The most difficult and challenging period in Sri Lanka’s history
will begin tomorrow.
Will the 2329 year old Sinhala Buddhist civilization in this
country come to an end?
Dr. Sudath Gunasekara, Mahanuwara 12.7.2022
My answer is no. Only the Chapter on Rajapaksa family in the
Mahavamsa will be closed. It will be followed by a very
uncertain and really turbulent period that might be followed
by a period of prosperity, happiness and peace for all if the
present system of Government is replaced with a homemade
model of development that make the maximum use of its
bountiful physical, human and cultural resources under a
strong, patriotic, visionary and benevolent Sinhala Buddhist
leader who considers the subjects as his own children as it
was done by our ancient Kings, following the footsteps of
Dharmasoka the Great.
With the announcements that Gota will go on Wednesday and
Ranil will also follow, most people will think the problem is
solved, as the “the nation’s curse, the Gota and Ranil Alliance”
as some people think, is hopefully likely to end this week.
But in my opinion, it is not so. I strongly feel this is only the
beginning of a worse period in the political history of this
country. True enough we did have a period of partial anarchy
over the past few years starting from around August 2015 with
incremental effect as the months passed by.
But the real troublesome era which I would describe as “full
anarchy” has dawned only now. You mark 13 th of July 2022 as
the starting date of this anarchic period in this country. In fact,
it has already started on the 9 th with the invasion and
occupation of the President House, the Presidential
Secretariate and the Temple Trees, the official Residence of the
Prime Minister of this country by the JVP mob. Now all these
places are occupied by a riotous antigovernment mob installing
the rule of mobocracy in place of democracy we had even
though it was also not perfect. Now the rioters are in
occupation of these public buildings doing enormous damages
to public property, restoration of which will cost billions of
public funds for any government to restore them to their
previous status.
Let us not waste our time by trying to speculate whether it was
an American coup, of the “Maharaja’s Jockstrap Protest at
Galle-Face – A Re-run of Ukraine’s ‘Maiden Square’ False-Flag
Operation on February 2014 (Lankaweb July 9th, 2022) as
Jonathan Manz has said or a coup organized jointly by a
collective group of NGO, Civil Societies the Church and other
anti-Sinhala anti-Buddhist elements with foreign funds.
Majority who flocked into Colombo on that day from outskirts
are mostly who are disgruntled and hungry masses of this
country sans any dirty politics. The inflow of large crowds of
farmers from all over the country to Colombo was the
culmination of long-term plan by the JVP orchestrated under
the able leadership of Namal Karunaratna, making use of the
shortage of agricultural inputs such as chemical Fertilizer,
pesticides and insecticides. But those who remain inside these
buildings forcibly and illegally occupying them are the real
culprits of the game and they are the hardcore JVP and
peratugugaami carders led by the IUSF, the curse which has
ruined University education in this country for a long time, due
to the failure of the universities to arrest this disaster in time in
spite of our warning for years that one day will ruin our entire
education system in the country. This movement in the
universities with a strong interuniversity network had been
ideologically nurtured by the JVP from the beginning with a
long- term plan of a major uprising. Hardcore JVP leaders like
Anura Kumara, Kumar Gunaratnam and Lalkantha are the
chief dynamos behind this movement.
These assertions are evident as one listen to the statement
made by Kumar Gunaratnam where he said ‘Strugglers are the
Law” and as such they have to be there in any future
government. Even Tilvin Siva expressed the same views.
I call upon the authorities in charge of education in this country
to take immediate and stern steps at least now, to save the
posterity and university education in this country with broad
reforms in the sector ensuring all facilities for students to
pursue their studies.
It was announced this morning that there will be a meeting of
the strugglers with the Speaker this afternoon. It further said 29
strugglers are going to attend this meeting. This number made
me to wonder whether they have a suggestion to demand the
Speaker to nominate these 29 by the respective political parties
via their National lists to replace those who are there in
Parliament as National list members., so that they will also have
a representation in the present Parliament Even if the Speaker
agrees, to my understanding one cannot do that without the
consensus of all party leaders. Moreover, it is unconstitutional
and goes against the election Law. If you say that then they
might ask, as to how Gotabhaya brought Ranil and Dhammika
Perera to Parliament.
So, this will create another impasse in Cabinet forming even if
both Gota and Ranil resign as stated. The mob might use the
same tactics to get the consent of the Party leaders for
inclusion of their members in the national list as well.as well.
One has to remember that this struggle is a long term plan on
which they have been meticulously working, having learned
from the failures of 1971 and 1989.
At the same time even in the resignation of Gota “still there is a
big gap between the cup and the lip’ as politicians could never
be trusted since both have not yet tendered their resignations,
although millions of people who flocked in to Colombo on the
9 th of July have already apparently chased them out of the
Presidential House, Presidential Secretariate at the Gall Face
and also from the Temple Trees, the official residence of the
Prime Minister. The mob occupy these buildings until
Gotabhaya and Ranil handover their joint resignations.But
none of them has resigned as yet.
As the say goes ‘A smiling cat can never be trusted” similarly a
politician too can never be trusted. Now although Gota has
agreed to resign on the 13th no one can believe that, until the
papers are handed over. Why not now? And why 13 th . I opine
he as secret plan to leave the country, either leaving the
resignation paper to be collected by the PM or having reach his
safe destination to make some arrangement to come back with
fortification, armed with strong military backing. This may be
what he meant when he said “he has the support of a powerful
external source and therefore has no overt concerns about his
future” as given below.
We must not forget that he is also a shroud man when it comes
to personal interests, although he does not have the same
acumen when it comes to matters of other people. In my
experience he is a man who always put his self-interest first.
Ranil on the other hand must be waiting Gota to hand over
papers to him first, so that he can be the President at least for
one day, before the Parliament elect a new President within
one month, as stipulated in the Constitution. In any case he will
also have to go from Parliament as his appointment to
Parliament from the so-called National list was also illegal as his
name was not there in the UNP national list submitted to the
Election Commissioner in 2020.
However, still there is some grey area even with regard to
Gota’s resignation as there is some speculation as he is
reported to have said his confidants that “he has the support
of a powerful external source and therefore has no overt
concerns about his future” By saying so we do not know what
he has up his sleeves. Whether it is American or Indian
intervention no one ca n predict. If that is so I warn him not to
dream of such disastrous dreams. Because if he resorts to such
silly and disastrous means, the aragalaya activists might even
resort to extra legal action.
As a person who has voted him, canvassed heavily and written
long letters to media on his behalf, as the whole nation trusted
him as a true nationalist leader, I will never forgive him for the
humiliation he did to me on the 13 th of Feb 2022 at my village,
Meemure, in front of my own people by ignoring me by not
giving 5 minutes to receive him on behalf of my village and its
people. But I feel sorry for him for the way he has been
dethroned. Had he walk the talk he made at the
Ruwanweliseya on the 18 th of Nov. 2019, he would have ended
up as a legend in this country and never has ended up
disastrously like this, carrying the curse of a whole nation on his
shoulders, for betraying the aspiration of 6.9 m voters. Bad
advice from his Chief advisor Lalith and his fortune tellers at
Anuradhapura and even Thirupathi in India, lack of PR on his
part, reluctance to listen to others, his obvious arrogance and
above all his ignorance on the art of governance and statecraft
and public administration were the main reasons for his
downfall. In my own view the crown was too heavy for him. The
way he set about as the President right at the beginning shows
he had no clue of the role he was expected to play as the
President of this country. His failure to take suitable action to
manage foreign debt which was reported to be about 54 billion
US$ by end of 2019, to increase domestic production in both
Agricultural and Industrial sectors on the one hand and control
state expenditure by cutting down waste and extravagance like
the Provincial councils and manage the economy have proved
that he was misfit in that position. Had he taken timely action
in these areas, at least the speed of deterioration could have
been mitigated.
Finally, a word for him who is going to succeed Gota as the
President at these turbulent times of the history of this nation.
The post of President is not a bed of roses. More so particularly
at this time. You are faced with a big challenge in handling a
Herculian task of rescuing a nation made bankrupt by
politicians like you, for 74 years since the so-called
Independence in 1948. It is high time to think of an entirely a
novel, creative and a home grown political mechanism that is
radically different and free from the stale post- colonial
dependency trap, that will first, rescue the country from the
present abyss of the current political and economic mess by
taking steps immediately to provide the people with the basic
essentials such as staple food items, domestic gas and fuel to
restore normalcy in the day to day life of people and second,
lead the nation to an economically prosperous and vibrant
status, firstly, achieving self -sufficiency in agriculture, livestock
products and fishing and boosting traditional export industries
like Tea, Coconut, Rubber, spices and gems .
In the process it is also imperative to restore law and order and
not allow unlawful elements to interfere with governance. Aa a
starting point I would suggest the new regime make a full
assessment of all damages done to state and private property,
on the 9 th by the mob and thereafter punish those responsible.
If the new government fails to restore democracy by
consolidating Law and order and address the burning
grievances of the people in time by simultaneously bringing all
undesirable elements under control and mobilizing all avenues
of economic development both at home and abroad. It is
indeed a super Herculean task which only a modern Hercules
can handle.
But remember the most difficult and challenging period in Sri
Lanka’s history will begin tomorrow.
Good luck to the new President and the Prime Minister and the
suffering masses of mother Lanka.