A Brief Colonial History Of Ceylon(SriLanka)
Sri Lanka: One Island Two Nations
A Brief Colonial History Of Ceylon(SriLanka)
Sri Lanka: One Island Two Nations
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Thiranjala Weerasinghe sj.- One Island Two Nations
?????????????????????????????????????????????????Saturday, January 20, 2018
Dayan The Oracle Calls Ranil A “Curse”
By Shyamon Jayasinghe –January 18, 2018
“…..these
are only some of the few seen and unseen development outcomes under the
leadership of Sirisena and Wickremesinghe. Wickremesinghe’s entire
focus is on economics, whereas your buddies MR and Gota, had no clue on
the subject. Your favourites led one of the most corrupt and
dictatorial regimes in the history of Sri Lanka. Ordinary pedestrians
holding onto their ‘siri siri’ plastic shopping bags had to turn their
miserable arses and hold onto the nearest wall when Gota and other VIPs used
to hover about in Colombo. You want to see these guys substituting for
the current yahapalanaya government? You must be crazy, man!”
Dayan Jayatilleka (DJ)
hallucinates being an oracle. Like the famous oracle of Delphi in
ancient Greece? People in ancient Athens used to listen intently to that
oracle when he makes utterances and predictions from time to time. The
oracle, then, was the signal for public belief. In Dayan’s case, despite
his incurable over-assessment of himself, discerning readers are
increasingly looking at the man as a fool. Not a simple, naive, fool but
an intrepid one who is mindlessly writing his two cents. Every paragraph in his latest foray in Colombo Telegraph (under the caption, “Ranil the Curse and Mahindagamanaya 3 and Gota) is false, sickly and vulnerable.
Dayan Jayatilleka and Rajiva Wijesinha
One commentator tries to compare DJ with Rajiva Wijesinha. I think that is a disservice to Rajiva who is a man of class and who is utterly civil and decent-although I have disagreed with the latter, too, recently. That is a different matter. The point is, Rajiva Wijesinha is in so many ways above DJ. First, he never uses rude and impolite language when criticising those whom he disagrees with. In a comment dated 16/1/18 on one of my articles at Colombo Telegraph this
man described me as a “scumbag.” Mind you, in my piece I never referred
to DJ overtly or covertly since I do not treat him as a significant
opinion writer anymore. DJ refers to Prime Minister Ranil
Wickremesinghe as “a knave.” Now, Rajiva did criticise his cousin,
Ranil, with whom he is in bad terms; but he dis that at the level of a
true intellectual. Nothing vulgar and nothing even derogatory. That’s
what a gentleman is. In my response I did credit Rajiva for that.
DJ’s ‘Curse’
Besides, Ranil Wickremesinghe (RW) is not only the
Prime Minister of Sri Lanka. At base, his is the leader of the largest
political party in Sri Lanka. Has been Prime Minister four times. He won
a Parliamentary seat this time seat gaining over five lakhs
of votes in Sri Lanka’s most educated and modernised electorate. He Is
the one political leader in our country today who can confidently and on
par face international personages
such as the British Prime Minister or the Federal German Chancellor. I
cannot see any other political leader in our island today who can do
that. We had persons like Lalith Athulathmudali and Gamini Dissanayake
but they are gone. I cannot see any other political leader today who has
such a grasp of economic, social or political policy. Friend or foe
(not the DJ foe) must admit that. When, recently, Ranil addressed the
respected and learned body of lawyers here in Melbourne he gave such a
brilliant and erudite speech that one of the senior political leaders
commented to me, “you should be proud to have a Prime Minister like
that!” The problem is that RW does not go boasting. He is to
himself-considered and deliberate and often inarticulate. That is,
perhaps, a fragility.
Now, I must emphasize that I am not a fan of RW. I
stand always to defend those unfairly attacked, when there is nobody to
do that. I write with verification and I have given the evidence in this
instance, above. I don’t need to be a sycophant of any political
leader, RW or any other, for the simple reason that I have absolutely
nil ambitions in Sri Lanka. I met and spoke to Ranil for the very first
time in my life when he came to Geelong, Melbourne. Of course, he knew
about me because of my profile in the Public Service and in my role in
the cultural scenario of Sri Lanka.
India’s Hold
Now, DJ slashes Ranil for giving India a foothold in the deep South. The Rajapaksa regime had
planned to give that strategic base to China. Is that any better? China
has big- power ambitions and so they would have been far more
dangerous. Besides, China has already been given the dominant strategic
hold in Sri Lanka by the previous government that DJ wishes to get back.
Due to huge debts given at commercial rates, we are already a virtual
vassal state of China-unable to extricate ourselves of that embedded
dependence. We failed to negotiate our way out and to our advantage over
the Port City Project. China is close to being our new colonial
power, if one goes by contemporary forms of colonialism. Our great
neighbour was getting too nervous and had to be placated somewhat. This is geopolitical
balance in foreign policy. Sri Lanka cannot frighten its neighbour. JR
did that once and we got into trouble as India started training the LTTE
cadres in their soil.
Besides, Sri Lanka had an unmanageable debt on the Harbour Project and there was no way of earning revenue for
repaying that debt. Hence, the government hit upon the brilliant idea
of selling equity on a joint basis on that harbour project. Our huge
debts are now diminishing. The IMF recently commented favourable on our
debt management and fiscal management, which had taken the country to
bankruptcy under DJ’s favourite government.
Indeed, DJ, Ranil is a curse to you as you cannot
get rid of him. In a more serious way, he is a curse to all the
Rajapaksas because he is the king pin behind this government. If he
falls, the government falls. So, keep trying to bring him down. That is
the logic of the Opposition and that is how they politicised the Bond
issue against Ranil.
Achievements
See how his yahapalanaya outfit has already achieved so
much. Like me to show you? Then open your eyes without reluctance or
blink. Take your hatred out and try a bit of ‘upekka.’ Democracy is
restored. People are seen freely protesting without being hammered by
mafia and thugs with iron bars or shot by the soldiers as in
Rathupaswela, when villagers protested asking for water. The evil men of
murder whom your pet, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, is said to have developed as
a secret force in Colombo are not to be seen. Editors of newspapers
have not been murdered on the streets and they roam free while
ruthlessly attacking the government with their newly-won freedom. No
white vans tapping the doors
of journalists in the dead of the night and taking the latter
away-leaving behind whole families crying, wailing, and weeping! No add
to this all, court is not conducted in Temple Trees anymore. We have an
outstandingly impeccable Chief Justice. We have the Freedom of
Information Act in force. We have Independent Commissions in action. Our
exports have recorded an increase after so many years. Road and rail
infrastructure is coming up. Colombo City will soon have a new road network. Sri Lanka is friendly with all foreign countries.