Some Thoughts About Sirisena’s First Appointment Of Ministers
Emil van der Poorten
I expect that every man and his dog is going to take a run at conducting a (premature, one hopes!) post-mortem on the new cabinet appointed post-Rajapaksa Take-Over Attempt.
While politics might be the art of the possible as the man who first expressed that sentiment is (mis)-quoted as saying, some of the choices that have been made give one pause for, either, philosophical reasons or judged on the basis of just plain horse sense.
That John Amaratunga, despite his documented sycophancy to Mahinda Rajapaksa had to be accommodated for reasons of simple “seniority,” I suppose, was inevitable. However, the sooner this bootlicker of Mahinda Rajapaksa in pursuit of free plane tickets is put out to pasture the better for this country and any government that aspires to perform its duties consonant with the wishes of the people who elected it.Read More
The Politics Of MR And His Racist Mindset
By Harishchandra Lokumanna -January 15, 2015
Harishchandra Lokumanna
A hypocrite is the kind of politician who would cut down a redwood tree, then mount the stump and make a speech for conservation. -Adlai E. Stevenson
In July 2014, I wrote an article, wherein I referred to the 3G Sinhala BuddhistJihadists; Gnanasara- Gota- Gammampila Combine , who have been leading the way to national disaster through a well-organized campaign to rekindle Sinhala Buddhist extremism. In my considered view, the combined effect of these 3 Gs, (not the individuals, but the lobby they represent), acting in concert , harboured vicious plans , to further their own agenda , to create an intolerant and a majoritarian minded Sri Lanka , with no space for the ‘other’ to exist as equal citizens with self-respect. During the recent election campaign, it became very apparent that the bond amongst the 3Gs were clearly cemented by the ‘King MR’. Gnanassara openly supported MR while Gammampila ( known as Gembampila- the jumping frog) jumped back to MR’s lap after initially leaving the government with JHU.
Now that the election is over, what do we see? Gnanasara was heard vowing to continue his sacred task of further digging the ethnic and religious fault lines and started raising his oft-quoted war-cry – ‘Muslim extremism’ in Sri Lanka. While this is happening, MR visited his home in Medamulana and claimed that the South(meaning Sinhalese) voted for him while those in the N-E ( meaning Tamil speaking people) in one instance and in another instance refers to ‘Ealam’ was the cause for his defeat .We recall that he also made racist remarks towards the end of his campaign to the effect : ‘ the era is over where the country danced to the tune of the Muslims and the Tamils’ and attributed the exit of the SLMC from the government, as MR’s refusal to accede to their demand for a separate administrative district in Ampara. What an opportunist!