{"id":50875,"date":"2016-01-08T23:38:08","date_gmt":"2016-01-09T05:38:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=50875"},"modified":"2016-01-09T15:28:14","modified_gmt":"2016-01-09T22:28:14","slug":"in-defence-of-mahinda-rajapakse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2016\/01\/08\/in-defence-of-mahinda-rajapakse\/","title":{"rendered":"In Defence of Mahinda Rajapakse."},"content":{"rendered":"

By Charles.S.Perera (revised 09\/01\/2016)<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n

The government formed by Maithripala Sirisena, Ranil Wickramasinghe and Chandrika Kumaratung , which they call yahapalanaya, is the worst government in Sri Lanka since Independence in 1948.<\/p>\n

It is far from being a democratic government. Democracy is where the view of the majority is respected. Today in Sri Lanka the majority view is swept under the carpet and minority view is presented as the view of the majority by banding together\u00a0 a set of self seeking ambitious bought over ragtag of politicians from different political parties and calling that a National Government.<\/p>\n

Who voted this government into power ?\u00a0 The UNP has its block vote which blindly vote for the elephant.\u00a0 There were school teachers led by a strange Joseph Stalin<\/strong> who voted for the Rs.10,000 to the basic salary which they did not get. Yahapalanayta voters were mainly from\u00a0 Badulla(54.76 %), Colombo (53%), Kandy (55.57%), Matale (49.84%), Nuwara Eliya(59%), Polonnaruw(50.26%) and Puttalama(50.40%), \u00a0where there are a \u00a0concentration of Muslims, Tamils, and Catholics. TNA got \u00a069 percent of the Tamil votes in the North.\u00a0 The difference between the votes of UNP and other parties, \u00a0and that of the UPFA votes is 3.28%\u00a0 Hence the UNP and its allies cannot say that they have a majority of Sinhala votes.\u00a0 Yahapalanaya won because of the Tamil and Muslim votes.<\/strong><\/p>\n

In fairness to Tamils it should be mentioned that in Jaffna there were a 6% of votes to UPFA at the Parliamentary election and 21.85 % of votes to Mahinda Rajapakse at the\u00a0 Presidential election.<\/p>\n

Despite all the accusations \u00a0against the previous government of Mahinda Rajapakse we hear in TV political debates in Sri Lanka, and at press conferences of Yahupalanaya ministers of the UNP, Tamils, Muslims and the JVP, \u00a0the majority of the Sinhala Buddhists have not lost their faith in Mahinda Rajapakse and welcomes a return of a Rajapakse Government.\u00a0 \u00a0JVP was rejected by the people- it got only 4.87% votes. The highest percentage they got was in Hambantota\u00a0 9.98%.\u00a0 JVP should have been a subject of a Commission of Investigations for their criminal past,<\/strong><\/p>\n

I was in Sri Lanka for one year and travelled the length and beadth of her meeting people from all stations of life, they all praised Mahinda Rajapakse while some who had voted against him for\u00a0 a change regretted doing so. I also met Muslim traders, well to do Sinhala businessmen\u00a0 and some administrators , who welcomed the change.\u00a0 But then Ravi Karunanayake had not presented his budget; Those in favour of Ranil \u2013Sirisena combination\u00a0 may have changed their minds by now.<\/p>\n

I\u00a0 did not know or have even met the former President Mahinda Rajapakse, but I knew his father when I was working in Galle. He was a very popular political figure in the south. A friendly man\u00a0 known not only in\u00a0 Hanbantota but also in Matara and Galle. He was generous \u00a0and accessible to all.\u00a0 Rajapakses were not known as a family that made\u00a0 money from its political popularity.\u00a0 They did not force their way into politics but politics came naturally to them through their popularity amoung the people.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Mahinda Rajapakse did not follow his father\u00a0 into politics, but\u00a0 he was more or less forced into it. In fact it was as a result of a request made by his mother to\u00a0 Sirimavo Bandaranayake that he had to enter politics. Mahinda Rajapakse was an \u00a0assistant librarian at the\u00a0 Vidyodaya University when his father died.\u00a0 After the death of his father Mrs. Sirimavo Bandaranayake wanted Chamal Rajapakse \u00a0to be the SLFP Organiser for Beliatta.\u00a0 But Chamal\u2019s mother did not want him as the eldest son of the family to take to politics and requested Sirismavo Bandaranayake to instead appoint Mahinda Rajapakse as the Beliatta Organser of SLFP.<\/p>\n

It was then that Mahinda had to give up a probable carrier as a film star to take up politics;\u00a0 He entered the Law College, contested the elections and\u00a0 at 24 years of age was elected to Parliament in 1970.<\/p>\n

Therefore those who accuse Mahinda Rajapaksa as a corrupt politician should take note that when he came to politics he was not a vagabond, wandering aimlessly without ties to a place or community\u201d, nor did he come from a family with a dwindled economy with a \u00a0blown ambition to become\u00a0 rich\u00a0 as a politician and \u00a0to enrich his family. Kusala Kamma had given him a good birth, to live well without being in want<\/strong><\/p>\n

From the beginning Mahinda Rajapakse the young politician faced impossible challenges.\u00a0 He was involved in a Mulkirigala murder case.\u00a0 He was imprisoned.\u00a0 He attended his mothers funeral under police escort.\u00a0 Later he was released. He lost in the 1977 Parliamentary elections, and in 1984 by-elections of the Beliatta seat.<\/p>\n

He organised and participated in a protest march against the UNP Government in 1987. He became a human rights activist taking the subject of disappearances of\u00a0 youth in the south between 1988 and 89.\u00a0 Sri Lanka was\u00a0 a\u00a0 dictatorship under UNP leader JR Jayawardhane.\u00a0 Mahinda fearlessly volunteered to take the case of Sri Lanka\u2019s violation of human rights by JR Jayawardhne\u2019s UNP rule to Human Rights Council in Geneva. He was recognised for his human rights activities in India and \u00a0rewarded by Vishva Bharathi University of Culcutta .\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>Mahinda Rajapakse was re-elected to Parliament in 1989.<\/p>\n

Though Mahinda Rajapakse and his Armed Forces are being accused for violation of human rights by international criminality fostering USA , and the West now, Mahinda championed human rights in Sri Lanka way back in nineteen eightees.<\/strong><\/p>\n

SLFP lost the General elections to JR Jayawardhana\u2019s UNP in 1977 and remained 17 years in the opposition.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>Without his Parliamentary responsibilities Mahinda Rajapaksa\u00a0 became an active SLFP political figure. He organised the pada yatra\u201d from Colombo to Kataragama from 16 March to 2 April, 1992. Even then Mahinda Rajapakse was fighting against\u00a0 UNP Government\u2019s privatisation policies, calling for a Commission of Inquiry on disappearance in the South and demanding payment of compensation for the families. He fought against cost of living, \u00a0and asked for a settlement of \u00a0\u00a0the terrorism in the North and east.\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>His activities that kept the SLFP alive during a difficult period \u00a0won him the reddish brown ( kurakkan coloured )shawl from the then seniors of the SLFP, which he wears even to day.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Those activities distinguished him as a remarkable political leader of the SLFP.\u00a0 It also became the reason for the\u00a0 political rivalry between\u00a0 him and Chandrika Kumaratunga.\u00a0 Chandrika Kumaratunga saw her assumed importance by being a Bandaranaike\u201d, and her political manoeuvres, being overshadowed by Mahinda Rajapakse.<\/p>\n

Mahinda Rajapakse was infact pioneering the \u00a0implementation of\u00a0 the much needed reforms to make Sri Lanka\u00a0 continue the \u00a0changes that were initiated by SWRD Bandaranayake to which his late father \u00a0too had contributed.<\/p>\n

These intiatives were the beginning of what he later proposed and implemented as the Mahinda Chintanaya- a remarkable development programme never thought of by a previous political leader, except perhaps by Dr.N.M.Perera as a Ten Year Plan.<\/p>\n

Chandrika did not have that vision to develop Sri Lanka, and the progressive ideas of Mahinda Rajapakse became the reason of her intense\u00a0 jealousy, which has made her a traitor to her father\u2019s positive political moves, to join with impossible political partners like Ranil Wickramasinghe to\u00a0 sell Sri Lanka to the west, having put as President a gullible Sirisena.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The People\u2019s alliance government was set up by Chandrika in 1994.\u00a0 Mahinda Rajapakse became its Minister of Labour and Vocational Training.\u00a0 Mahinda did not stay satisfied by Ministerial power, but he began implementing his pet ideas for the development of Sri Lanka.\u00a0 As the Minister of Labour he proposed a Workers\u2019 Charter seeking to establish trade union rights, a wages commission, social security, a training institute for trade unions , and adjudication of industrial disputes. <\/strong>Chandrika as the President opposed it.\u00a0 However, Mahind Rajapakse instituted the Vocational Training Authority in 1995 to recognise the needs of unemployed youth.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>Mahinda Rajapakse went further\u00a0 with his positive ideas proposing a Hospital for Workers which was \u00a0unfortunately turned down by \u00a0President Chandrika Kumaratunga who did not see the positive aspect of Mahinda\u2019s proposals.\u00a0 Thereafter when he was \u00a0the Minister of Fisheries in 1997, he proposed a housing scheme fishermen, and\u00a0 strengthened the industrial base of fisheries.\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>Mahinda as the Minister of Industries also set up a University of Oceanography-Sagara Vishva Vidyalaya,\u00a0 a Coastal Guard Unit, and gazetted the construction of the Hambantota Harbour.\u00a0 That was in 2001. <\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>In 2002 When Ranil Wickramasinghe became the Prime Minister, \u00a0Rajapakse became the leader of the Opposition.\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>In 2004 United People\u2019s Freedom Alliance formed a Government. \u00a0Mahinda Rajapakse was appointed the Prime Minister,\u00a0 though Chandrika and JVP favoured Lakshman Kadirgamar for the Office.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>It was time that \u00a0Mahinda Rajapakse\u2019s political carrier take another hurdle.\u00a0 It came about when he was elected at the Presidential Election of 2005.\u00a0 The terrorists played a decisive role in previous Presidential elections of Sri Lanka, mainly because the Sinhala voters were (and continue to be) unfortunately divided.\u00a0 If the Sinhala Buddhists one day stand together then there is every reason for a \u00a0progressive government\u00a0 to come into power,\u00a0 over UNP block votes and Tamil and Muslim votes, and that would herald a real unity amoung the Communities, the Muslims and Tamils accepting the reality of Sinhala Buddhist majority. <\/strong>The bane of Sri Lanka is that the Sinhala Buddhists have failed to come together to support a progressive patriotic government<\/strong>. Even Anagarika Dhammapala failed in his attempt to unite the Sinhala Buddhists.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>Everything said and done Sinhala Buddhists are an example of a people able to integrate with other communities and live amicably with them.\u00a0 It had always been the Tamils and Muslims who came only part of the way with the Sinhala Buddhists, refusing to go further. They have a complex short of being patriots, \u00a0and hence opt for separation from the Sinhala Buddhists.\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>Therefore, on National issues one does not know which way these two Communities will turn.\u00a0 Even during terrorism except for a handful of Muslims,\u00a0 the Muslim Community kept respectfully\u00a0 away from military operations against terrorism. However, they do hesitate to break the queue to claim benefits.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The worst is that they \u2013the Tamils and Muslims,\u00a0 are destructive forces, such as terrorism by Tamils, and\u00a0 clearing up land reserves by bulldozing \u00a0or clear forest areas\u00a0 without respect to ancient Buddhist ruins to make settlements for Muslims.\u00a0 Living together as Communities in the same country there should be a minimum of respect for those that are held sacred by the Buddhist Communities.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>Therefore, \u00a0the Tamils and Muslims unable to do as they wish under a strong Sinhala Buddhist leader would vote against him, in preference to a weak leader who is \u00a0prepared to give in for the sake of maintaining his \u00a0political power.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>If Mahinda Rajapakse had not been elected as the President in 2005, we would still be fighting terrorism and hundreds no, but thousands may have been massacred.\u00a0 Perhaps the International Community may have intervened to set up a separate Tamil State in the North. That is what those who accuse Mahinda Rajapaakse\u00a0 now fail to understand.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>Yet Mahinda Rajapakse\u2019s recognition as a great political leader of Sri Lanka, \u00a0even greater \u00a0than SWRD Bandaranaike-who made\u00a0 people understand \u00a0real Independence free of allegiance to Colonial masters in 1956, while\u00a0 UNP wished to remain with\u00a0 the umbilical cord of Independence attached to UK and the West ( as Ranil\u2019s UNP is \u00a0today attempting\u00a0 to graft \u00a0the lost umbilical cord ).<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>Mahinda Rajapakse will\u00a0 remain in the memory of the Nation not only for the elimination of terrorism, but also keeping the SLFP alive when JR Jayawardhana disabled SLFP as a political force, and the Mahinda Chintanaya a practical political philosophy that shot Sri Lanka from under development,\u00a0 to a short way to\u00a0 development.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>Mahinda Rajapakse organised pada yatra and \u00a0took letters of violation of human rights by JR Jayawardhane\u2019s UNP government to UN Human Rights Council in Geneva.\u00a0 Mahinda Rajapakse was also an active Minister of Chandrika Kumaratunga\u2019s government, and brought very important proposals for the workers, and unemployed youth, protection of human rights etc. which have been already discussed above.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>Mahinda Rajapakse did not enter politics planned to make his living out of politics.\u00a0 His family had enough\u00a0 for him to live his life even without being employed.\u00a0 But when he came to politics he wanted to give of his best for the country. His determination when he was elected as the President was to eliminate terrorism and continued to develop the country,\u00a0 rid it of fear of\u00a0 the underworld mafia, give the people full employment, a respectable standard of living, and above all peace and security. <\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>He wanted to extend non-alignment , by setting up new diplomatic ties with different countries of the world. In the ambition he had for his country to make it rise above underdevelopment.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>Mahinda Rajapakse never wanted to sully his \u00a0name connected to \u00a0any form of\u00a0 corruption, because he knew that his opponents will await such opportunities to make him unpopular amoung the people as it happened to Anagaraika Dhammapala.\u00a0 The enemies could be so strong that they could make any innocent person seem guilty of corruption.\u00a0 Mahinda certainly did not want to fall into that trap and kept his eyes open, therefore, to-day\u00a0 his opponents have a hard time to prove him guilty of any offence.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>Despite all the work he did to keep the SLFP as an important political party, sacrificing his time and risking his life, he did not believe that the ordinary members of SLFP, other than Chandrika Kumaratunga who came later to join SLFP from elsewhere, would turn out to be traitors to him later. <\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>Mahinda Rajapakse was accused for all types of corruption, such as opening a special account to develop Hambantota.\u00a0 But there had been open Bank accounts which could have been checked and examined by any one.\u00a0 There are also accusations made by the worst war criminals of the world against Sri Lanka for the way the terrorism was ended.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>Mahinda Rajapakse was an experienced , astute politician.\u00a0 He after elimination of terrorism \u00a0developed the country to a great extent.\u00a0 Thereafter he reflected on the work done and what has still got to be done.\u00a0 He\u00a0 \u00a0saw that remaining structural , economic, and social development\u00a0 he had envisioned for Sri Lanka could be completed by him if he were to maintain the\u00a0 same speed of development without allowing it to sag. <\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>Mahinda Rajapakse foresaw that if the administration of the country were to change hands that would be the end of the progressive development of the country, and that new ideas and new methods of handling development would be disastrous. From what is taking place today\u00a0 with the\u00a0 Change of governments , Mahainda Rajapakse\u2019s fears were not imagined, and therefore no body of intelligence would\u00a0 blame him for seeking a third term in office to complete what he had started.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>Ranil Wickramasinghe after returning from Massachusetts University\u00a0 in USA told the press that he learnt to topple governments. That exactly is what he did carrying out the instructions of his learned American lecturers to the letter, some of them perhaps ancient members of CIA.\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>Soon after the successful change of Regime\u201d Ranil Wickramasinghe set up his FCID, where a politician or any one connected with Mahinda Rajapakse was taken for questioning and made not to return back, \u00a0but put straight into the remand jail. That is the sign of a Police state into which Ranil changed Sri Lanka immediately he was unconstitutionally sworn in as the Prime Minister.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>Ranil Wickramasinghe \u00a0re established the Bribery Commission and set up\u00a0 the President\u2019s Commission of Inquiry. Since Srirsena \u2013Ranil , came into power after removal of the President Mahinda Rajapakse, there had been nothing new happening in the country, other than \u00a0taking those claimed\u00a0 falsely corrupt by UNP and JVP, \u00a0to the FCID and the Commissions. This is not what the people wanted from a change of Regime, but \u00a0that is what Ranil and UNP, Chandrika and Sirisena consider \u00a0important as they are the means to make the names of Rajapakse\u2019s \u00a0\u00a0bitter as poison to people. <\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>In law one is not declared guilty until the verdict is given by a court of law.\u00a0 But with Ranil\u2019s Military State, the moment a person is taken to FCID the media\u00a0 takes over publicly denouncing the person taken to FCID for questioning, as guilty of the offence.\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>UNP Parliamentarians when they have no valid arguments blame Rajapakses and the Previous Government, and call them names. The other day at a political debate <\/strong>Balaya\u201d in TV Derana<\/strong>, two representative from UNP (Harin Fernando and Ajith Manamperuma) had no answers for questions raised by the opposing participants.\u00a0 They did not hesitate to compared Mahinda Rajapakse to <\/strong>Sadam Husain, and\u00a0 Idi Amin.<\/strong>\u00a0 This is the low standard of TV debates in Sri Lanka TV. <\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>Mahinda Rajapakse \u00a0should be held in respect even by his political opponents, as he is the man- the political leader, who brought peace and security to Sri Lanka and united the country under one flag.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>They even exhumed a body of a Rugger player to involve a member of the Rajapakse family in his death.\u00a0 The FCID is so upset that it has \u00a0not been able\u00a0 for one whole year to accuse\u00a0 a single person for one thing or another, it may soon begin cooking evidence\u201d to loose face, and avoid anger of <\/strong>Ranil Wickramasinghe who came so well educated for toppling government by an American University<\/strong>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>Another accusation against the President Mahinda Rajapakse was that his was a one family regime, meaning that he had all his brothers , nieces and son in Parliament holding key posts.<\/strong><\/p>\n

This he could not have avoided as some of them were elected to Parliament by popular vote.\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

His younger brother who was a retired Colonel who had experience fighting the terrorists was made his Defence Secretary.\u00a0 That was a question of trust.\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>Mahinda Rajapakse could not have the same trust with most of the members of the SLFP with whom he worked.\u00a0 Maithripala Sirisena\u00a0 the Secretary General of SLFP\u00a0 turned a traitor by joining the political party -UNP he opposed all his life to become the rival Presidential candidate.\u00a0 There were others like Nimal Siripala de Silva, Rajitha Senaratne, Duminda Siva, Sarath Amunugama, S.B.Dissanayake, Mahind Samarasinghe and several other that turned their backs to Mahinda Rajapakse at the first opportunity that came their way. Principles disappear when cash change hands.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>Therefore as a President Mahinda Rajapakse had to have around him \u00a0persons he could trust. He was therefore lucky to have had with him brothers who were qualified and some elected into Parliament by the people. <\/strong>Not even the CIA Agents in the USA University where Ranil Wickramasinghe studied could find any fault in that, because even John Kennedy had his brother Robert as his Attorney General.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>No President in a country is free from blame. A President \u00a0cannot look into every thing and , his powers are delegated, and the failure on the part of those to whom power has been delegated should not be put to the President. Persons like Mervyn Silva should have been sent out some say, \u00a0while others say that the Prime Minister D.M.Jayaratne should have been asked to retire, and yet others ask why Ananda Sarath Kumara a North Western Province Counciller who forced a teacher to kneel before the pupils was not sacked from the party. But can these be taken as serious offences committed by\u00a0 the President ?\u00a0 Should one refuse voting for him to punish him for those minor offences if they are offences at all ?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>The Avant Garde case is the failure of the media to understand what the issue was all about.\u00a0 There was no offence committed.\u00a0 There was no one guilty of an offence. Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapakse explained it very well at the outset, \u00a0and nobody of those who accused him seemed\u00a0 to have had not even listened to him. In the <\/strong>Sirasa TV Debate Satana<\/strong> there was a Journalist Saman posing questions as if he knew every thing about the Avant Garde Issue but his arguments were based on wrong information he had. These debates only mislead the people.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>The fact remains that Mahind Rajapakse or his family members have not committed any offence, and the effort of Ranil\u2019s police force is to accuse them at any cost to damage the reputation of \u00a0Rajapakse family and see them out of politics, \u00a0even if the accusations cannot be \u00a0proved against them. That is according to what Ranil Learnt at the Massachusette University in USA\u2026call some one a thief and after some time people may begin to believe in it.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>Whatever the number of accusations are made and no matter how many times any one of the Rajapakse\u2019s are taken to FCID, Bribery Commission or the Presidential Crime Investigation Commission (with new powers) , and even if they are arrested on cooked evidence\u2019 , Mahinda Rajapakse and his\u00a0 family will remain \u00a0loved and respected by the ordinary Sinhala Buddhist people of Sri Lanka forever and for generations to come. Any accusation will only enhance their reputation, and the people will prefer him; hundred time more than a Maithripala or a Ranil Wickramasinghe.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>Mahinda Rajapakse is undoubtedly the greatest Sinhala Buddhist Leader to rise from the ashes of the history of Sri Lanka. His becoming the President consecrated\u00a0 Sri Lanka, which had been polluted and deconsecrated by intruders, plunderers , invaders, colonialist, and terrorists for more than 500years.<\/p>\n

Mahinda Rajapakse\u2019s coming to politics, marks a political revolution in the history of Sri Lanka. Once he took to politics he gave all his\u00a0 strength and time to make the best of it to make ancient heritage of Sri Lanka reappear amidst modernisation to make Sri Lanka a better place for all its people.\u00a0 Mahinda Rajapakse \u00a0even\u00a0 commenced building a Mahaseya in Anuradhapura, allowed compassionate breeze of \u00a0Buddha Dhamma emenate from the Presidential Residence, the\u00a0 Temple trees.\u00a0 We defend him against all miscreants, rude, vulgar political merchants, and blood stained , unclean foreign enemies.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Charles.S.Perera (revised 09\/01\/2016) The government formed by Maithripala Sirisena, Ranil Wickramasinghe and Chandrika Kumaratung , which they call yahapalanaya, is the worst government in Sri Lanka since Independence in 1948. It is far from being a democratic government. Democracy is where the view of the majority is respected. Today in Sri Lanka the majority […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-50875","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-charles"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50875","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=50875"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50875\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50875"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=50875"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=50875"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}