{"id":103179,"date":"2020-06-04T15:57:01","date_gmt":"2020-06-04T22:57:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=103179"},"modified":"2020-06-04T15:57:01","modified_gmt":"2020-06-04T22:57:01","slug":"friday-freaks-farcical-fear-mongering","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2020\/06\/04\/friday-freaks-farcical-fear-mongering\/","title":{"rendered":"Friday Freaks farcical fear-mongering"},"content":{"rendered":"

H. L. D. Mahindapala<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n

In these critical times it is necessary to\nscrutinise the public statements of our academics \/ intellectuals to understand\nthe hidden political agenda they push in the guise of objective analysis for\npublic guidance. Take, for instance, the case of two ex-Vice Chancellors, Prof.\nSavitri Goonesekere and Prof. Arjuna Aluvihare of the Friday Forum. In their\nlatest outburst they raise a leading question that can evoke only hysterical\nlaughter: So why is there demonisation of the old and the faith in the new?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is, indeed, an astounding question,\ncoming as it does from two of the Vice-Chancellors of the two of the leading\nuniversities in the nation. If it came from a kindergartner one could accept it\nas infantile stupidity. But when two ex-Vice-Chancellors raise this question\none is entitled to question the calibre of the intellect of some of our\nacademics heading our universities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They know \u2013 or, at least, should know \u2013 that\nthe history of humanity has advanced by demonising the old and investing faith\nin the new. Nothing has changed without going through this process. Even\nscience has advanced on this principle. Newtonian physics was replaced by\nEinsteinian physics on this principle. If humanity did not go through this\nprocess we would be stuck in the dead past forever. Even snakes slough their\nskins for new ones. So why can\u2019t human beings? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But Professors Goonesekere and Aluvihare are\nraving and ranting against change which rejects the dead past and embraces the\nnew \u2013 the eternal and universal law of nature. Of course, this question is\nraised by them in relation to the move of the Government to hold elections that\nwould elect a new Parliament. However, the context in which it is raised is\nirrelevant because impermanence and change are universal laws applicable under\nall circumstances. Not even the two professors can stop it with their\nridiculous questioning. Besides, democracy is based on the fundamental\nprinciple that everyone has the right to demonise\u201d the past, and\/or the status\nquo, and invest their faith in a new world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is apparent that the usual anti-Rajapakse\nlitigants in the NGOs were desperately running around looking for heavyweights\noutside the courts to create a climate of pressure that would influence the\nthinking of the judges. In particular they were hunting for big academic titles\nto counter the weight of Vice-Chancellor of the Jayewardenepura University,\nSudantha Liyanage, whose lawyer Aly Sabry argued convincingly that the\nPresident’s action of dismissing the old Yahapalanaya Parliament on March 2, as\nprovided in the Constitution, was legal. There is nothing undemocratic or\nillegal in dissolving a dismissible Parliament, as laid out in the\nConstitution, and testing the will of the people for a new Parliament, even\nunder the prevailing circumstances. So the two academic clones rushed into print\nfor the second time to make their presence felt in the Supreme Court. The irony\nis that this entire gang was arguing for democracy by obstructing the holding\nof elections which, according to their arguments, would have to be postponed\nforever and a day as there is no vaccine in sight for the Coronavirus, as\nindicated in the best of scientific assessments. The worthlessness of their\narguments were confirmed by the Court when it dismissed all their\nanti-Rajapakse concoctions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These two academic pundits threw in their bit\nto obfuscate and mislead the public \u2013 not to mention the Supreme Court \u2013 with\nan inane question ever asked in the history of rational thinking. They went\nfurther and stated : Yet today, political leaders in the government and their\nassorted supporters, jurists, scholars, professionals, business leaders and\nopinion makers express views indicating they want to bury the Parliament \u2013 some\nfor six months, some for five years, and others for all time.\u201d The operative\nphrase is bury the Parliament\u201d. The time period was left as variables \u2013 short,\nlong or permanent. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, what the two Vice-Chancellors imply\nis that investing faith in a new parliament would lead to the burial of\nparliament for all time. Translated into simple language, what they mean is\nthat the new parliament, which is going to be in the hands of the Rajapakses,\nwill bury parliament, courts and all other democratic institutions and\nestablish a monarchy. This, they say, is against the trend of this country\nwhich has had no monarch since 1972. This is the stuff that these two academics\nproduce to derail peace and stability in these critical days. These are two\ntheoretical kattadiyas <\/em><\/strong>who could not solve the life-threatening\nragging in their universities when they were Vice-Chancellors. Now they are\nwriting prescriptions for the ills of the nation. What credibility can there be\nin their utterings particularly when they are seen as agents acting to promote\nan anti-Rajapakse agenda? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The two Vice-Chancellors are arguing that\nplacing any faith in the new parliament\u201d is a sinister political crime that\nshould be avoided at any cost because it would bury the Parliament for all\ntime\u201d. But in any vibrant democracy burying the parliaments which had passed\nthe use-by-date is a necessary periodical ritual for the survival of a healthy\nand functional democracy. In fact, the right to bury old parliaments\u201d in order\nto find faith in new parliaments\u201d is the ultimate test of a democracy. The\nalternative is to perpetuate the old forever. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

These two academics are acting like political\nnecrophiliacs with a maniacal obsession for the dead past which they can\u2019t\nrevive even with their best theoretical sorcery. They are also concerned that\nthe dates for burial may vary. They say that some may want it buried for six\nmonths, some for five years, and others for all time.\u201d How much nuttier can\nthese two pundits get?  Yes, of course, considering that the old\nParliament was the one that (1) handpicked and imported Arjuna Mahendra to rob\nthe Central Bank, (2) refused to act on the  warnings given by the best of\nintelligence sources about the threats of Muslim terrorists that killed\nhundreds, (3) dabbled in some of the  worst corrupt deals,(3) covered up\ncrimes through parliamentary procedures, (4) perverted parliamentary principles\nby crooked means of slipping into bills clauses not approved by the courts, (5)\nviolated basic principles of appointing a leader of the opposition without a\nmajority to back him, (6) allowed the MPs to feather their nests (7) engaged in\nParliamentary and other privileges to avoid facing charges of corruption etc.,\nwho wouldn\u2019t want to bury a Parliament that had abused power against the will\nof the people. It is all these factors and more that cries for the election of\na new Parliament burying the old one. I personally do not mind if a Parliament\nthat had passed its used-by-date is buried forever and ever. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite the debasing of the Yahapalanaya\nParliament \u2013 undoubtedly, the worst Parliament that I\u2019ve known since I was a\nlobby correspondent of the first Parliament opposite the Indian Ocean in the\nfifties –these two academics are against the election of a new Parliament.\nThey are raising fears (unfounded, of course) of Parliament being closed down\nfor ever leading to a permanent monarch. Quite plainly, the Friday Freaks are\nnot fighting for principles. They are fighting to push their hidden agenda of\nperpetuating the old Parliament. But that hope was buried by the Supreme Court.\nThe Court has, in its wisdom, written the final obituary note on the old\nParliament. Amen!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Glorifying the Old Parliament is one way of\navoiding elections \u2013 the only means of testing the will of the people, which in\nany case is due any time now. So why are they obstructing the holding of\nelections, given that the management of the Corona virus under the Rajapakse\nregime has received global commendation? Clearly, the anti-Rajapakse lobby is\nnot aiming to preserve or protect democracy. They are targeting the Rajapakses\nto prevent them from winning the forthcoming parliamentary election, whenever\nit happens. In the absence of any substantial arguments to attack the Gotabaya\nRajapakse government they have taken to fear-mongering as a last resort. Take\nthe following examples as reported in the Sunday Times: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fear 1: The Friday Forum (TFF) has\nquestioned whether the Government is demonising the old Parliament in the\nexpectations that the new Parliament it desired will adopt and enact a\nConstitution that will do away with Parliament and the courts.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fear 2: Is it possible, there is an\nexpectation that the much desired new Parliament will adopt and enact a\nConstitution which will do away with familiar institutions known as Parliament\nand the courts (the two other pillars of governance in a parliamentary\ndemocracy? TFF said.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fear 3: The Rajapakses will take on the\nmantle of kingship.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is quite apparent that all these are\nimagined fears brewed in the addled brains of the Friday Freaks. They haven\u2019t\nadvanced even a subatomic particle of evidence to prove that their imagined\nfears are inevitable.  Raising fears does not amount to rational thinking\nor sober analysis of the ground realities. All the fears listed above add up to\na veiled attack on the Rajapakses. They are raving because they fear that the\nnew Parliament will disentangle and liberate the nation from the 19th Amendment\n\u2013 a constitutional knot that has tied and immobilised the nation. Like\neverything else that Ranil Wickremesinghe touched it was a disaster. It could\nnot even sack the IGP, a handpicked nominee of Ranil, for the criminal\nnegligence of his duties and responsibilities that led to the deaths of\nhundreds of civilians. Before examining any one of the fictitious fears of the\ntwo academic clones it may be necessary to examine their heads of these\ntheoretical weirdos.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The main thrust of their statement is\nsummarised in the headline: Friday Forum questions Government motive behind\ndemonising the old parliament\u201d. Everyone knows that everyone, including some of\nthe UNPers, have been demonising the old Parliament. Only these two academics\nfrom the Jurassic Park think that the Government is demonising the old\nParliament\u201d. Based on this fiction these two ideological clones proceed to\ndeclare that the new Parliament of the Rajapakses will abolish, the parliament,\nand the other two pillars of parliamentary democracy without a scintilla of\nevidence to back their claim.  In any case, their fear-mongering does not\nreflect any exceptional or original conceptual thinking. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The common tactic of the anti-people,\npro-West ideologues located in so-called think-tanks has been to project fears,\nfantasies and fictions about the end of democracy each time a pro-national\nleader takes over the leadership of the state. I remember vividly how this\ngang, including the media allied to them, went berserk propagating these fears\nof dictatorship and denial of democratic rights when President Ranasinghe\nPremadasa was fighting two terrorist groups \u2013 one in the south and one in the\nnorth \u2013 within the democratic framework. Today the bomb-maker of the fascist\nJVP, Victor Ivan, who led the media attack against President Premadasa is\nelevating him to the ranks of a model leader who introduced and implemented\ninnovative people-oriented programmes for the well-being of the nation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I also remember how the media, the Churchmen,\nthe environmentalists, the academics, the Lalith-Gamini duo went ballistic\ncondemning the construction of Kandalama, the award-winning hotel designed by\nBevis Bawa. Their hysterical cries predicted a dreadful environmental disaster\nfor the scenic tank nearby and the forested neighbourhood. These doomsayers\nwere silenced by Kandalama winning successive awards for preserving and\nmaintaining environmental excellence shortly after it was constructed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The campaign launched by these anti-national\nforces against the Rajakases is no different. Today they are running scared of\nthe people who elected President Gotabaya Rajapakse. They fear that the same\nwave that elected the President will invest their faith in the new Parliament.\nNot knowing how to stop the next pro-Rajapakse wave they have resorted to\nscare-mongering about the Rajapakses doing away with the Parliament and the\ncourts. The Rajapakses are seasoned political leaders who have been in and out\npower to know how far they could go with the power invested in them. The notion\nof running a government without parliament and courts can come only from\nputrefying brains going down the drain to a cesspit of political hate. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Government, on the other hand, is waging\na battle to keep democracy alive by holding elections. The underlying principle\nthat keeps all democracies breathing and alive healthily is the power of the\nwill of the sovereign people expressed through elections. In fact, the current\nbattle of the Government is to have elections. It is the opposition that is\nattempting to postpone the election indefinitely under various pretexts. But\nParliaments and elections are interdependent. One cannot exist without the\nother. Nor can democracy. Since the ultimate sovereign is the people it is\ntheir will that must prevail in a Parliament and that can function only if\nthere is an election.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As things stand there isn\u2019t a better time\nthan now to hold elections. The Government has proved that it has the capacity\nto keep Corona virus under control, or at least at manageable levels. There are\nrisks no doubt. The London Independent<\/em><\/strong> (2\/6\/20) reported that\nfour had died in Congo from a new attack of Ebola. This news warns the public\nabout the dangers of viruses that can raise its head anytime, anywhere. \nSince there is no certainty about a date for developing a viable vaccine (some\npredict the end of the year) are we going to wait indefinitely for the arrival\nof the antidote to hold elections? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

All factors \u2013including the Court decision —\npoint to the option of fighting the election and COVID-19 simultaneously. \nThe choice is either to manage a likely spike in COVID-!9 (as we do now) with\nelections or live without an election with COVID-19 still hanging overhead at\nvarying levels, since there is no vaccine to combat it. There is no guarantee\nof not having a spike of COVID-19 if we don\u2019t have elections.  We will not\nknow which is riskier until the elections are held. It is a gamble we will have\nto take since there is no cure in sight. Any doubts of not having an election\nhas been removed decisively by the Court. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The nation should be grateful to the Supreme\n    Court for burying the Old Parliament and investing faith in\nthe new tomorrow than postponing elections sine die<\/em><\/strong> on imagined\nfears.  <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

H. L. D. Mahindapala In these critical times it is necessary to scrutinise the public statements of our academics \/ intellectuals to understand the hidden political agenda they push in the guise of objective analysis for public guidance. Take, for instance, the case of two ex-Vice Chancellors, Prof. Savitri Goonesekere and Prof. Arjuna Aluvihare of […]<\/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-103179","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\/103179","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=103179"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103179\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=103179"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=103179"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=103179"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}