Gota, dynasties and retribution
Wednesday, 16 March 2016
Speaking to the media recently, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, the former Defence Secretary, sought to explain the ongoing inquiries into serious “mishandling” of public funds by the Rajapaksa family and their associates, by reiterating the common defence of a political vendetta.
Taking up the pose of a person wronged, he claimed that this is the usual reward in our history for those who have done “service” to the country. The historical process will also visit those behind the present persecutions, and he warns; “in a manner hundred times worse”.
Rajapaksa does not say whether this increase of “hundred times” in the scale of the historical retribution is warranted because the unnamed perpetrators are doing hundred times more “service” to the country. Proportionality, reasoning and even humility are not the strongest mental aspects of those who think in terms of dynasties and their entitlements. As a family they are special, gifted with sharp insight and awesome skills, taking to public life only because of their infinite love for the poor.
Fall of long-entrenched dynasties
During the so-called Arab Spring (2010/11) we saw several long-entrenched dynasties fall rapidly in country after country in the Middle-East. In Egypt, the all-powerful Mubarak, after ruling for 30 years, in Libya, the Gadaffi family in control for more than 40 years, in Tunisia, Zine Ben Ali family, 25 years of absolute power, were all swept away in one angry wave of public opprobrium. And a few years prior to that, in Iraq, the cruel regime of Saddam Hussein family was ended after much bloodshed and turmoil, that unfortunate legacy continuing even today. Before the deluge, these families were the defenders of the faith, protectors of the clan and the best hope against the wiles of the West!
Until oil was discovered in their lands, the Middle-Eastern countries were economically weak and of little significance in a global sense. Invariably, their leadership seemed corruptible; cunning, narrow minded men, ruling their semi feudal societies with iron fists. Petro dollars changed the image of the landscape from an arid inhospitable desert to a gushing money spring, drawing millions to the Arabian sands in search of fortunes.
Wednesday, 16 March 2016Speaking to the media recently, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, the former Defence Secretary, sought to explain the ongoing inquiries into serious “mishandling” of public funds by the Rajapaksa family and their associates, by reiterating the common defence of a political vendetta. Taking up the pose of a person wronged, he claimed that this is the usual reward in our history for those who have done “service” to the country. The historical process will also visit those behind the present persecutions, and he warns; “in a manner hundred times worse”.
Rajapaksa does not say whether this increase of “hundred times” in the scale of the historical retribution is warranted because the unnamed perpetrators are doing hundred times more “service” to the country. Proportionality, reasoning and even humility are not the strongest mental aspects of those who think in terms of dynasties and their entitlements. As a family they are special, gifted with sharp insight and awesome skills, taking to public life only because of their infinite love for the poor.
Fall of long-entrenched dynasties
During the so-called Arab Spring (2010/11) we saw several long-entrenched dynasties fall rapidly in country after country in the Middle-East. In Egypt, the all-powerful Mubarak, after ruling for 30 years, in Libya, the Gadaffi family in control for more than 40 years, in Tunisia, Zine Ben Ali family, 25 years of absolute power, were all swept away in one angry wave of public opprobrium. And a few years prior to that, in Iraq, the cruel regime of Saddam Hussein family was ended after much bloodshed and turmoil, that unfortunate legacy continuing even today. Before the deluge, these families were the defenders of the faith, protectors of the clan and the best hope against the wiles of the West!
Until oil was discovered in their lands, the Middle-Eastern countries were economically weak and of little significance in a global sense. Invariably, their leadership seemed corruptible; cunning, narrow minded men, ruling their semi feudal societies with iron fists. Petro dollars changed the image of the landscape from an arid inhospitable desert to a gushing money spring, drawing millions to the Arabian sands in search of fortunes.
