CLASSIFIED | POLITICS | TERRORISM | OPINION | VIEWS

DOLPHIN BECAME A KILLER SHARK BY JOINING THE UNP

A.A.M.NIZAM MATARA.

When Local Government Bodies started falling one after the other like a pack of cards on to the lap of President Mahinda Rajapakse, in complete appreciation and gratitude to his firm and strong non- appeasement stand against the terrorist outfit, cracks have appeared in the Unruly Neoclassicist Party (UNP) led by Occidentalist anti- national Ranil Wickremasinghe. Matara District MP Mr. Mahinda Wijesekera who betrayed the masses, the SLFPers who elevated him to fame from a status of non-entity, and joined the reactionary club due to egoism and boundless craving for opulence and thus became a prominent figure in the Union of Notorious Plunderers (UNP) that pillaged the nation in a period of two dark years had become the first victim of this historical defeat. The treatment that had been meted out to Mahinda Wijesekera who instead of remaining a people friendly Dolphin became a killer Shark is a deserving punishment and also a lesson to learn for others who may betray the masses and join the Unruly Neoclassicist Party (UNP) that only stand for the protection and welfare of the urbanite elites.

Mr. Wijesekara had been removed from the positions he held in the UNP as Matara District leader and member of the party's Working Committee. In a letter sent to him by the UNP leader it has been stated that this decision was taken after considering several statements made by Mr. Wijesekera criticizing the UNP leadership and the party. This shows the nakedness of the professed democratic principles of the UNP in which even a Working Committee Member, let alone the ordinary members and the general masses, cannot vent their opinion against the leadership. This is one reason that the Working Committee Members of this Neoclassicist Party is only appointed by the Party Leader and not elected by the general membership.

Although Mr. Wijesekera through his vicious activities since he crossed over to the UNP has forfeited all grounds for sympathy it is pertinent to take this opportunity to expose the elitism, urbanity, and class factors that dominate the portals of power in the UNP, and the atrocities committed by Mr. Wijesekera after he joined the UNP. Mr. Mahinda Wijesekera is a coastal villager hailing from an ordinary sea-faring family from Devinuwara.(although he is a multi-millionaire now). In the UNP’s rationale how can such a person ( a downtrodden) be allowed to criticize and challenge the UNP leader who considers himself as a son of the supremacist clan of this country? Such persons can only be singers of hosanna of the leader as the notorious and shameless Tissa Attanayake.

Mr. Wijesekera became a victim because he neither belonged to the elite class or the urban community, in comparison to Milinda Moragoda and Mohamed Mahroof. Crime committed by Moragoda/Mahroof duo is far more grave and damaging to the Party than mere expression of opinion by Mr. Wijesekera in keeping with his democratic rights. The “Tippexing act” of the Moragoda/Mahrouf duo denied the UNP its right to contest in the elections for the Colombo Municipal Council that it had held over 55 years except for the brief tenure of LSSP stalwart late Dr. N. M. Perera. They have also carried out this crime with the deliberate objective of denying nomination for one of the veteran party stalwarts Mr. Sangadasa who had laboured for the party all his lifetime. Despite the fact that the committee appointed by the party leader himself had indicted Moragoda/Mahrouf duo as guilty of the “Tippexing act” and responsible for getting the UNP nomination list rejected the UNP leader has failed to take any action against the perpetrators of this grave offence against the party, and taken Moragoda as one of travel companions to India.

Committing crimes against the nation or the party as long as it does not cross the interests of the leadership or the perpetrator of the crime belongs to the privileged class or to an urbanite clan such acts are permissible in the UNP. It was this permissiveness that allowed the Union of Notorious Plunderers, a few individuals including Mr. Mahinda Wijesekera to indulge in many acts of purported misappropriation and crimes against the masses.

When he was the Minister of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources in the Ranil Wickremasinghe government, Fishermen’s Societies in the North and South collected signatures for a 100,000 signature petition, demanding his removal from the cabinet portfolio and appoint a new Minister. Fisher Societies charged that Mr. Wijesekera was taking bribes from foreign fishing companies, allowing their trawlers to fish in Sri Lanka’s territorial waters, depleting the fish catch and destroying local marine resources.

Among other purported allegations against him (although denied by him) included lack of monetary discipline at the Fisheries Ministry and misuse of the ministerial funds, incomes and other monies available at the Ministry for his personal gain.

Failure to take appropriate action to get Rupees 8 million owed by the Bong Bridge China-Sri Lanka Company's vessel for berthing fish at the Mutwal harbour was one of the charges against him. . It was also alleged that Mr. Wijesekera redirected the vessel to the Galle Commercial harbour by misleading the Navy officials, as his wife Ajantha Wijesekara was one of the Directors of the Company, and the same vessel was exempted from all regulations and not paid a cent for berthing fish at the harbour. (Usually Rs. 20 is charged per kilo of fish for berthing at a local harbour from foreign vessels).

"Monies amounting to Rs. 24 million were put to an account called Fisheries Welfare Fund. From this Fund Rs. 18 million was utilised for purposes of image building of the Minister, including cutting down of trees in Matara Fort and building a Sports Pavilion, at a cost of Rs. 6 million, building a municipal building at Welisara at a cost of Rs. 8 million and building of a two-storied Dikwella Pradeshiya Sabha building at a cost of over Rs. 1 million. Diverting income from Fish Mela (fish exhibition and selling centre) to B. N. A. Trading Company that belonged to an uncle of Mr. Wijesekera, and driving back potential investors in the sector by trying to bribe them.

Assaulting opponents, thuggery and high-handedness became the norms of politics since Mr. Wijesekera crossed over to the UNP. Unemployed Graduates who staged a fast in the Matara Town demanding employment were mercilessly assaulted with his gang of thugs and six of the graduates including a woman admitted to Matara hospital. JVP volunteers who went to clean the Tsunami debris in the Matara Fort area were assaulted injuring many of them.

During the 2005 April election, it was reported that Mr. Wijesekera and his brother Ranjith Wijesekera armed with pistols and in the company of about 150 of his thugs had been going round the villages in the Weligama electorate using 13 vans and 5 cars threatening and terrorizing Freedom Alliance supporters and attempting to plunder votes. Mr. Wijesekera lost all his people caring qualities of a Dolphin he had while he was in the SLFP and became a killer Shark after joining the UNP.

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