rapa
11-27-2006, 04:56 PM
http://www.defence.lk/img/20061127_P1.jpgIt has been observed that almost all terror sympathizers are belonging to some imbalance personality type, having unsatisfied or corrupted family lives or suffering from some mental disorders. Their behaviours can be explained by Freud's concept of defence mechanism where people seek to express or suppress their unacceptable desires, anxiety and dangerous motives in a more sociably accepted manner. For instance, a person who is being philanthropic but spends ten times more of his philanthropic budget to get public attention may be alleviating some deep mental agony rather than enjoying the philanthropy itself. Further, the people who support a terrorist organization by way of humanitarian activists may be finding their way to express their violent motives or hatred to the society stems from some mental disorder.
Mr. Lalith Kotelawala, Chief of Ceylinco group has given a controversial interview to Gulf News in Dubai, UAE and told that he is supporting for the LTTE terrorist campaign that almost killed 65000 people in the Island. Apart from his various "philanthropic" ideas in developing Sri Lanka, such as his anti- globalization ideology, Mr. Lalith K had expressed his view on the LTTE as true "freedom fighters" during the interview.
According to Mr. Lalith K's view the LTTE have done a "great" service to the Tamil community and therefore, it is ready to be the rulers of Tamils in a self-governing mechanism. Further, he has said that the government should lay down its arms and "sit down for talks" with the LTTE to find out a suitable self-governing system for them. The following extracts from Gulf News website shows what is supposed to be his own words uttered at the interview:
Question: Does the LTTE, in your opinion, have the vision that you talk about? Are they ready to relinquish the control they wield over their people? "They should not be afraid to do that. In all fairness, the LTTE has been pushed into doing it. They have done great service to their people and you can't brand them as pure terrorists as they are genuine freedom fighters. They must realise that the best opportunity to work things out is through a system of self-governance. That is the structure that needs to be discussed."
"The current policy of the government is a hit-back policy and that is an Israeli policy. I don't think its right. Mahatma Gandhi said that the eye-for-an-eye, a-tooth-for-a-tooth policy makes the world blind and toothless. And it will only keep escalating."
"We can't ask them to disarm in order to sit down and talk while we hold onto our arms. Things must be left as they are and we must talk about devolution, federal state or autonomy."
Question: You are from a minority community but head the largest holding company in Sri Lanka. Is that a problem at times? "Of course, I've been attacked many times. I think that some Sinhalese follow a militant form of Buddhism when they put their religion above everything else."
"No war can be holy. In which religion does God tell you to kill or maim your fellow human beings? So, yes, I do get attacked by racist Buddhists as I'm accused of converting Sri Lankans."
For reason, which is not clearly stated in the interview, Mr. Lalith K seems to be contended with identifying himself with some "minority " community that is being under some sort of an "attack" or discrimination by the " majority". Ironically, Mr. Lalith K has not forgotten to inform the interviewer to mention that he is a Business tycoon, the nephew to the third Prime Minister of the country; and what's more, he was awarded with the highest civilian honour " Deshmanya" by the government of Sri Lanka.
It is indeed true that any citizen of Sri Lanka has the complete freedom of speech so they can express their ideas freely. Even those terror sympathizers, if speak honestly may say that no other country would allow them such freedom as Sri Lanka does, to work in favour of a terrorist organization that kills their own brethren. The agony of the innocent people of Sri Lanka has become a thriving business for many who coin themselves as liberalists, leftists or even more shamelessly as 'humanitarians".
Therefore, it is perfectly all right for Mr. Lalith K to praise a terrorist organization, which is notorious for its brutality and condemned by the international community. But, as many of those terror sympathizers do, Mr. Lalith K too, had shunned expressing his view on the brutal crimes committed by his so called freedom fighters against all three communities living in the country. Does Mr. Lalith K approve the use of child soldiers, ethnic cleansing campaigns, genocides and all other heinous crimes against humanity committed by the LTTE? Or else is he merely adhering to the common practice of the terror sympathizers of keeping a blind eye to the issue?
http://www.defence.lk/img/CentralBank.jpg
"In 1996, the LTTE exploded a bomb in the Central Bank and I was there. Both my eyes were seriously damaged and it was only after many operations that I regained sight in one eye"
- Lalith Kotelawala to the Dubai Weekend Review
Mr. Kotelawela who claims to be a morally superior being, a compassionate and forgiving Christian has a moral responsibility to express his views honesty and openly without distorting the facts. Any ordinary person who reads the article, which has been given a wide publicity through the Internet, will not be able to get the correct picture of the LTTE and most dangerously will be left with a totally distorted picture in Buddhism.
Sri Lanka is a country where Sinhalese, Tamils and Muslims live in harmony for over hundred years. Except for the language difference, both Sinhalese and Tamil people have no differences in their culture, values and beliefs. Buddhism has very close ties with Hinduism and none of these religions has ever been spread through violence or other lucrative methods.
However, the colonial rulers destroyed the country's socio-political system that had evolved for thousands of years by deliberate and harmful measures applied for the sheer purpose of exploitation. Sri Lanka is not the only country in oriental world that struggles to get over the aftermath of colonial rule which was strewn with acts of genocide, debauchery and plunder.
The economic policies adapted by the colonial rulers were based on sheer exploitation and resulted in a huge gap in development between the rural and the urban areas. Further, the shrewd governing strategies used by the colonial rulers to suppress the majority, gave extremely disproportionate ruling power to the minority.
Once the colonial rulers left, the country was left to the elite class who can be much identified with the colonial rulers than with ordinary people and had very little understanding of the existing social system. The leaders emerged both from minority and majority stepped into a power struggle, manipulating all possible social problems they could find in the country. The Tamil political leaders started sowing seeds of racism among underdeveloped rural Tamil youth whilst the Sinhalese leaders chose to kindle chauvinism among Sinhalese who had been suppressed for centuries. Under this socio-political fabric, woven during the past 50 years of independence that paved the way for megalomaniacs like Prabhakaran to take arms and fight for an ethnically pure Tamil homeland.
The national problem in Sri Lanka, if closely analysed, one will realize that it has nothing to do with racism or religious extremism. Yet, it strongly indicates that the country has a long way to go in protecting minority rights. Even the 1983 communal backlash in which Sinhalese political hooligans shamelessly attacked the defenceless Tamils was carefully crafted by few political leaders whom needless to be mentioned. It was a shame that the whole nation must admit and acknowledge though not directly responsible for.
Ironically, reawakened Christians like Lalith Kotelawala was conspicuously silent in the eighties when the seeds of racism were sown, and watered so assiduously by government action and inaction, at a time when a true Christian like Bishop Lakshman Wickremesinghe gave up his life for democracy and pluralism. Even the most hardcore Tamil separatist would agree that "83 - Black July" was not a spontaneous outburst of emotion by Sinhalese against Tamils. It was a cold and calculated pogrom orchestrated by groups of ruling party activists, including some government ministers.
Furthermore, Mr. Lalith K seems to be furious with the present national leadership for taking stern action against terrorism. Quoting a great person like Mahatma Ghandi irrelevantly, Mr. Lalith K seem to advocate the government to let his freedom fighters continue their killing spree and turn the whole lot of Tamil youth into a bunch of suicide losers. It should be noted that President Mahinda Rajapakse was the only President who had admitted the existence legitimate Tamil grievances and could obtain southern consensus to alleviate them through maximum devolution of power.
Furthermore, it is worth recalling the full-page newspaper advertisement that was published during the last Presidential election period under the patronage of Mr. Lalith K, since it may disclose the underpinning reason of his comments.
The advertisement featuring Lalith Kotelawala, was designed evidently to a political purpose contained, what seemed to be a Tamil youth being tormented, beneath which, next to a smilingly cherubic Kotelawala, was the caption 'Cast your vote wisely, so that we may not be dragged back to another monstrous war'. Above the picture was the headline 'Do those who sow the seeds of racism, wish to take us back to the past?' The advertisement, along with one featuring a letter from the Archbishop of Colombo - which one hopes was not designed for the use to which Kotelawala has put it - has been placed by a 'Society for Love and Understanding'.
Ironically, assuming understanding was really intended, the picture was taken during the July 1983 riots by Chandragupta Amarasinghe, who was working at the time for the 'Aththa' newspaper. The 'Aththa' was in the forefront then of exposing what the government was up to - which was banned week after the riots. Kotelawala's advertisement, in bringing back the past, without looking at the realities of that past, reveals duplicity in his character. .
Mr. Kotelawala in his comments has referred to the ethnic conflict and the need to find a peaceful solution to this problem. It requires the identification of the people or organisations that has adopted an extremist position in relation to the Tamil people. When comparing the behaviours of the present government, former governments and the LTTE , even a child would be able to realise who had adapted a extremist policy towards the Tamil people. It is needless to explain where Mr. Lalith K would identify himself in the above context. Thus his motives speak for his hypocrisy towards the country.
Finally, it is worthwhile to explain the true meaning of the word "Deshamanya" the award Mr. Lalith Kotelawala was honoured with. It means "The Pride of the Nation", what a pride (shame) Mr. Lalith K really is!
Mr. Lalith Kotelawala, Chief of Ceylinco group has given a controversial interview to Gulf News in Dubai, UAE and told that he is supporting for the LTTE terrorist campaign that almost killed 65000 people in the Island. Apart from his various "philanthropic" ideas in developing Sri Lanka, such as his anti- globalization ideology, Mr. Lalith K had expressed his view on the LTTE as true "freedom fighters" during the interview.
According to Mr. Lalith K's view the LTTE have done a "great" service to the Tamil community and therefore, it is ready to be the rulers of Tamils in a self-governing mechanism. Further, he has said that the government should lay down its arms and "sit down for talks" with the LTTE to find out a suitable self-governing system for them. The following extracts from Gulf News website shows what is supposed to be his own words uttered at the interview:
Question: Does the LTTE, in your opinion, have the vision that you talk about? Are they ready to relinquish the control they wield over their people? "They should not be afraid to do that. In all fairness, the LTTE has been pushed into doing it. They have done great service to their people and you can't brand them as pure terrorists as they are genuine freedom fighters. They must realise that the best opportunity to work things out is through a system of self-governance. That is the structure that needs to be discussed."
"The current policy of the government is a hit-back policy and that is an Israeli policy. I don't think its right. Mahatma Gandhi said that the eye-for-an-eye, a-tooth-for-a-tooth policy makes the world blind and toothless. And it will only keep escalating."
"We can't ask them to disarm in order to sit down and talk while we hold onto our arms. Things must be left as they are and we must talk about devolution, federal state or autonomy."
Question: You are from a minority community but head the largest holding company in Sri Lanka. Is that a problem at times? "Of course, I've been attacked many times. I think that some Sinhalese follow a militant form of Buddhism when they put their religion above everything else."
"No war can be holy. In which religion does God tell you to kill or maim your fellow human beings? So, yes, I do get attacked by racist Buddhists as I'm accused of converting Sri Lankans."
For reason, which is not clearly stated in the interview, Mr. Lalith K seems to be contended with identifying himself with some "minority " community that is being under some sort of an "attack" or discrimination by the " majority". Ironically, Mr. Lalith K has not forgotten to inform the interviewer to mention that he is a Business tycoon, the nephew to the third Prime Minister of the country; and what's more, he was awarded with the highest civilian honour " Deshmanya" by the government of Sri Lanka.
It is indeed true that any citizen of Sri Lanka has the complete freedom of speech so they can express their ideas freely. Even those terror sympathizers, if speak honestly may say that no other country would allow them such freedom as Sri Lanka does, to work in favour of a terrorist organization that kills their own brethren. The agony of the innocent people of Sri Lanka has become a thriving business for many who coin themselves as liberalists, leftists or even more shamelessly as 'humanitarians".
Therefore, it is perfectly all right for Mr. Lalith K to praise a terrorist organization, which is notorious for its brutality and condemned by the international community. But, as many of those terror sympathizers do, Mr. Lalith K too, had shunned expressing his view on the brutal crimes committed by his so called freedom fighters against all three communities living in the country. Does Mr. Lalith K approve the use of child soldiers, ethnic cleansing campaigns, genocides and all other heinous crimes against humanity committed by the LTTE? Or else is he merely adhering to the common practice of the terror sympathizers of keeping a blind eye to the issue?
http://www.defence.lk/img/CentralBank.jpg
"In 1996, the LTTE exploded a bomb in the Central Bank and I was there. Both my eyes were seriously damaged and it was only after many operations that I regained sight in one eye"
- Lalith Kotelawala to the Dubai Weekend Review
Mr. Kotelawela who claims to be a morally superior being, a compassionate and forgiving Christian has a moral responsibility to express his views honesty and openly without distorting the facts. Any ordinary person who reads the article, which has been given a wide publicity through the Internet, will not be able to get the correct picture of the LTTE and most dangerously will be left with a totally distorted picture in Buddhism.
Sri Lanka is a country where Sinhalese, Tamils and Muslims live in harmony for over hundred years. Except for the language difference, both Sinhalese and Tamil people have no differences in their culture, values and beliefs. Buddhism has very close ties with Hinduism and none of these religions has ever been spread through violence or other lucrative methods.
However, the colonial rulers destroyed the country's socio-political system that had evolved for thousands of years by deliberate and harmful measures applied for the sheer purpose of exploitation. Sri Lanka is not the only country in oriental world that struggles to get over the aftermath of colonial rule which was strewn with acts of genocide, debauchery and plunder.
The economic policies adapted by the colonial rulers were based on sheer exploitation and resulted in a huge gap in development between the rural and the urban areas. Further, the shrewd governing strategies used by the colonial rulers to suppress the majority, gave extremely disproportionate ruling power to the minority.
Once the colonial rulers left, the country was left to the elite class who can be much identified with the colonial rulers than with ordinary people and had very little understanding of the existing social system. The leaders emerged both from minority and majority stepped into a power struggle, manipulating all possible social problems they could find in the country. The Tamil political leaders started sowing seeds of racism among underdeveloped rural Tamil youth whilst the Sinhalese leaders chose to kindle chauvinism among Sinhalese who had been suppressed for centuries. Under this socio-political fabric, woven during the past 50 years of independence that paved the way for megalomaniacs like Prabhakaran to take arms and fight for an ethnically pure Tamil homeland.
The national problem in Sri Lanka, if closely analysed, one will realize that it has nothing to do with racism or religious extremism. Yet, it strongly indicates that the country has a long way to go in protecting minority rights. Even the 1983 communal backlash in which Sinhalese political hooligans shamelessly attacked the defenceless Tamils was carefully crafted by few political leaders whom needless to be mentioned. It was a shame that the whole nation must admit and acknowledge though not directly responsible for.
Ironically, reawakened Christians like Lalith Kotelawala was conspicuously silent in the eighties when the seeds of racism were sown, and watered so assiduously by government action and inaction, at a time when a true Christian like Bishop Lakshman Wickremesinghe gave up his life for democracy and pluralism. Even the most hardcore Tamil separatist would agree that "83 - Black July" was not a spontaneous outburst of emotion by Sinhalese against Tamils. It was a cold and calculated pogrom orchestrated by groups of ruling party activists, including some government ministers.
Furthermore, Mr. Lalith K seems to be furious with the present national leadership for taking stern action against terrorism. Quoting a great person like Mahatma Ghandi irrelevantly, Mr. Lalith K seem to advocate the government to let his freedom fighters continue their killing spree and turn the whole lot of Tamil youth into a bunch of suicide losers. It should be noted that President Mahinda Rajapakse was the only President who had admitted the existence legitimate Tamil grievances and could obtain southern consensus to alleviate them through maximum devolution of power.
Furthermore, it is worth recalling the full-page newspaper advertisement that was published during the last Presidential election period under the patronage of Mr. Lalith K, since it may disclose the underpinning reason of his comments.
The advertisement featuring Lalith Kotelawala, was designed evidently to a political purpose contained, what seemed to be a Tamil youth being tormented, beneath which, next to a smilingly cherubic Kotelawala, was the caption 'Cast your vote wisely, so that we may not be dragged back to another monstrous war'. Above the picture was the headline 'Do those who sow the seeds of racism, wish to take us back to the past?' The advertisement, along with one featuring a letter from the Archbishop of Colombo - which one hopes was not designed for the use to which Kotelawala has put it - has been placed by a 'Society for Love and Understanding'.
Ironically, assuming understanding was really intended, the picture was taken during the July 1983 riots by Chandragupta Amarasinghe, who was working at the time for the 'Aththa' newspaper. The 'Aththa' was in the forefront then of exposing what the government was up to - which was banned week after the riots. Kotelawala's advertisement, in bringing back the past, without looking at the realities of that past, reveals duplicity in his character. .
Mr. Kotelawala in his comments has referred to the ethnic conflict and the need to find a peaceful solution to this problem. It requires the identification of the people or organisations that has adopted an extremist position in relation to the Tamil people. When comparing the behaviours of the present government, former governments and the LTTE , even a child would be able to realise who had adapted a extremist policy towards the Tamil people. It is needless to explain where Mr. Lalith K would identify himself in the above context. Thus his motives speak for his hypocrisy towards the country.
Finally, it is worthwhile to explain the true meaning of the word "Deshamanya" the award Mr. Lalith Kotelawala was honoured with. It means "The Pride of the Nation", what a pride (shame) Mr. Lalith K really is!