Why Sri Lanka’s hybrid court cannot become another farcical Nuremberg Tribunal
Posted on March 11th, 2016
Shenali D Waduge
Robert Jackson, Chief US prosecutor & former US Attorney General said that the Nuremberg Trials were a continuation of the war effort of the Allied nations” how true is the same when the effort to separate Sri Lanka seems very much the goal now taking place through a new constitution for Sri Lanka. If the Nuremberg Tribunal was the brainchild of the World Jewish Congress as reported by Nahum Goldmann in his memoirs (president of the World Jewish Congress and World Zionist Organization) isn’t Sri Lanka’s hybrid court the brainchild of all those players that are angry & jealous that the LTTE was annihilated by the Sri Lankan military. The hybrid court being created is a justice of revenge & vengeance.
Only German leaders were put on trial as ‘major war criminals’. Like the Sri Lankan armed forces they were guilty even before the trials started. The Germans were called ‘Nazi conspirators’ the mainstream media slaps ‘war criminals’ of our soldiers. Nothing gets said or relayed about LTTE, their crimes or the countries and people that support(ed) the LTTE.
If the Allies acted as prosecutor, judge and executioner of the Germans, the LTTE fronts & others that funded and lived off the LTTE are regular visitors to the UNHRC to frame charges against Sri Lanka. Both trials created for political purpose. British judge Sir Norman Birkett says the trial is only in form a judicial process and its main importance is political’. We are likely to see similar statements once the gavel declares Sri Lanka’s heroes as war criminals for no reason and with no evidence!
If Germans were accused of exterminating 6million Jews. Sri Lanka is being accused of a figure between 40,000 and 200,000 but not even 100 names of the dead has been produced. If the trials were to legitimize the holocaust story the same is likely to happen for Sri Lanka.
If the World Jewish Congress made sure that Germany’s persecution of the Jews was the primary focus of the trials, are the reports/articles/statements of numerous local/foreign players not gearing up for the same task against Sri Lanka though with little or no evidence except that they have the propaganda channels and the power to relay lies.
If Jewish officers like Lt. Col. Murray Bernays, Col David Marcus played key roles in persuading US War Secretary Henry Stimson to accept the idea of putting the Germans on trial, is the same role not been done by an opportunist bunch of Sri Lankan leaders in harmony with LTTE fronts and their heads all of whom were proscribed under UNSC Resolution 1373 in April 2014?
If Col. David Marcus serving as America’s head of War Crimes Branch selected judges, prosecutors & lawyers for Nuremberg is the same not taking place where the India-LTTEfronts-Church & other lobbies are today deciding how they would use the hybrid court to declare Sri Lanka’s military as war criminals.
Hopefully there are more people like Chief US prosecutor Robert Jackson who privately acknowledged that the Allies who were conducting the trials were guilty of the same crimes they accused the defendants of committing. The same sentiments were echoed by President Truman…Allies ‘have done or are doing some of the very things we are prosecuting the Germans for”. This same injustice is going to happen again exactly 70 years later through the hybrid court for Sri Lanka.
If the Nuremberg Tribunals standards had been applied to the victors of the 2nd world war the supreme Allied commander Dwight Eisenhower should have been hanged! He declared the German POWs in US custody were not privy to Geneva Convention on the treatment of POWs and these Germans faced slow death by disease & starvation.
If the victors seized German documents/papers to use whatever against Germany is the same not happening in the manner that the current puppet regime is opening every paper/document and even security facility to foreign envoys, their representatives & the UN? There are said to be 1million documents in the US National Archives alone! Will the US, UK, France or any other superpower allow their top secret files to be selectively used to embarrass and incriminate them?
If despite the seizer of documents not a single document could be found to refer to extermination program by the Germans is it not the same case about the hyped genocide of Tamils by the Sinhalese? All hot air and nothing to showcase as evidence.
If the Tribunal accepted as valid dubious ‘evidence’ including hearsay and unsubstantiated reports from ‘investigative’ commissions by the Allies what music this is like in realizing how the same is taking place against Sri Lanka. The same teams of people are forming forums, panels, writing reports, books and even holding tribunals and canvassing petitions preparing the groundwork to hang Sri Lanka as war criminals completely ignoring that it was to stop the crimes of LTTE that a military solution was sought after 30 years of suffering.
If the Tribunal accepted unsubstantiated reports is it any different to how the UNSG’s panel quotes from LTTE sources or when LTTE cadres are projected as victims?
If the Tribunal accepted the US congressional report that ‘proved’ gas chamber killings at Dachau, and a Polish report submitted by the US also ‘proved’ killings by steam at Treblinka, is it any difference to the hyped massacre & genocide stories being campaigned through well-funded organizations by the same sets of individuals? Why should our war heroes face trial and be falsely sentenced and be told years later that they were innocent?
When after 70 years it emerges that the ‘evidence’ presented by the prosecution has been fraudulent are we not correct to object to a hybrid court for Sri Lanka with foreign judges who will attempt to do the same because they are going to be appointed by the very entities seeking vengeance against Sri Lanka for ending LTTE terror.
If the Israeli archives director Shmuel Krakowski confirmed in 1986 that more than 10,000 of the 20,000 ‘testimonies’ of Jewish survivors” on file are unreliable”. He says that some survivors wanting ‘to be part of history’ had let their imaginations run away with them. Quite a lot of that is happening in the Sri Lankan scene as well.
What is striking when Krakowski says many were never in the places where they claimed to have witnessed atrocities while others relied on second-hand information given them by friends or passing strangers’ is the manner that victim-friends of the OHCHR are helping compile these witness testimonies & the OHCHR witness protection scheme is an attempt to keep the lies capped for 20 years. This information is important and needs to be quoted at all times by Sri Lankans in response to the hybrid court on Sri Lanka.
Do we need to go through another Nuremberg to confirm decades later that Sri Lanka’s hybrid court gave false testimonies, witnesses were never in places they claimed they were, evidence was fabricated, exaggerated and unreliable, witnesses were trained to lie, witnesses were paid to lie just as Charles Kremer who went in search of victims of supposed German massacre in World War 2 found out in 1981 that people were willing to give him any story for money! Is this not the case in Sri Lanka?
This clearly reiterates the farce behind the manner UN/OHCHR and linked entities are attempting to frame ‘witnesses’ ‘evidence’ and ‘testimonies’ against Sri Lanka. Mr. Krakwski is acknowledging the lies after 40 years and the current witness protection scheme devised by OHCHR is purposely to keep these lies and liars officially hidden.
We do not wish to see our armed forces suffer like Frank Walus who was charged of killing Jews after 11 Jews testified under oath that they personally saw Walus murder Jews including children. It took 4 years for Walus to prove he was a teenager during the war years and was working on a German farm! Such is the international justice that prevails with international judges & OHCHR head has the audacity to laugh at Sri Lanka’s judges.
The parallels in allegations against Nazis and Sri Lanka are striking. Herman Goring, Hitler’s second-in-command denied knowing any extermination plans ordered by Hitler. This was collaborated by General Alfred Jodl, Armed Forces High Command Chief of Operations & Hitlers closest military advisor. In the case of Sri Lanka unfortunately, political motivated white-flag story has blown up a pandora’s box of unnecessary lies & controversies. What is similar is the rumors and foreign reports of mass killings in both Germany & Sri Lanka in the case of Jews in 1945 and Tamils in 2009.
All German leaders on trial steadfastly denied any extermination program. However, the world claims millions of Jews were massacred. A handful of Germans on trial for their own defense accepted the extermination story and denied their involvement. The ‘Auschwitz’ trials in 1963 was difficult because there were only witness ‘testimonies’ and nothing to verify and in some cases the dead turned up alive. By law it is illegal to challenge the holocaust story. The same slap may occur for Sri Lanka using the excuse of ‘reconciliation”!
Some noteworthy quotes
- US Senator Robert Taft the trial of the vanquished by the victors cannot be impartial no matter how it is hedged about with the forms of justice” …………this whole judgement there is the spirit of vengeance and vengeance is seldom justice”. That same vengeance is taking place against Sri Lanka because the monster created by India was defeated and all those who made hay using the LTTE were left high and dry accept frothing mad with vengeance & revenge. The hybrid court is that opportunity.
- Milton Konvitz (Jewish specialist of law & public administration/New York University) Nuremberg Tribunal defies many of the most basic assumptions of the judicial process”….”our policy with respect to the Nazis is consistent with neither international law nor our own State Departments policy”
- William O Douglas (US Supreme Court Justice) I still think that the Nuremberg Trials were unprincipled. Law was created ex post facto to suit the passion and clamour of the time”. With the hyped propaganda built about 40,000 more killed or still missing, this forms the basis for war crimes when no one is able to produce the names of the supposed dead or missing and this question is conveniently brushed under the carpet by the UNSG & the OHCHR as well as the nations that supported LTTE terror!
- Rear Admiral H Lamont Pugh (Navy Surgeon General) I thought the trials in general bordered upon international lunacy. I thought it particularly unfortunate, inappropriate, ill-conceived and dupably injudicious that the US should have been cast in the leading role as prosecutors and implementators of the Trials of the German participants or principals”. Same is happening – the LTTE heads & all those involved in LTTE terror/separatism are steering justice and accountability against Sri Lanka. The Nuremberg trials were a trial of the vanquished by the victors when the victors themselves committed the same or worse crimes than those they were accusing. Not a single word is being told about who in the LTTE will be held accountable other than the cadres who surrendered.
- Robert Jackson (US Chief Prosecutor) in letter to President Truman wrote that the Allies have done or are doing some of the very things we are prosecuting the Germans for. The French are so violating the Geneva Convention in the treatment of German prisoners of war that our command is takng back prisoners sent to them for forced labor in France. We are prosecuting plunder and our Allies are practising it. We say aggressive war is a crime and one of our allies asserts sovereignty over the Baltic States based on no title except conquest”. Isnt India trying to do the same by using every diplomatic and economic leverage to turn Sri Lanka into an Indian colony?
- Werner Maser (Historian) thousands of documents which seemed likely possibly to incriminate the Allies and exonerate the defendants suddenly disappeared… there is much evidence that documents were confiscated, concealed from the defense or even stolen in 1945”.
- Von Ribbentrop (Foreign Minister) the defense had no fair chance to defend German foreign policy. …half of the 300 documents which the defense prepared were not admitted. Witness and affidavits were only admitted after the prosecution had been heard; most of them were rejected…..only the prosecution not the defense, had access to German & foreign archives. The prosecution only searched for incriminating documents and their use was biased.” Is the same not happening throughout the calls for submissions to the OHCHR & OISL investigations much of the evidence against LTTE, its fronts and players that supported LTTE has obviously gone into the dustbin without even an acknowledgement.
- American judge, Edward L. Van Roden, one of the three members of an American Army Commission “all but two of the Germans, in the 139 cases investigated, had been kicked in the testicles beyond repair. This was standard operation procedure with our American investigators.” ….”Torture with burning matches driven under the prisoners’ fingernails; knocking out of teeth and breaking jaws; solitary confinement and near-starvation rations. The statements which were admitted as evidence were obtained from men who had first been kept in solitary confinement for three, four, and five months …”Low rank prisoners were assured that convictions were being sought only against higher ranking officers, and they had absolutely nothing to lose by co-operating and making the desired statements. Such ‘evidence’ was then used against them – when they joined their superiors in the dock. The latter were told on the other hand that by ‘confession’, they would take all responsibility onto their own shoulders, thus shielding their men from trial.” (how familiar this sounds)
- “In my Judgment, the procedure by which the Nuremberg Tribunal was created and the criminal trials thereunder conducted, was completely fraught with illegality.” – William L. Hart, Supreme Court of Ohio (we continue to say the UNSG Panel of Expert is illegal and the foundation on which Resolutions against Sri Lanka has been drafted)
- “I am glad our real military men had nothing to do with the travesty of justice that the lawyers and ‘statesmen’ conducted on Nuremberg.” – Rear Admiral Dan V. Gallery. U.S.N. (Ret.)
- “Hearsay evidence was admitted indiscriminately and sworn statements of witnesses were admissible regardless of whether anybody knew the person who made the statement or the individual who took the statement.” – George McDonough, American Lawyer, New York Times (this very newspaper today is part of the lie machine against Sri Lanka)
- “… a fantastic desecration of the ideals of Western Civilisation, and appalling miscarriage of justice… a misuse of evidence for vicious ends, all of which will someday be exposed as a shocking travesty of high legal and moral principles.” – Henry M. Adams, Ph.D. Professor of History, University of California (why should we wait for decades later to be told Sri Lanka’s hybrid court was illegal & all judgements illegal as well)
- “…wholly unjustified and a disgrace to the national governments sanctioning it.” – Rear Admiral Reginald R. Belknap, U.S.N. Atlantic Fleet (If international laws are to be applied it cannot mean that powerful nations can violate them and hold only smaller nations accountable for crimes. Justice and not vengeance must take place.
The travesty of justice in the Nuremberg Trials is clear. The crimes of the victors were conveniently brushed aside. The victor’s self-righteousness never thought of applying the standards to their own conduct and crimes and these crimes continue unabated.
Nuremberg Trials saw the marriage of wicked minds coming together to deliver warped justice, yet saner voices did emerge in the form of a US Supreme Court judge Charles Wennerstrum who declared If I had known seven months ago what I know today, I would never have come here’. …”most of the evidence in the trials as documentary, selected from the large tonnage of captured records. …the defence had access only to those documents which the prosecution considered material to the case”.
Another judge, Chief Justice Harlan Fiske Stone wrote …I wonder how many of those who preside at the trials would justify some of the acts of their own governments if they were placed in the status of the accused”…..”if we had been defeated the victors could plausibly assert that our supplying Britain with fifty destroyers was an act of aggression”.
Will India be ever put on trial as state sponsor of terrorism for creating the LTTE, will the Church accept accountability for its role in terrorism, or will US, Canada, UK and EU nations be held responsible for harbouring LTTE fronts & their leaders some nations actually gave safe have to LTTE cadres even after the conflict ended?
When US Representative Lawrence Smith says the Nuremberg Trials are so repugnant to the Anglo-Saxon principles of justice that we must forever be ashamed of that page in our history… the Nuremberg farce represents a revenge policy at its worst’. Should these same nations not ask themselves why they are setting out to repeat the same mistake against Sri Lanka 70 years after the Nuremberg Trials?
Shenali D Waduge
March 11th, 2016 at 6:44 am
Shenali,
We can raise our fists against the sky and beat the air in anger and anguish. but that will not provide us with any relief at all.
Now we have set up the International Orchestra and have to dance to its music.
There are however ways and means of of curtailing the impact and diminishing the effect.
As you know the dance can be choreographed according to the music, but also the music must change to adapt itself to the rhythm of the dance.
So let us wait and see.
As the ancient sinhala saying goes, Muhuda kenda wunath, nendage athey henda.
The international bullies are trying to force their soup onto our plates, Yet the spoons and the measures are OUR matter.
Mario Perera
Kadawata
March 11th, 2016 at 5:59 pm
In the case of Sri Lanka : in the war of the Govt of Sri Lanka vs the LTTE’s 30 yr war on Sri Lanka, during this period they went on rampage, killing and murdering, violence, theft, forceful recruitment, forcefully acquiring civilian & state property, wilful destruction of state property, etc. etc. :
The MR Govt inherited intractable problems re the LTTE. Five rounds of talks with previous govts of SL had failed.
The Final War in 2009 started as a Humanitarian Mission at Mavil Aru in (2008), when the LTTE cut off the water supply to many thousands of farmers, and ended also in another mission, this time extending into an armed conflict, to save an illegal Human Shield comprising of over 300,000 Tamil civilians held by the LTTE. Mr Neville Ladduwahetty has explained these points clearly in his many articles to this website.
Here the role of the past Sri Lanka’s MR govt & the Armed Forces of Lanka are akin to the role of the Allies of WWI&II saving Europe from Hitler’s Fascist rule. Similarly, the MR govt & the Armed Forces rescuing the People of Lanka from the FASCIST DICTATOR, Vellupillai Prabhakaran’s ruthless terrorist outfit, the LTTE.
Since the country was rescued from the terrorist group, the LTTE, the UN must now recognise that the SL govt & the Armed Forces of Lanka were on a RESCUE MISSION, AND DROP ALL CHARGES OF WAR CRIMES.
Ironically, in the case of Sri Lanka vs the terrorist group, the LTTE, it is Lanka that is on the docks with the UN, and not the Fascist terrorist group, the LTTE & their Supporters !
It was a Just War against a ruthless terrorist outfit, the LTTE. The Tamil People themselves benefitted the most from the war against the LTTE. The war was done at huge costs to the Nation of Lanka. These costs were in terms of lives of over 27,000 soldiers (over the entire period of nearly 30 yrs), huge costs in terms of funds, reputation ruined through distorted and misleading media paid for by Tamil Separatists and bought VIPs from Tamil Diaspora funds, etc. – the list is long indeed.
What is most stunning is that it is the remnants of the LTTE leaders and Their Supporters who ought to be on the docks, not the SL past govt members or the Armed Forces of Lanka.
In the case of the armed conflict in Lanka :
*. The LTTE were the Fascist component, akin to Hitler’s Third Reich.
*. The past SL govt of MR & the Armed Forces of Lanka are akin to the Allies who freed Europe of the Fascist dictatorship of Hitler.
Therefore, all War Crimes charges against the past SL govt & the Armed Forces of Lanka should be dismissed.
If a few war crimes happened, it must be recognised that such few acts would have happened at the height of the war in full swing. There was no time to debate on finer points of ‘right or wrong’ – soldiers when trapped and lives at stake will act in a desperate ways. It must be remembered that SL Armed Forces did their best to avoid civilian deaths, and as a result more soldiers died in that attempt.
In any case, a Military Tribunal in Lanka ought to be able to deal with such incidents.
——–
Since the Cold War is no more since 1991 –
For a permanent solution, ought not the GoSL sign an MoU with the UN/West/India and even Russia & China that no actions will ever be done or undertaken by Lanka to consciously jeopardise the Security Issues of any of these countries.
How else can the Sinhala/Buddhists & Others of Lanka who have suffered so long in these conflicts, ever find Peace and Happiness within Lanka ?
Comments welcome.
March 11th, 2016 at 6:21 pm
Our grateful thanks to Shenali for great articles bringing to focus important points we would otherwise have missed ….
March 11th, 2016 at 6:50 pm
Fran,
One comment.
Why should those super powers sign MOU with us ? They can STOP it with 1 telephone call our Bayagullas in charge. Until we stand on our feet and they fight against each other to give us loans no one will be interested. Another way is to sign a MOU with North Korea first and offer them a military base. Then they may think again.
March 11th, 2016 at 6:52 pm
Fran,
Only proper Yahapalanaya will make us stand on our feet. If it came, a lot of criminals in the parliament would have been in jails and some hanged.
March 11th, 2016 at 7:20 pm
Dham,
Super powers intent on World Peace ought to sign such MoUs not only with Lanka, but also with other countries. US War Vets are the most intent people for Peace – they know the cost of war, having been in war. Ask the War Vets from any country about the need for Peace. Ask the War Vets from Lanka.
If Super powers including UN are not serious about World Peace, then Peace is a lost cause, not only for Lanka but for all countries. “Dog eat dog” will prevail. WW I&II were fought by US & Allies with this hope of World Peace. The UN was created mainly for the purpose of stopping WW III.
Some corruption will be there from the best of govts. Even JRJ said ‘I have to look after my clan’ …..
Even LKY of S’pore trained his son to be PM of S’pore. How would critical Lankans construe this ?
March 11th, 2016 at 7:44 pm
LKY not only trained him he used his power and planned it well. But he raised the country up before helping his son. The country was strategically well placed within 2 years of his rule and countries all over the world respected him including enemy countries Malaysia and Indonesia.
Don’t compare him to our Horu.
LKY was never accused by ANYONE as a Hora. The same cannot be said to Mahathir Mohamed. LKY spent a very modest life even though he had money. He or his son never went to night clubs, never indulge in western entertainment, they lived up to highest moral standards.
He gradually increased his own salary to make it the highest in the world instead, as the country grew. people didn’t like that but very few dared to vote him out. He was smart enough to be biased openly to the majority because of he eradicated corruption in no time, leading by example.
March 11th, 2016 at 7:55 pm
” LTTE fronts & others that funded and lived off the LTTE are regular visitors to the UNHRC to frame charges against Sri Lanka. ”
The Indian terrorist arm funded, managed, trained, armed and branded Liberation TAMIL TIGERS of Eelam. Now India is continuing with non violent aggression in the UN and in the world. West is lead by the Indians in these events as West relies on India to control the region.
March 11th, 2016 at 8:01 pm
I have some bad news about Lorenso.
According to someone known to both of us, he is critically injured and on life support. No further details available.
ලොරෙන්සෝ මහතාට ඉක්මන් සහ පූර්ණ සුවය පතමු.
2006 ඔහු මට මුණගැසුනේ හමුදා රෝහලේදී. තුවාල ලබා ඇතුළත් කරනු ලැබූ ඔහුගේ ඇඳ අසල කිසිවෙකු නොවීය. ඔහු බැලීමටද කිසිවෙකු පැමිණියේ නැත. ඔහුගේ දැඩි කළු පැහැය සහ පෙනුම දෙමළ බව කියා පෑවේය. විශාල සිරුරකින් යුතු ඔහු කහින විට සහ උගුර කාරන විට මුළු ශාලාවම දෝංකාර දෙන්නට විය. එහෙත් ඔහු මස් මාළු නොකැවේය. රජයට අනුබද්ධ දෙමළ බුද්ධි අංශයක සේවය කරන බව මට දැනගන්නට ලැබුණි. දිනකින් ඔහු පෞද්ගලික රෝහලකට මාරු විය. ඔහුගේ ලේ රත් ඇස් දෙක සහ පසාරු කරන බැල්ම අදටත් ඇඟ කිළිපොළයි.
කෙතරම් බණ දෙසුවත් අප කිසිවෙකු ඔහු මෙන් යුධ බිමට ගොස් නැත. යුධ බිමෙන් ඔසවාගෙන එන්නන් අසළ සිත්ගන්නා කිසිත් නැත. හඩු ගඳ, වියළි ලේ ගඳ, මඩ ගඳ සහ දඩිවුණු සිත් නිසාදෝ සමාජය උන් පිළිකුල් කරයි. නමුත් උන්ගේ ලෙයින් දිනූ සාමය භුක්ති විඳියි. මගුල් ගෙයක කුකුළු මස් රස විඳින්නන් ඒ මස් මැරූ ලේ පෙරාගත් මිනිසුන් වද්දා ගන්නේ නැත. උන්ට පව් සිදු වන අතර, බෝජන සකසන අපට පින් සිදුවේ. එම බෝජන වළඳා පින් අනුමෝදනා කරන්නන්ටද පින් අත් වෙයි. යුද්ධයද එසේය. යුද්ධය දුප්පතුන් සහ දේශානුරාගී පිස්සන්ට පෙර පව් ගෙවන්නට සැකසු සැලැස්මක් ද කියා සිතේ.
March 11th, 2016 at 8:08 pm
Dham,
It is evident that LKY is your hero. Best advice : Find some leader like him and live in that country.
Like I said before, S’pore is lucky not to be next door to millions under Caste/poverty ridden Tamil Nadu, and India, which went with eastern neighbors and now with the west.
Lanka has special problems never faced by S’pore. Comparisons are odious, in this case. We can only hope and pray that Lanka is released from the grip of FOREIGN COUNTRIES & NON-PATRIOTS, SEPARATISTS, and a real Peace begins. Common Ground here is that everyone longs for Peace, but knows not how to get it for all, in a lasting way. Buddhism has some good answers to the problem in Bhavana, Seela & Dhana.
Closing this thread.
March 11th, 2016 at 9:02 pm
Fran,
Not true. He is not “my” hero.
He is his people’s hero. Because he discriminated me I am not living there. But I don’t hate him because of that. I hate him because he told so many lies to make Sinhalaya a look like a fool.
But he is a hero to his people. As a human being, a worker, for creating such a working and living atmosphere to his people.
You are preaching Dana ,Sila, Bhavana and peace to hungry people. To people who has to spend so many hours in busses and fight just to go to work whilst you don’t mind stealing of their efforts ruthlessly !
Then you close the thread stealing right to reply.
March 12th, 2016 at 5:23 am
Dham,
I am surprised to learn that you have some negative remarks re LKY – this is a first, for you. Thank you for honesty.
I closed the thread because you constantly ‘attack’ Lanka heroes i.e. MR & his govt (plus the Armed Forces, which were an integral part of the MR Govt due to war with the LTTE). MR govt & Armed Forces made life far better for the masses of Lanka.
Now you accuse me that ‘I don’t mind stealing of their efforts ruthlessly’ ! I do not live off the masses of Lanka. Please do not get personal.
Who created the NEW money policy mess in Lanka ? Not MR & Armed Forces ! MR Govt (inspite of some yakko types in it), made life better for the ordinary folk of Lanka. The new policies of Yahap govt (UNP factor re Money Market), that is creating the Capitalist/Fascist approach – said so many times recently. MR govt had a Socialist/Capitalist approach. His govt too was caught up in conditional loans – i.e. loans are given for a certain project, e.g. sports stadiums and not housing. The MR Divinaguma prog was stopped instantly by the Yahap govt. That prog was for grass roots upliftment. Even the larger programs benefitted the ordinary folks who could sell their home grown fruits & veg for better prices. The MR govt brought back Sathosa, removed by Ranil earlier during the CBK times. The list is long on how MR benefitted the ordinary folk.
I am all for benefitting the ordinary folk. In fact, all what I say is in that direction. Food first, next religion. The Buddha said to feed a man first before preaching the Dhamma to him.
Good luck to you in your quest for perfect leaders. That is what I was contesting here – that there are no such persons.
March 12th, 2016 at 2:16 pm
Fran,
I have exposed lies of LKY some long time ago and fiercely attacked him for distorting facts and attacking MR and Sinhala race openly long time ago. I have written in praise of him too. You are very wrong in every way. Singapore’s problems, surrounded by 350 million Muslims were enormous compared to us. Chinese Singaporeans also had inter dialect friction. Chinese are not a single race, don’t forget or neglect the facts. He was a Hakka + something else mixed race. A lot of people was against him initially.
The big difference is his every tactic was for the country. Our people’s every tactic was for themselves. Please listen to 1st parliament Foneska’s speech in full. I don’t like him for pushing war crimes but I believe he is speaking 99% truth.
Now that statement “….stealing of their efforts ruthlessly” is not directed to you. You will understand it after that. Don’t crave for good feelings, develop compassion towards country folk who are being ripped apart by Eagles.
“Our indifference to our neighbour’s sorrow brings suffering to our door” – Sri Nisargadatta
March 13th, 2016 at 5:02 pm
PIYADIGAMA !! I WAS WONDERING WHY I DONT SEE ANY COMMENTS FROM LORENZO, AND I WAS ABOUT TO MAKE A REMARK ABOUT IT.
I AM SO SAD TO HEAR ABOUT LORENZO. THOUGH I HAVE NOT SEEN HIM, I SEE THAT HE WAS A VERY TRUE HUMAN BEING. HE LOVED HIS COUNTRY AND HIS FRIENDS, AND APPARENTLY HAD A BEAUTIFUL HEART. LORENZO AND I, INTERACTED VERY CLOSELY ON LANKA WEB. I HOPE I WILL BE ABLE TO CONTINUE IT AS LONG AS I LIVE.
I WOULD HAVE HIM IN MY THOUGHTS EVERY NIGHT I GO TO BED, AND PRAY FOR HIM TO HAVE A MIRACULOUS RECOVERY, THROUGH THE BLESSINGS OF THE NOBLE TRIPLE GEM.
PLEASE KEEP ALL OF US INFORMED ABOUT HIS PROGRESS. HE WOULD BE BLESSED. LORENZO ! WE ALL PRAY FOR YOU.
March 13th, 2016 at 5:12 pm
Susantha,
Please see my comments under ග්රාමීය රෝහලකදී.
This can be a work of “Yahapalanaya”.
I too wish him speedy recovery.
March 13th, 2016 at 5:15 pm
DHAM !! UNDER WHAT POSTING HEADING, IS YOUR COMMENT. ?
March 13th, 2016 at 5:19 pm
ග්රාමීය රෝහලකදී. ( in Sinhala by Ruwan – Graameeya Rohalakadii)
March 13th, 2016 at 6:03 pm
DHAM !! Which Paper please ?
March 13th, 2016 at 6:12 pm
Dham,
I have not seen previous negative comments from you re LKY. Kindly reproduce them here if you can.
We can always do with good and better leaders. Lanka had good leaders – most were killed by the LTTE. Few remain.
Also, the histories of S’pore and Lanka differ considerably. You have to take into account the long history of Lanka and the relatively shorter history of S’pore when you compare the two places. The areas of the two countries differ vastly :
S’pore a mere 277.6 sq miles, and Lanka 25,000 sq miles.
What you have written above – there is a great deal of meandering.
Re feeling for rural folk : If I didn’t feel for the rural folk, I would not be writing into L’web. That is what motivates me to write – too many rural people of Lanka have died over Tamil Separatism and that must stop. It is the senseless death issue over Tamil leaders senseless Separatism that I am mostly concered with. It is always the Sinhala Buddhists (leaders & rural folk) who die and get blamed for Tamil Caste problems & infighting too. Tamil infighting must stop and all in Lanka should work for the common good of the country – that is my concern Don’t you feel sad and sorry for them ? I am leaving the Development & Political Issues to the experts.
Re FM Fonseka : We are grateful to him for his work for the Nation during the war with the LTTE. Good soliders may or may not make good politicos. I have nothing more to say re FM Fonseka.
——–
If Lorenzo is truly unwell, we wish him a speedy recovery.
March 13th, 2016 at 7:59 pm
Susantha,
A lot of media, not just the rogue ones we mostly see. I believe it was also in TV news that one man from Malaysia was under scrutiny by Sri Lankan authorities. I am not sure Lorenzo commented from which country. Hop Piyadigama can enlighten us.
China tour was in Lanka C news few days ago.
I don’t offer payers which are no use but if any deities protecting SL and they will help him. But just a couple of times Lorenzo insulted Buddhism. That is not good for him. It is all out of ignorance but I warned him out of compassion as I always do.
Fran,
I can’t reproduce it, it was pasted when LKY was living well. Year or so later there was a comment form a Tamil Singaporean challenging my statements strongly. My name is well know in a certain professional community but I used my actual name. That writing had no effect as there were more and more credible bad news kept coming from Sri Lanka.
Fra you may have compassion in that case a great deal of ignorance. Sorry friend, Don’t take it personal. This is just the web it is OK to hurt a few commentators but what is bad is misleading public purposely, which will bring a lot of bad kamma. You may be thinking I bring bad kamma myself but that again can be ignorance.
Please forgive. It is easy to forgive ignorance.
March 14th, 2016 at 6:51 am
Dham,
I shall not withdraw any of my statements. Sri Lanka public needs to know the truth of matters re Tamil leaders, INDIA and the international community, and the near history of Lanka, and the causes of war in Lanka. That all Lankans have paid dearly, especially the Sinhala Buddhists of Lanka, for Tamil leaders ego based Caste tantrums mainly. Do tell HEARTLESS and Egocentric Tamil leaders to show compassion, and keep reminding them of the damage they did to Lanka. As much as I tend to protect Sinhala leaders, with some exception re CBK & RW, you appear to be blind to the faults of those who caused war to happen. I might say you are ‘ignorant’ in this regard.
As for being ‘ignorant’ to the faults of Lanka’s War Heroes who are in the docks today under False war crimes charges, I admit that I delight in such ‘ignorance, nay, exult in such ‘ignorance’, and shall continue to do so all my days.
There is a sorry state of affairs in Lanka. Those who were hiding in the woodworks during the time the LTTE ran amok, are not out trying to make out ‘war crimes’ and Sinhala/Buddhist failure in governance. Thanks to the great efforts of the MR govt and the Armed Forces, those who were hiding the woodworks when the LTTE was killing and murdering at will, are now out to cry ‘foul’ about the Armed Forces and MR govt. …. what perfidy !
So, let us agree to disagree in our mutual ‘ignorance’.
March 14th, 2016 at 11:38 am
error : read “not out ..” as “now out ..”