{"id":88129,"date":"2019-05-02T23:18:45","date_gmt":"2019-05-03T05:18:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=88129"},"modified":"2019-05-02T16:02:47","modified_gmt":"2019-05-02T23:02:47","slug":"an-open-letter-to-friday-forum","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2019\/05\/02\/an-open-letter-to-friday-forum\/","title":{"rendered":"An open letter to Friday Forum"},"content":{"rendered":"

Upali Cooray Former General Manager-SATHOSA(CWE)<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n

Apropos your statement released to the media and the public\ntoday ( 25th April)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Friday Forum which consists of very educated and eminent\nperson’s like you,while expressing solidarity with all those who are fighting\nthe current terrorist menace goes on to state as follows.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“We must also understand the lessons of history, especially\nHitler\u2019s rise to power, and reject absolutely the idea that the need of the\nhour is a strong, authoritarian and dictatorial leader. Leaders of the former\ngovernment are arguing that they handed over to the new government a secure and\npeaceful country so that there would be no threats to national security. They\nmust be reminded that they created the nightmare of disappearances, abductions\nand killings that left people in fear of their personal security. No political\nparty should be permitted to exploit this horrific experience to promote a\ndivisive and authoritarian political agenda. Our nation\u2019s commitment to\nparliamentary democracy must be strengthened and not undermined, recognizing\nthat some important and positive changes have been made in the last few\nyears.” Here I give an email I received in shortened form.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 In a statement you issued on 14th of July 2018 “From\nEliya to Andura and on to vipath maga” with ridicule,you go at\n Asgiriya anunayaka Ven. Wanduruwe Upali Thero,Gotabhaya\nRajapaksa(probable next presidential candidate) former state minister Wijyakala\nMaheshwaran and Rear Admiral Sarath Weerasekara for towing their own line of\nthinking they believe is for betterment of the people. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Rev. Upali exhorted\nRajapaksa to give leadership for good governance, even if he has to be a\nHitler\u201d to do this. Some weeks later Weerasekara denounced Dr. Udagama as an\nLTTE supporter and a traitor to this country, with the battle cry death to\ntraitors\u201d.  Maheswaran called for a return of the LTTE to ensure the\nsecurity protection and progress of the people of the North, and especially\ntheir women and children.<\/strong> “<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Two of these three have made their statements not in it’s\nmetopharical sense but it was in a literal sense except Weerasekara.An educated\nlot like you should surely know this,but you pretend not to know. Upali thera\nhas said that we need a “Hitler” like person to make this country\ndisciplined and prosperous, Vijayakala has said that only LTTE can give\nprotection and discipline to her people in the North.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What SW has said could be his observation not only of Dr.\nDeepika Udagama,it applies to entire Friday Forum.  Your line of thinking\nhas right through been in the veil of human rights, democracy, reconciliation\netc. In actual fact you are advocates of certain global thinking opposed to\nstability and development of democratic states. what happened on Easter Sunday\nthis month is this trend. We have Afghanistan,Iraq,Lybia,Syria,Egypt as\nexamples. All these countries had dictators and they violated human rights no\ndoubt,but Libiya was the most economically prosperous country in Africa at that\ntime. I have visited Iraq many times on trade matters during Saddam’s tenure.\nThey were prosperous and most literate in the middle East. Most have got\neducated in England. There was freedom of speech except criticizing the\ngovernment. Night clubs restaurants and tourism were thriving. Here I quote an\nemail I received recently.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

*A German’s View on Islam :*          <\/p>\n\n\n\n

                \n                   \n Worth reading because this is by far the best explanation of the Muslim\nterrorist situation I have ever read. The author of this email is Dr. Emanuel\nTanya, a well-known and well-respected psychiatrist–a man, whose family was\nGerman aristocracy prior to World War II, and owned a number of large\nindustries and estates. When asked how many German people were true Nazis, the\nanswer he gave can guide and shape our attitude toward the present day Islamic\nfanaticism. He said, <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Very few people were true Nazis, but many enjoyed the\nreturn of German pride the Nazis brought to the German nation, and many more\nwere too busy to care. I was one of those who just thought the Nazis were a\nbunch of fools. So, the majority just sat back and let it all happen. Then,\nbefore we knew it, the Nazis were in control of the nation, they owned us, and\nwe had lost control. Suddenly they plunged the country into a devastating and\ncostly world war, and by the end of the war we had woken up to a new reality –\nour world of comfort, peace and freedom had come to an end. My family lost\neverything. I ended up in a concentration camp and the Allies destroyed my\nfactories.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“I see the same situation playing out today with respect to\nthe attitude of the majority towards the the current Islamist movement. We are\ntold again and again by ‘experts’ and ‘talking heads’ that Islam is the\nreligion of peace and that the vast majority of Muslims just want to live in\npeace. This unqualified assertion may be true, but the fact is that it is\nentirely irrelevant! It is meaningless fluff, meant to make us feel better, and\nmeant to somehow diminish the specter of fanatics rampaging across the globe in\nthe name of Islam. The fact is that the fanatics rule Islam at this moment in\nhistory. It is the fanatics who march. It is the fanatics who are waging any\none of the 50 shooting wars currently going on worldwide. It is the fanatics\nwho systematically slaughter Christian or tribal groups in Africa and are\ngradually taking over the entire continent in an Islamic wave. It is the\nfanatics who bomb, behead, murder, and carry out the so called honour killing.\nIt is the fanatics who take over mosque after mosque. It is the fanatics who\nzealously spread the stoning and hanging of rape victims and homosexuals. It is\nthe fanatics who teach their young to kill and to become suicide bombers. The\nhard and quantifiable fact is that the peaceful majority, the ‘silent\nmajority,’ has been cowed and made extraneous and irrelevant.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“History lessons are often incredibly simple and blunt. Yet\nfor all our powers of reason, we often miss the most basic and uncomplicated of\npoints: peace-loving Muslims have been made irrelevant by their silence.\nPeace-loving Muslims will become our enemy if they don’t speak up, because,\nlike my friend from Germany, they will awaken one day and find that the\nfanatics own them, and the end of their world will have begun. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Peace loving Germans, Japanese, Chinese, Russians, Rwandans,\nSerbs, Afghans, Iraqis, Palestinians, Somalis, Nigerians, Algerians, and many\nothers have died because the peaceful majority did not speak up until it was\ntoo late.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Islamic prayers have now been introduced into Toronto and\nother public schools in Ontario, and, yes, in Ottawa too while the Lord’s\nPrayer was removed due to being so offensive! But to whom? Not to the vast\nmajority of Canadians but to the few Islamic fanatics!”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are some  noted examples where you applied the policy\n in a manner without uniformity. Take the case of LTTE violations of human\nrights where your response was lackadaisical ,some prefer to call you in\ndisdain,a rapacious NGO  savants.I do not wish to call you such names. You\nare a most educated lot in this country,but if one scrutinize your policy over\nthe years it idoes not show any impartiality but an inclination towards certain\nglobal blueprints. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why were these countries destabilized and leaders killed. Whose\nrequirement it is? Why aren’t you suggesting we get the assistance of the\nRussians who are adoptes sccessful tactics in handling the ISIS specially in\nSyria. For tthat matter why not the Chinese. The government has preferred to\nhave KGB instead.This rflects to which power block Sri Lanka has been taken and\nseem to be endorsing iit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Neither do I for a moment advocate a dictatorship in our\ncountry. Nor do I condone human rights violations that happened in the past.\nThose responsible have to be brought to book but nothing has been proven so\nfar. Why cannot the government expedite this process. Is there a”you\nscratch my back and I scratch your’s” situation?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Egypy’s Gamal Abdel Nasser, Yugoslavia’s Tito, Mao tse tung,Deng\nshiao Ping, Chu En Lai all , from China  were dictators while Putin of\nRussia, Allende of Chili,Peron of Argentina, who were democradically\nelected,but they used their powers in an uncompromising manner for the\nbetterment of their people. I have seen my self how Yugoslavia and Russia was\nprogressing under Tito and Yeltstin. What happened in Yugoslavia?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Two last examples which is very popular among us when comparing\nour political affairs,is Singapore’s late Prime Minister Lee Kwan Yu. Was he\nnot virtually  a dictator though elected democratically? Margaret Thatcher\nof UK was dubbed “Iron lady”because of her uncompromising attitude in\nstate affairs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka in his excellent speech today ,(25\nthe of April )was devoid of all politics and hatred. In fact he gave credit to\nformer President Mahinda Rajpaksa for eradicating terrorism in this country and\nvice- versa MR in his  speech. It attracted editorials and comments in the\nmedia<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The yahapalana government in order to villify the previous\ngovernment and with a false complacency weakened the intelligence agencies by\nsending some officers to prison and some others to inactive places. Others fled\nthe country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This started under the UNP government in January 2002. Kulasiri\nUdugampola the Police  superintendent incharge of Kandy district under\ninstructions of then interior minister John Amaratumga raided the hide out of\nLong range reconisceance petrol of the Srilanka army at Millennium\nCity,Athurugiriya and  exposed the entire intelligence net work resulting\nin the LTTE killing Colonel Muthaliph and other officers fleeing the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Six years ago Friday Forum was worried about “Muslim\nHunting”. As emphzied earlier,your Colombo elite group is seeing things\nwith a particular aim. Some members are in the camp of Chadrika Kumaratunga.\nShe ridiculed young village boys and girls fighting the LTTE at the risk of\ntheir life,by promoting “Sudu Nelum”  (white Lotus) through\nMangala Samaraweera. She also promoted ruffians such as Baddegane Sanjeewa and\nMervyn Silva. Sinhala people were hiding their faces in shame.It was\n Ven.gangodawila Soma Thera who came forward to pump oxygen to the Sinhala\nBuddhists.  He would brought up the Muslim Rand grab and radicalization\nissue to the fore. He was not a radical and would have played the role now\nbeing played by the Malcolm Cardinal Rangith.Most people now sympathise with\nGalagoda Aththe Gnanasara thera. What was wrong with him was preached violence\ninstead of compassion to draw Muslims out of extremism. Malcolm Cardinal\nRanjith is a shining light in this regard.  The government should nominate\nhim for the Nobel peace prize though he is unlikely to accept it. He even\nrefused to receive a bullet proof car.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why not the CBK and RW combine excercise due diligence as far\nback as 2006 when Islamist extirmists raised their head?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gotabhaya Rajapaksa helped his brother to win the terrorist war\nand bring peace to this country and development was progressing at a fast pace\nwhen yahapalanaya took over. That has now been drawn back at least,by five\nyears. This does not mean that MR government was Lily white. There was large\nscale corruption and bribery during this period.It is alleged the leaders own\nseven star hotels in Dubai and slush funds in sychells. Why aren’t these\nallegations being investigated? Is this to compromise with larger scams\nsuch as the Bond scam, Central higway etc?.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You wine and dine in five star hotels and make statement from\nyour comfort  zone. It is time you just limit yourself to your Friday\nmeetings and go home without spreading facts to suit a docket belonging to a\nsource you prefer. Only thing I agree with you is the abolition of the\nPresidential system. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also note that there are very eminent persons  such as Ven\nProf. Madagoda Abhayatissa,Prof Janitha Liyange,Prof Raja Gunaratne,\nPresident’s councilor Manohara de Silva, Major Genaral Kamal Goonaratna ,Rear\nAdmiral Daya Dharmapriya , Dr. Priyath Bandu Wickrama, President’s councilor\nRazik Zarook,Dr.Nalaka Godahewa,Gevidu Kumaratunga and many others who supports\na Gotabhaya Presidency. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It has to also be noted that not a single Buddhist  or\nHindu Monk is in your forum.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Upali Cooray<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Former General Manager-SATHOSA(CWE)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

egalawan288@gmail.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Upali Cooray Former General Manager-SATHOSA(CWE) Apropos your statement released to the media and the public today ( 25th April) The Friday Forum which consists of very educated and eminent person’s like you,while expressing solidarity with all those who are fighting the current terrorist menace goes on to state as follows. “We must also understand the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-88129","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88129","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=88129"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88129\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=88129"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=88129"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=88129"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}