The follies of the government

(November 26, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) The late S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike fell out with the UNP and formed the SLFP. After his demise Sirima Bandaranaike came crying and got the premiership. After her term J.R. Jayewardene did a clean sweep and the UNP ruled the country for 17 years. Then Chandrika managed to come to power and she became the president.

The people behind her, including the current president then managed to get her to throw out the UNP in 2004. After that everyone thought that the UNP will never raise its head. But the recent provincial council elections showed that the people are still with the UNP.

The UNP is not dead but there is a mysterious hand behind it to suppress its rise. The two candidates who contested as chief ministers of the UNP polled more votes than the standing chief ministers. (There is a case pending regarding the preferential votes of the North Central Provincial Council.)

Maj. Gen. Janaka Perera the war veteran died under mysterious circumstances after his repeated cries for security fell on deaf ears. The other candidate, Ranjan Ramanayake narrowly escaped a disaster but was injured when goons attacked him. The present government does not care two hoots about human rights and the sufferings of the people. What the ‘boss’ wants is to be in power. Without implementing the 17th Amendment he hides behind some select committee report which will never see the light of day during this presidency.

He does not seem to realise that his ploy has been well and truly exposed. The present police and army chiefs are on service extensions and many other ‘higher-ups’ too. So we can be pretty sure of what’s in store. For some luck the Supreme Court saw through the Gazette notification to censor the private electronic media. It seems the regime does not like the general public getting the correct information about bribery and corruption.

Very soon people will be parading on the streets demanding the government give their staple food, rice and dhal at a affordable rate and not to go back to the 1970s starving period under the SLFP government. The President has now come up with a novel idea that we must grow our own food and not depend on other countries to supply them. If he wanted to make this country self sufficient he should have got started as soon as he became the President. Why did he wait all this time to tell the people to grow their own food?

Today the problem is the right hand does not know what the left hand is doing. The last time we wanted to grow all our food during the time of the Sirima government the drunkards who participated in the May Day rallies shouted at the top of their voice "seeni natuwa bath kannan" (eat rice without sugar), "haal natuwa te bonnam" (drink tea without rice).

Rice could not be eaten on Fridays. People had to grow yams, sweet potatoes, manioc and various types of yams in home gardens. Rice or paddy could not be transported without a permit. Milk powder, dhal, sugar, chilies, rice etc. were all given on ration. I too had the experience of getting up at 4 am to stand in a queue to get one loaf of bread. What I feel is that the food scarcity that we had during the ’70s is closing on us.

The Rajapakse Bros sent Basil to India with an olive branch but the Indians forced him to accept their terms and sent some relief which was to be handled by the ICRC but not the Sri Lankan government. What a shame!

The President said in New York in September that the forces were only 4 km from Kilinochchi. The Prime Minister came on TV and said the next day Kilinochchi will be under the forces. The Army Chief said the forces can ‘see’ the town from their stationed positions. That 4 km stretch seems to be made of elastic.

Whatever it is I salute our gallant forces and all those who sacrificed their lives to save our motherland.

Concerned Citizen - Sri Lanka Guardian