{"id":40661,"date":"2015-01-06T15:23:04","date_gmt":"2015-01-06T21:23:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=40661"},"modified":"2015-01-06T08:21:29","modified_gmt":"2015-01-06T15:21:29","slug":"a-lesson-for-mahinda-and-maithripala-and-hope-they-learn-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2015\/01\/06\/a-lesson-for-mahinda-and-maithripala-and-hope-they-learn-it\/","title":{"rendered":"A Lesson for Mahinda and Maithripala and Hope They Learn It"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dilrook Kannangara<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n

First comes the nation; second and third too comes the nation. Is there anything that comes ahead of the nation? Surprisingly yes. There is. Sinhala ethnicity, Sinhala language and Sinhala Buddhism are much more precious than Sri Lanka because it is the Sinhalas who defend Sri Lanka. In known history, this nation was subjugated in whole or in part for over 650 years and it was the Sinhalas who liberated it time and again. The nation could revert back to how it was before those invasions thanks to the protection of the “Sinhalaness” of the people. For this reason, if anyone wants to defend the nation, they must defend Sinhala interests; the nation will be protected automatically. This is the lesson Mahinda and Maithripala must learn.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0Who Won the War? Sinhala People<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

The debate over who won the war comes at every major election. It was not a politician, an army commander or a particular clan that won the war. It was the Sinhala people\u00a0who won the war not just in 2009 but also in 161BC, 1070AD, 1236AD and on all other occasions when the nation faced a foreign or local threat. Despite droughts, invasions and other calamities they defended the nation and Buddhism preserving it for earthlings in written form (89BC). Over 97% of the armed forces are made up of them and over 90% of diplomats and expats who defend the nation amidst stiff foreign assaults are Sinhalese. Over 80% of those who toil in harsh Middle Eastern conditions to sustain the national economy are Sinhalese and over 80% of farmers are Sinhalese. Most freely educated professionals who serve the nation after graduation are Sinhalese while virtually the entirety of those who defend the Buddha Sasana are Sinhalese. This disproportionately larger national contribution of Sinhalas must be recognized by the leaders and politicians.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0Uplifting Tamils Disproportionately Above Their National Contribution and Ethnic Percentage<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

It was the Dutch and British imperialists that uplifted Tamils above what they naturally deserved. Following their divide-and-rule policy, they showered disproportionately large benefits on Tamils to rule over native Sinhalese. Unfortunately this policy didn\u2019t die totally in 1948 and it raises its ugly head time to time.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0If Maithripala wins the election, Tamil votes would play a crucial role in his win. However, he must not forget Tamils vote for him not because they want to save the nation from corruption and other evils. It is because they abhor Rajapaksas for unifying the nation. The oft claimed Tamil adage \u2018get whatever you can from Sri Lanka but be loyal to Tamil Elam\u2019 is what drives Tamils. It has been twisted lately to say \u2018get whatever you can from Rajapaksas but be loyal to Tamil Elam\u2019. It will be the same pedestal Maithripala will be on. If Maithripala wins the election with the help of Tamil votes, he should not mistake the Tamil support for their loyalty. He should follow a similar approach – get whatever you can from Tamils but be loyal to Sri Lanka and the Sinhalas\u2019. Sir John, Dudley, Chandrika, Ranil and Mahinda learnt this the hard way. If Maithripala loses, he loses because he embraced anti-Sinhala elements in his election campaign.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0If Mahinda wins the election, he must appreciate it was the Sinhalese who shouldered his victory, not Tamils or Muslims. Despite wasting 90% of borrowed funds on Tamil majority areas and Muslim majority areas, they show no gratefulness at elections. He should not do the same mistake again. If Mahinda loses, he loses because 90% of borrowed funds were wasted in infrastructure projects in Tamil majority areas and Muslim majority areas.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0Reconciliation, Indian pressure or UNHRC dictates should not cloud their minds to see this obvious fact.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0Immediate Action before the General Election<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Whoever wins, the 13A must be abrogated in full before the General Election. President must be made to answer the parliament and must be able to be sued. Preferential voting system than turns the nation into a battlefield at election time must be removed. Maha Sangha must have a constitutionally guaranteed right to veto government action. Patriotic forces that bear the weight of both camps must continue their patriotic appeal and demand these things.<\/span><\/p>\n

Politicians must not be allowed to pack away the Sinhalas back in a suitcase until the next presidential election.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dilrook Kannangara First comes the nation; second and third too comes the nation. Is there anything that comes ahead of the nation? Surprisingly yes. There is. Sinhala ethnicity, Sinhala language and Sinhala Buddhism are much more precious than Sri Lanka because it is the Sinhalas who defend Sri Lanka. In known history, this nation was […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[44],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-40661","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-dilrook-kannangara"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40661","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=40661"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40661\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40661"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40661"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40661"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}