Missions unaccomplished with defence chiefs as DPL heads
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| Now that the war economy is no longer sustainable and Sri Lanka cannot tout this as an excuse to borrow more the defence establishment is being given the Viagra in the form of diplomatic postings to further spread a vicious propaganda the Tamils abroad are indeed floating Tigers. When will this madness end? |
(May 07, London, Sri Lanka Guardian) 'Ballage vada ballamai karanda oney; booruwage vada boorowa karanda oney.' This local saying was satired quite aptly in a popular Sinhala comedy series which means that a dog must do its duty and the donkey should stick to its own task.
So what is our external affairs minister trying to do posting defence chiefs to our missions abroad? Is it not bad enough that the whole island and particularly the North and East is militarised with high security zones and soldiers deputed to trade in agricultural and dairy produce despite the war having ended two years ago.
Times are indeed hard for the valiant soldiers who defended the country from terrorism and what with having spent most part of the national budget and borrowings from World Bank and IMF (these arms of the UN provide loans to covertly fuel the war so that poor countries like ours would forever be at their mercy) to do so, the master brain and ex Vice Chancellor of the University of Colombo Prof. G.L. Peiris (or perhaps the only brain in the present government however warped it may be) has chosen to find virtually unemployable defence force some means of getting by. Douglas Devananda, Karuna and Pillayan are doing a yeoman job employing them as contract killers but still there are plenty more who cannot find employment to sustain themselves.
Now the higher up one is in the establishment, the better the perks, such as diplomatic postings.
Former Navy Commander, Admiral Thisara Samarasinghe, is being despatched post-haste to Canberra to take up the position of High Commissioner. Terrorism experts must have provided valuable information that Black Sea Tigers have berthed off Canberra and would be launching their attacks pretty soon. This is what happens when you court Rohan Gunaratne and Dayan Jayatilleke and their likes. The former would send out false alarms climbing platforms and eulogising to anyone who would listen and the latter would resort to history and Gramsci or his dilly dallying with PLOTE, Che Guevara and Trotskyism and one would be mesmerised.
Then there was that amiable Brigadier Prasanna Samarasinghe who until recently was military spokesman at the High Commission in London. Asked to counter allegations of security forces’ excesses against journalists in the House of Commons in 2007 during a forum organised by the Exiled Journalists Network he hemmed and hawed and said no journalists were targeted by the government. This he uttered amidst speakers from Amnesty International, RSF (Reporters sans Frontieres) and the head of WPI (World Press Institute) providing clear evidence of killings of journalists by the government!!! He was clearly uncomfortable among a pack of journalists who virtually hounded him out.
It would also be a prudent measure if the minister completely does away with foreign service examinations and save some kudos for the dwindling national coffers while also saving wannabe diplomats pain and anguish to look elsewhere for their careers such as entering politics or hmm... military service as a step on the diplomatic ladder.
Lake House also has its own little contingent of former military trained personnel who double up as journalists. Panduka Senanayake, Ramani Kanguarachchi and a few more infiltrated the establishment in the ‘90s purportedly to propagate military feats but also to gather intelligence on journalists within.
Just imagine for a moment journalists role-playing in the military for services rendered. They would tell it all like they are taught to do and be putties in the enemy’s hands and they cannot keep a secret for all the tea in China. They can shoot off their mouth and put those words to great skill on paper but can they handle an AK 47 or an RPG (Rocket-Propelled Grenade)?
Now that the war economy is no longer sustainable and Sri Lanka cannot tout this as an excuse to borrow more the defence establishment is being given the Viagra in the form of diplomatic postings to further spread a vicious propaganda the Tamils abroad are indeed floating Tigers. When will this madness end?
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