A Brief Colonial History Of Ceylon(SriLanka)
Sri Lanka: One Island Two Nations
A Brief Colonial History Of Ceylon(SriLanka)
Sri Lanka: One Island Two Nations
(Full Story)
Search This Blog
Back to 500BC.
==========================
Thiranjala Weerasinghe sj.- One Island Two Nations
?????????????????????????????????????????????????Thursday, August 10, 2017
Ravi’s Exit Delay Shows Yahapalana Crisis
I
am not interested in the JO motion of no-confidence. That is merely
another illustration of the Rajapaksa camp trying to play a hypocritical game of fighting for justice and honesty in politics. Ravi Karunanayakehimself
is in large measure a product of the political culture created by the
decade of Rajapaksa misrule and impunity. Ravi’s miscalculation was that
he considered he could act with similar impunity being in the ranks of a
government that rode to power under the noble banner of good governance.
It
is in the nature of all revolutionary movements that counter
revolutionary pressures emerge from within the ranks. In office, the new
order begins to show strange resemblances with the old. Ravi managing
to hold on, simply highlights the counter revolutionary crisis within
the yahapalanaya government. Those of us who work for
the civic campaign are left both bemused and bewildered. What is more,
this case portends that the future course of yahapalanaya is also
fraught with reactionary possibilities. For some time, stories and
gossip have been floating around inferring
that powerful persons within government are responsible for delaying to
act on cases against men of the previous regime. Ravi Karunanayake’s
successful tenacity tends to add credence to such stories. Concurrent
with such possible counterrevolutionary manoeuvres it becomes important
that the civic movement must get more firmly organised and be more
demanding. At the end of the day, we the people are the transformative
leaders. With the revolution of January 8th we face a transformative
moment in the life of our country. “In this transformative moment,
everybody contributes to, and in fact co-creates, the world we live in,
whether conscious of their agency or not. Every choice, every action,
every discussion, every interaction is a reflection of how we are
leading our own lives,” said Alfonsu Montuori of the California
Institute of Integral Studies.
Let’s
make it all clear: At this stage, there isn’t any need to have a
discourse within the sub judice space of Ravi’s case. That is prohibited
by law. On the other hand, one could discourse on the ethical
impropriety and serious moral
conduct that is implied in Ravi’s own defence before the media after
the court case. The ethical dynamics of this operate independently of
the issue of guilt with regard to any crime involved in the bond case.
The ethics of impropriety alone clearly give the red signal that Ravi
must go- and go without any further hesitancy. Every day of hesitancy
and waiting for something to fall off from the sky only compounds a bad
case of political ethics. There is another substantive issue and that is
that the Minister clinging on to high government office can be
perceived as having the potential to influence the proceedings of the
case itself. This makes up a substantial two-fold reason why Ravi must
go without playing a cat and mouse game.
Take
a look at the stupid statement the besieged Minister made before the
crowd outside court and relayed to the public by mass media: He said he
was “discharged.” This is a lie. The question of discharge does not
arise when someone is summoned and questioned by the Commission and
released thereafter. Even Wimal Weerawansa and Basil Rajapaksa have
been “discharged,” in this sense. One is discharged only against formal
charges made in a court case. This wasn’t the case here. It is not
befitting for a Minister of government to make such a glib statement
meant to fool a gullible public or to throw sand in our eyes. Plain
deception! Second, the Minister said that this is a clear case of
mischief on the part of officials in the Attorney General’s Department.
It is not done for a Minister to attack a key department of his own government and pass the buck. He knows the AG is not in a position to refute the Minister in a public statement. This is deception number two. Third, Ravi says he
is not expected to know about what his wife does in a company run by
her-making reference to the lease and subsequent purchase of
the Penthouse by a Company belonging to his wife and daughter. Dear
reader, just jack up your imagination to the utmost capacity- level and
try and visualise this scenario: Ravi is aware that the family is to move to the luxury penthouse. He
does not bother to ask the wife how the deal was done, how she funded
that. He goes at least every night to sleep with his wife in this luxury
apartment but never for a moment does it occur to him to ascertain how
it all came about. Next, the same penthouse was subsequently purchased
for Rs 165 million. It is not Ravi’s business to enquire how
she got such a large block of money. Hence, he never asks the wife but
simply goes on living there. He has no natural curiosity to ask that.
Now,
can you ever believe in this fairy tale? Even a Kinder kid would have
his curiosity aroused; but Ravi’s curiosity isn’t forthcoming. And, he
was the Minster of Finance!
What made matters worse was when Ravi is reported to have constructed a case that Anika Wijesuriya, the witness who testified before the Commission had been a former lover of Arjun Aloysius, the benefactor of this house. That lowered the case toward a kind of porno level.