That is the attitude and the signs of a Statesman. No doubt he is human and he is Mahinda Rajapakse from Medamula in the deep South of Sinhala Land. He may indulge in a little “I’ll teach them a padama” attitude in the heat of the moment. But this must quickly give into those essential features that are expected of him in leading the country into unity, peace and prosperity that he has assured multiple times the country, the region and the world.
by Ilaya Seran Senguttuvan
(December 07, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) He came, he saw but he certainly did not conquer. The debacle will surely result in more than one head rolling at the guillotine – some in London while others in Colombo. Personally I hope it will not be that of the learned High Commissioner Nihal Jayasinghe. Many a times I thought he defended the regime exceptionally well on the international electronic media. Some of us thought he displayed the brilliant characteristics of a lawyer with a bad brief who manages to win the Case – and he is a lawyer; a good one at that. The question in which friend and foe find convergence now on this whole sickening saga is “was the visit necessary at this time at all?” with unprecedented and prolonged floods in Sri Lanka and the bitterest winter in Old Blighty where airports are closed and highways unmotorable. Does the fact the man who climbed that ship “Seruwila” that entered Mahagampura a.k.a. Hambantota on that auspicious day of November 18 died the following day a sign of bad omens in the horizon. After all, we are a very superstitious people where the shastrakaraya is as ubiqituous to the Lankan home as earlier the Pang and Pol Sambol. It is reported the dilapidated “ship” was condemned a few days ago in the Kochi (Cochin) Port as unsuitable for navigation – a condition it has been even when it was souped up a few weeks ago at Dry Docks for the Hambantota Tamasha to coincide with the 2nd Innings. Those who try to fool others eventually end up fooling themselves is a cliché we have heard long before old Abe Lincoln. Have those reliable astrologers on whom the Rajapakses lean so heavily – and who have so far generally predicted correctly – gone haywire possibly inebriated with new found fame.
Even if the UK visit went off eventless it is worthwhile to ponder as to what would have been the gain to the President, to the regime and the country. Your answer is as good as mine. Reading 3 pages of some stuff written by someone and delivered to an arranged audience of mainly Lankans is surely not worth the investment. Let me not be misunderstood. Mahinda Rajapakse is a PR man without parallel; a political strategist of exceptional ability; a man who studies politics well and plans his moves carefully Bobby Fisher-Boris Spassky style. But as a speaker in English – or for that matter in Sinhala - he will tell you that is not his cup of tea. However, if the exercise was a dry run to check if the deadly fangs of International Jurisdiction Law has bite then there is, arguably, some justification. The eminent Manjith Singh, QC has advised charges be preferred against army man Chagi Gallage than the President – and so it was. The QC was presumably clear in his mind current laws in force in Britain do not include the arrest of a visiting Head of State – something that must be pleasing that moron who ruined prosperous Zimbabwe from that of one of Africa’s well to do States to that of one in which over 3 million Zimbabwean illegal immigrants are today virtually begging in the streets of adjoining South Africa. The less charitable of Lankan watchers predict a Mugabe fate to Sri Lanka if the circus continues.
Better counsel would have said a smaller entourage would have been sufficient to meet this limited albeit ego-prone objective. Certainly not one to include the prodigal son of a virtually discarded Senior Minister – both established drug-runners with long Police records. The timing of the visit – with many powerful politicians within and outside the UK government out for Rajapakses blood – was poor. Both global electronic media and the Press have been isolated by amateurs earlier handling our Foreign Policy and PR efforts was pretty clear. When BBC's Stephen Sachur was voted International TV Personality of the Year by the powerful and well represented Association of International Broadcasters in London on December 09 the library photos announcing the selection chose two slides - Sachur arguing with the mega media star Hugo Chavez and Gothabaya Rajapakse with his “we will hang him” sequence. This was seen by billions on TV in the past few days. As someone dryly remarked “even a dozen Bell-Pottingers paid ten million pounds each will find the challenge insurmountable” As to the event itself the result in soccer terms will be Tamil Diaspora 1 - Rajapakse 0. Both sides appear to be immersed in clawing at each other vengefully whereas the people who suffer the most – the Tamils in the Wanni – untouched by both feuding sides will very likely suffer more by the combied adventurism.
What of the immediate future now that the whole fiasco is fait accompli. President Rajapakse must carry out to the letter and spirit what he assured to the world via the London media in the precincts of the Dorchester Hotel after the failed visit :-
“I will also continue in my efforts to unite all the people of our country whether they live in Sri Lanka or overseas. As a united country we have a great future. If we allow divisions to dominate we will not realise our true potential. We have had thirty years of division and conflict. We must now secure peace and harmony for all Sri Lankans.”
That is the attitude and the signs of a Statesman. No doubt he is human and he is Mahinda Rajapakse from Medamula in the deep South of Sinhala Land. He may indulge in a little “I’ll teach them a padama” attitude in the heat of the moment. But this must quickly give into those essential features that are expected of him in leading the country into unity, peace and prosperity that he has assured multiple times the country, the region and the world. What must be not part of the agenda is visceral action of the widely expected rejection or slowing down of development projects in the North already on the board. He should complete them and show the Tamils in the country and the world now that he has won one war he is determined to succeed in the “war to win the hearts and minds of the Tamil people” bearing in mind the unconnected Tamils here, what is left of the LTTE and the pro-LTTE Tamil diaspora have vastly different objectives and characteristics of their own.
Assuming President Rajapakse succeeds in uniting the Tamil part of the country his wars will, by no means, be over. There is the more difficult to surmount War in the Kitchen where the paang and the pol sambol referred earlier is now becoming a distant dream – even to the lower middle class. The lot of the average Lankan has been drastically declining in the past few months. Queues for Coconuts have begun forming at dawn with many wondering of the polim yuga of the mid-1970s is back. Bread is generally not available freely as it should. The people cannot be kept down by goons of Underworld kings - many of them now in Parliament and in the government front ranks. As Charles Dickens gained immortality with his “it is the best of time and it is the worst of times” words of wisdom so it is in the country. One cannot resist recalling Marie Antoinette, Les Revolution and the Bastille in the confused and turbulent times such the presented we are fated to endure.
Meaning no offence to the President, visiting Indian Foreign Minister Shri S.M. Krishna was echoing the exasperation of Delhi when he pointed out “it is over an year and half since the war was over” “ there is much space to accommodate Tamil aspirations in a spirit of accommodation and compassion” The underlining fact is President Rajapakse’s regime, at least so far, is found wanting in their many firm assurances repeatedly given to the Indian government on the issue of the Tamils of Sri Lanka – a continuing headache to New Delhi that it would give the proverbial arm and a leg to be rid of. Way back in London Prime Minister David Cameron agrees an independent enquiry into the War Crimes should be in place.
If not for the Wikileak, North Vietnam and the US Economy the American media would have brought the Rajapakse War Crimes issue to their daily agenda. President Rajapakse can conquer the Delhi Wallahs, the” rapacious West” (Mrs B) and that “menace of the Tamil diaspora” If he meaningfully wins over the Tamil people and get them to tell the world they are now settled happily in their homes and villages of their choice and they feel reasonably safe under a working system of law and order.
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