{"id":88074,"date":"2019-05-01T14:31:41","date_gmt":"2019-05-01T21:31:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=88074"},"modified":"2019-05-01T14:31:41","modified_gmt":"2019-05-01T21:31:41","slug":"wages-of-an-ungrateful-nation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2019\/05\/01\/wages-of-an-ungrateful-nation\/","title":{"rendered":"Wages of an Ungrateful Nation"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sarath Bulathsinghala<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n

Those who forget the past are condemned to relive it\u201d \u2013 Santayana<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sri Lankan nation is horror struck\nand deeply saddened by the Easter Sunday carnage. Hundreds of innocent people\nmostly Christians and others foreigners, were murdered in the most gruesome of\nways – by bombings. In the other modes of killings there is even a body to take\nhome and mourn over. Some bodies had to be identified by only a little ring\nfinger, others by a tattoo!  These\nhorrendous crimes took place at churches and hotels around Sri Lanka. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sad to say this nation was already\ncondemned by the gods for what was waiting to happen. A nation full of\nungrateful citizens richly deserved the outcome for they so quickly forgot the\npast. They allowed the deterioration of sanity to its lowest with hardly a look\nbackwards. This time they allowed the seeds of Islamic Terrorism to take root\nand giving precedence to Middle East and Tamil Diaspora money and their own self-interest.\nThey sowed the wind and reaped the whirlwind!  Meanwhile events around the\nIslamic World were rapidly changing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If by chance these atrocities\nhappened against the majority Sinhala Buddhist Community, the world would now\nbe having a different narrative, it would have been no big deal! However, this\nwas not going to stop BBC and Al Jazeera trying hard to fish in troubled waters\nand find a Sinhala Buddhist connection to the Easter Sunday atrocities albeit\nwith little success.  Now that it has\nhappened against the Christian Community the tallest building in Dubai gets\npainted with the Sri Lankan flag, and similar sentiments expressed from around\nthe world. For the moment, there is a semblance of heartfelt sympathy and\nsolidarity with those who suffered and for the nation of Sri Lanka. Fortunately,\nSri Lanka has a window of opportunity to do and correct many a thing in their\nsecurity lapses with international understanding, but that only time will tell!
\n
\nIn 2015,  exactly 200 years after a\nsimilar cataclysmic event in the history of Sri Lanka \u2013 where a similarly\nvilified ruler of Sri Lanka was replaced by the British –  people of Sri Lanka went for a CHANGE and\nthey got a change that was well funded by the so called International Community\nled by the US, who alone spent US$ 550 Million for regime changes in Nigeria,\nMyanmar and Sri Lanka. As can be seen from around the world their agenda has little\nto do with the welfare of smaller nations. Iraq, Libya, Syria, Serbia n now\nYemen n Venezuela are prime examples who were and are at the end of this International\nCommunity benevolence! 
\n
\nToday, Sri Lanka is in a conundrum unable to get rid of the President, the Prime\nMinister and their jocular and grossly unsuccessful administration.  They have together demonstrated beyond any\ndoubt their inability to lead, their dereliction of duty and their criminal\nnegligence in the administration of  Sri\nLanka!
\n
\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These are the wages of an ungrateful\nnation who forgot the past and now have to relive it. Within the span of ten\nyears the Sri Lankan nation forgot how it was before the end of the Terrorist\nWar in May 2009. This terrorist war spanned over 30 years, caused by over 70\nyears of unrelenting minority bickering for an mono-ethnic fiefdom with no\nrelevance in history or real ethnic demography. It was a time of bombs going on\nall over the island willy nilly at the whims of a multitude of Tamil terror\ngroups. These terror groups made carnage all over Sri Lanka while fighting each\nother for dominance and finally coalesced into one powerful terrorist organization\nthe LTTE led by the terrorist warlord – Prabhakaran. The LTTE carnage was targeted\nat politicians, ordinary people, places of religious worship \u2013 mainly Buddhist\nand sometimes Muslim. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ordinary people who were going about\ntheir ordinary day to day business of getting to work in trains and busses were\ntargeted. Ordinary people at their day to day shopping were targeted. Ordinary\npeople taking their children to school were targeted. Ordinary people at their\nplaces of worship were targeted and brutally murdered. All this found a simple\nexplanation that Sinhalese Buddhists are discriminating against the Hindu\nTamils and hence Tamil Freedom Fighters are fighting for their freedoms and for\na land of their own. That was good enough for the so called International\nCommunity and India to fund, resource and train the LTTE Terrorists against Sri\nLanka. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most parents using public modes of\ntransport did not go to work in one vehicle. Father and Mother chose with heavy\nhearts not to travel together, in case a bomb went off and one died at least\none parent will be there to look after the children. Mothers congregated in\nfront of schools and school closing times to take their children home in safety.\nDo I need to elaborate on the actual bombings \u2013 these are well documented and\npublic knowledge. Do I need to elaborate the types of insecurity and hardship\nthat went through the minds of ordinary people due to terrorism over a period\nof well over 30 years?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Politicians of all hues including\nthose who fathered the terrorists were brutally murdered. National leaders such\nas the former Prime Minister of India Rajiv Ghandi and President Premadasa,\nForeign Minister Lakshman Kadiragamar  were assassinated and among the rest a myriad\nof  politicians such as Gamini Dissanayake,\nLalith Athulathmudali and Ranjan Wijeratne were bombed to oblivion. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Security Forces sacrificed over\n30,000 dead and a similar number with lifelong injuries. Over a hundred\nthousand civilians too died at their little villagers, farming fields and in\nthe crowded cities around the island. All this was forgotten fast with no\nremorse or even a semblance of gratitude to those who made peace possible in\nSri Lanka. Leave aside the politicians, the war heroes able and the disabled\nand their still suffering families were quickly forgotten and what\u2019s more\nvilified. The cream of the Sri Lanka\u2019s\nIntelligence Community is behind bars on trumped up charges. The Foreign\nMinister went to Geneva without even a Cabinet Approval to make a major change\nin national policy and to accept a proposal put forward by those who are intent\non prosecuting Sri Lanka for winning the war on LTTE Terrorism. This proposal\nincluded weakening the Tri Forces, weakening the Intelligence Apparatus, levelling\ntrumped up charges against security forces and bringing them before dubiously\npowered courts of Law and a myriad of other measures to bring in \u2018reconciliation,\nhuman rights and democracy\u2019 to Sri Lanka! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Following the end of hostilities and the\nsubsequent destruction of the LTTE as a fighting force within Sri Lanka for ten\nyears almost to a month there was peace in the island. People were free to enjoy\nthe fruits of freedom that was there for all to enjoy including those who took up\narms against the nation. It was a heady admixture of carefree bohemian life and\ndog eat dog mentality where the rat race took precedence over simple ethics of\nlive and let live. The rich and the privileged wined, dined and played \u2018golf\u2019\nliterally and otherwise and took luxury holidays with nary a thought to those\nwho were instrumental in bringing peace to the land. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What became important was democracy,\nhuman rights and reconciliation \u2013 the catch words used by the powerful to\nsubjugate less fortunate nations. There was freedom of speech, all manners of\nfreedom of expression, \u2018right\nto this and right to that\u2019\nand promotion of other ways of alternative living not conducive to the simple\nSri Lankan culture. These became more important than even the minimum basic\nneeds ordinary living \u2013 national security, food security shelter etc. An agenda\nproposed and recommended by the so called Internation Community led by the US\nand Human Right bodies in the UN – now described as a cesspit of corruption\nbecame the working document for their local agents in Sri Lanka. This is how\nthe cry for a Just Society \u2013 Saadharana Samajayak, Good Governance \u2013\nYahapalanaya and other similar euphemism were made common parlance among the\npopulation. A vain Buddhist Priest in the person of Maduluwawe Sobhitha who was\nwaiting for a platform to find prominence was tapped on his shoulders and made\nto carry their flag. Country\u2019s rich and the powerful visited his\ntemple and words were put in his ears that he could even be a possible\ncontender for the Presidency. This is how the now infamous Regime Change on 8\nJan 2015 was brought about.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A lack lustre disgruntled politician\nin the person of Maithripala Sirisena was brought into contest the war winning\nPresident Mahinda Rajapakse. Sirisena won the Presidency with a margin of\n500,000 votes. There was hardly a vote for Sirisena per se for all those votes\nthat brought him to power were from the supporters of the UNP,  the Anti Rajapakse voters who resented his\nstyle of governance since winning the 2010 Presidential Election and other\nblock votes from Christians, Muslims and Tamils. Even a great majority did not\nknow well who he was.  Sinhalese are\ndivided between two traitorous political parties the UNP and the SLFP and the\ndie was cast for the end of Mahinda Rajapakse presidency. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After winning the Jan 2015 elections\nit did not take long to understand the rudiments of what was in store for Sri\nLanka. The following events and measures were put in place in rapid succession.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  1. The Central Bank Bond Scam through which the whole\nnation was robbed of billions \u2013 this happened on 26 Feb 2015 following the\nappointment of Ranil W as the PM, taking over Central Bank, appointment of\nArjun Mahendran as the Central Bank Governor and then the Scam itself. This\nmoney went on to finance the August 2015 election for monetary inducements, as\neveryone knows by now, plays a crucial part in Sri Lankan politics. As a result\nof this scam interest rates went up and so too the taxes, thus affecting the\nwhole nation. They are still paying for it while the main culprit is still out\nin the open. <\/li>
  2. Measures to weaken the Security Apparatus of the\nnation \u2013 The Tri Forces. Eviction of security forces from their camps and\nreduction of all manners of surveillance. <\/li>
  3. Measures to demoralise the Intelligence Community\nand arrest some of its members on trumped up petit charges.<\/li>
  4. Measures to demoralise, to vilify and to make the Buddhist\nEstablishment ineffective. <\/li>
  5. Introduction of FCID mainly to cow down the\nopposition as well as the Administrative Apparatus making the decision making a\nmere political process. <\/li>
  6. Making the real opposition in the parliament a\nnonentity and ineffective. <\/li>
  7. Measures to disturb the food security of the\nisland. <\/li>
  8. Pauperizing small and medium scale farmer,\nentrepreneur and investor and the list goes on.<\/li>
  9. The 19 May was to be Ranaviru Day in Sri Lanka. This\nwas the day the Sri Lankan nation found emancipation from Tamil Racist\nTerrorism. All ordinary peace-loving people, be they Sinhala, Tamil, Muslim or\nother profited from it for they had above everything \u2013 Peace. There were\nmeasures to stop any celebrations of the great event of victory over terrorism\nin Sri Lanka on this day. This is in the backdrop of other nations who still\ncelebrate their war victories even100 years after WW1 and 74 years after WW2 and\neven their monumental debacles such as Gallipoli with the ANZAC day remembrances\nby the Australians and New Zealanders. <\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    These and a myriad of other measures have brought\nthe Sri Lankan nation to what it is today. The President and the Prime Minister\nhave failed utterly in their duty. President went on pilgrimage to a Hindu\nKovil in India and a luxury holiday in Singapore without leaving a clear line\nof command or authority in his absence. \nThe Prime Minister who has failed to attend the Security Council\nmeetings for months denied any knowledge of the Islamic threat. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The behaviour of a government minister who was\nwarned by his father not to attend church on Easter Sunday has left more\nquestions than his pitiful answers. The other more powerful and usually\nvociferous ministers of the Government are yet to open their mouths! Another\nGovernment Minister a Muslim says in front of the nation that he did not think\nthe bombs would be this powerful! A Muslim Mosque leader when asked about\nhundreds of brand new swords found in mosques around the country says they are\nfor cutting grass in their cemeteries \u2013 a colourful demonstration of Islamic\nTaquiyya or Deception! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    An ordinary person affected by the church bombing\nin Negombo, tears flowing down his cheeks, he and his Christian Community, who voted\nthis government into power are asking their UNP political leaders as to why\nthey let this happen; why they did not give even a simple warning? The\nPresident and the Prime Minister denied responsibility; having failed the\nnation and mostly their own supporters, they still rule this hapless nation! Even\nin close by India, a simple train accident leads to the resignation of the\nminister responsible. People are asking why two leaders who have failed the\nnation miserably are not resigning. Perhaps the answer is in the following:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The then President Ferdinand Marcos of the\nPhilippines was asked why he is not resigning when confronted with large scale\ncountrywide demonstrations asking for his resignation. He simply told <\/em><\/em>I will resign when Americans ask me to do so<\/em>\u201d<\/em>. <\/em>We wonder loudly if this is the case in Sri Lanka\ntoo?<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Today once again the so much vilified Security\nForces are back on the streets trying to provide security to the ordinary\npeople of Sri Lanka, not to mention the all-powerful politicians and their minions.\nThe ground reality is that even the Tamil Politicians who only a few weeks ago\nwith blood in their throats were asking for the security forces to leave their\nareas are now asking the Security Forces not to leave them and give them\nprotection! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    This ungrateful nation has come a full circle, back\nto where it was 30 years ago because of politics and selfishness. This\nungrateful nation forgot the past and are now re-living it once over. Only the\nfuture will tell what they will do in the future!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    How long does Sri Lanka have to suffer this\nignominy?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Sarath Bulathsinghala Those who forget the past are condemned to relive it\u201d \u2013 Santayana Sri Lankan nation is horror struck and deeply saddened by the Easter Sunday carnage. Hundreds of innocent people mostly Christians and others foreigners, were murdered in the most gruesome of ways – by bombings. In the other modes of killings there […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-88074","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-forum"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88074","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=88074"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88074\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=88074"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=88074"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=88074"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}