Fertilizer subsidy, greatest revolution- A H M Azwer, MP

There have been great revolutions in the world, but, I should say that the greatest revolution ushered by President Mahinda Rajapaksa is the granting of the fertilizer subsidy to the poor farmers, said Presidential Advisor on Parliamentary Affairs and Media Ombudsman A H M Azwer, MP

MP Azwer was speaking in Parliament on March 9, 2011

MP Azwer said: Madam Chairperson, It is a matter for rejoice and of great significance that you have ascended the exalted Chair in this House on the day we are celebrating the International Women’s Day. All the more, it is significant because, as revealed by the Prime Minister at the meeting held at the Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall this morning, your gender has overtaken us percentage-wise in this country.

A H M Azwer, MP

“Madam Chairperson, we have heard about great Revolutions in this world, the French Revolution, the Industrial Revolution, the Agricultural Revolution, so on and so forth, but I should say that the greatest revolution that was wrought by President Mahinda Rajapaksa, is the grant of fertilizer subsidy to the poor farmers in this country. Madam, at the time he initiated this action, there were cynics who predicted that it would never happen, that it would be like searching for Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp. But, whether he got the lamp or not, he gave the light to the poor peasants. He has given the subsidy not only to paddy farmers but extended that even to growers of coconuts, tea, rubber and even other produce. From 2005 up to this date, consistently he has been giving this subsidy because he is a man of the soil. He knows the grievances of the farmers particularly. Need we remind ourselves, Madam Chairperson, that his beloved father, D A Rajapaksa, whose commemoration was celebrated the other day at Tangalle, we all went to Carlton, came to the House after washing the mud in his hand from the Medamulana paddy fields. The President belongs to such a great and honoured ancestry of this country.”

“Now, he has shaped his ideology and philosophy according to the Mahinda Chintana. Here I hold a document that has been internationally recognized. At the third Asia Regional Conference of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association, I quoted from this, you know that Madam, I did the same thing at the last UN Conference in Nagoya and other places.

They all wanted copies of it. Whenever we talked about the Mahinda Chintana, they wanted to know what it contains and the progressive steps taken for the benefit of the common masses through it and wanted to have copies. So we have printed that in English too and have been distributing it the world over, not only here. Every country has said, “We also had election manifestos but we never produced a book of this significance and nature.”

“What does it say about the agriculture?” ...

“මහින්ද චින්තන ඉදිරි දැක්ම” පොතේ 77 වන පිටුවේ මෙසේ සඳහන් වනවා:
“දේශීය සම්පතින් හා දැනුමෙන් විදේශයන් ද ජය ගන්නා දේශීය ව්‍යවසායකත්වයක්”
“අපි වවමු රට නඟමු”

I have also got the Tamil translation of Mahinda Chintana because this must be included in the Hansard and the farmers and the student population in the East and the North who speak Tamil should understand its contents well.”

එහි තවදුරටත් මෙසේ සඳහන් වනවා:
“වැව සහ කෙත - වැව ඉස්මත්තේ දාගැබ - ඒ අපට උරුම අපේ සමාජ පදනමයි. මම එම සමාජ පදනමට අයත් මිනිසෙක්මි”

How nice it is!

“එබැවින් මම මහපොළවට ගරු කරමි”
“මම මේ මහ පොළොවට, උපන් පොළොවට ගරු කරමි. විදේශීකයන්ට කත් අදින්නේ නැහැ. රට පාවා දෙන්නේ නැහැ. රට පාවා දෙන අයට මම මේ වාගේ ඉඩ දෙන්නෙත් නැහැ” ඒක තමයි එතුමා කියන්නේ. ඊළඟට තිබෙනවා:
“ගහට කොළට ආදරය කරමි”
 

That is the true spirit of a true son of Sri Lanka.

“මගේ මුතුන් මිත්තෝ ද මේ පොළොවේ ගහ කොළ වගා කළහ”

“Some people made certain derogatory remarks about us. I emphasize the fact that every mussulman born in this country will be buried in Jawatta, Kuppiyawatta or Maligawatta and our bodies - Janazas - will not be taken to Karachi, Riyadh, Jeddah or Kuala Lumpur. We are a community in whom patriotism is ingrained. That is a part of our religion and our great leaders in the past have emphasized that fact. Therefore, nobody can accuse us of being unpatriotic even in sports. Even in sports, we are Sri Lankans. “I am Sri Lanka, I am Sri Lanka and I am Sri Lanka!” That is what 35,000 people gathered at the Maligawatta R Premadasa Kettarama Stadium shouted aloud. If you watch the television, you can see that even today also they are doing the same thing at Pallekele.”

“Now, Madam, there are pundits who pooh-pooh the idea of home-garden cultivation. MP Anura Kumara Dissanayake very cynically referred to the vegetable plots in the Temple Trees.

What a pathetic abysmal depth that he has sunk into! It is a very good thing that the President has converted the vicinity of the Temple Trees from floral beauty to agricultural beauty.

Even thousands and thousands of schoolchildren are coming to see the beautiful lay out of vegetable plots that are grown in a vast acreage of Temple Trees.

Earlier, we had only flowers of various types and colours. Now, this is the example President Mahinda Rajapaksa has set like the kings of yore: “I set an example and countrymen, you follow.” Madam, the concept of home-garden cultivation of the President has been approved by the people. That is why the people are with him. The other day I heard someone saying, ...

“අපේ බොක්කට ගහනවා” කියලා. අපේ බොක්කට ගහනවාලු. මොන බොක්කටද, කවුද ගහන්නේ් කියලා මම කියන්නේ් නැහැ. අපි ඒක හොඳාකාරවම දන්නවා. එක අතකින් බලන කොට ඒක ඇත්තයි. මේ රටේ ජනතාව දහහත් වතාවක් ඒ ගොල්ලන්ගේ බොක්කට ගැහුවා. මේ 17 වන දාත් ඒ බොක්කටම ගහන බව මම ඉතාම වග කීමකින් මේ ගරු සභාවට කියනවා. කියන්න දෙයක් නැහැ. කරන්න දෙයක් නැහැ. රටට මොනවාද කරන්නේ කියා මම ඒ ගොල්ලන්ගෙන් අහනවා.

They are talking about the Cost of Living. I challenge the Leader of the Opposition, can he give petrol at the price which prevailed when he left the office, can he give vegetables at the price which prevailed when he left the office and can he give a loaf of bread at the price which prevailed when he left the office? No, it cannot be. ...

ඒ දවස්වල අපේ තාත්තා කියනවා, ඩචපඡධභප එකේ වැඩ කරලා බත් පිඟාන කෑවේ ශත 03 ට, ශත 04 ට කියලා. අද ඒ බත් පිඟාන ශත 03, ශත 04ට අපේ ගරු රනිල් වික්‍රමසිංහ මැතිතුමාට කන්න පුළුවන්ද කියලා මම අහනවා.