Beyond the UN drama

In the near future, Rajapakse will claim Sri Lanka and its people are really enjoying his cocktail of one party democracy. He is strangulating the freedom in Sri Lanka and it is time for the people to decide whether he should be put in the dustbin before the country purge into a fanatical state to be regretted later.

by Nilantha Ilangamuwa

Dead bodies will tear off their shrouds
and stuff their ears in fright--
What use are the senses and the ears
before the blast of that Trumpet? – ( Remember me – Rumi’s poem )


(April 14, New Delhi, Sri Lanka Guardian)No matter what the UN report contains, it should be made available to the people of Sri Lanka and the world at large.

The United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki - Moon appointed his panel to collect facts and advise him on accountability concerns on war crimes in Sri Lanka during the final weeks of the war between the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam ( LTTE ) well known as Tamil Tigers and the Government of Sri Lanka which ended May 2009.

According to sources, the Ban’s committee had received thousands of documents from various parts of world, but some of them are said to be distorted facts and also some were absolutely falsehood to confuse and meddle with the UN effort.

What will happen in Colombo if the UN’s report comes to the public domain? Already the External Affairs Ministry has rubbished the report given to the GoSL. How far can UN go on Sri Lanka is questionable, as the UN effort will become an issue espousing nationalist feelings in Sri Lanka that will make the President Rajapakse’s government stronger and determined to play ping pong with Ban Ki-Moon’s effort.

Political climate has progressively changed after the war in Sri Lanka, where the Rajapakse regime has effectively taken over all the institutions with the expansion of the presidential power following the 18 Amendment to the Constitution of Sri Lanka.

Also in the coming years, we can expect President Rajapakse to introduce further amendments to the constitution to centralize his power base. Rajapakse will not easily give up power, as he is not the same Rajapakse when he was a parliamentarian and holding ministerial posts. He has tasted the real power of politics and his guiding guru’s are Libya, Iraq, China and Myanmar where dictates, dogmas and bigoted conduct are playing important part in the governance.

With the defeat of the Tamil Tigers, Rajapakse thinks he is an avatar of King Dutugamunu. Unfortunately, President Rajapakse has not got the good characters of King Dutugemunu who respectfully gave a rightful homage to the slain Tamil King Elhara in the battle front.

This is what Mahinda Rajapakse’s patron saint Mu'ummar Al Qaddafi said in one of his writings: “or 40 years, or was it longer,I can’t remember, I did all I could to give people houses, hospitals, schools, and when they were hungry, I gave them food, I even made Benghazi into farmland from the desert, I stood up to attacks from that cowboy Reagan, when he killed my adopted orphaned daughter, he was trying to kill me, instead he killed that poor innocent child, then I helped my brothers and sisters from Africa with money for the African Union…” . It is the same methodology that is followed by Rajapakse & Co., in Sri Lanka.

Rajapakse claims that he has brought to an end South Asia’s longest terrorism and that everyone can walk free and enjoy their freedom without fear of terror. In return for his achievement, he wants the people to pay their due courtesy and gratitude to keep him prop up his power base forever.

Interestingly, Rajapakse wants all the credits for the war victory. He has forgotten the General who successfully fought the war, the international contact group headed by USA, India and the decent Tamils who stood against the violence of the Tamil Tigers. What he is doing since the victory is that he is humiliating the very people who helped him to create the conditions for his brutal victory.

He has become so hot headed that he does not care about opinions and criticisms. He is acting like a ruthless martyr and going around obtaining credits from all odd sources. Having obtained a spurious doctorate from the Lumumba University, he is now trying to enter into the historical Mahawanse. His conduct post war has jettisoned any thought that he will turn the history and become a national leader. His national leadership is only limited to his cunning behaviour of speaking in Tamil on occasions to deceive the Tamils and the international community.

The UN report will only strengthen the hands of Mahinda in the island nation despite the international effort denting his credibility worldwide. Mahinda will survive and even thrive as there are many unprincipled pariah states who concur with his mission that is nothing new to them.

Rajapakse is a good trickster and a manipulator. He played his dirty political game so well to reduce the opposition to skeleton walkers. The opposition is dead and there are no strong enough civil rights movements and an effective and energetic media to influence the people like what now civil society in India is doing against corruption of the regime under Anna Hazare and other leaders.

According to Rajapakse, we Sri Lankans are enjoying democracy of his cocktail making. It is the “ Rajapakse Democracy” that no one should say ‘no’ to his mission and slumber vision. This is exactly what Libyan leader claimed and finally after three decades, he is struggling to cope with the pressures of multi-dimension.

There is no possibility on the ground that Middle East trend will cross over to our island nation. Unfortunatel, Sri Lanka does not have a strong opposition leader to rise to the occasion. Will a situation similar to the Côte d'Ivoire develop in Sri Lanka in the future in a situation when opposition win and Rajapakse resisting to hand over power. Will there be UN intervention like to eject Laurent Gbagbo, the Former President of Côte d'Ivoire who finally surrendered to the UN forces with the international intervention.

In Sri Lanka, right to oppose has been killed by the inwardly patriotism espoused by the regime. Sri Lankan patriotism is none other than saying ‘yes’ always to whatever Rajapakse says.

As Rumi rightly pointed out in his poem:

“Look and you will see my form
whether you are looking at yourself
or toward that noise and confusion.”- ( Remember me. ), This is what we are enjoying today.

In the near future, Rajapakse will claim Sri Lanka and its people are really enjoying his cocktail of one party democracy. He is strangulating the freedom in Sri Lanka and it is time for the people to decide whether he should be put in the dustbin before the country purge into a fanatical state to be regretted later.

What we are seeing is not the real freedom in Sri Lanka, but unfortunately people in the slumber will not realize their fate until issues start to bite them hard under the egalitarian dictates under the pseudo democracy of Rajapakse in the country.

Tell a Friend