The incorruptible and never late Chandrika

The incorruptible and never late Chandrika

WAITING: Why did not Chandrika ever keep an appointment? Why did she make it a point to get late? She had absolute contempt for the vassals who voted for them and treated them as Praveni Dasa's. Therefore, in order to make her presence felt by them, the vilest scum of the earth, she made it a routine to get late.

The hoi-polloi does not have any urgent business, so they can afford to wait for me, was the impression she gave. The people waited for hours, like waiting for Godot. I believe, she enjoyed these trysts with the destiny of other people.

As the President, she wielded so much power, which even her grandfather did not have. Most people simply gave in waited for hours, until the Queen of Sri Lanka arrived. Some of her supporters were so shameless, as their present position depended on her munificence and did not even show any opposition to her. She just refused to heed the press, especially her new friend and old foe.

All people who had absolute power conclude that the public has no opinion and they must be led up the garden path and that they love to be led by the herdsman. Chandrika never cared about public opinion. She continued to be late and continued to tell the people that the Bandaranaikes never robbed.

She was the most honest person in the entire country. She continued to defame everyone else. The public believed every single syllable she uttered.

They wanted to believe that the UNP was corrupt and that the UNP terrorized the people and that she was responsible for eradicating 'Dushanaya and Beeshanaya' The hoi-polloi, the scum of the earth, lapped up what she said and clapped thunderously when she went on a tirade against everyone else.

Princess Margaret visited Sri Lanka, she was kept waiting for nearly one hour by Chandrika. Chandrika must have derived the same pleasure that Idi Amin derived when he got white men to carry him, to show that he was superior to them.

What would have gone through the mind of Princess Margaret, or any other person with modicum of civility, is not a matter of conjecture. Not only the British, the Portuguese and the Dutch, who conquered us, felt that it was their prime obligation to civilize the barbarians.

The Portuguese and the Dutch missionaries thought of saving the poor souls from being eternally burnt in purgatory and hell by converting them. The missionaries had an abundance of sympathy for the souls of the barbarians and did not show any sympathy to the pagan heretics. They came with the Bible in one hand and the sword in the other.

The British thought it was their bounden duty to civilize the barbarians. When the head of State keeps waiting in the wings anyone and at the least, the Royalty of our former colonial masters, who had visited Sri Lanka for the tsunami, without getting down from the upper floor of the Temple Trees, the Princess would have felt that even after all the years of occupation, the British had failed to teach the first and the elementary lesson in Civilization and that is to keep an appointment.

The feeling that she is still the President, or that all Sri Lankans are her 'pravenidasayas', has not yet escaped her mind. Therefore, when she has to travelled on the National Air Line, it has to postpone its schedule by one hour to await the arrival of Chandrika.

This shows the depths into which this country has fallen, even after she departed from the Presidency. The national airline has no guts to fly without her.

I can understand the feeling of the other passengers who have to take connecting flights. They will not only miss their flights but miss important appointments. I know how the passengers panic when they miss their flights. Unlike Chandrika these are people who value their time, and often, time is very precious for them.

Who is responsible for this delay? During Premadasa's time, when he commissioned an Air Lanka plane to visit a destination, there was hue and cry.

The media went to town. I remember an editorial in a newspaper castigating him. Premadasa, the commoner, should pay more respect to the exchequer and the tax payers' money, but who are we to question Royalty or blue-blooded Chandrika? She will continue to treat everyone, even the officials of SriLankan Airlines, as her 'pravenidasayas'.

It is the duty of the President of the country to put a halt to this attitude of servile bureaucracy by those who will do anything to please their former masters at the tax payers' expense.

The Supreme Court is examining Chandrika's doings as some right thinking lawyers had had the courage to bring these deeds before it.

Recently, some judges of the Supreme Court submitted a report on the corrupt arms deal of some in the Security Forces. It is for the authorities to investigate the many deals that smack of corruption, which were published in a Sunday newspaper. What better newspaper, amongst us, has the evidence to show how corrupt Chandrika and her regime was as this newspaper.

It is in the interest of the nation that a proper investigation is conducted, into these exposures, to find out whether this editor was misleading the public or not.

As Chandrika is no longer immune to prosecution, the Attorney-General can decide whether to indict Chandrika or not. If the Attorney General decides to file indictment against Chandrika the State will not find a better witness than this editor to prove its cases.

As it comes to my mind, I enumerate below the great scams, corruption and unsavoury deals as disclosed by this Sunday newspaper and sometimes by the UNP Members of Parliament:

(1) The Galle Port: Awarding of the contract without transparency and flouting tender procedure

(2) The Puttalam Cement deal which was known as the 'Thawakkal Ganudenuwa'

(3) The massive fraud involved in the privatization of Air Lanka Ltd.

(4) Importing locomotives from France from a company which had never manufactured locomotive engines.

(5) The Air Lanka Air-Bus deal. This deal was known as the biggest racket of all. When the value of the air-buses were US$ 285 Million, Chandrika' s Government is alleged to have paid US$ 596 Million to purchase 6 Air Buses. An MP said in Parliament that depriving the Sri Lanka Government of US$ 205 Million was the greatest fraud committed by a Sinhalese since King Vijaya landed in Sri Lanka.

(6) The cancellation of the contract with a US firm, Evons International Ltd. to build a modern city in Fort, after the Central Bank was destroyed by a terrorist bomb. This cancellation made Suren Wickramasinghe, the then Chairman of the UDA, to resign and Sri Lanka had to pay US$ 250 Million to the company for the cancellation, as Mrs. Madeleine Albright, Additional Secretary of State, made a public statement to the effect that corruption in Sri Lanka starts from the Presidential Secretariat.

(7) The massive scam involving the privatization of the Oruwala Steel Corporation.

(8) The lack of Transparency in the deal involving the sale of a JEDB tea estate to a Nathan Aiyyadorai of Malaysia.

(9) The Hilton deal where Chandrika ordered US$ 120 million to be paid to Japan.

(10) Approving and granting of a loan of 400 Million to her friend Ronnie Pieris from the Bank of Ceylon, London Branch without any collateral.

When all exposures were being made by this editor of the Sunday newspaper, Chandrika continued to appear in the media to tell the people that she had not robbed one cent from the State. She spoke about the sacrifices she and her family had made.

She had sacrificed her father, her husband and ultimately gave an eye for the sake of the country. There was no one in the audience who grieved with her. Today, even the Supreme Court is examining her conduct.

It is an oft quoted cliche "that some people can be deceived all the time and all the people can be deceived for some of the time, but all people cannot be deceived all the time and the truth will survive at the end."

Most politicians seem to forget this home truth when they are in power. They seem to think that Sri Lanka is their praveni property and the dasas working in them should always elect them to power, otherwise the whole country would be ruined.

Let's not forget that there are many Tamils who are opposed to terrorism and are willing to work within a united Sri Lanka. I receive number of e-mails endorsing my views on the LTTE and terrorism and about arriving at the settlement which is acceptable to the majority of the majority and the majority of the minority. This e-mail proves my contention without a doubt.

hello,

read your nice article in the daily news about Anton Balasingham.

all what is stated may be right....

but Tamils should be made to feel they are part of the mainstream in every walk of life...

It can easily be done under current laws.. no need for new peace plans....

but there is NO political will in Colombo.... that is the big problem.

I Also Hope You Endorse meritocracy! I was born and brought up in Colombo....

I don't support separatist violence. I even wrote an article in Thinakaran (under pseuodonym) in October 2005 supporting then Presidential candidate Mahinda Rajapaksa.

But I feel the Sinhalese writers/reporters/journalists/editors etc should act with conscience to build up national unity.

this applies to editorial staff at Virakesari/ Thinakural/ Sudaroli also....

kind regards and season's greetings,