{"id":101592,"date":"2020-04-26T15:52:58","date_gmt":"2020-04-26T22:52:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=101592"},"modified":"2020-04-26T15:52:58","modified_gmt":"2020-04-26T22:52:58","slug":"defining-and-separating-the-democrats-from-the-dictators","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2020\/04\/26\/defining-and-separating-the-democrats-from-the-dictators\/","title":{"rendered":"Defining and separating the democrats from the dictators"},"content":{"rendered":"

BY H. L. D. MAHINDAPALA<\/strong><\/a><\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Each time the\nRajapaksas win a legitimate mandate from the people the moralising mafia comes\nout howling mendaciously that it is going to be the end of democracy.\nHistorical evidence, however, has debunked this canard of the hired\nfear-mongers. If the tumultuous post-independent years have proved anything, it\nis that the bitter battles to eliminate fascist dictators, whether they came\nfrom the South or the North, or from the Left as well as the Right, were fought\nand won by the fiercely independent \u2013 in fact, almost ungovernable \u2013 Sri\nLankans. President Ranasinghe Premadasa crushed the Southern fascists who posed\nas \u2018liberators.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

He\nremoved the threat to democracy while strengthening the welfare state and,\nabove all, resisting the overbearing neo-colonialists by sending them home. The\nRajapaksa brothers crushed the Northern fascists ending the biggest threat to\ndemocracy and regional stability. These leaders were forced to fight with fire.\nDespite the punditry of the moral purists they had no alternative.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The telling testimony of their role as defenders of democracy is\nin the longest running war in living memory fought on Sri Lankan soil. The Government\nof Sri Lanka (GOSL) fought it within a democratic framework, however flawed it\nmay have been, preserving one of the commendable welfare states that\ndistributed social justice within its limited means and without any systemic\ndiscrimination thrust upon any community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In other words, the secure foundations of democracy laid by the\nFounding Fathers, the Senanayakes, have not been shaken by multifarious\npressures, devastating cataclysms and brutal violence that battered it. In an\nemotional cry let me proclaim as emphatically as I can: Long live the founders,\ndefenders and protectors of democracy in Sri Lanka because the alternative\nwould have been unbearable, intolerable and disastrous!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite the evidence staring in their faces, the moral\nmediocrities \u2013 synonymous with anti-Sinhala-Buddhist media critics — have\nrushed to pick on President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, ever since he won the\nimpossible victory. They project him as the latest manifestation of the\n\u2018Rajapaksa dictatorial syndrome.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They deliberately ignore that the greatest battle to restore\ndemocracy right across the nation was waged by the Rajapaksa brothers who\ndismantled decisively the killing machine of Tamil extremists kick-started in\nVadukoddai in May 1976. It was the greatest threat to peace, democracy,\nsecurity and stability of the whole of SAARC region, mainly India. By\ndemolishing the one-man regime of the Tamil Pol Pot the Rajapaksa brothers had\nsaved democracy, human rights and regional stability more than Paikiasothy\nSaravanamuttu \u2013 picking just one of the fake human rights activists — and his\nmercenary mafia could ever imagine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was the victory of the Rajapaksas in the battlefield that put\nhistory back on its democratic tracks. Everyone can agree that it is not the\nbest democracy in the world. In the same breath, everyone can agree that they\nhave provided a far superior political alternative to anything that the LTTE\nfascists could have ever offered to the nation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Besides, the peace they won restored the dignity particularly of\nthe Tamils\u2019 basic political rights to act freely according to their political\nwill and elect representatives of their choice. It was a right that either R.\nSampanthan or Abraham Sumanthiram ever had under their Thalaivar (Leader).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The two brothers have restored the rights of all citizens of all\ncommunities to share the peace they won by eliminating Tamil tyranny from the\npolitical equation. As enunciated in the classic, Mahavamsa, the Rajapaksa\nbrothers wrote their chapter in keeping with the historic mission of making\nthe island a fit dwelling-place for men.\u201d (MV-1:43). This is not hagiography\nwritten to boost the image of the Rajapaksas. This is to recognise in our time\nthe hard facts that will fill the pages of historiography sooner or later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the moralising mafia, with their pretentious political\nprescriptions which have never worked to resolve any of the vexed issues of the\nnation, gang up to demonise the majority and their iconic figures. Presenting\nthe majority as the enemy of the minorities has been the political mantra on\nwhich they have survived.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A typical representative of the moralising mafia is Paikiasothy\nSaravanamuttu. I will be focusing on him because he combines in his person all\nthe characteristics of a habitual anti-national, anti-historical, pro-American,\npro-Tamil, foreign-funded, NGO hack posturing as the liberal and democratic\nkokatath-thailaya (panacea) for national problems. Also he represents the kind\nof intellectual who failed to produce a single theory, strategy or formula to\nend the war and restore peace, stability and democracy. His biggest\ncontribution to the local scene has been to amble like a fat cat living off the\nfat provided by his Western donors. His advertised job description though was\nto provide alternative policies and programs for good governance which must\nbegin with restoring peace and stability. But he failed in every department.\nHissing through his teeth, he mobilised his national and international links to\nprevent the victory of the national forces advancing to defeat Tamil fascist\nterror. The corrupt and the kakistocratic performance of defeated Yahapalanaya,\nof which he was a stakeholder and defender, speaks volumes of his ability to\nmake a meaningful contribution to the well-being of the nation ever.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Who can ever forget how in the final days of the Vadukoddai War\nhe was pole vaulting from one Western capital to another to protect, preserve\nand perpetuate the one-man regime of the Tamil Pol Pot \u2013 the inveterate and\nincorrigible enemy of human rights and democracy?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of course, Paikiasothy, to his everlasting shame, rushed to save\nPrabhakaran proclaiming mendaciously that he was trying to stop the war in the\nname of rescuing the Tamil civilians facing annihilation. But he never ventured\nto stop the war from Prabhakaran\u2019s end during the 33-years it raged in the\nNorth and the East.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the early phase Prabhakaran was seen as a Tamil conqueror.\nLike any other Tamil leader, Paikiasothy saw no reason to stop the war from the\nNorthern end as long as Prabhakaran was winning. He was quite content to let\nthe war rage as long as the brain-washed Tamils were led to believe that\nPrabhakaran could establish the first Tamil state in the post-colonial period.\nPaikiasothy stepped in aggressively only when he saw Prabhakaran had put on his\nrunning shoes without taking the pill he had recommended for his followers\nfacing defeat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Besides, his argument of saving the annihilation of Tamils in\nthe last stages of the war was nothing but hogwash. Prabhakaran had already\nannihilated the cream of the Tamil leadership. Paikiasothy didn\u2019t lift a finger\nto stop the war from Prabhakaran\u2019s end at a time when the threatened Tamil\nleadership was living under care and protection of the demonised Sinhala South.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Annihilation of dissident Tamils was seen as a necessity to\nachieve the Eelam promised in the Vadukoddai Resolution. Prabhakaran was also\nfinanced and encouraged, either overtly or covertly, by the Tamil Vellala\nelite, particularly in the Tamil diaspora, to wage his futile war until the\nlast Tamil child was sacrificed to save his life. That didn\u2019t move Paikiasothy\nto stop the war waged by Prabhakaran. All his theories, formulae, legalities,\nmoralities, principles, strategies were drawn to tie the hands of the GOSL and\ngive the strategic advantages for the Pol Potist forces to win. Even when he\nsaw the futility of the Pol Potist war in the end he didn\u2019t move to force\nPrabhakaran to accept the internationally guaranteed offers to end the war. At\nall times his international interventions were to put pressure on the GOSL to\ngive into the extremist demands of the intransigent Pol Potists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Behind the facade of his bogus cover of saving Tamils trapped in\nthe final assault he knew that his attempts were directed at saving the\nnotorious killer of Tamils ever in the history of Jaffna. His hidden objective\nwas to keep him alive to fight another day when it was opportune for the Tamil\nterrorists to start their next round of violence. It was in his interests to\nkeep Prabhakaran alive and kicking because he was the bargaining chip\nPaikiasothy needed to (1) rake in money from the Western masters and (2) to\nkeep the flames of Eelam burning. Every available clause and theory in the\nbooks of human rights were exploited by Paikiasothy and his NGO mafia to\nstrengthen the bargaining power of Prabhakaran. Saravanamuttu knew that he\nshould, at any cost, keep alive the goose that lays the golden eggs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Deflecting attention to the war casualties and human rights\nviolations of the Security Forces was a common trick to divert attention from\nthe horrors of Tamil terror. In the last days of the Vadukoddai War launched by\nthe Tamil leadership in 1976 he also knew that the only way to save Prabhakaran\nwas to stop the war from the GOSL end. So he threw in all his weight to save\nPrabhakaran \u2013 the most evil mass murderer that came out of Tamil culture after\nthe first mass killer, Sankili who massacred 600 Tamil Catholics in 1544.\nSankilli went down in a rage to massacre the Tamils in Mannar because they did\nnot recognise him as the sole representative of the Tamils. They owed\nallegiance to the King of Portugal. History takes a long time to repeat itself\nin Jaffna.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But it does eventually. Prabhakaran massacred the 600 Policemen\nwho surrendered in the East. Saravanamuttu knew all this. He knew that the\npeace, security, dignity and the human rights, particularly of the Tamil\nchildren were not going to be achieved as long as Prabhakaran was kept alive.\nV. Anandasangaree and S. C. Chandrahasan are on record saying that Prabhakaran\nhad killed more Tamils than all the others put together. With all its\nimperfections, the Tamils found greater security and dignity under the\nRajapaksa brothers than Prabhakaran. Yet Paikiasothy pursued the politics of\nsaving Prabhakaran who was the sole intransigent obstacle to regaining peace\nand human rights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For instance, the TNA (Tiger Nominated Agents\u201d \u2013 EPDP) had to\ngo on their bended knees to get nominations from their Thalaivar. Under the\nRajapaksas they had the right to make their own choices without fear of being\neliminated. Also how many TNA political heroes had the gumption \/ right to\ncriticise their Surya Devan\u201d the way they criticised the Rajapaksa brothers?\nPaikiasothy also had the right to take the Rajapaksas to courts for violations\nof his rights — and he did. But did he ever have the guts to take his Tamil\nThalaivar to the Tamil courts in Vanni for dragging underaged Tamil girls and\nboys to fight in a futile Tamil war?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Centre for Policy Alternatives aimed at changing only the\ndemocratic South where they had the right and the liberty to do so. They never\nhad policy alternatives to change Prabhakaran\u2019s one-man regime. As a Tamil \u2013\nlet alone his dubious role of a human rights activist — he never fought for\nthe fundamental rights of the Tamils denied by the one-man regime of\nPrabhakaran. With all the resources he had he never fought for the oppressed\nTamils \u2013 including Tamil children \u2013 in the de facto state of the Tamils. He\nparaded pompously only in the democratic courts of \u2018the Sinhala state.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Compared to loud-mouthed hypocrites like him, parading in the\ncocktail catwalk in Colombo, the Rajapaksa brothers fought tooth and nail in\nthe tough terrains in the Vanni, to restore the democratic rights and liberties\nof the Tamils \u2013 and won. Paikiasothy, like most Tamil leaders who never dared\nto confront Prabhakaran, was a deplorable political coward who abandoned his\nown people when their children were plucked from their homes and thrown to\nfight in a war that was glorifying Tamil terror.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His posturing as a courageous champion of human rights was only\nconfined to the independent courts of the Sinhala state.\u2019 But this pompous hero\nof human rights has no record of fighting for the Tamil in the de facto Tamil state\nof Prabhakaran. Why? Isn\u2019t it because the democratic, liberal, pluralistic and\ntolerant \u2018Sinhala state\u2019 gave the minorities (and their representatives like\nPaikiasothy) rights which they never got from their one and only Tamil state?\nDidn\u2019t they win their rights from the courts of the vilified \u2018Sinhala state\u2019 \u2013\na right which they could never dream of getting from their Tamil Pol Potist\nstate? Paikiasothy won because the Rajapaksa brothers won for him the right to\nstep into independent courts which he couldn\u2019t find in the only state\nestablished by the Tamils. The irony is that they denigrate the \u2018Sinhala state\u2019\nwhich has given them the rights they had never enjoyed either in their Tamil\nfeudatory or under the Vellala sub-agents of the colonial masters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On any realistic scale of human rights can Paikiasothy point out\nto a period in Tamil history \u2013 from Sankili to Prabhakaran \u2013 when the Tamils\nhad better human rights and dignity than under \u2018the Sinhala state\u2019? Not even\n\u20181983\u2019 \u2013 deplorable as it is \u2013 can be compared to the horrors inflicted on the\nTamil people by the Tamil leadership.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After wasting millions of foreign-funds in opposing and\ndenigrating achievers like the Rajapaksa brothers what is it that Paikiasothy\nand his gang have to show as defenders of the oppressed people, or their\nrights? What can they show as their great victories for peace, democracy, and\nstability that has not been won by the Rajapkasas?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Which theory, formulae, strategy, national or international\nintervention of the Paikiasothy gang, with the blessing of the international\ncommunity, helped to end the war and restore peace? Isn\u2019t the victory won on\nthe banks of Nandikadal far, far superior to Paikiasothy leaping from one\nWestern city to another in a desperate bid to save Prabhakaran? What rights\nwould the Tamils have today if Prabhakaran won the Vadukoddai War?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What peace would the nation have if Prabhakaran won the war?\nPaikiasothy has enough resources and researchers (e.g., Sanjana Hattotuwa\nblowing his megaphone) to prove his case with concrete examples. Having backed\nTamil Pol Potism, either covertly or overtly, and with all their energies and\nresources, isn\u2019t it a bit rich for them to accuse the Rajapaksas of being\ndictators?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Besides, the existential experiences of the two Rajapaksas, who\nhad defended the greatest threats to the nation from abroad and at home, would\nhave informed them that turning democratic Sri Lanka into a dictatorship would\nbe as easy as transplanting the Himalayan range in the Horton Plains.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The fear-mongering to blacken the image of the Rajapaksas may\nhelp the American Ambassadress to write adverse reports to the State\nDepartment. But neither the anti-Sinhala-Buddhist pulp fiction of the NGOs nor\nthe demonising of the Rajapaksas by the American Embassy was successful in\npreventing the stunning popular wave that swept Gotabaya Rajapaksa into the\nPresidency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The new Sinhala-Buddhist middle class, particularly the\nEnglish-speaking, trousered elite in the mushrooming urban and village\nmarketplaces, is the new force that rallied behind Gotabaya\u2019s viyath maga.\nArmed with Facebook and Twitter, they had replaced the traditional native\n\u2018pancha maha balavegaya of 1956.\u2019 They rose in unison on November 19, 2019 to\nthrow the neo-liberals of the West allied to the International Democratic Union\n(IDU) led by Ranil Wickremesinghe into the dustbin of history.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

BY H. L. D. MAHINDAPALA Each time the Rajapaksas win a legitimate mandate from the people the moralising mafia comes out howling mendaciously that it is going to be the end of democracy. Historical evidence, however, has debunked this canard of the hired fear-mongers. If the tumultuous post-independent years have proved anything, it is that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-101592","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-h-l-d-mahindapala"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101592","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=101592"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101592\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=101592"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=101592"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=101592"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}