Liberal Lanka

How we all dance to one man's tune

2010-11-24T09:39:00.000-08:00

When president Jayawardene introduced the 1978 Constitution it was the common belief of the opposition that it was undemocratic and at the best interest of the governing party than the country. Only UNP defended the constitution but after getting the taste of their own medicine UNP also came to the stance that there should be serious amendments to the constitution. Run upto the 2005 elections almost anyone agreed that a new constitution should be introduced. Almost every presidential candidate and noticeably President Rajapakshe promised to abolish the executive presidency and introduce a new constitution.

Then the government had the 2/3rd majority in parliament but rather than introducing a new constitution government went ahead with strenghening it more by removing term limits but the reaction of the public to this broken promise was dull. Yes dull to the point I am only writing this now.

Now how did this constitution that we all despised suddenly became a good this to be continued? Wasn't it because one man, loved it, needed it and just could not throw it away? Should we continue to call ourselves citizens?

Hope the government would have 2/3 majority

2010-04-14T22:01:00.000-07:00

The ideal case in a democracy is a Strong government with a strong opposition to keep the government in check. But the best thing I can see in this situation is government taking 2/3 majority. The argument that the government would be undemocratic under such a situation is invalid. We have had a demo-crazy for the past few years so there won't be much of a change.

Our moronic constitution that is only loved by the president in power should be changed. This could be the last chance for that. The opportunity is almost too good to be true. Who thought any side would be able to take 140+ seats in this electoral system? There is certainly a chance of this government taking another ineffective, unbalanced and retarded constitution forward but at least it would be up to date. So I guess this is a chance we should take.

UNP is almost useless at the moment. With no leadership change in sight UNP would continue to be in this state. The only struggle for good governance and democracy would come from JVP and Fonseka camp. Yes there is a Fonseka camp, a small group of citizen but yet who are loyal to Fonseka (Could Mahinda be someone without SLFP or his Father's Brother? No. I think that is what led to the the fall out of Fonseka and Mahinda. Rulers are one jealous kind). So more seats for JVP would mean something for the ordinary citizen but no so in the case of UNP.

Then again after giving 2/3rd majority the government can't ask for more from us. This government is a whinning whore. Whenever there is an unsolved problem, a burning issues or bad governance there is always a foreign conspiracy government had to tackle. The mostly used argument was government had not enough power to tackle these foreign conspiracies and sadly majority of people fall right into these lies. After having 2/3rd majority it would be hard to find excuses for failing.

Have 2/3rd majority, then work or walk.

TNA would and should join the government

2010-02-01T22:47:00.000-08:00

This government and Mahinda Rajapakshe are here to stay. Tamils in North East are sick of politics and those who are not that disgusted to go and vote in the election day are choosing TNA as their preferred representation. We have to live with those two facts.

Government is desperate for a 2/3 majority in the parliament so they would not have to go against the constitution to make sure president Mahinda Rajapakshe can continue after his second term (Yes all the bigwigs of SLFP who are dreaming of becoming the SLFP leader and president of the country or at least the Prime minister after Mahinda take note of that). Even with the inevitable landslide win that is just around the corner for the government it is not likely to receive a 2/3 majority. So as of now Basil must be hatching the next plan on how to achieve that 2/3 majority. What I suspect is that the plan will be a three staged one.

1.) Use all force, both legal and illegal to get as much seats as possible.

2.) Direct any UNP pm's who can be wooed to the government side with either money, blackmailing or perks to contest under the UNP led front and then cross over after the elections.

3.) Since it is unlikey to gain a 2/3 majority even after those try to get TNA to contest under the government because seats of North East are crucial.

I think TNA contesting with the government is a good thing for several reasons. First this hate mongering politics should stop. TNA should try to align with main stream politics of Sri Lanka. With the mighty propaganda machine of the government there is no chance for any one other than the government to side with TNA. The moment TNA side with any other major party, the government would start it's fear mongering campaigns. For national conciliation best thing is government and TNA to join hands.

Next thing is for those who are willing to look at the truth in eye to understand that Mahinda is also just another politician. That he too would join with anyone just like Fonseka, Ranil or any other main stream politician. That opposition been traitors and government consisting of patriots is just another propaganda stunt to instill fear and suspicion in peoples mind. This could be less important for many but not to me. Until the public is able to read the politician that rule them correctly they would always be fooled.

But those who are so desperate not to see the nudity of the rulers would come up with various theories mostly parroting those that would be originated in government media. They would argue that TNA joining Mahinda is a complete different thing than TNA joining Fonseka.

As much as I like national conciliation I am delighted with opportunities for the public to understand the true landscape of politics too. So I support TNA joining the government.

The last desperate lie

2010-01-26T09:02:00.000-08:00

The last lie of the election that is. There will newer bigger lies and deceptions if this set keeps ruling us.

It was despicable. Anyone with common sense should have been able to understand that Sarath Fonseka has all requirements to be the president of Sri Lanka. The requirements are not that hard. They are,

1) The candidate should be a citizen of Sri Lanka
2) The candidate should be above 18 years old

Since Fonseka was born and living here the last time we knew is there anyway for him to lose his citizenship here? But what the government painted was a different picture, that Fonseka would not be able to be sworn in as the president even if he win. Now what kind of a dirty tactic is that which is obviously a lie?

But what some people want to find out is why didn't Fonseka announce he is not registered to vote. What kind of a question is that when it is clear what government did was false propaganda. If Fonseka announced, it would have better but is there any reason for anyone to announce that they are not registered to vote for whatever the reasons?

The real reason to concerned with is the lie and false propaganda of the government on the final election hours but those who don't want to see the nakedness of the rulers are trying hard to peek at the underwear of Fonseka.

I'm sorry for you SittingNut

2010-01-26T01:45:00.000-08:00

The latest finding of SittingNut is the fact that Fonseka alliance is an unholy alliance and all those who are supporting him are evil. That all the 'good people' would go and vote for Mahinda Rajapakshe to defeat evil. For a moment I was wondering whether this was meant as a joke or not. Even hate mongers like Hudson Samarasinghe or Wimal Weerawansa don't stoop to this level.

The irony is that this is the same person who called the president a buffalo, more insanely the supporters of the president as the buffalo herd. He used this insult each and every time to the president in a sarcastic way but rarely uses it now and when reminded, cheaply claims something on the line that buffalo was meant as both favorably and unfavorably. He doesn't acknowledge he made a mistake in judging Mahinda or an explanation on why he used to call him that insult each and every time but is not using now unless reminded.

But maybe we shouldn't be concerned about these hate mongering claims. Maybe SittingNut doesn't mean something bad when he calls Fonseka camp as the evil unholy alliance or Mahinda supporters as good people. Maybe one day when he religiously chooses another political camp he will say that what he meant as the evil unholy alliance was something both favourable and unfavorable and actually not something so evil.

Elections, peaceful as of now

2010-01-25T22:32:00.000-08:00

Election has been peaceful as of now. There is no reason to believe it would turn violent in the last moment.

Indi reports of some minor incidents that has occurred in various parts of the island. But as he also points out these are not very serious and would not have any drastic effect on the final results.

But there are concerns regarding what is going on in North where majority of votes would go to Opposition candidate Sarath Fonseka( Some are skeptical about this like SittingNut, but it is obvious to anyone who has some connection with the earth).

There had been some explosions. Obviously these are done by the Government side and are not to create any physical harm but to try to scare voters because the advantage is for Fonseka in those parts.

Then government is claiming that JVP parliamentaraian Wijtha Herath is been arrested in vavuniya with a group of army personnel who were trying to create violence. A little amount of common sense is enough to realize that Fonseka has an advantage in North and there is reason for them to create violence in North. But there will always be people who would believe in these lies, both in blogsphere and out. What likely happened is Wijitha Herath and their elections monitores were obstructed in vavuniya and delayed for some hours. Shame on government officials who are aiding the party in power. Will have to wait to learn what exactly happened.

Then there is the report of IDP's not receiving transport the government promised. It is obvious (to anyone connected with the earth) that these votes are advantages to Fonseka or otherwise government would have made sure these people get adequate transport to go and vote.

The result of these pathetic attempts would be voter turn out in North would be much lower than in south and Tamils up north would lose more confidence in our state.

But all in all these incidents would not have much effect in the final results and overall I am happy on how things are going on.

Sad but it looks like government would rig the polls

2010-01-24T04:13:00.000-08:00

Our good friend at kottu VIC says Mahinda would win and on 27th the opposition would blame on election malpractices for the defeat. Well that is likely but also what is going around suggests that the Government is desperate(it is not confident to the level of it's supporters like VIC, SittingNut, etc) and is prepared to win this by even hook or by crook.

There was a serious incident where a navy lorry had been caught transporting ballot boxes and government finally succeeding in releasing it. Have a look at this article on Lanka Truth(there are videos as well).

I dread for what is happening under the hoods.

Those who will vote for Fonseka

2010-01-24T03:53:00.001-08:00

1) Those who have had enough of corruption and bad governance.

2) Strict nationalists who believe Ranil to be not a nationalist and Mahinda to be a fake nationalist.

3) Elite section of our society who thinks they are above the average Sri Lankan.

4) Stringent UNP supporters

5) Radical youth who always want the status-quo to be challenged.

6) secularists who understand separation of religion and governance(this must be an extreme minority)

7) Corruption cronies who could not get to the inner circle of Mahinda and is thinking of getting closer to UNP or Fonseka.

8) Those who believe in Open economy(mostly the business class).

9) Liberals and those who value individual freedom.

who will vote for Mahinda

2010-01-24T03:21:00.000-08:00

1) Corruption cronies who are receiving direct and indirect financial gains through political appointments, contracts and pure theft. eg Mervin Silva, Somarathna Dissanayake, Sajin vas Gunawardana

2) Strict nationalists who think Fonseka is a true nationalist but don't like his political allegiances. ex Prof Nalin de Silva

3) Sinhalese racists who hate Tamils(most of this category live abroad) ex- Prof Nalin de silva is good here as well

4) Faithful Buddhists who think Mahinda is very religious and that religion and governance should be closely linked

5) Those who want to prove that they are part of the true Sri Lankan identity. ex Jackson Anthony, Probably Sitting Nut

6) Middle class who hates Ranil's Colombo 7 associations.

7) Stringent SLFP supporters

8) Those who are leftist and doesn't believe in full open economy

9) Those who believe Mahinda to be the lesser evil of the two

10) Unsuspecting people who were caught by the fear mongering campaign of the government

Hoping with statistics

2010-01-23T22:09:00.000-08:00

I hope Sarath Fonseka would win the presidential election that would be held in 26th, two days from today. These two days are crucial. Although campaigning should have ended by 12 pm yesterday government media would continue to campaign for current president for these two days as well.

Fonseka has a real chance of winning this race. Those who pretend to know the probable mandate of the public is only counting on the past provincial council election results. Provincial council results are not effective enough to be concerned with because most of opposition supporters didn't vote because they didn't want to be in loosing side and political landscape has changed dramatically following Fonsekas entry as the common candidate, specially in the last few weeks.

I would try to analyze previous presidential election results and try to come into a conclusion about the possible outcome this time around.

Following are statistics of 2005 in millions

Votes of Mahinda 4.8
Votes of Ranil 4.7

JVP votes went to Mahinda 0.4
JVP votes that would go to Mahinda this time around because of Wimal's split and discontent about their current political allegiances 0.1(25%)

After change of JVP votes

Fonseka 5.0
Mahinda 4.5

UNP votes that would be cast to Mahinda this time 0.4(which is 8%)
SLFP votes that would be cast to Fonseka 0.1(whic is only 2%)

standing after vote changes between the camps

Mahinda 4.8
Fonseka 4.7

North votes that were not casted previous time 0.5(This is a rough guess, not sure about number of votes and not sure they would go and vote in high numbers or how many would go to other candidates)

New Northern vote split between two
Fonseka 0.33 (66% of votes)
Mahinda 0.17

After northern votes
Fonseka 5.03 (50.3%)
Mahinda 4.97 (49.7%)

Which deliveres Fonseka a slight lead against Mahinda.

I was biased towards a fonseka win during the calculations, I changed my mind against some statistics when it looked like Mahinda would lead Fonseka. But I gave Mahinda more advantage when calculating, like in JVP vote split where I gave 25% split for Mahinda and in vote changes between UNP and SLFP i gave 8% unp vote changes against only 2% of SLFP vote change.

So people if you want change over more of the same keep that hope.

Time to take a stand against UNP and SLFP

2010-01-20T23:09:00.000-08:00

It was my firm belief that if Sri Lanka is to progress in an unprecedented way it would be led by either one of the two main political parties of Sri Lanka, UNP or SLFP. A visionary leader taking hold of one of the parties, reforming it and leading a social and economical revolution. Among those two UNP was my best bet because of its pro market economic policies and more liberal outlook.

The dream was this in spite of both UNP and SLFP been unsuccessful for 60 years of independence, been extremely corrupt and undemocratic for more than 40 years, taking turns in screwing us and most importantly with no visible visionary leader for some time to come.

The government was extremely popular for the only reason of successful military campaign against the rebel tigers. Mahinda looked like he would be reelected with a landslide. Mahinda went for the presidential elections 2 years earlier because he was much less confident of his ability to take post war Sri Lanka forward than his stringent of supporters.

Then came Sarath Fonseka as the common presidential candidate. The man who had the guts to oppose moves to take down army camps in Ranil's peace initiatives even when the Army commander at that time kept silent had the guts to challenge the ever so popular president. For some one like me who was looking for any viable opposition candidate to cast a protest vote for the bad governance, who is not afraid to be politically incorrect, delighted to see the patriot-traitor divide been diluted Fonseka looked like a gift. Not for the hope of defeating Rajapakshe but to pressurize him who was on a popular wave because of inability of the opposition than his abilities. To prevent him winning with a landslide and taking hold of the country more.

But things came to change. I think Rajapakshe is still leading Fonseka but not by much. But a wind of change is blowing. Rajapakshe's popularity is decreasing by every passing day.Landslide victory is out of the equation already. Fonseka supporters are speaking out louder than their rivals. Rajapakshe campaign is reduced to using government media in Goebbels style and the corrupt artists(why these artists are labeled as corrupt would be another post). Fonseka rallies are attended by crowds seen never before in recent times while Rajapakshe campaign is reduced to transporting their supporters from all around the island through cheaply hired CTB buses(One more case for bad governance). If the inevitable dirty tricks and conspiracy theories of the government doesn't hold in the few days to come Fonseka has a real good chance of coming up with the surprise win of Sri Lankas election history.

This situation has presented us, the public of Sri Lanka with once in a life time chance. The first real, not only non main stream but also non partisan candidate is having a real chance of winning a presidential election. We have the ability to sent the message to both main political parties that we have been fooled for too long now, that we would not go on silenty about the 60 years of unsuccessful rule and that our dreams and hopes are high as Namal Rajpakshes and all their children.

Obviously the first step in that movement should be to defeat president Rajapakshe on 26th. If Rajapakshe gets defeated SLFP would crumble in general election due in 2010. With SLFP been delivered the knockout punch next in line is UNP. Like some government supporters I too believe that UNP doesn't deserve power right now. Ranil is clinging to leadership undemocratically, their attitude on the military campaign was discouraging and how they reacted to bad governance and corruption was not that satisfactory. The punch in the face for the UNP could be delivered in the general election. If Fonseka wins, it looks like UNP and JVP would go alone in the general election. If we can vote about atleast 30 JVP'ers into the parliament and with Fonseka in presidency, UNP would find themselves in a helpless situation with no real power to abuse where they would have to work hard to stop their votes been eroded to JVP. I see no other real chance of doing this. If not this time it will always be either SLFP or UNP screwing us turn by turn.

So if there is anyone still undecided about whom to vote on the 26th I would like to kindly request you to consider voting for Fonseka. Each and everyone of us is not a Fonseka and Fonsekas probably come once in the history of a country.

Fonseka, Mahinda and Corruption

2010-01-12T02:21:00.000-08:00

Sri Lanka is a really interesting subject when it comes to politics. Scandals don't come into light until those who are accused cross away from the side where power resides. Then those who are militantly protected labeled as true patriots become traitors overnight. The latest drama is the so called scandal of Hycorp international which is supposed to be managed by the son in law of Sri Lankas only serving four star General, Rajapakshe families only threat, presidential candidate Rtd General Sarath Fonseka.

I think some scandal must have happened here. I had great respect for this man but I was not one who religiously believed him to be a saint like those from the patriotic camp (interesting these are the same people who are attacking fonseka most now). I was not blinded by patrionism to see the arrogant nature of Fonseka and I didn't claim Fonseka to be the Worlds best army commander, well because it was so naive of our citizens. But I still give him the credit he deserves. He is a disclipined man, there are more than enough facts to believe he is much much less corrupt than the Rajapakshe trio.

I think Fonseka needs at least try to clean himself here. I think someone from Fonseka camp should come to a debate with the government about the alleged frauds in arms deals. But so should Mahinda. Mahinda should at least try to clean himself from Helping Hambantota scandal. Mahinda should explain what right he has to spend public money for his election campaign through various 'dansalas'( those who attend these dansalas should be ashamed of themselves than Mahinda). Mahinda should explain how cross overs in Sri Lanka cost way too much than international standards and I think I could keep continuing these things.

Once the election is over Goatabaya also should try to clean himself. I personally need the Lanka Logistics to go through a proper investigation( even though I know the result of the investigation if Mahinda wins) and the CID needs to investigate about a certain security firm that is getting most of the security contracts of government institutions.

This puzzles me why only Fonseka needs to clean himself when it is apparent who has most of corruption allegations against in this presidencial elections.

Religiousness and intelligence

2009-12-31T01:54:00.000-08:00

There was an interesting post on http://religurd.wordpress.com/ on the religious importance of countries. The most religious countries were likely to be less developed (Sri Lanka was among the top 10 most religious countries).

Now I found this article on average IQ of countries vs religious importance of the country. Countries that are more religious were more likely to have lesser IQ's while countrie that are less religious tend to have higher IQ's and be more developed as well.

I hope that no one will take this as an insult towards religions or an attempt to paint religious people as less intelligent. I don't say religions are nonsense but all the same I don't want to hide my jubilation after this find either because this is something I had observed and suspected all along.

The article is very interesting please have a look.

Amila thero arrested

2009-12-28T03:56:00.000-08:00

First I need to state the fact that I don't like Amila thero much. First I don't like it when Buddhist monks use the irrational blind faith that Sri Lankans hold towards Buddhism to achieve political objectives. I don't like Buddhists like amila thero who tries to combine government and religion into one. I don't like monks who think they own this country over the unsuspecting common man. I don't like rowdy monks like this thero who give a bad image to Buddhism which is infact an interesting philosophy. But whether I don't like it or not anyone in this country has the right to engage in politics. The government should understand this or at least the public should.

Amila thero has been arrested by the CID and the move looks highly suspicious. It is a well known fact that National Bikkhu Front which is led by amila thero took sides with the JVP after Wimals defection and is supporting the candidature of Fonseka. The thero had been an outspoken critic of the government for sometime now. It is stated that the thero had recently attended a rally of Fonseka and made some powerful speeches.

The allegation against the thero is taking money to send people abroad through illegal channels. Given the fact that the police and the CID shamelessly politicized under this government this is most like a false allegation. Or else if the allegations are true why had the CID have to wait this long? Does that mean you can engage in corruption as long as you support the government? Either way the actions of the CID and the government is undemocratic. What is most dangerous is not this undemocratic behavior of the government but general public tolerating these things over various excuses. Looks like our society has come to a point where those in power could do anything and get away.

To some LTTE was

2009-05-28T21:29:00.000-07:00

To some hate mongers among LTTE was,
A product of west, when they wanted to hate west,
A product of India, when they wanted to hate India,
some catholics, when they wanted to hate catholics,
some tamils, when they wanted to hate tamils.

Interesting thing was for them the definition LTTE changed routinely accordingly to whom they wanted to hate. Now that the LTTE is gone would they come with new enemies?

Final hours of Prabha

2009-05-25T06:52:00.000-07:00

The official story, that Prabhakaran was shot somehow and then soldiers finding his body in a lagoon while media been able cover that exact moment live sound like a fairy to me. Army chief keep insisting that Prabhakaran was killed even before his body was found was also suspicious. I think Prabhakran was captured through a surprise commando type attack or a gas attack and then executed. Is the body of Pottu Amman found? If not it would also surface from some lagoon after some time I guess.

Will tamil militancy rise again?

2009-05-21T22:05:00.000-07:00

IMHO I don't think so for the following reasons.

1) Almost all the top leadership of LTTE is gone.
2) Tamil people who supported tamil militancy back in 1980's had not experienced any war, but now they have. I don't think those people would want any more war.
3) Even guarilla style attacks by any remaining LTTE cadres would not be possible. Our Special Forces have become very lethal over the years and Sri Lanka is a small island with no crossable borders.
4) TamilNadu does not look like much enthusiastic about a Tamil Ealam.

So in my opinion any power devolution to address the tamil militancy problem is not required anymore. Devolution of power away from the western province should take place, but any devolution should be equal across the whole country, North and East should not be treated in any special way just because there was an uprising.

Let's hoist the national flag minus the buddhist flag

2009-05-18T04:45:00.000-07:00

The conventional military force of LTTE is made to rest, with almost all the top leadership killed. People are celebrating all over the place, and rightly so. Let's hoist the national flag everywhere possible and feel proud. But While doing that let's remove the Buddhist flags that could be seen along with the national flag on some places. Don't bring Buddhism into this.

Where is the old Beyond Frame

2009-05-09T00:07:00.000-07:00

I found some rare free time after so much time, hence finding myself writing more, and yes some could be spam posts.

Beyond Frame Was my previous favorite sinhala blogger, until taboo subject came along and BF decided to make his blog ridicule dedicated. BF if you are reading this I just wanted to tell that you are good at ridiculing the ridiculous but you were better when you wrote about real issues.

Another thing I noticed is BF never comes to the list of top blog posts, yet his blogs hits are a mammoth 30,000. So he must have made a dedicated reader set. One of those who started through kottu but has moved ahead. Congrats BF!

Ban request on chilichoclate

2009-05-08T02:11:00.000-07:00

NB did an ass stunt on RD and got banned from kottu. It was said that there was a policy on kottu against exposing private details of other bloggers. Fair enough.

Now I see Chilichoclate or whatever has done a NB on NB himself by posting not only his photos but his family's as well. By going by the policies of kottu it is my belief that this blog should also be banned.

Murderers in uniforms

2009-05-07T21:42:00.000-07:00

I blogged yesterday about the hypocrisy in politics where the poor and weak can't do the same thing what the powerful and the wealthy is doing. How police is going over the law to kill one set while doing the same to protect the other set.

I found this article about extra judicial killing by the police and see the comments of our citizens. The majority approves these killing. Looks like everybody has become cold blooded, maybe the result of war mentality. Here are my two cents on the issue.

If crimes has gone way above controllable limits in this so called passionate land of the Buddhists and drastic measures are called for like in the case of LTTE lets change our laws. Let's create an elite police unit that go after criminals but an unit that should also be accountable when need arises. Let's change the law so these units can go after criminals but should report to the judiciary and should justify their actions when the need arises.

The current situation is simply unacceptable. If you do a horrible crime and you have no power you will be killed by the police but if you do the same crime but is on the side where power lies police will protect you. Example is Piyasiri wijenayake, he will be freed simply because police was not prepared to file the case properly. Remember the education department official who stole millions and threw acid at a auditor? The courts are still asking the police to file the case, it is like 4 or 5 years now.

And what about the citizens led by the self appointed most passionate Buddhists of our country? When police kill a criminal that has no influence they cheer it, but vote overwhelmingly to Duminda da Silvas and Sumathipalas who are also criminals but of course with some influence. And here I was, advocating to fight this system which favors the powerful over the weak!

Hypocrisy of west

2009-05-06T22:32:00.000-07:00

I see that many people are troubled by the hypocrisy of west these days. It is like they have been expecting the west to act differently. The west is hypocritical and it would continue be that way. Even if they change their stances on our situation for something else they would continue to be hypocrites. Anyone care to think why is this? Because politics is hypocritical, inherently it is so. Do any of you think we are less hypocritical than them? Is India better than them? People see double standards in white skinned westerns than in brown skinned Indians when the reality is they are the same(actually this should be racism right?). They are lecturing us to show that they are more powerful than us and to please their voting blocks. What about china? I think I should dedicate one full post for the interests of Chinese.

Politics is all about power, where the poor and the weak can't do the same thing that the mighty and the powerful can do. That is why super power US can kill afghan civilians by air strikes freely while poor south asian Sri Lankan government can't kill tamil civilians. Of course US government would apologize but would they do anything to stop them? I doubt, to them US lives are more valuable than afghan lives. When it comes to SL we would not even apologize or acknowledge about civilians causalities for that matter. But we do shout about afghan civilians. Hypocrisy anyone?

When fighting against LTTE we want the whole world to stand by us, to call every terrorist a terrorist but when Israel is fighting against Hamas even Mahinda is attending Palestine solidarity movements. The main interest of those movements is Muslims votes. Double standards anyone?

We see that police going over the law to kill suspects. But when Saman kumara Ramawickramas and Piyasiri wijenayakes do the same, police go over the law, this time to protect them. Isn't these double standards? When the sinhala youth take arms it is called an uprising but when Tamil youth take arms it is called terrorism.

Now is the most difficult part, Colombo hypocrisy. When a bomb goes off in colombo and another in wanni what has more effect in military operations? Isn't there a higher value on wealthy colombian lives than on those poor people in wanni or Monaragala for that matter. Aren't these double standards?

It is time for people to fight this elitist, corrupt and selfish system. Rather than making this a washington vs comlombo thing it should be US citizens taking on Washington and Sri Lankans taking on Colombo. Fighting to make Washington and Colombo more accountable not only for americans and Sri Lankans but for the whole world.

Filthy me

2009-04-13T07:43:00.000-07:00

Have you seen the video of the kid with his legs blown off? One completely and the other below the knee? Well I did only manage to see it today. It was there, I saw the link to that post in kottu, yet I didn't look at it. I didn't have the courage to do so, deep inside me I always knew these things are happening in wanni and I was guilty, I had been a filthy bastard. The evidence I didn't want to see was presented right before my eyes yet I opted not to look at it. After finally looking at the video I was sick, sick with myself. If I can do nothing to stop these things at least I should have been open to acknowledge that all is not as rosy as one sided propaganda machines are painting.

ok we have been forced into an inevitable war by the LTTE, the racist Tamil scum. The Tamil society is responsible for not challenging this racist ultra nationalists before it was too late. Helpless Tamils and ignorant Tamils were taken by the LTTE while retreating and are now been used as a human shield. Human causalities are inevitable in these conditions. All these are correct. But who gave me the license to look away when deep within me, I knew that there is a humanitarian crisis taking place right now and when evidence is been presented right before my eyes? I didn't have to do much, all I had to do was just click the link in kottu and it took me this much of time to do it.

Is Saman Kumara Ramawickrame above the law?

2009-04-05T22:31:00.000-07:00

We had SB spending his jail term in a luxurious hospital room. We are having Mr Kotalawala doing the same thing(I don't think he is guilty of the charges against him, but he should be in remand). In those cases it was the corruption of hospitals that allowed them to spend their jail terms and remand terms in hospitals. Not malfunctioning of the law.

But now we have a scoundrel hiding behind patriotism who had been taking the whole country, at least a fair amount, on ride while been a thief, a smuggler who is none other than Saman Kumara Ramawickrama, the popular military correspondent of the SLRC. He was caught red handed while transporting stolen goods from the battle fields of Wanni but the law chose to side with the culprit instead of the commoner.

Yes, I am pissed off. What does qualify this man to be above the law? Only thing is been a part and a slave of the Mahinda camp. What would have happened if me or you( who is not part of the Mahinda camp) got caught? Do we need a law like this?

The most worrying thing is the deafening silence of the media over this case. Some chose not to report this, and some were not prepared to mention the name of the thief. None were prepared to question the apparent police cover up of the incident. This is exactly what the Mahinda camp wanted from the day one and which they had been doing successfully. Creating a malfunctioning, back boneless media, a law and finally a society. The idiots who were jubilant when Sirasa got attacked and Lasantha got killed must understand is this. They don't attack media for the love for me or you, they do it for they're own selfish, corrupt needs. If even this slave pawn can evade the law what about all the bigwigs of the Mahinda camp? Dare to ponder?

What was the police doing?

2009-03-13T21:51:00.000-07:00

The child that was abducted and demanded one million rupees of ransom has been found dead. Earlier the abductors have threatened to kill the child if the police is informed.

http://www.dailymirror.lk/DM_BLOG/Sections/frmNewsDetailView.aspx?ARTID=43288

The logical thing in a situation like this is, police to work undercover and keep silent about the incident. But the police issued the following statement to the media.

http://www.dailymirror.lk/DM_BLOG/Sections/frmNewsDetailView.aspx?ARTID=43191

Now what prompted the police to publish the news even when the abductors have threatened to kill the child? Did the abductors get to know the involvement of the police before the announcement of the police or because of the announcement? If there is any free media left in Sri Lanka it should question the police seriously. If the unwanted announcement of the police had any say in the killing of the child the police should be made accountable. From now on no parents would dare to inform the police of any child abduction. It is the responsibility of the police to win the confidence of the public.

So the UNP too use white vans now?

2009-03-11T22:48:00.000-07:00

Prof Ganganath Dissanayake, the former controversial chairmen of SLRC under the previous UNP regime has been abducted and later released. The POLICE says that the proffessor claims that he was abducted by his former political party supporters. Notice the big POLICE, it has become something that we can't trust anymore. But if it is true, as far as I know the abductors would be the UNP supporters. That is great, made my day. IF it is true now we have two abductors instead of one, a great time to live I must tell, even the opposition abducts.

http://tinyurl.com/c958oo

Fall of Lalith Kothalawala

2009-03-10T06:04:00.000-07:00

Overnight Lalith Kothalawala one of the most successful businessmen in Sri Lanka has become a villain. Most leftists loathed him anyway all this time because of their anti big business feelings but now everyone is putting kotalawala in the same boat as Sakwithi(saw indi saying something about a foot in twitter). Am I missing something here people, because I think it is not fair to call this man a thief.

He did a business, took money from people, promised them fortunes and got busted. What is the crime here? Doing a business? Promising over 30% interest is naive for a businessmen of his caliber, but does it qualify as cheating? Please pardon my ignorance and let me know if I have missed something here folks.

Two different stories, two absolute different effects

2009-02-27T01:11:00.000-08:00

I have been really busy, just managed to take some time to write about these two stories that had different effects on me.

The first one is about a real Sri Lankan hero, Nilantha Pushpakumara a soldier who had done one of few ultimate sacrifices possible, giving his life for his country. Read this, the soldier who had carried out the suicide mission is Nilantha Pushpakumara. Sad thing is the general public don't even know these sacrifices some of our own are making so we could live peacefully. For instance there has been a full scale counter attack by the LTTE prior to the independence day and the government made sure that we don't hear about the counter attack, which leads to stories such as Nilantha's not reaching the public as well.
Nilantha I salute you, you were truly selfless.

The other one is the usual, a story of the corrupt circles that govern us. The CEO of Mihin Air has been appointed the Galle district organizer for UPFA. He is said to be a presidential adviser also and his brother is in the board of Sri Lankan airlines after it was re-acquired by the government. Now that Lasantha's and Victor Ivans are reduced next to silence these things would continue to thrive.

Letter from a Sri Lankan expatriate

2009-02-22T22:02:00.000-08:00

Lankaenews reports about a letter a Sri Lankan expatriate has sent regarding the Deshabhimani account.

This is so obvious but no one dares to speak about this. Before the government appeals for our patriotism they should show us their patriotism. Sad thing is this person would be branded instantly as a traitor.

Taxes, prices of essential services and representative democracy

2009-02-19T02:23:00.000-08:00

This is my theory of how to control the taxes and prices of essential services in the contemporary democracy.

If you want the taxes increased(you should meet a doctor too, I suggest :) ) and the prices of essential services to be increased(anyone representing Gas companies?) you should make sure that the party in power wins by a landslide. If you win in a landslide there is always room for new taxes and price increases. Take a look at this.

If you want the taxes and prices of essential items not to be changed, you must vote a new party into power. The new government won't increase taxes or prices to win the confidence of the public, but there is no necessity to decrease taxes or prices either, unless they promised to do so before the election.

Finally if you want the taxes and prices to be decreased vote the current government into power but make sure the winning margin is really thin. That would prompt the government to give some reliefs, at least before the next election.

Family politics

2009-02-16T22:21:00.001-08:00

According to this article in the daily news a fair share of the winners in central and north western provincial council elections are from political families in respective areas. Why is this? Because only people from a political background come into politics or people are not capable of finding new ones?

So the government won

2009-02-16T02:34:00.000-08:00

So the government won, won it in JR style and there is nothing astonishing about it. Government delivered in the military front, there is hope about a new united Sri Lanka, so can't blame the public for crossing the beatle leaf. Ranil is out of style now, there is only one way for Ranil to come into power again, by waiting and hoping that the public will start to get displeased with the alliance. I guess He would have to wait a long time for that, at least till Mahinda finishes his two terms. Not only will Ranil unable to get to power anyone that slightly resembles him would not be able to come into power. Everyone in the near future will have to put the phony stunt, get dressed in the national dress go visit every possible temple in the island, and if possible listen to 'bana' on poya days and make sure the public see it. Even if you are a illicit liquor dealer in the past I would guarantee you would get to the top of politics provided that you can put up the stunt. Just make sure that the public would not know your past, that is easy here, media are not with the people they are with the power.

So would the dreams of the overwhelming majority who voted for the government be fulfilled? I guess not. Would the cabinet be reduced? Maybe by 10 or 15 but not as required. Remember what happened with petrol? Will the president and ministers get rid of their huge number of unwanted adversaries who are just friends, supporters and family? No, now that the power is on their side number of adversaries and their costs would sky rocket. Would there be balanced growth? No colombo will grow simply because it is the commercial hub, Hambantota will see some more mega projects courtesy of Mahinda(most of them are unwanted, would only indebt the country more) and the rest of the of the country would be just tax payers. Corruption? Would only increase now that they have more power and because the JVP(the only anti-corruption party in Sri Lanka) would be kicked out from the parliament in a near future general election. All the corrupts representing business, media, lawyers, intellects, military, celebrities, monks and politicos would flock to the government. All would start to paint a rosy picture and people would believe it until they start to feel that all is not right. This is the same cycle, they come as saints, the corrupt circles flock to them, after some time people get rid of their blindness to see the real picture.

What about the ethnic conflict? I see hope only in this area. I think the dirty terrorists who have been eating at our true potential would be finished once and for all. Moderate tamils would start to oppose LTTE now that their power is gone. Everyone would have to live with the fact that Sri Lanka is not dividable. But at the same time the government would have to act carefully here. Once the top leadership of the LTTE is taken care of there should be a way for the remaining cadres and the followers of the LTTE ideology to come into mainstream politics. Remember what happened with the JVP? You can't destroy ground level movements militarily alone. Whether we like it or not, the north east would not prosper in an instant as Mahinda promises. There will be tamil youth that would be disgrunted with the system who would feel that they are not part of the system. I think the LTTE in the same name or in any other name would continue to represent that segment. Just like the JVP that segment should come into mainstream politics and maybe they can play a historical role, who knows? JVP used terrorist tactics in their false uprisings, should have been beaten militarily but once they came into mainstream politics they carved out a niche for themselves(like I said they are the only anti-corruption party in SL). So the government won, let's see how the governance would be like.

APRC proposes to abolish the presidential system

2009-02-07T21:53:00.000-08:00

The Nation reports today that the APRC has proposed to abolish the executive presidential system. They should have some balls to propose this when Mahinda has at least 3 more years to be the big boss. It is unthinkable that Mahinda will abolish the presidency until he finishes his two terms. Full implementation of the 13th amendment? maybe, federal? hmm who knows, but certainly not this. Mahinda is too much of a politician than a leader to abolish the presidential system.

So will this be the start of the end of APRC?

War mentality at play

2009-02-07T01:59:00.000-08:00

In three matches Out of four played between Sri Lanka and India the play got disrupted due to objects been thrown out at the indian players. I am deeply disturbed with this trend and I am deeply ashamed of the incidents. Our spectators never ever behaved this way, why is the sudden change? The war mentality, the war mentality plus some patriotism and nationalism. Otherwise why would this happen exactly this time around?

Our fear mongering politicians painted the war as something between us and the whole world. Painted India and USA as pro-LTTE when in reality both helped us through intelligence and cooperation. The reasons for helping us could be economic interests, so maybe were not honest but they helped us. The fear mongers wanted us to believe that this war was against Buddhism and the Christians are behind it. They even told us that people among us who criticize the regime in power are pro-LTTE. Taught us how to distrust every one who doesn't look like us or who doesn't speak what we want.

Here is the end result. People are starting to hate everyone who doesn't look like us, specially if the color of the skin is white. Suspect every source of dissent to be pro-tiger and ever are prepared to take the law into their own hands in the name of patriotism. Finally can't even tolerate loosing a cricket match. Where would this end?

Micahel Phelps caught smoking pot

2009-02-05T21:14:00.000-08:00

Michael Phelps has been caught smoking marijuana. So the next time you advocate criminalizing the use of marijuana please don't make the argument that marijuana creates losers.

World to get first ever gay leader

2009-01-29T23:44:00.000-08:00

Change can happen, that is what a Sirasa News First billboard said. Yes it really do. Just weeks after americas first black president took oath, it seems like Iceland will have an openly gay women as it's head. What you want in a leader is the ability to lead, not a specific sexual orientation.

Here is the complete story.

To all the masturbators

2009-01-29T02:41:00.000-08:00

Hey all the masturbators you all are in risk of getting some cancer in your private area. I found this article on the net. Now wait a minute aren't we all masturbators, from the 13 year old kid to the old grand pa?(I don't know the upper age limit of the group, can someone help me here?) It is the heavy users that are in risk of getting it. By the way Can women masturbate? Doesn't matter anyway as you girls won't get it.

Now this is unfair. When living in a conservative society such as this, that is the only alternative at times. Guess i have to continue my pounding aways and run the risk of getting the god damned cancer.

Dear Mr President

2009-01-28T10:25:00.000-08:00

In the last presidential election you were my opponent. To me you represented all the conservative pricks. You had bagged all the sinhala racists(The tamil racists were also actually supporting you, got to know only after they boycotted the elections). Also you represented most of the Marxists as well. It looked like anyone could join your rainbow alliance regardless of their policies as long as they have sworn to be the enemy of the UNP. Worst of all you looked like that phony who would take our liberties away in the name of the Sinhala Buddhist culture, when in reality living a luxurious elitist life yourself.

Not to be outdone there was your political record. A not so gentlemen when it came to elections in the deep south. An evident corruption case under your belt in the name of Helping Hambantota. So when the results were out on the election day i was devastated. I thought that another six years of valuable time is lost.

Now when looking back I am happy that you won. The war was the main challenge we were facing and you executed it in grand style. Right now I am pissed off with all the past leaders who didn't have the political will to finish the LTTE off. Congratulations Mr president you will go down in the history as that leader who won a war against all odds, and hopefully as the final leader who united Sri Lanka under one flag. But having said all these, I would still be your opponent not only because we stand for complete different ideals but also because of the things I have mentioned above. You may be the leader who liberated our motherland, but you are still the politician you used to be.

To people who keep on insisting that everything is all right

2009-01-27T01:17:00.000-08:00

It is been reported by the government itself that after 2006 nine journalists have been killed and another 26 assaulted. Close to seven journalists have left the country in the last few days because of the evident life threats. Some back boneless and corrupted media personals and institutions have been able stay safe(and luxurious at the same time) by been part of the government propaganda machine. Now are these things very rosy? As Buddha said try to detach from the Sri Lankan frame of mind and look at the situation. Then only we will get a true picture. These things are the signs of a backbone less society which leads to dictatorships.

What about the corruption, don't let them get away by preaching that every government is corrupt. If a government is corrupt it should be sent home, no but's. What is the point of telling that every party is corrupt when in the reality we have only voted two parties into power in our whole history? For gods sake vote someone else if both the major parties are corrupt. Or else if there isn't any one to vote to, come to politics, it is us who are responsible for our country. Why let some bunch to rob us just because we see them as less corrupt.

What about the economy, it was partly a good thing that the world economy got into recession because that helped us ease our inflation. Still our foreign currency levels are very low and expect the government to depreciate the rupee which they are holding stubbornly.

What about the people who are leaving the country? It looks like everyone who can afford to migrate are doing it. Why? why? why? Ask yourselves. Because they are less patriotic? oh no because that is everyone's dream, dream to have a peaceful family and give everything you can afford to the family. It is a shame to see all the brighties going, leaving us behind.

Look at the provincial election campaigns, they are using the state media shamelessly and violence is also starting to take off. This election is a one that the government can easily win. Just imagine what will happen when they start to degrade of popularity. What would they resort to when they are in danger of loosing? It seems like we will see many 'Wayamba Elections' in the future.

So take a moment and think, is this good governance or not?

Hello Sri Lanka

2009-01-20T22:04:00.000-08:00

Hi everybody
I have been following Sri Lankan blogs for some time now. Finally I decided that it is worth the effort and time to write a blog of mine own. Expect my blog to be biased, biased towards liberalism, thats all. I believe that liberalism is the answer to many of this century's problems, and that every human being deserves to live in a liberal land that believe in the liberty and freedom of all.

I will try to communicate my liberal views through this blog. Hope i would be able to make a rational discussion around liberalism that would help to make our society more liberal.