Death to democracy and road to dictatorship - Part
IV:
Government policies bring economic boom
A. A. M. Nizam
The best human quality is to give credit to those who deserve, and
refrain from indulging in self-aggrandizement. It is hilarious to find
Sarath Fonseka attempting to claim sole ownership for defeating the
terrorists and that too without having involved at the beginning and end
of the war. If the operation unfortunately failed will he come forward
to accept the responsibility in the same vein?
A person like him will naturally together with his newfound foreign
servile treacherous cabal will blame the President and castigate him to
the hilt in such an unfortunate event. Lenin never claimed sole
proprietorship for the October Revolution. Chairman Mao never said that
Chinese Revolution was possible only because of him. President Fidel
Castro never asserted ownership to Cuban Revolution.
President Mahinda Rajapaksa |
President Ho Chi Ming never professed that it was he who defeated the
Americans in Vietnam. Similarly the magnanimous President Rajapaksa
never claimed sole ownership for the military annihilation of Tiger
terrorists, and proclaimed that each and everyone in the forces,
including those who sacrificed their precious life and all the patriotic
masses made the victory possible eventhough it was his strong will and
firm determination that made the victory possible.
The greedy and haughty Fonseka impishly claims that he was contesting
the Presidential Election to establish democracy, eradicate corruption,
guarantee media freedom and develop the country, among many other
things.
How can one expect democracy from Sarath Fonseka when he has clearly
shown already the fangs of his dictatorial tendencies?
He had revised his resignation letter drafted by the treacherous
cabal without any consultation with the authors of the letter. He has
barred many in the Opposition including Ravi Karunanayake, Lakshman
Kiriella from addressing his meetings. He has also barred many media
institutions from attending his meetings and conferences. Despite
treacherous cabal’s claim to the contrary, he has said that he does not
want to be a ceremonial Head of State like William Gopallawa.
His assertion that he would eradicate corruption can be considered as
the joke of the year. How can a person who got 45 million of army budget
apportioned to purchase a vehicle for himself. A person who is alleged
to have made millions as commissions through material and ammunition
imported to the Army through his Son-in-Law’s company, Hicorp Company of
Oklahama could eradicate corruption?
Documentary evidence prove that Hicorp Company registered immediately
after Sarath Fonseka became Army Commander belongs to his Son-in-Law
Danuna Tillekeratne.
Security systems
Evidence shows that this Company supplied the security systems for
the Army Headquarters, a wide variety of items and munitions,
surveillance cameras, related ancillaries and gas masks to binoculars to
the Army.
It is reported that as the Agent of the Pakistani arms dealer Ahmed
Nissar, Danuna Tillekaratne received commissions on all deals his
Father-in-law made and which included 2 U.S. Cents for every bullet and
US $ 20 for every shell procured. The war was a real fortune for Sarath
Fonseka and his family. Four Army Special Force Commandos sent by Sarath
Fonseka are reported to be providing security for his son-in-law in
Oklahoma.
Reports indicated that Sarath Fonseka has taken on rent a large house
at Rajakeeya Mawatha, Colombo 7 for use as his election office.
The monthly rental for this house is Rs. 1 million and it was
reported that he paid Rs. 12 million as an advance to the landlord. How
can a retired General afford such luxuries and from where does the money
flow? Was it from Prabhakaran’s parents or his friends abroad?
While professing to guarantee media freedom Sarath Fonseka had become
very harsh on media personnel and media institutions. When he was the
Army Commander he was very unsympathetic to media personnel and some
comments he made on media and media personnel in an interview with
Sunday Observer on July 20, 2008 excerpted below give a clear indication
of media freedom that can be expected from him.
“They are not supposed to create situations where they groom people
and make heroes out of them. We know that they are being bribed, given
‘drinks’, treated in restaurants and they have their own vested
interests. And is it ethical for them to go for agendas misleading the
people?
These so called media guys are not responsible to the people and they
are not entitled to such media freedom. Media freedom is there for you
to do the right thing and to be fair by everybody. Nobody has given
freedom for anybody to drive their own agendas. We know very well about
those media people who take bribes, write and voice their option for
some personal gains.” He also castigated the journalists saying that
they do not go beyond Medawachchiya and write false reports about Army
operations nullifying the army gains.
Sarath Fonseka has gone on record of being against of granting any
concessions or privileges to the minority communities. One reason that
he fell out with the President was that he requested permission for
100,000 new recruits for the army after the end of war, to settle them
in the midst of areas habituated by the minorities, which could have
created unrest among communities. In an interview with the Indian
magazine Outlook he says that when he made the request the President
told him that he’d stop recruiting new people to the Army because it’s
too strong and too big and that Sri Lanka would become like Myanmar.
Indo-Lanka Accord
He has also told the Outlook magazine that he would go beyond the
13th Amendment and beyond the Indo-Lanka Accord as the Indo-Lanka Accord
is old now. The despicable political bandits JVP keep mum on these
statements after putting the country into turmoil in 1987 against the
same issues and torching billions worth of State properties, murdering
the cream of the society and letting around 60,000 youth to become
victims. Somawansa Amerasinghe who escaped to India through a boat
presumably arranged by his close relative Sirisena Cooray while JVP
youth were being burnt alive on tyre pyres should clarify their stand on
these issues.
Fonseka has admitted about his ignorance on politics and economics on
the very first media conference he held. Promise to increase the
salaries of Government servants as well as those in the Private Sector
by 10,000 (not clear whether it is annual or monthly increase) clearly
expose his nudity on economic matters.
If he is to implement Ranil Wickremesinghe Government’s economic
policy, as stated in the media briefing, he has to totally curtail
salary increases, curtail recruitments, privatise State institutions,
send thousands of Government servants on compulsory retirement, and
bring down foreigners to be his economic advisors completely ignoring
the intelligence of our economic experts. JVP that robustly opposed
these policies remain mum on this matter as they are having a hidden
agenda to unleash at the opportune moment.
President Mahinda Rajapaksa while launching the war unswervingly,
without acquiescing to neo-colonialist imperialist threats, has made
massive investments for the development of infrastructure of the
country. Due to his farsighted policies Sri Lanka was able to cushion
off the recent recession and the food crisis that hit the world’s most
powerful nations.
While thousands and thousands were being booted from jobs, shutters
were being raised on large industrial units. President Mahinda
Rajapaksa’s Government was able to recruit several thousands for new
jobs, undertake massive infrastructure development work in all corners
of the country, launch gigantic projects in the fields of Ports (Sea,
Air and Fishery), Irrigation, Electricity, Industrial, Educational,
Health, Land reclamation and open up vast areas for cultivation.
Military dictatorship
The time, the crucial time has come for us to decide on whether we
should get beguiled by the innuendos of the treacherous cabal and pave
the way for establishment of military dictatorship in Sri Lanka and
place the future of our posterity in peril or save the nation and help
the completion of the gigantic projects that could uncertainly raise the
image of our nation as a giant Asian nation and usher in prosperity,
peace and happiness to our posterity.
JVP does not want the country to be developed as such developments
would deprive them with slogans to shout and the opportunity to beguile
the youth to join their fold. They need poverty to prevail so that they
could unleash their terror campaign and create chaos in the country.
Let us forget all our petty differences, political obsessions, and
other parochial issues and prevent January 26 becoming a doomsday for
Sri Lanka.
Concluded |