{"id":46329,"date":"2015-07-29T20:11:39","date_gmt":"2015-07-30T02:11:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=46329"},"modified":"2015-07-29T13:03:28","modified_gmt":"2015-07-29T20:03:28","slug":"champika-towards-good-governance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2015\/07\/29\/champika-towards-good-governance\/","title":{"rendered":"Champika towards Good Governance"},"content":{"rendered":"

Palitha Senanayake\u00a0(The writer of this article is a founder member and an ex. District organiser of Sihala Urumaya)<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n

Champika Ranawake and his Hela Urumaya has now joined the UNP in a coalition to promote Good Governance.\u00a0 Good governance, no doubt, is what every citizen in a country aspires for, but this alignment of Champika with Ranil\u2019s UNP certainly come as a surprise because it was just two days before that Champika, holding a press conference, accused the UNP Government of getting the Parliament dissolved to save face from its many corrupt activities, including the tabling of the COPE report on the Central bank BOND scam. During the run up to the 19A vote Champika even called Ranil Wicremesinghe, \u2018a cheat\u2019 stating that the gazetted version of the 19 A by the Prime Minister\u2019s office is not what the party leaders amended and agreed upon but the original version drafted by Ranil. In addition, Nishantha Warnainghe, the JHU spokesman, continuously criticised the UNP Government action in public press stating that \u2018Ranil is day dreaming of a UNP victory\u2019. Judging by all that, this unprecedented alliance of anti-nationalist and ultra-nationalist appear more of an alliance for political survival than an alliance for \u2018good governance\u2019. This fact however was admitted by both Ranil and Champika at their \u2018yaha palana\u2019 agreement signing ceremony where they inferred the need to be strong to face Rajapakse.<\/p>\n

Patali Champika Ranawake came to political lime light when he took up the Sinhala cause with Sihala Urumaya back in the years 1999 with SL Gunasekara and Thilak Karunaratne. That was the time when Chandrika with her \u2018no war\u2019 philosophy had brought a \u2018no peace\u2019 situation subjecting the country to \u2018\u2018no hope\u2019. Coffins of soldiers from the north was the order of the day and you could witness those being carried across Colombo to be delivered to some part or other in the country. Singhala patriotism was non-existent and anybody who voiced for the rights of the Singhalese would be labelled as \u2018jathivadiya\u2019 or extremist by the government press aided and abetted by the pro-Tiger NGO\u2019s. To add insult to injury Chandrika and Ranil were expressing accommodative views on brutal terrorism blaming it all on unfounded \u2018Sinhala extremism\u2019.<\/p>\n

The situation certainly brought about a political vacuum for the nationalist and what was even worst was that the national psych was being atoned to accept terrorism and its attendant exigencies as a way of life. In this milieu a set of intellectuals headed by former Central bank governor Neville Karunatileke and Prof. AKDS Indraratne formed an organization called the National Movement Against Terrorism and invited eminent lawyer S L Gunesekera, who had written a few books exposing the \u2018Tamil grievances\u2019 hoax, to re-orient the national psych and to halt the country from being devoured by terrorism. \u00a0Among the crowd that gathered Patali champika Ranawke stood out with his articulated Singhala speech and the rebelling attitude to effect change.\u00a0 The activities of NMAT gathered momentum but yet it was ignored by the ruling parties of both Chandrika and Ranil since it was but only a pressure group lacking a vote bank among the polity.<\/p>\n

This prompted the organizers to contemplate entering main stream politics and Thilak Karunarate who had resigned from both the SLFP and the UNP, due to their competing anti national agendas offered to be the political God- father for the movement. SL Gunesekara whose sincerity of purpose and integrity were beyond question became the President of the party with Thilak Karunarate , the Secretary, and PCK, the National organiser.<\/p>\n

The idea in entering electoral politics is to become the third and decisive force that would control the two main parties headed by anti-national leaders; a task up to then performed by Ashraf\u2019s Muslim Congress and Thondaman\u2019s CWC. However, the name of the party became a much debated issue and initially the idea was that the name should signify the party\u2019s opposition to terror and racialism as pursued by the Tamil chauvinistic political establishment. PCR and his team including Ven. Athuraliya Ratana however wanted to the name of the party to be more focussed on the Singhala cause and argued that \u2018if we are afraid to identify with the Sinhala cause how could, we then say that we would serve the Singhala cause\u2019. Thus the party became known as the Sihala Urumaya<\/strong>. The main agenda of the party was to campaign against the federal constitution of Chandrika but the team headed by Champika that included Athuraliye Ratana and Sujith Akkarawatte wanted a campaign against proselytization too to be included. This proposal however was deferred as the party leaders preferred to concentrate more on the immediate dangers brought about by Chandrika\u2019s asinine \u2018solutions\u2019.<\/p>\n

The party contested the Parliamentary election in the year 2000 as the youngest political party in the fray but the polling results fell far short of the buoyancy manifested at the electoral level. Party stalwarts like SLG, TK and PCR failed to gain the minimum vote percentage required to secure a parliamentary seat. The day after the election however, the news came that Sihala Urumay had obtained a total vote at the national level to win a single seat in the Parliament. And with that news all the Sihala Urumaya organisers and district leaders were summoned to the party head-quarters at Narahenpita. The idea of this invitation was to thank the party rank and file for the country wide vote that secured a single seat for the party, but in its midst Nishantha Warnasinghe who was in charge of the poster distribution had initiated action in one corner to collect signatures of party men to a petition that said that Champika Ranawaka is the most suitable candidate for the single seat that has come the party way. \u00a0This created confusion and disunity within the party and a few heated debates, official and unofficial, ensued.<\/p>\n

The party Ex- Co decided that SL Gunesekara, being the Chairman should represent the party in the Parliament. This decision was vehemently criticised by Athraliya Ratana and Sujith Akkarawatta who maintained that Gunesekra, being a Christian should not be the only representative of the party in a Busdddhist country. This created religious issues in the party but the rebellion in Athuraliya Ratana and Akkarawatte even went to the extent of physically attacking the members of the Ex. Co and ten they went in a procession to Prof. Indraratne\u2019s house that was located in the vicinity and attacked it prompting Prof. Indraratne to lodge a complaint with the police. The Government press, where forming of Sihala Urumaya did not make news, gave headline publicity to the incidents at Narahenpita, with an \u2018extremist\u2019 twist. SL Gunesekera and Prof. Indraratne resigned from the party calling Champika and his cohorts \u2018Sinhala Taliban\u2019.Thilak karunaratne and Champika Ranawaka shared the Parliamentary seat that the party became entitled to.<\/p>\n

Ven. Gangodavila Soma thera has been adding a strong dash of nationalism to his regular bana preaching\u2019s since the late 90\u2019s and as a result his bana became popular among Singhala Buddhist who were disenchanted with the anti-national agenda a of the two main stream political parties. The thera expressed forebodings that the Sinhala Buddhist would be extinct in a few more years at the rate the power greedy Sinhala politicians betray their interest for minority votes.<\/p>\n

During the 2000 election campaign an unofficial delegation from Sihala Urumaya met Ven. Soma to obtain his patronisation for the party. The response of Ven. Soma was that SL Gunasekara, the leader of SU was not a Buddhist and that Champika Ranawake, he did not know. Ven Soma however cautioned us not to be fodder to persons with dubious agendas now fishing in troubled waters in the guise of Sinhala nationalism. By this time aspersions were also cast on Champika when Prof. Nalin de Silva called him a \u2018Signhala Prabhakaran\u2019 and when Dr. Harischandra Wijetunge described him as a \u2018political opportunist\u2019. It became known that Champika had been an ex. JVPer and also ex Janatha mithuro supporter of mangala samarawera. \u00a0But the supporters of Sihala Urumaya continued to patronize the party as that was the only means of political expression available to the Sinhalese at the time.<\/p>\n

The death of Gangodavila Soma thera and the questionable circumstances under which he died in 2003 became an emotional issue for the Sinhala Buddhist and thus, a finger was pointed at the prominent businessman and UNP supporter Lalith Kothalawala. \u00a0Champika and company cashed in this situation by suggesting that the political sentiments expressed by Ven. Soma should be realized and in order to do that the priest should form a political party. He then managed to persuade Thilak Karunaratne to offer (puja) the party to the Sanga with himself continuing to be the Gen. Secretary. The prominent priest led by Ven. Ellawala Medhananda, though popular among the Buddhist, were clueless in politics and hence expected Champika, now an MP, to show them the way. This movement of Buddhist priest, championing the vision of late Soma thera, achieved at the 2004 election what Champik and SU could not in the 2000 elections. They polled more than 500,000 vote and obtained 11 seats in Parliament becoming the crucial third force in Sri Lankan politics.<\/p>\n

At the 2005 Presidential election, the JHU knowing what to expect if Ranil wins the election offered its support to Mahinda Rajapakse as the candidate with a sense of \u2018Apey kama\u2019.\u00a0 The Government of Mahinda Rajapakse during the last 10 years, has achieved most of what the Sihala Urumaya and JHU stood for, against heavy international odds, even though the JHU\u2019s anti conversion bill could not see the light of day due to shenanigans of the human rights NGO\u2019s. The popular perception is that the Rajapakse regime\u2019s accomplishments in the fields of national security, infrastructure development, education and national reconciliation during the last 10 years would never have been possible if the Government followed the flawed vision of Chandrika and Ranil. The issue now before the voters of SU and JHU is; should Champika and Ven.Ratana compromise at this stage with proven enemies for what they could not get from natural allies?<\/p>\n

There is no way that the supporters of JHU could ever think of pursuing further the goals Champika and Ven. Ratana espoused so far by coming in to an alliance with Chandrika and Ranil and instead there is the danger that all what has been achieved would now be compromised, rock stock and barrel, at the altar of \u2018Yaha palanaya\u2019. An example is that Mr. Sumanthiran, former TNA MP disclosed in a recent interview with Shakthi TV that the understanding they reached with the present President at the time of Jan.8 elections is that the Tamils cannot solve their problems within the \u2018Single state\u2019 concept and to this, according to Mr. smanthiran, even the JHU agreed. \u00a0Thus the signs are that Champika and Ven. Ratana are now beginning to be the most politically expedient leaders to have been elected with the Singhala vote bank, even beating the record of betrayal by Chandrika and Ranil. Sihala Urumaya and JHU firmly believed that \u2018Prabhakaran was only a terrorist attempting the bifurcation of Sri Lanka and the day he is over-powered the problem is over, but the real enemies of the nation are the ones who proposed legitimacy for bifurcation in the name of \u2018solutions\u2019 paving the way for a permanent war\u2019<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Champika authored the book \u2018Challenge of the Singhalay\u2019 and said that there are Tiger terrorist (Tamil) in the North, Camel terrorist (Muslim) in the East and Cock bird terrorist( Estate Tamil) in the Centre posing the challenge to the existence of the Sinhala race. But today he has come in to an alliance with these very same terrorist and their natural ally, Ranil\u2019s UNP, for supposedly good governance. If good governance is found only among the minorities and their promoters Champika and Ven. Ratana has been deceiving us for the past 15 years!<\/p>\n

It was the JHU that said that Wickremebahu Karunaratne is in the pay of the Tamil Diaspora. It was the JHU that maintained that Mano Ganeshan is the \u2018Colomba kotiya\u2019. It was the JHU that said TUF are the Prajathanthravadi Koti (democratic Tigers). It is the JHU that said that Jehan Perera and Pakyaothy Saravanamuttu are paid by the church to destabilise the Sinhala Buddhist state. It was the JHU that maintained that Chandrika is the reincarnation of Kuveni who cursed the Singhalese that an \u2018Ali-Koti sapaya\u2019( Elephant-Tiger curse) will finish their race. It was the JHU that said that Ranil is a fool who plans to be an \u2018internationalist\u2019 by failing his own nation.<\/p>\n

The other aspect of Champika Ranawaka politics is that he has by now offended all the ex. leaders who have accommodated him in politics. If SL Gunesekera is living today he would give a good account of Champika\u2019s betrayals for his own personal aggrandisement. Speak to Thilak Karunaratne, Ven. Ellawala Medhananda and now Mahinda Rajapakse and they will say in one voice the calculating agenda of the character called PCR. It is, but a trail of betrayals. Now that he has joined Ranil, providence will prove that Ranil would be the next casualty. However, as for the UNP, it is now or never and hence it will align itself even with a devil, to come to power.\u00a0 As for PCK \u2018yahapalanaya\u2019 is but only another vehicle for power, just as the Sinhala cause, Soma Hamuduruwo, has been.<\/p>\n

(The writer of this article is a founder member and an ex. District organiser of Sihala Urumaya)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Palitha Senanayake\u00a0(The writer of this article is a founder member and an ex. District organiser of Sihala Urumaya) Champika Ranawake and his Hela Urumaya has now joined the UNP in a coalition to promote Good Governance.\u00a0 Good governance, no doubt, is what every citizen in a country aspires for, but this alignment of Champika with […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-46329","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-forum"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46329","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=46329"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46329\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46329"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=46329"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=46329"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}