{"id":94445,"date":"2019-10-28T18:48:08","date_gmt":"2019-10-29T01:48:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=94445"},"modified":"2019-10-28T18:48:08","modified_gmt":"2019-10-29T01:48:08","slug":"i-vote-for-gota","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2019\/10\/28\/i-vote-for-gota\/","title":{"rendered":"I vote for Gota"},"content":{"rendered":"

H. L. D. Mahindapala<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n

Victor Ivan, the\nfounder Editor of the popular Ravaya<\/em><\/strong> \u2013 a Sinhala  tabloid\nlaunched particularly to target President Ranasinghe Premadasa with the backing\nof the Western and Indian embassies and, of course, Lalith Athulathmudali and\nGamini Dissanayake —  has written an article in the Financial Times\n<\/em><\/strong>(25\/10\/2019) arguing that Gotabaya Rajapaksa is not fit to be a\npresidential candidate. His last two lines summarises his case against Gota.\nAfter listing the names of mainly journalists killed when Gota was in power (he\ndoesn\u2019t say Gota killed them) Victor passes his censorious judgment. He says: I am of the view that\nit is not proper for a person with such serious allegations to be elected\nleader of the country, even nominally, until he is fully acquitted and\nexonerated of those charges. It is also not right for a person with such\nallegations to even contest for such a position.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Phew! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I have selected Victor\nfrom the usual mob of anti-Gota denigrators because he is typical of the\ncurrent scare-mongering that goes on in the so-called civil society. In his\nstatement Victor takes the high moral ground of a pious political priest with\nno blemishes in the past, or accusations \/ allegations of killing, or any\nalignments with mass murderers who killed innocent civilians for\ncommitting the only sin of opposing his leader\u2019s brand of Pol Potist\npolitics. In his article he poses, as he normally does these days, as a\nborn-again human rights activist policing the conduct of political criminals\nand sentencing them to the various kinds of hells defined by the Western\nmasters who patronise his media\/<\/strong>political ventures. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After his leap from\nthe Pol Potist JVP to Ravaya<\/em><\/strong>, his primary political mission was\nto demonise the Premadasa regime in his Ravaya <\/em><\/strong>parroting the\nhuman rights mantras which was the most lucrative job of the day, financed by\nthe Western masters. Ravaya<\/em><\/strong> was, more or less, the mouthpiece of\nthe Western and Indian embassies, which were behind Lalith-Gamini duo doing\ntheir damndest to overthrow President Premadasa. Ravaya<\/em><\/strong> was\ndancing to the drumbeat of this anti-Premadasa lobby. Their investments paid\noff well but not to the extent of achieving their goal of ousting President\nPremadasa.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was this stage that\nVictor donned the costumes of a righteous human rights activist. After killing\nand being a key instrument in the killing machine of the JVP \u2013 he was a\nbomb-maker — Victor reinvented himself as a knight in shining armour and is\nnow parading as a human rights activist in the civil society. Being\nanti-Premadasa none of the other foreign-funded NGOs with whom he hob-nobs now,\nraised any objections to his murderous past. He has listed in his article the\nnumber of journalists alleged\u201d to have been killed when Gota had power. Has he\nforgotten the number of journalists killed at the time he wielded power in the\nJVP? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The JVP used some of\nthe bombs he manufactured to blast innocent newspaper vendors eking out a bare\nliving in wayside outlets in the villages. Victor and his gang were out to bomb\nand kill their way into power in the name of revolutionary justice. Victor\ngladly provided his expertise to manufacture bombs that killed those who\nopposed his Pol Potist leader. He was committed to the task of bombing and\nkilling the nation into submission of his Pol Potist leader\u2019s will. What moral\ncredibility \/<\/strong> right has he now to pontificate against any other state\nauthority using his kind of violence \/ methods to prevent the rise of Pol\nPotist fascism? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The central issue here\nis the use of violence in politics. There are many theories ranging from\nMachiavelli and Marx to Gandhi. Leaving those theories aside, it can be\nasserted that Victor and Gota both used violence. But there is fine difference\nbetween the two. To Gota it was a moral necessity to protect the lives of\npeople facing Pol Potist violence of a gang of killers with no licence to kill,\nexcept their perverted doctrine of Marxist revolutionary justice. To Victor\nindiscriminate killing, at the whims and fancies of his doctrinaire masters,\nwas also a necessity to destroy the elected state which was operating within a\ndemocratic framework, however flawed it may have been. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The doctrine of\nturning the other cheek was not applicable to Gota. It is valid in\ninter-personal relations but not in facing organized criminal gangs using\npretentious moral theories and dogmas to kill those who oppose them. The JVPers\nwere released hoping that they would give up violence and return to non-violent\npolitics. But their obsession with violence made them believe that they could\nwin with brutality. Premadasa had no choice but to save his people and the\ndemocratic institutions. And he won. Today the civil society continues to\naccuse President Premadasa and embraces the killers that forced Premadasa to\ncrush them. If, for instance, a JVP terrorists broke in to rape a feminists is\nit moral for her to open her legs or kick the bastard to thy kingdom come?\nPremadasa kicked the JVP bastards to thy kingdom come. He did not let the\nJVPers to rape the state. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The morality of using\nviolence has been twisted to suit the political agendas of the parties in\nconflict. So if Victor found it valid to engage in inhuman violence to impose\nhis Pol Potist regime led by Rohana Wijeweera why is it invalid for a\ndemocratically elected state to use his kind of violence to prevent Pol Potism\nand maintain the democratic framework, with all its infirmities? What moral\ncredibility \/ right would Hitler, the prime architect of Auschwitz and Belsen,\nhave if he came out defending the human rights of the Jews? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was also a time\nwhen the entire media had ganged up against President Premadasa. Only\nTissaranee Gunasekera, Dayan Jayatilleke and yours truly were defending the\nindomitable struggle of President Premadasa to save the nation from two fascist\nterrorists \u2013 the JVP fathered by the likes of Victor Ivan and his gang of\ncold-blooded murderers and their Tamil counterpart in the LTTE. Their sole\nobjective was to attack the democratically elected state which, of course, had\nmany infirmities. It was a time when the anti-Premadasa media\nwent bananas, blaming him for anything that moved, good, bad or indifferent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For instance, led by\nLalith and Gamini the media went bonkers attacking the Kandalama Hotel project\nas a venture that would pollute the environment and cause serious damage to the\ntank nearby and the villagers. Even the Catholic Church and the Sarvodaya\nleader, A. T. Ariyaratne, joined the bandwagon.  Premadasa could do\nnothing right \u2013 not even promote a tourist hotel. Ravaya<\/em><\/strong>, for\ninstance, not only attacked Premadasa relentlessly but also those associated\nwith him. Anti-Premadasa Victor did not like my backing Premadasa all the way,\nwithout any reservations. I was editing the Observer<\/em><\/strong> at the time.\nVictor had nothing to say against me. So he ran a news snippet alleging, like\nthe way he alleges against Gota, that I was paid not by Lake House but by the\nMaharajas. He knew he was lying. He knew he had no evidence to back it up. But\nthis political pundit, full of righteousness today, had no qualms about\npublishing lies to blacken the image of those who were with President\nPremadasa. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I am glad that Victor\nis no longer instrumental in preparing weapons of mass destruction on a\ndomestic scale and turned his hands \u2013 or what\u2019s left of it — to champion human\nrights. That makes it one less murderer in the killing fields of the nation.\nBut his logic goes awry when he questions the competency of Gota to be the\npresidential candidate on the basis of his allegations. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What he doesn\u2019t\nrealise is that he opens himself to be taken to task on the basis of his own\nlogic. It is important to take his logic of sentencing individuals on mere\nallegations seriously because the same yardstick can be applied to test the\nvalidity of his righteousness. So, applying his logic, will he demand the\nsacking of Ranil Wickremesinghe because the Batalanda allegations are yet to be\ncleared? The Sunday Times<\/em><\/strong> (21\/3\/2004) reported: President Chandrika Kumaratunga has\nsaid that if the Batalanda Commission recommendations related to the 1988-90\nperiod were implemented properly, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe would not\nhave been a free man today.\u201d Since Victor believes in his own logic it is\nnecessary to ask why Ranil is fit to be the Prime Minister while Gota is unfit\nto be the President? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Ranil contests for the\nPremiership next time will he raise objections on the grounds of crimes\ncommitted against the media that opposed him? When the Maharaja Headquarters\nnear the Gangaramaya was attacked the day he won Parliamentary vote of\nconfidence the UNP thug who led the attack against the Maharaja was shown\nimmediately after standing behind Ranil and worshipping at Gangaramaya. This is\nnot an allegation. This is documented evidence. Has Victor, the Righteous,\nraised any objections on any known principle against the UNP thugs violating\nhuman rights to keep Ranil in power?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He also accuses Gota on\nallegations\u201d of crimes that occurred when he was in power. But the public\nknows for certain that Victor was a killer, or instrumental in killing with his\nexpertise in bomb-making. This is no allegation\u201d. When a known Pol Potist\nkiller, or a willing manufacturer of bombs to kill his fellow-man without any\nqualms, can be a human rights activists why can\u2019t Gota be a President? What we\nare asked to judge is the past of both. Which is more criminal? Victor\u2019s? Or\nGota\u2019s? And whose violence served and saved the people best? Victor, when he\nhad power, was not in the top ranks of the JVP to protect human rights. He was\none of the committed cadres to kill on behalf of the JVP. What neerds to be\nstressed here is that when Victor points one finger at Gota four fingers are\npointing in his direction. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This leads to a serious moral issue:\nIs there anyone in Sri Lanka who is not tainted with guilt to take the moral\nleadership? Take the case of the Yahapalanaya. It was a movement that was\nlaunched on the promise of delivering pure moral leadership. But it went down\nthe sink into depths of moral depravity within the first few months in office,\nwith Ranil leading the gang that robbed the Central Bank. He imported his\nspecial crook, dressed in Saville row suit, to run the biggest heist in\nbanking. These are not allegations. The available evidence has proved the guilt\nof the Ranil. So is why isn\u2019t Holy Victor not declaring that neither Ranil nor\nnominee Sajith is fit to hold the highest public offices of the nation? Isn\u2019t\nSajith who is in the Cabinet that robbed the Central Bank and supported his\nleader faithfully all the way as guilty as his leader?\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of course, it cannot\nbe denied that Victor did a brilliant job in exposing the moral and political\ncorruption of Chandrika Bandaranaike and other political leaders. But his\nessential political ideologies, including the distorted and adulterated\nfive-lecture Marxism, and the fascist terror he unleashed, make him a first\nclass hypocrite and a theoretician of sheer bunkum. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Consider, for\ninstance, the latest political formula he propounds in his article to save the\nnation. He had suggested to Mahinda and Ranil that they should have joined\nhands after the war ended. To begin with, anybody suggesting that anyone should\njoin hands with Ranil to work for the good of the country must have his head\nexamined. Ranil can work only by himself and for himself. CBK and Sirisena have\nopenly revealed that they could not work with Ranil who was undercutting them.\nSajith too knows it only too well. At the  height of  the internal\npower struggle to  win the presidential candidacy, he hinted at it\nobliquely though he did not go all out to blast Ranil with this accusation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In any case the time\nto work together was during the war and not after the war. National unity was\nmost needed at that time to face the enemy. Ranil was all out to sabotage the\nnational efforts to defeat the LTTE. As everyone knows, he ridiculed the heroic\nefforts of Sarath Fonseka and his brave men. Victor\u2019s theory is laughable\nbecause there wasn\u2019t a chance in hell for Ranil to join Mahinda after the war\nwhen he had not joined Mahinda at the  greatest hour of need. Ranil held a sword\nin his hands which he could have used for the good the nation. But he didn\u2019t.\nThis tragic situation is  summed up in the  wisdom of Sinhala\nfolklore:<\/strong> Yud-day-ta nathi kaduwas kos kotan-da-the? (<\/em><\/strong>Is\nthe sword not available for war to cut the jack fruit?.  A realistic example is UK in World\nWar II. Churchill (Conservative) and Attlee (Labour) joined hands to defeat the\nfascist terror of Hitler. After the war they went their separate ways and\npeople elected Attlee and not Churchill who won the war. Victor\u2019s punditry\npreached to the political leaders in power is as ridiculous as his Marxist baloney  that led\nthousands of youth to an early and unwanted death without any political gain to\nanyone.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He says that he put\nthe idea of working together after the war to both Ranil and Mahinda The reply\nhe received from Ranil is quite telling. Victor says: Ranil Wickremesinghe\nlistened carefully to the views expressed by me. We didn\u2019t think that far,\u201d was\nhis reply.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

With all his claims of\nbeing a political analyst Victor missed the most salient point in Ranil\u2019s\nreply. He missed Ranil\u2019s confession which admits that he can\u2019t think far. This,\nby far, is the most sensible statement found in Victor\u2019s article. Everyone\nknows that if Ranil could think far he would not be in the pickle he is now!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Victor\u2019s bankruptcy is\nrevealed in his scare-mongering. There is nothing new in his thinking except to\nparrot the slogans of the anti-Gota bandwagon. Like most of his ilk he is\nraking up a past to say that Gota is going to be the monster that they think he\nwas \u2013 only on allegations, as stated by Victor. One prediction that can be made\nwith certainty is that Gota will never commit the acts that he is alleged\u201d to\nhave done in the past when he become the next President. It is certain not\nbecause he has denied these allegations with conviction but because there is\nno necessity for him to go down that track (assuming that he did it)  now\nthat he and  his Commander-in-Chief had liberated the nation from the\nTamil terror unleashed by the JVP counterpart in the North. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is civil society activists like\nVictor that give a bad name to cause of human rights. They don\u2019t have the\ncredentials to be accepted as genuine defenders of human rights. Any day I\nwould take human rights from Gota than from Victor. The state violence he used\n\u2013 and he was no different from Churchill, Roosevelt and Truman who led World\nWar II \u2013 was to defend and protect the state elected by the people. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Besides, the Rajapakse regime was\nfar more humane than the Allied forces who occupied Germany and Japan. The\nAllied victors went all out to eliminate Nazism and\nTojoism (Japanese fascism) root and branch. There wasn\u2019t a building\nstanding in Dresden and Nagasaki when  the\ndemocratic Allies finished the war. Mothers turned to prostitution to\nfeed their kids. Nazis were hunted and persecuted. Etc. Etc. Manik Farm, which\nI had visited, was a paradise compared to the Germans and Japanese prisons\nunder the vaunted democrats of the West.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gota\u2019s actions, however tough it may\nhave been, would not have demolished the democratic state. Unfolding events\nhave proved it. After comprehensively defeating the fascist forces of the North\nand the South not even Gota, if he tried, could impose an authoritarian rule.\nThe greatest triumph of the Sri Lanka polity is that it has defeated all\nfascist forces that came from the Left, Right, Centre and, most all, from the\nNorth. But the fascist terror of Victor and his counterparts in the Tamil North\nwould have certainly demolished the democratic state if they succeeded and\nimposed the most brutal reigns of fascism. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finally, if the civil society can\nbelieve in Victor as a human rights activist, knowing his proven brutal past,\nwhy can\u2019t they believe in Gota, facing only allegations? In any case, Gota\nshould know, with all his experience, what would happen to him if he does what\nVictor had done with his kind of Pol Potist politics. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I am willing to place my faith in\nGota any day than in Victor \u2013 a Sinhala Prabhakaranist willing to kill any\ndissident at the drop of a bomb made by him.  I believe in democracy, however imperfect it\nmay have  been, than in the fascism of\nviolent bomb-makers. This is one of the main reasons why I\u2019m willing to back\nGota all the way<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

H. L. D. Mahindapala Victor Ivan, the founder Editor of the popular Ravaya \u2013 a Sinhala  tabloid launched particularly to target President Ranasinghe Premadasa with the backing of the Western and Indian embassies and, of course, Lalith Athulathmudali and Gamini Dissanayake —  has written an article in the Financial Times (25\/10\/2019) arguing that Gotabaya Rajapaksa […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-94445","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-h-l-d-mahindapala"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94445","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=94445"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94445\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=94445"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=94445"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=94445"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}