First step in the Sherlock Holmes assassination conspiracy in Sri Lanka is active..! Shani Abeysekara arrested on a charge that does not even exist on this planet..!!

Reported by Chandrapradeep

(Lanka-e-News -31.July.2020,11.00PM) Former CID director Shani Abeysekera, known as Sherlock Holmes in Sri Lanka, has been arrested by the CCD this morning, citing a reason not material in any other country on the planet.

Shani's arrest is based on allegations that Shani influenced the police officers who were witnesses for CCD in the case of the former DIG Vass Gunawardena and his son, who were convicted and sentenced to death for the abduction and murder of a millionaire businessman named Mohammed Shyam.

Planetary record..

During the search of Vass Gunawardena's house at that time, the CCD found firearms including a T-56 weapon used for Siam's murder and the officers who carried out the raid reported the matter to the court under Section 127 of the Penal Code. The officers testified at the trial and the evidence was not challenged in both appeals. Surprisingly, Shani has been accused of influencing the witnesses again after the Supreme Court had heard the final appeal of the case, despite the fact that there were no such statements given by the High Court and the Court of Appeal influencing the witnesses.
It is a planetary record that the Rajapaksa CID in Sri Lanka has made this absurd allegation at a time when the entire world agrees the police cannot question the re-examination of evidence following a Court of Appeal decision.

How the plot was conspired..

The CCD officials who testified before have been baited for money and today they have orchestrated this evil drama stating 'he influenced us'. The reason which led this conspiracy is the sudden death of Judge Prasanna Jayawardane who was on the five judge bench heard the case before the verdict of the Vas Gunawardane’s final appeal was completed. If a judge dies while a case is pending, the case will be heard again. Accordingly, Vaas's appeal will be heard again in the Supreme Court on October 26th, 27th and November 2nd before a new bench comprising Justices Sisira de Abrew, Vijith Malalgoda, Priyantha Jayawardena, Preethi Padman Surasena and S. Thurairajah. However no witness would be heard during an appeal. Therefore, the evidence given by the police officers in the High Court at that time will not be reconsidered. However, the arrest of Shani Abeysekera for allegedly influencing the evidence is clearly a violation of the law and a law of the jungle.

The actual cause of the accusation against Shani..

When Shiam was murdered it was Mahinda Rajapaksa who was the president and it was the current president Gotabaya was the defense secretary. Investigations against Vas Gunawardane was started on their orders because Shiam was a close ally of Mahinda Rajapaksa. It was then chief justice Mohan Pieris who appointed the three judges bench. However, Shani's arrest today in connection with Vass Gunawardena's case is not really favouring Vaas, but to avenge Shani Abeysekera 's recent investigations into the Rajapaksas' crimes. This conspiracy is launched is to kill Shani within the prison

Lanka e news warns very clearly. This is the very first plot taken to assassinate Shani Abeysekara in prison because Shani Abeysekara is the key state witness against leading drug traffickers and 112 crimes including serious corruptions and murders. When he is killed the perpetrators responsible for all 112 crimes gets out. Rajapaksas too are among those criminals. One can understand the words came out from Basil Rajapaksa during a meeting that “we cannot go to jail again” The details of criminal investigations done by Shani Abeysekara cannot be hidden by whoever come to power because those details has been reported to the courts through B reports. They are public records that can be obtained and examined and by anyone in the future. If Basil cannot go to jail again only one task is possible that is to kill the main witness. This is a conspiracy for that.

We reiterate again. If the assassination plot of Shani Abeysekera is successful, none other than the Rajapaksas would be responsible for it. In fact there is no point holding an election on the fifth because one can clearly tell where the country would be headed for the lawlessness done to Shani Abeyselara the invincible detective which Sri Lanka ever made

Police bastards should be ashamed..

Shani Abeysekara is a police officer who did not support any politician or any political party. He was a straight officer who carried out his duty according to the law. He did not drink a cup of tea from anybody. Whoever the bastards in the police department should be ashamed for arresting such a lawful police officer on false allegations. Their fathers, mothers and children should be ashamed. The law abiding citizens must spit to their faces.

Not even one red, green or blue bustards came forward..

The hero who came to uphold the rule of law of the land has literally taken revenge on Shani Abeysekara as soon as he became President. His work was suspended. Not even half of his due salary was paid during suspension. Shani did not flee the country. What he did was filing a fundamental rights lawsuit against the injustice done to him months before he was due to retire. Since Shani did not support red, blue or green, none of the sons of those bitches came forward to speak on behalf of Shani. However we demand the law abiding people of this country. If you do not raise your voice for Shani today, the Rajapaksas will silence the voices of your children and grandchildren forever. It is better to die than to be dumb in the face of lawlessness.

Chandrapradeep

Translated by Robinhood

---------------------------
by     (2020-07-31 22:56:01)

Increasing Muslim Law Students Becomes An ‘Invasion’! In A Land Like No Other!

By Mohamed Harees –JULY 31, 2020

Lukman Harees

“Racism is man’s gravest threat to man – the maximum of hatred for a minimum of reason.” ~ Abraham Heschel

Will Rogers once said “everything is changing. People are taking their comedians seriously and the politicians as a joke”. Judging by what former State Intelligence Service (SIS) Director SDIG Nilantha Jayawardena said at a recent hearing at the Presidential Commission of Inquiry on Easter Attacks, it appears that the entire administration and law enforcement mechanism has become a joke, making Sri Lanka a laughing stock yet again in the eyes of the international community. Or is it Systemic racism, so entrenched that it has become the new normal? When the fence fails to protect all the crop, to whom shall we complaint? goes the adage. Unintelligible ‘Intelligence’ in a Land like no other!

The Daily Mirror, reported that in a report made on July 20, 2015, Jayawardena said that out of 203 students, there were only five Muslim students at the Law college in 2003. However, in 2012, 78 Muslim students were admitted to Law College and as a percentage it was 25.24% of the overall students. Explaining his opinion Jayawardena said that this was part of an attempt to invade key positions by minorities. “I can only warn the relevant institutions. The Ministry of Justice and Law College should investigate the matter,” witness said, responding to a question raised by the Commissioners. Witness further said that the LTTE also assured many students in areas under their control and they also passed their university entrance exams. This is one approach minorities can take. This kind of invasion happens in France and some other countries. At SIS we observed the trend and its up to the relevant officials to take the necessary measures”.

Not a fiction but a fact in our motherland! Not quite sure whether to laugh or to cry! In a way, coming at a time when the nation is about to face another Parliamentary polls,  Jayawardene may be another ‘cog in the machine’ used by his political masters to create another Muslim bogeyman as part of the well-orchestrated demonization campaign directed at the community, to win elections. These days, the nation is being already treated to a liberal dose of anti-Muslim hatred by demonising the community, thanks to the likes of Ratanas, Gnanasaras, Madu Maadawas, Wimals and Gammanpilas, Ranawakas to name a few. In fact, Basil wanted SLPP to be like BJP- an admirable role model indeed! It also can be a case of Media sensationalism. As the link between voters and candidates, media is an essential part of politics. News publications do sacrifice journalistic integrity for the sake of more exciting stories, especially in the run up to an election. 

However, shoving aside this witness as a scapegoat and his ‘breaking news’ revelation at the Commission of Inquiry as mere humour or media sensationalism may miss the wood for the trees. What Jayawardene said appears to show how deep the racist rabbit hole goes. What he said thus aptly reflects the bigger picture and the thinking within the political establishment and its administrative machinery, seeing Muslim ghosts in every corner in Post war period. If it is not reflective of systemic or institutionalised racism, then what is? 

One of the principal attributes of a good intelligence analyst is the ability to set aside one’s prior information, experience, and prejudices and only use designated information sources to make judgments, decisions, and recommendations. This may sound simple but it isn’t and many people are not capable of setting aside acquired attributes in analyzing information and data. And also there is the the ability to see both sides. Probably the most important of all of the attributes, but also the most difficult to maintain are integrity and courage.  In the case of the likes of the senior officers like Jayawardene, these attributes seems lacking. In fact, if  the breakdown of the intelligence system led to the Easter Sunday disaster, then those at the top like him  should be held to account for failing in their duty.  

On the basis of his representations, any reasonable person with an iota of common sense will realise the stupidity and baseless nature of his fears. On the one hand, Muslims are no different to the Sinhalese or Tamils and being equal citizens can pursue any profession or vocation of their choosing. Why should minorities  going into legal field in greater numbers be viewed as a threat which prompts SIS to suggest action at the highest levels? Thus, to conclude or cast suspicions that they are on a secret conspiracy plan to hold crucial posts in the government when their numbers are increasing in the legal field reflects the low level, the once elitist Intelligence services of Sri Lanka has now stooped to. On the other hand, it is not the proper representation of the facts as well. According to a legal professional, if the statistics are properly analysed in the said period, the gradual increase was in the number of Tamil medium students as a whole; not just Muslims. But Jayawardene has however failed to highlight in the same breadth, the actual reason behind the increasing numbers – the surge in Tamil medium law entrance classes and also an increase in their quality, which resulted in more students entering Law College in the Tamil medium. However, this is an entrenched and chronic problem which is beyond this narrow concern about ‘increased Muslim intake to the field of law’. 

It is a tragicomedy of our times that Sri Lankan political parties are seeking a fresh mandate when they represent a bankrupt political system which has taken Sri Lanka aback to the point of a failed state. Sri Lanka’s social integrity and economic stature have been compromised beyond repair under the Post-Independence rulers. They have turned Sri Lanka into a divided nation. Frustration with the corruption, divisive/racist politics, loss of confidence in politics and rule of law, and the lack of orientation of the country’s elites to the common good and the interests of young voters in particular, have led to a generation no longer using their right to vote and withdrawing from political life. The polarisation of society and political culture has made it more difficult for young people to become politically-active. Sri Lanka’s rulers have thus repeatedly disregarded the country’s best interests for personal gain. 

Read More

Protect democracy and walk tall on the world stage

31 July 2020 

It is a foregone conclusion that the August 5 general election will be won by the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP).  The question is not whether it can win the election but how big its victory margin will be? A two-thirds majority is the SLPP’s stated target. If not through the ballot, the two-thirds majority is for it to grab. The crossover queue is already long.  The jostle to join the new government will begin no sooner the results are out. 
A stable and powerful government is what Sri Lanka needs now as it faces two serious crises – the COVID-19 pandemic and the breakdown of the economy.  Just as the pandemic and the economic crisis should be the foremost concern of the new government, democracy’s health also should be a major concern.

True, with the SLPP’s landslide victory, the required political stability will return to the country after the five-year sham of good governance under the previous government.  With the required parliamentary majority, the new government will be able to take bold decisions to deal with the pandemic and revive the economy. But the government needs to remember that just as public health and the health of the economy, democracy’s health, too, is essential for speedy economic recovery and development. For democracy is much more than franchise and regular elections. With all its features such as good governance, the culture of shunning corruption, transparency, the rule of law, human rights and an independent judiciary and other public institutions, democracy lays a strong foundation for development not only in the economic sphere, but also in political, social, cultural spheres. Sri Lanka’s history of political violence and insurrections shows that an attack on democracy has led to political instability.

Yet, to deal with the pandemic, some countries have disregarded the vital role democracy plays in the development process. Emergency Covid-19 measures taken even by some European Union members such as Hungary undermining democracy have raised concern among some frontline EU nations, which this week insisted that the disbursement of the more than 750 million euro pandemic aid package should be conditioned upon a member-state’s democracy and human rights records. 

Usually, in times of war or pandemics, human beings are hardwired to find refuge in a higher and stronger authority as part of their survival instincts. Thus it is no surprise that we find in Sri Lanka a general consensus that the country is fortunate to have a strong government under President Gotabaya Rajapaksa when the Covid pandemic hit. Many people say the country would have been in utter chaos, had the so-called good governance government of Maithripala Sirisena and Ranil Wickremesinghe been in office. 

But this surrender to a higher authority such as a government should not come at the cost of freedom, liberty and democratic values we cherish. That goes against the grain of the unwritten social contract for democracy.  In civil society, serious concerns are being expressed over the moves to abolish or amend the 19th Amendment after a new government is formed with a two-thirds majority.  Despite its defects, the 19th Amendment has proved that it could be the Rock of Gibraltar in dispelling wave after wave of abuse of power by any arm of the government. We witnessed this during the 2018 constitutional crisis.

If the 19th amendment is to be amended, it should be amended only to add or strengthen its democracy-enhancing features. If it is to be abolished or amended to make the executive president all powerful without corresponding checks and balances, then we will be, politically speaking, going back to the dark ages. Will the new government explain how democracy could be served better by abolishing the 19th Amendment before it takes the drastic move?

Fears of democracy erosion have been aggravated with the Gotabaya Rajapaksa government being accused of taking the country towards a stratocracy or a military dominated administration. His supporters or strong government concept defenders, quoting Alexander Pope, may say that for forms of government let fools contend, whatever is best administered is best. 
But before we by our silence, blind patriotism or the faith in the strong government concept unwittingly contribute to an unsavory outcome, we might well recall the United States independence hero Benjamin Franklin’s famous quote -- “Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.”

In Sri Lanka, civil society activists are expressing fears over moves by the next government to undermine the democratic order that was built after the 2015 election victory of the alliance led by Maithripala Sirisena and Ranil Wickremesinghe, despite the alliance’s questionable good governance credentials. 
The Friday Forum, a grouping that brings together some of Sri Lanka’s eminent persons, has questioned the move to abolish the 19th Amendment and give the executive president more powers. This week, the Forum in a statement urged the people to ponder whether a system with concentration of power in one individual is the form of government they want the new government to introduce through a two-thirds majority.

On Wednesday, ten leading international human rights groups, including Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and the International Commission of Jurists expressed deep concern over what they call “a campaign of fear” that has intensified since the 2019 presidential election, and has cast a shadow over the 2020 parliamentary election campaign. They call on the Sri Lankan government to end the targeted arrests, intimidation and threats against the lives and physical security of lawyers, activists, human rights defenders and journalists. 
The government may dismiss the statement as international NGO interference in internal affairs. But the fact that the country continues to come under criticism for lack of respect for human rights is a shameful indictment of Sri Lanka’s woefully inadequate political culture, the government’s disdain for democracy and indifference to the need to be counted among the nations that walk on the world stage with their heads held high.

The government should realise that in strengthening democracy, there are long-term benefits for the country and its people. Sri Lankan people have voted out governments that had moved towards dictatorship. It happened in 1977 and in 2015. It will certainly happen in the future, too, if a government shows scant regard to the need to strengthen democracy. 
COVID-19 can be overcome once an effective vaccine or medication is universally available. But the politicians’ craving for more power will continue irrespective of the pandemic.  What Sri Lanka needs is not a benevolent dictator or a dictatorial democracy. The country needs statesmen and stateswomen to usher in an all-inclusive democratic socio-political and economic order. 

Sri Lankan police question Wigneswaran… 7 months later

Sri Lankan police question Wigneswaran… 7 months later

Photograph: Wigneswaran stopped by police earlier this year, as he attempted to mark Tamil Genocide Day.

 30 July 2020

Sri Lankan police have questioned the former Supreme Court justice and current leader of the Tamizh Makkal Kootanii over a press release from December, with just days left until Sri Lanka’s parliamentary election.

C V Wigneswaran said police had visited him to question him about the press release, where had spoken on the history of Tamils on the island.

See the full text of the press release here.

"I stand by every word of what I have said here," the former chief minister told the questioning SL Police inspector on Friday, according to an interview with TamilNet. “You may collect it and you can question me on anything if you like.

“I cannot understand after 7 months why they have come around asking and questioning about this, when elections are just round the corner,” he added. “This seems to be a way by which the government wants to bring some kind of a pressure on candidates just before the election.”

“It looks as if an authoritarian government is around the corner. Maybe in preparation for that certain steps are being taken to terrify those who are taking part in political activity and to keep them in check.”

“But at least they must remember we are working for our people. They have come out of a severe war. And there is nothing that our people have anything more to lose. They have lost everything. If the government or anyone wants to terrify us, they are sadly mistaken because we are not going to be terrified by any of these kind of things or type of activities.”

“As a judge I have stood intimidations by various people in my own way, so this is not going to be of anything important to talk about.”

SRI LANKA’S PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS WILL SHAPE ITS POLITICAL FUTURE—LIKELY FOR THE WORSE

Image: Sri Lanka’s Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa wearing a protective mask gestures at his party candidates as he arrives at a campaign rally ahead of country’s parliamentary election, in Homagama, Sri Lanka, July 22, 2020. REUTERS/Dinuka Liyanawatte.

31/07/2020

Sri Lanka’s upcoming parliamentary elections will serve as an indicator of the island’s future political direction, potential executive power buildup, and future geopolitical stance. With complications from the coronavirus pandemic, during which the Sri Lankan election commission has struggled to ensure that voting will be free, fair, and safe for all, the twice-delayed election may favor President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s party, allowing it to strike down a significant constitutional amendment and move Sri Lanka further into China’s orbit of influence.

The parliamentary elections will have far-ranging impacts on Sri Lanka’s politics, rule of law, and foreign policy, potentially revitalizing some of the very conditions that led to ethnic conflict in the 1980s. Here’s what you need to know:

1. Who are the key players?

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa

Beloved by Sri Lanka’s Sinhalese ethnic majority and reviled by the island’s Tamil and Muslim minorities, Gotabaya was elected president in late 2019 having led a national security and pro-nationalism campaign platform that capitalized on voters’ fears of terrorism in the wake of that year’s Easter Bombings. Unsurprising to many observers, the president’s short tenure thus far has been defined by ethnic chauvinism, militarization of the government, and widespread restrictions on journalists, minority activists, and civil society actors.

Gotabaya’s supporters have praised the former defense secretary for his role in ending Sri Lanka’s twenty-six-year civil war in 2009. His base continues to give the current president high marks for his tough stance on terrorism and his administration’s strong coronavirus response. Sri Lanka’s minorities, however, consider Gotabaya complicit in atrocities near the end of the nation’s civil war, including the military’s indiscriminate bombing of no-fire zones and hospitals in the Northern Province that resulted in 40,000 civilian deaths, as estimated by the United Nations (UN).

Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa

Former Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa presided over the end of Sri Lanka’s bloody civil war until 2015 when he was defeated in the presidential elections. He is equally as divisive as his younger brother Gotabaya—who appointed him prime minister upon assuming office last year. In February, Mahinda announced that Sri Lanka would scrap all commitments to a 2015 post-civil-war UN Human Rights Commission resolution calling for accountability for the harm done by the Sri Lankan military during the civil war. Unsurprisingly, the move has caused alarm among rights groups and friction between Sri Lanka and the international community.

Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP)

Previously a minor political party, the now powerful SLPP was relaunched in 2016 under the auspices of the Rajapaksa brothers and their close allies. It now maintains a strong advantage in the upcoming parliamentary elections. An SLPP victory would affirm the president’s nationalist agenda and embolden many of his policy positions. A key priority of the party is achieving a two-thirds parliamentary super-majority, which would allow Gotabaya’s administration to alter the country’s political structure: specifically by repealing the constitution’s 19th Amendment, a measure designed by the previous government to limit presidential powers relative to parliament and the judiciary.
The Rajapaksa brothers are unequivocal in their plans to scrap the 19th Amendment. They and the broader SLPP are quick to characterize the prior government’s blundering response to the 2019 Easter Bombings as a direct consequence of the amendment’s watered-down executive powers. Borrowing from the Rajapaksa political playbook, SLPP Chairman G.L. Peiris has exploited national security anxieties by claiming that a two-thirds majority would “rid the country of extremism” and “strengthen the defense apparatus.”

Samagi Jana Balavegaya (SJB) & other opposition parties

The parliamentary term beginning in 2020 marks the first time in modern memory that neither of Sri Lanka’s enduring political parties—the Sri Lankan Freedom Party (SLFP) or the United National Front (UNP)—is expected to lead parliament. The previous coalition government led by the two parties was regarded as incompetent and widely blamed for the mishandling of the Easter Bombings. Essentially on life support, the SLFP recently joined the SLPP. Meanwhile, infighting within the UNP resulted in the formation of the Samagi Jana Balavegaya (SJB) party. Headed by last year’s unsuccessful UNP presidential candidate Sajith Premadasa, the SJB is the strongest competitor to the president’s party. With Tamil support split between the SJB and UNP though, the SLPP still maintains a sizable advantage.

2. How is the coronavirus pandemic affecting the logistics of the upcoming election?

The coronavirus pandemic is fueling complex government responses to campaigns, rallies, and ballot counting related to the election. In early July, the Sri Lankan government issued strict health guidelines regarding election campaigning. At political rallies, attendees must wear face masks, maintain one meter of distance, and have access to a handwashing station. Attendance is limited to three hundred for normal rallies and five hundred for rallies with party leaders.

In mid-July, Sri Lankan authorities ran a simulated election in four of the island’s twenty-two electoral districts to ensure the proper functioning of coronavirus-safe protocol. The initiative was successful, but a spike in coronavirus cases around the same time caused the prime minister to cancel rallies.

Sri Lanka’s National Elections Commission made special provisions for people under quarantine to vote but later retracted the initiative citing obstacles to the plan. Once citizens cast their votes across the country, election results will not be tabulated until the following day for the first time since the 1970s: this will better allow election officials to abide by health guidelines.

3. What is the current state of governance in Sri Lanka under Gotabaya and how will a SLPP parliamentary majority impact it?

Sri Lanka is currently in constitutionally uncharted territory. President Gotabaya legally dissolved parliament in early March in anticipation of the elections. Despite the postponed elections, he has refused to reconvene it in the meantime. In early June, Sri Lanka exceeded its constitutional three-month maximum for a parliamentary recess, meaning that as of August, Gotabaya will have enjoyed two months without legislative oversight. During this time, the president created several task forces composed almost entirely of Sinhalese military and police officials: one task force is vaguely charged with creating a “virtuous society” and eradicating “anti-social behavior,” while another justifies the expropriation of Hindu and Muslim land in Sri Lanka’s Eastern Province under the pretext of Buddhist archaeological preservation. Each task force is ripe for weaponization against political enemies.

With a SLPP majority in parliament, the democratic erosion that has marked Gotabaya’s governance can be expected to persist, if not intensify. As Sri Lanka lurches towards authoritarianism, it will be less tolerant of the international community’s criticism. Gotabaya’s government has already abandoned or stalled any meaningful transitional justice initiative. It has likewise rejected a recent report from a UN Special Rapporteur that expressed alarm at a high degree of democratic backsliding under the new administration. Prime Minister Mahinda, meanwhile, is quick to dismiss minority grievances or demands for political devolution as ploys to divide the country. A SLPP win in the upcoming elections would validate the Rajapaksas’ Buddhist nationalist agenda at the expense of minorities.

4. What are the geopolitical dynamics of the upcoming parliamentary elections?

An immediate priority of the newly elected parliament will be to address Sri Lanka’s increasingly precarious financial standing. India and China have long vied for political and economic influence in Sri Lanka, and the currently imperiled financial status of the country is predicted to offer India and China an entrance. The direction in which parliament looks for assistance will be determined by the party in power.

During his presidency, Mahinda steered Sri Lanka towards China, primarily through a slew of ambitious Chinese-contracted infrastructure projects. Gotabaya seems to be following in his brother’s footsteps by signing onto over one billion dollars in pandemic relief loans from Beijing. Not only does the Chinese government have ties to influential Buddhist leaders in Sri Lanka, but it’s widely believed that Beijing actively supported Mahinda’s ultimately unsuccessful 2015 presidential bid. A SLPP parliamentary majority will facilitate Gotabaya’s closer embrace of Chinese solutions.

Delhi remains in the picture as Sri Lanka’s bilateral trade with India rivals that of with China. Currently, Sri Lanka and the Reserve Bank of India are finalizing a $400 million currency swap agreement to aid the island’s COVID-19 recovery efforts.

As China-India tensions escalate with their recent border dispute however, the two nations will aim to increase their clout in Sri Lanka and seek to benefit from the island’s strategic position in the Indian Ocean. An SLPP-led government can be expected to draw Sri Lanka away from India and closer to China given the president’s orientation towards Beijing as well as the Chinese government’s ability to offer Sri Lanka pandemic relief loans.

An SLPP two-thirds parliamentary majority is not a forgone conclusion—neither is the scrapping of the 19^th Amendment. Yet, even if the opposition prevents the president’s party from securing a supermajority, the current moment’s prevailing ethnonationalism spells trouble for minority welfare and constitutional rule of law in Sri Lanka.

Phillip Baumgart is an intern in the Atlantic Council’s South Asia Center./Atlanticcouncil

There is threat of fascism at present; -Vickramabahu

‘Sinhala only’ was the beginning of the Fascism 

The path for Fascism is always through militarism

Samasamajist or socialist should be prepared to link with the liberal capitalist leaders and fight back for democracy

The criminal things this government does like trying to say that country belong to Sinhala

1 August 2020 

Dr. Vikramabahu Karunaratne is a highly qualified academic who gave up his career to lead a leftwing political movement. He joined active politics in 1972 becoming a Central Committee member of the Lanka Sama Samaja Party (LSSP). However Dr. Vickramabahu is contesting for Kalutara district as a candidate from the United National Party (UNP), a move contrary to his left-wing and Marxist political history. 

Excerpts:
Q You have been in a struggle against the capitalistic structure for over 50 years...  
I have been struggling against the reaction whatever it may be either capitalism or more hideously fascism. Whatever the form that appear we have to fight back. 

Q One might criticise Dr. Vickramabahu who was fighting against the capitalist and fascist system this time representing another capitalistic political party?
A: Yes I am representing party which is a liberal democratic party. What we call in politically liberal democratic party of course representing democratic aspects of capitalism. So I have to come to that stage because in this country there is threat of fascism. There is a clear indication of fascistic dictatorship being thrown on all people. Samasamajist or socialist should be prepared to link with the liberal capitalist leaders and fight back for democracy so that the struggle today is for justice, fair play and democracy. 

Q For that you don’t mind joining liberal democratic political movement?
Karl Marx and other Marxist leaders have insisted in a situation like this where Fascistic forces are struggling to come to power, that Marxist and socialist should combine with them and fight back to get the democracy that you need. So this is a struggle for democaracy against that fascistic danger which is already harping power and dominating the society and creating problems for all. 

Q We have seen in the history that  so called fascistic movement came with force and dictactorships. But here the fascist movement you refer to has come with the choice of the people. It is the majority working class is with the fascistic movement you refer. Even though you called them fascist, they have come with the people’s mandate. Your comment.
In Germany also Hitler had the power to come to power and establish himself through democracy becasue the socialists there were not prepared to combine with liberal democratic forces. That is why how Hitler came to power. So Hitler also had the backing of backward working class people. There were a number of backward parties. 
What happened was they were not politically mobilised and they were prepared to go with a Hitler. The disaster befell on the working class. We have to be careful by just saying you are going with capitalism, capitalist party. When you say capitalist party some parties are democratic, they are for justice, they are prepared to give national liberation to minority nationalities so that bourgeois parties are not equal to each other. They are politically very different. Like Hitler’s party and party of social democracies in Germany. 

Q If you come back to Sri Lankan politics left-wing Marxist socialist politics had never being popular except a short era where there were leaders like Colvin R de Silva, N. M. Perera and Pieter Keuneman. The political movement had failed to attract masses. Left wing parties had virtually been a failure. The worst is that some of these left wing leaders had betrayed the people and they had even joined the so called Fascist movement. The best example is your one-time political partner Vasudeva Nanayakkara and where he stands now. According to you why this left wing politics is going wrong in Sri Lanka? 
When we got independence from British Marxist or the socialist parties or Samasamajist parties were working together with the nationalist parties like the United National Party for liberation or independence. They were united in that. Also after discussing how the Tamil, Sinhala and Muslim nationalities could be given equality there was agreement between the Samasamajist and the UNPers. Both were prepared to make all three languages, Sinhalese, Tamil and English state languages and give equality so that everybody can be benefited. But then came the Sri Lanka Freedom Party which said ‘Sinhala only’. This is the disastrous thing that happened to this country. This is the beginning of the Fascism. And unfortunately leaders Colvin and NM  delightedly struggled together to get all three languages accepted with the UNP after getting defeated that from the Sinhala only and Sinhala only party was carrying on still making divisions in the society. They were prepared to join with this Sinhala only party to go for socialism. It is a ridiculous step they have taken. How could a Fascistic or neo-Fascistic party which is pressurise one section of the society could be socialist. This is the problem and that created divisions in movement and that is exactly why we are now say that we will not combine with bourgeois parties which don’t accept 13th Amendment and prepared to go beyond 13th Amendment to satisfy the minority nationalities. That is our principle. On that basis we can combine with Ranil Wickremesinghe and the UNP because they are prepared to give devolution and solve the problem of the Tamil people. 

Q Some political analysts say that this government is going towards more militaristic style of governance with appointing many military men with the civil administration posts. How do you describe this?
That is the path. The path for Fascism is always through militarism. Now they are saying military is good for health, military is good for development, education and everything you have to have military. This is a militaristic mania. Automatically the Fascistic state like Hitler’s day will be alive. 

Q Many view that you being a highly qualified academic sacrificed you bright career for a political cause. How do you describe the future Sri Lankan politics? 
I think it is very bright. But even though these maniacs are there and set back having a militaristic dictator for President, still there is a freedom for us to talk like this and condemn what has to be condemned. We have still the opening and freedom to combine and struggle back to educate people. General education is very much higher than ten years ago. So young people are rejecting all these maniacs. Therefore there is a bright future because people are prepared to listen, they are prepared to understand and they are prepared to sacrifice. And I am happy that I turned away from a mere academic life into a socialist and speak to the people and grab them out of this menace and to go forward. All religions say that all humans are the same. 

Q The most serious problem at present is the ethnic problem and we see that not only the majority Sinhalese but even the minority politicians are capitalising on this nationalistic and extremist idea. In this background how doyou see a solution to the ethnic problem in Sri Lanka?
As a principle all human are equal and actually all religious teachers have said that. Not only Buddha, Jesus Christ, Prophet Mohamed and any other religion say and scientists conclusively say no human could be a separatist. So therefore we must value others way of life and others thinking of their own. So that is the way to go forward. Number of societies have come out of this divisions on the principle of right of self-determination, equality and self-defence. That all three to be taken and we have solve the problem. Already we are half way through. We have come to constitution with 13th Amendment and prepared to go forward. We should take it forward. We should implement the 13th Amendment fully and then see what else we have to do to give more self independence and self-rule and to give whatever the lands belong to them. The criminal things this government does like trying to say that country belong to Sinhala only, just because they are the majority. This is the beginning of our decay. So we must get the masses out of thinking in this manner and see that we enlarge the society so that the minorities can come into  the mainline and to give positive contribution.  

Gota’s Envoy To Germany Wants Lankan Anti-Terror Task Force To Monitor Instagram In Europe

JULY 31, 2020

A video conference organised recently by the Ministry of Foreign Relations to discuss ‘strategic communications’ descended into a farce with several politically appointed ambassadors falling over each other to demonstrate their nationalist and patriotic credentials.

Manori Unambuwe

One such case was Manori Unambuwe, who was hand-picked by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to represent Sri Lanka as Ambassador to Germany. During the tele-conference Unambuwe floated the idea that an anti terrorism task force on cyber security should established to monitor social media platforms of youth in Europe, especially Sri Lankan Tamils living in the area.

“I am looking at how to build an idea of inclusive nationalism and promote the Sri Lankan identity, rather than Tamil, Muslim identity” the new envoy said. “We must develop different story lines that will have traction in Germany such as emphasis on sovereignty and territorial integrity. We must highlight that terrorism is very much alive with the LTTE, ISIS and others. The fight today is in cyberspace for example there was an Instagram campaign recently which ran the tag line – I am a Tamil and the genocide is a part of my identity. These things must be monitored closely and countered. You have to have a Counter terrorism Task Force on Cyberspace to monitor these campaigns in Europe and use Sri Lankan (Sinhala) youth as a front to counter these things,” she added

The shocking recommendation would effectively set up a surveillance mechanism to monitor Sri Lankans living in Europe through their social media accounts, a policy the Sri Lankan Government has already launched domestically.

Unambuwe who is also accredited to Switzerland first became prominent when she used her own social media platform to severely criticize the Swiss Government in December 2019.

In her rather undiplomatic post condemning the Swiss government and aimed more at human smugglers said “Forget your Korean language exams, TOEFL, or smuggling yourself to Australia. Just claim the Sri Lankan government threatened you, and harassed you, and you’ll get first class tickets for you and your family straight to a 1st world life in Switzerland! All courtesy of the Swiss embassy.”

Ironically, it is now revealed that Manori Unambuwe’s own brother has been blacklisted by several European countries including Germany for breach of commercial contracts and is no longer able to get a Schengen visa. He had played out several exhibiters promising to build stalls but had disappeared after taking their money. He is now reportedly using the sister’s diplomatic position to promote various other businesses.

A senior source at the Foreign Ministry said that the Ministry’s policy towards the Ambassador to Berlin was to dance attendance on her every wish.

Eyebrows were raised at the Ministry during the video conference when this newbie political appointee proceeded to lecture senior career foreign service officers on her seemingly absurd suggestions to monitor social media in European countries.

Ambassador Unambuwe had failed to realize the repercussions for Sri Lankan relations with such countries where monitoring of personal social media of their citizens is considered not only against the law but a severe breach of diplomatic protocol between countries.

Read More

Anatomy of a tribal democracy

Saturday, 1 August 2020 


Clearly, the ruling party ‘Pohottuwa’ commands the digital advantage. They have been in the business for more than three years. They have the digital resource advantage both official and unofficial. The others are catching up

“He who can make an exception is sovereign” – Carl Schmitt in 1922 

The pen was once mightier than the sword. In the age of the smartphone the tongue has taken over.

  The point of departure of this essay is digital electioneering amidst social distancing. 

Thanks to the smartphone, behaviour tends to leave behind digital footprints. 

COVID-19 has substantially altered the cacophony of the electoral process. The main contenders have made a definite, meaning full switchover to digital campaigning, micro-targeting and online mobilisation.

About 12 years ago I got a PC – not the black coated variety now overspreading in Hulftsdorp. It is something called a personal computer.

It was a maddening contraption which compelled my daughter Rashmi to gift me a clever compendium on how to get the basics right in the digital world. It was most appropriately called ‘Understanding Computers – a handbook for the perfect idiot’.

Thanks to that early fortuitous happening, I have followed the current electioneering process on YouTube, Facebook and most significantly on WhatsApp (Twitter eludes me still. I still cannot deal with ATMs. I fill a form and operate a savings account with a passbook).

The viral constraints on public rallies – humongous swarms of humans – has compelled political parties and candidates to focus on YouTube and most enjoyably one-on-one interviews.

It has produced a number of inquisitors who represent different political shades. My favourite is the bearded baldhead.

Clearly, the ruling party ‘Pohottuwa’ commands the digital advantage. They have been in the business for more than three years. They have the digital resource advantage both official and unofficial. The others are catching up. Thanks to the Election Commission, since the announcement of the date of elections some levelling of the playing field is thinly discernible.

I oppose the policies of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. But that opposition does not diminish my capacity to make a rational assessment. Gotabaya is a very popular product.

There is a strong conviction amongst a large swathe of the populace that President Gotabaya Rajapaksa will take the right call for the country.

I think they are wrong. That is my opinion. I cannot prove them wrong. Only time will tell.

Time is always telling. Time never stops telling. But we don’t listen. Only when we are kicked in the derrière that we blame time for not telling it loud enough.

There is the world of reality. There is the world of fantasy. What separates the two is the wall of fallacy. You cannot attack the false while you are mired in fallacy.

Mangala Samaraweera has a point. I don’t know what he will do next. But he got out of a charade –meaningless and futile. 

We must not confuse our choices. There is always a good choice and there is always a better choice. Then there is the best choice which we will not have during my lifetime because clientelist politics is too entrenched.

Politics is not about who does what but who gets what and how much and how fast.  In this Parliamentary Election the Pohottuwa has leveraged digital technology to brand a single product – the President defender of the faith under whose benign guidance we will glimpse “vistas of prosperity and splendour”. 

Neither Anura Kumara’s promise of integrity nor Sajith Premadasa’s capacity to bleed for the have-nots present a viable alternative Government.

If they on other hand wanted to preserve the democratic gains and arrest our slide into an autocratic rule, why are they contesting each other?

There is the ‘Peratrugami’ left fighting the Vimukthikami left. On the liberal democratic circus, the ‘Samagi’ party is fighting the ‘Eksath’ party. 

All these well-meaning people have failed to tell voters what needs telling. If they vote for the thug, the extortionist, the child molester, the smuggler, the fraudster, they are in reality declaring their own oneness with those despicable deeds.

On YouTube I watched the chili powder dispenser pleading self-defence. The chap who started off with a suburban communication centre assured on YouTube that he possessed no tangible assets and that his current affluent home was the result of his good wife making lucky breaks in her business ventures.

Cynical mockery of obvious truths can no longer be dismissed as unfortunate gaffes that time would repair. The digital records will continue to haunt them but that will be only if the other side has the creative will to not let them forget.

The internet is a great instrument for citizen participation in democracy. The digital platform can either promote decency and truth or assault decency and subvert truth.

Recently I received a video clip on WhatsApp. It showed two young ladies engaged in passionate canvassing at the doorstep of a woman voter.

The conversation runs like this.

“We have come here not to promise you anything. We will not tell you that we will give you this or that. We have come to tell you that we must send a ‘Sinhalaya’ to speak on behalf of the Sinhala people. You will know about the national movement started by the late ‘Soma Hamuduruwo’. This is a person who was in it from its very inception. He was a ‘pioneer’ in the struggle to bring the President in to that high office.”

Then, the lady dressed in a smart saffron blouse pronounces the exotic Sinhala name of the candidate and says emphatically “we want only Sinhala Buddhist Catholic votes. Why? Because we strongly oppose Muslim extremism. We also oppose Tamil separatism. We want to a send a ‘Sinhalaya’ to Parliament to speak for the Sinhalese”.

The internet is a great instrument for citizen participation in democracy. The digital platform can either promote decency and truth or assault decency and subvert truth

Then she says the preference number of the candidate is number two. His ‘jathiya’ is number one. (www.youtube.com/watch?v=gsQSpT9WUx0)

I leave the reader to make sense out of the sales pitch of the young lady on behalf of the Sinhala nationalist candidate.

The video clip speaks for itself. Her quaint appeal for Sinhala Buddhist Catholic votes contains another phenomenon. The Sinhala Buddhist Catholic hybrid is an ethicised identity marker. It excludes non-Sinhala Catholics. It is an exciting avenue to be explored by scholars of social anthropology. 

This is what I fear about this brand of political patriotism. There is nothing wrong with benign patriotism. As Yuval Noah Harari points out in his ’21 Lessons for the 21st Century’ there is indeed nothing wrong with patriotism. Every nation claims to be unique. Indeed, they are so.

The problem begins when patriotism morphs into chauvinistic ultra-nationalism. Instead of claiming my nation is unique the candidate seems to have persuaded his supporters that their nation is supreme.

As Harari points out, when a thousand people believe a narrative or a story for one month it is called fake news. When a billion people believe it for a thousand years it earns the sanctity of religion. “We are admonished not to call it fake news in order not to hurt the feelings of the devout and faithful.”
For better or worse fiction is among the most effective tools in humanity’s toolkit.

The world is what it is. It is not something we chose. It is a place where we must live, like it or not. And we must live with the lady in the saffron blouse in the video clip and her candidate.

This is all about the Parliamentary Election. In this election we must decide what we can do together and what we can do apart from each other.

All virtue is rooted in truth. Authoritarianism begins when we cannot separate truth from what is appealing now. The citizen who disputes truth beckons to tyranny.

When fascism says ‘the people’ it means ‘some people’. Fascism is the art of persuading people to follow a leader who undertakes to protect them from a non-existing enemy.

The fertile ground for fascism is a society riddled with inequality. In such a disturbingly dystopian society the miserable poor find truth to be too much to comprehend. The vulgarly rich find truth to be of too little consequence.