ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”integratingƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ with the ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”globalisedƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ US economy; such a system will be a permanent state of economic bondage bordering on slavery.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ The first step of the journey the Sri Lankan commentariat needs to embark upon is to free themselves from ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”Mental SlaveryƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ that is causing the inability to view events differently from the view presented by the western media, crippling them and making them dangerous to society.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Speaking of the Mental Slavery of the Sri Lankan commentariat, one cannot escape but hum lyrics of Bob Marley’s seminal work “Redemption Song”, derived from a speech given by the Jamaican born slave orator Marcus Garvey in Nova Scotia in October 1937. Garvey who started the ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”Universal Negro Improvement AssociationƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢, the biggest black mass movement in history uttered the words: ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-emancipate yourself from mental slavery, none but ourselves can free our minds”.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ MarleyƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s rendition of these words with just an acoustic guitar, without accompaniment, is something the commentariat will do well to listen and ponder upon in their leisure hours!