{"id":89018,"date":"2019-05-18T15:49:21","date_gmt":"2019-05-18T22:49:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=89018"},"modified":"2019-05-18T15:49:21","modified_gmt":"2019-05-18T22:49:21","slug":"sri-lanka-on-auto-pilot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2019\/05\/18\/sri-lanka-on-auto-pilot\/","title":{"rendered":"Sri Lanka on auto pilot"},"content":{"rendered":"

by A. Patabendige Courtesy The Island<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n
\"article_image\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Katuwapitiya Church
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

by A. Patabendige
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018The\n Prince of Paris has lost his shirt and number two has it\u2019. \u2018No sir, \nnot I Sir, number three has it” and so it goes on in SL.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sri\n Lanka is on auto pilot. It has been so for nearly four years. The \n\u2018good governance\u2019 guru and captain cajoled, enticed and fooled a \nnonentity to join him in 2015 as co-pilot to sail not a fishing boat but\n the ship of state in 2015. It was a monumental blunder and a \nMachiavellian stroke.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Both had hidden agendas. Very soon \nthey started steering the ship in different directions as it took their\n fancy. The crew after being decades in the wilderness, rejoiced in the\n confusion. They plundered and distorted the state with a vengeance. It\n began with the Central Bank. Lined pockets burst. Life for them was \n\u2018like no other\u2019, luxurious, duty free and dishonest if well cloaked. \nBudding terrorists had a field day. Minorities never had it so good to \ndo anything bad. The leadership of the Opposition was given to a \nminority party that was outnumbered. It kowtowed with the government for\n enormous returns. SL became a dysfunctional state for 4 years. The \npeople, considered fools were held in utter and absolute contempt.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fed\n up to the gills the people gave their verdict at the local government \nelections. The government party was given a hiding. In October 2018 the\n co-pilot in desperation tried hijacking and fell flat on his face.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\n world knew SL was heading for a cataclysmic crash but that did not \nbother this lot. In the land of the lotus eaters they dreamed only of \nAmerican battleships and tourist arrivals and giving free visas to all \nand sundry including potential Arab terrorists. Apparently this helped \nincrease revenue in a country shamelessly thriving on slave labour.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Come\n Easter Sunday, 21 April 2019. Two hundred and fifty three (253) \ninnocents, mostly whole families praying at three churches, others \nbreakfasting in hotels were murdered in synchronized suicide bombing \nattacks, all within 15 minutes. The country was bereft with grief. The \nworld mourned. The captain\u2019s face was expressionless. He concentrated \non battening down at Temple Trees.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SL was told that prior \noperational intelligence giving exact details of the impending attack \nwere known to the state beginning from 4th April. This included the \nnames of the attackers, places targeted, date and time. Sickeningly \nthere was absolutely no move by the state. It had been beguiled into \nbelieving security and peace which was handed over to them on a platter,\n was guaranteed by genuflecting to the West. Reports of brewing \nturbulence were humoured.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SL became a funeral house. Whole \nfamilies had gone missing. The sorrow ran deep and was inconsolable. \nThe people held their breath, fearful of a backlash. Thankfully for \nrudderless SL, Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith of the Catholic Church took the\n lead. He alone prevented bloody mayhem as in 1983 when the \u2018captain\u2019 \nwas a Minister. The government and its satellite leaders went into \nhiding. Their only wish was for enhanced security for themselves!
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\n co-pilots were paralyzed. The depraved killers were all locals who \nwere under surveillance since 2014 but had not been arrested. Minority \nvotes and lucrative benefits mattered more than peace or national \nsecurity or the lives of 21 million.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An emergency was \ndeclared. The Police with the Armed Forces took over and acted swiftly \nin trying circumstances. The tried and tested medical services, once \nagain as in the conflict days, did yeoman work. About 500 seriously \nwounded were cared for and most were saved.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anger built up. \nThe chief pilot somewhat removed emotionally from the calamity, claimed\n lamely he was not in the loop. He remains so for all purposes.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He\n said, to the amazement of all including the Field Marshal, that he had\n not been allowed into the Security Council meetings. He had not \nobjected for six months. Obviously, he had no intention of ever doing \nso. He cared nix for the security of SL. He was after tourists, \nAmericans preferably with their battleships and demands for land \ncorridors. Instead he attracted ISIS trained and brainwashed terrorists\n who hate the Americans.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The amendments to the constitution \nmade the prime minister an elected dictator. This is exactly what he \nwanted. Why could he not attend the Security Council meetings, the most\n important of all meetings for a PM? He had over turned the copilot\u2019s \ndecisions earlier whenever it suited him. He floored the hijacker \nlegally in October 2018. He had stood guard at Temple Trees. There were\n candle or fiddle stick bearers for \u2018democracy in plenty for the TV \ncameras then. They were missing after 21\/4. Had not yesterday\u2019s heroes \nbecome lepers?
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The \u2018captain\u2019 looking very much a dangerous \nfailure, now portrayed himself as an emasculated PM while his copilot \nhad turned into a walking, talking, restless touring doll. Between the \ntwo, 10 years of peace for which 21,000 military men and 80,000 \ncivilians died in 30 years, was shattered in 15 minutes. The two then \nspent their time babbling to escape remorseless nemesis closing in.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Having\n tossed the IGP and the Defence Secretary overboard, the copilot \ndreamed that he could survive. Both then declared that the terrorists \nwere fully neutralized and the situation was completely under control. \nThey ordered schools to be reopened. Most schools in the Capital had \nless than 5% attendance even after a week. The public had indubitably \nshown that the government had not a semblance of credibility. \nEncouraged however by the Opposition the children started to get back \nto school in bigger numbers by mid-May.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rioting of a \nserious nature then followed in the North Western province. The \nsecurity forces remembering the Geneva betrayal were not in any hurry \nto face insidious charges of HR violations to bail out the government \nresponsible for 253 deaths and dysfunction, 1983, 1989-90 and the rise \nof the LTTE. Curfews continue. Two innocents have died since. One \nstabbed by mobs and the other shot for ignoring an order to stop at a \nroad check. The death toll is now 255. Damages are not only physical. \nThey may tear communities apart as never before.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It will \ntake SL many years to come to terms with the enormity of what happened.\n Punishing all those responsible must be immediate to restore the \nconfidence of the people. Justice cannot be delayed much longer.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\n \u2018pilots\u2019 may believe the people will be distracted in time and forget \nas before. That cannot happen this time. There has been too much \ntragedy and suffering due to criminal negligence. There is no escape.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some\n must resign. The cabinet too must then also resign. That is collective\n responsibility. Command responsibility applies to all commanders, \npolitical or military, Geneva or not. Who were the political commanders?
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\n tragedy will not be forgotten. Those responsible for criminal \nnegligence cannot be forgiven. SL is in despair and on the brink. It \nhas been criminally and wickedly abused by corrupt leaders who through \ngenerations want only power and its unholy benefits.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In \naddition to what the law prescribes, politicians responsible should be \nstripped of their civic rights too. They cannot be let loose to set the\n stage for a holocaust. The guardians of the law must act immediately. \nSL will surely disintegrate if it remains on auto pilot any longer.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some\n wonder what will happen to SL if both the President and the PM resign \nimmediately and together. Since SL is not responding to them now it \ncan\u2019t get worse. These two and their crew are only a hindrance. In fact,\n the public and security services have taken almost complete control \nand are doing a super job.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Do not forget the dead and wounded. The bells toll for us too.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by A. Patabendige Courtesy The Island Katuwapitiya Church by A. Patabendige \u2018The Prince of Paris has lost his shirt and number two has it\u2019. \u2018No sir, not I Sir, number three has it” and so it goes on in SL. Sri Lanka is on auto pilot. It has been so for nearly four years. 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-89018","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89018","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=89018"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89018\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=89018"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=89018"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=89018"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}