Interesting the way people think. You have stereotypes and you always expect people to behave in such a way. The Sri Lankan opposition UNP (United National Party) can be considered as the most anti-national pro-terrorist organization there is. But behavior of their die-hard supporters still continues to amaze me.
I was at my cousin’s house a little while ago in Aththidiya and the conversation turned (inevitably) to the war in the North. Started with the Piliyandala bomb blast last night and ended up blaming the people who were in the bus for not checking the bus. (I think they got their lesson the hard way), and of course the Failed Northern offensive.
My cousin was very sorry for the people who died in the trenches. And even more upset with the photos of the dead soldiers killed in the trenches. I was paying only half my attention as Mark Boucher was just got out but one of her comments got me thinking. She said something in the lines of “Paw neda marrichcha kattiya, onna oya wagea walatata thamai Demalunwa epa wennea”. What got me thinking was the fact that she was a UNP supporter (So UNP that they are the pot breaking type).
Any UNP supporter in the international scene or the blogosphere will be the first to tell you that the “Demalu “(Tamils) are not the same as the LTTE. Apparently the message is not getting across. The Sinhalese people who vote for the UNP still think a like the rest of the people. But they still vote for UNP because several generations in their family voted UNP, Or because they as the upper class of the society “NEEDS” vote for the UNP.
Then the truth hit me. IT DOSNT MATTER. No matter who you vote for the end result is the same. War – Peace with the LTTE- Good Business- LTTE violating the peace- People Getting Angry- War. The Sri Lankan Life Cycle. I’ve always known this. So I don’t know why I even started thinking about this in the first place.
The reason that people vote UNP is that they know how to run an economy. Period. How much longer do you think this military spending can be continued with the current levels of inflation, which was a historic 30% last month?
Ravana sorry for the late reply..
Military spending cannot be sustained more than a year.. Which I think even the govt. must be aware of.. they are looking to gain significant advantages by that time and hopefully the economy would recover.
even u have to admit that a major defeat to the LTTE will be certinally good for the economy..
What other option does the govt. have anyways.. we’ve been through the “peace” path b4.. and it hsnt worked..
Why would you say UNP is supporting terrorism and is anti-national?
well gee.JackPoint….lets see..
1. Remember Toppigala is “just a jungle comment”
2. The continuous downgrading of the SLFs and the continuous defamation of the defense establishment by the UNP.
3. Ranil’s support for LTTE (money and other Communication equipment)
4. Ranil’s CFA (Mainly..) which among other things..gave the LTTE a free rain in the North and the East..
5. The Millennium City incident
Who elected Rajapaksa? Prabhakaran no? By denying voters in the North & East from voting. If Ranil was a LTTE supporter why would he have done that?
“Ranil’s CFA (Mainly..) which among other things..gave the LTTE a free rain in the North and the East..”
They had it then, they have it now, what is the difference as far as territory is concerned?
East was with Karuna, now with Pillayan. They are not LTTE anymore but they are still warlords? Things are far from normal in the East.
“defamation of the defense establishment by the UNP.” I have’nt seen this, tell me a bit more about this.
ALso, would Karuna have split without the CFA?
In the face of a common enemy they were united, remove the enemy and the infighting starts.
Prabahkaran did not allow anyone to vote in any of the presidential elections b4. The votes for Ranil V MR and Ranil V CBK is almost the same.
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The difference between free rain now and then is..
1. There’s a force to oppose it now.
2. There’s no official recognition of the LTTE as a group. (In case you hvnt noticed LTTE are after official recognition)
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The Different with the East now is it’s not with the LTTE anymore. and there for it’s not part of Eelam. It’s with the govt. If u cant understand the difference about LTTE control vs. Govt. Control ur in a sorry state.
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Hv u read the Nation/ seen Maharaja News lately?
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And you’ve conveniently ignored the Millennium City incident.
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CFA did divide Karuna.. but it did more Harm than good. It allowed Intl. organizations to openly support the LTTE. it allowed LTTE to build up their intelligence operations. It has emboldened the intl. politicians to openly support the LTTE. Not to mention tht it generally made the LTTE stronger…
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Would there by any government presence in the East without Karuna? The whole ‘victory’ is based on a pact with the war lord controlling the territory. The same group now run the territory, unreformed, unrepentant and doing much as they please. Effectively no real change there, change in name only. Read last weeks nation, East is on the boil by all accounts.
What official recognition? Only as a negotiating party no more.
Who are the international bodies supporting the LTTE? None as far as I can see. Government claims that any body that criticises them is an LTTE supporter, by which standard of cour a better part of the world supports the LTTE.
Voting was allowed in the north & east in previous elections. There are election results available, if you put a search on the web you will see.