In elaborating on this topic it is important to understand the concept of ‘Free Education’ and its relevance to the existing educational mechanism of Sri Lanka. Under the concept of ‘Universal Welfare’ free education could be interpreted as equal access of education for all those eligible in a given society. However in Sri Lanka at present around 2,50 000 students are sitting for their advanced level examinations, and in accordance with the selection criteria for State universities only 20,000-30,000 from the total number gain admission for university education based on their merit, which is roughly around 10- 15% from the total number of candidates. This clearly depicts a state of inequality where around 70% of students at the age of receiving higher education are deprived access of that right of free higher education. So thereby one could easily argue and point out that the recently proposed much controversial bill titled as “Qualification Framework, Quality Assurance and Accreditation of Higher Educational Institutions Bill” could be a progressive policy adopted by the government to expand education for those students in the country who are in need of higher education and are willing to pay for such education.

Clearly, ‘Private Higher Education’ and ‘State Higher Education’ are two different systems. In terms of a student’s point of view the former has to be paid for, whereas the latter is earned by one. However there has been wide ranging criticism by the public since some time now on the nature and status of state run university education and the deteriorating standards of discipline amongst its students. The frequent protest marches, reports of ragging incidents and violent student clashes have become favorite news headlines for the media; and the media as well as the public portray these ghastly developments of universities as occurring in consequence to political infiltration into the university system. This reason of course cannot be refuted as much development have taken place in terms of student political organizations in universities such as the Inter University Students Federation (IUSF), and other emerging student movements nurtured and protected to safeguard the interests of the government and to oppose the IUSF; have dominated the universities they represent. However I believe that the sole blame of deterioration in universities cannot be put on politics alone. This phenomenon appears to be more sociological in nature and seems to have a close relation to the socio economic backgrounds of the students as well.

Most of university entrants derive from the rural populace of the country, where much commitment has been invested by themselves and their kin’s with regard to their school education. These students enter the university with pride of their achievement brimming with hopes to utilize their ‘earned’ educational opportunity as a tool for social mobilization of themselves and of the backgrounds they come from. However the great disillusionment comes later as they realize after a while that a university qualification yields little success in the existing job market, which demands English knowledge and IT skills which they have been deprived of throughout their primary education as consequent to the retarded educational curriculum of our country. It is this frustration that runs through the majority of university students that manifest violently in form of ragging, agitations, protest’s and vulnerability before political huntsmen. This background of events has also led towards a sense of antagonism amongst university students against the so-called well to do class deriving from urban regions and on those who undergo private higher education, as they are looked upon as unworthy for the right of education. It is in keeping with the aforesaid phenomena that one should look at the recent agitations of university students against the private education bill, where the possibility of more private higher education institutions signal a threat to them, as it would inevitable result in more competition for their limited employment prospects, with the emergence of a educated bourgeois class that is assumed to be preferred better by employers.

In keeping with the above social, economic and psychological complexities of our education system it is important to look into the contents of the proposed private higher education bill. The section 2 of this proposed bill provides for the establishment of a Sri Lanka Qualifications Framework and Accreditation Board which is entrusted with a task of evaluating and assessing foreign degree and diploma programmes to ensure its standards and quality. The part II of the bill further provides for the setting up of a Council for Non-State Higher Educational Institutions (CNHEI) which would be a body authorized with powers over private higher educational institutions, similar to the University Grants Commission the only distinction being its authority confined and supreme only with regard to private higher educational institutions. Thereby it comes clear to us that this proposed bill aims at standardizing private higher education, despite its opening of all floodgates for international institutes to take roots in our education system. However the question with regard to the government policy in this regard could be explored through different angles, as there appear to be many thorns everywhere in this rosy proposal.

The government’s attempts to widen access to education through the means of privatization could be identified as a liberal economic welfare strategy. However the problem of this kind of policy formulation in the Sri Lankan context is the question whether it addresses the sociological dimensions of youth unrest, employment prospects, and inaccessibility of economically poor social segments for these opportunities. Another aspect of the problem created through this privatization policy, is the risk of present university academics moving over for employment in privatized institutions in concern of the more lucrative offers as opposed to the lack of proper recognition or payment in local universities; this in return would further degrade the standard and value of local university qualifications. And the perfect wording of this bill in terms of policy would not guarantee perfection with regard to implementation, in taking into view the educational catastrophes this government is renowned for from school admission up to Advanced level education, one can have very reasonable fears on the future of Sri Lankan education with respect to proposed bills of this nature.

The most frequent rhyme heard in student agitations against this proposed bill is them questioning the government for implementing steps for privatized education, whilst not taking steps to improve or develop standards and conditions in local universities. This is very much a reasonable argument as many local universities still require infrastructural development; where at present sanitation requires major improvement in our local universities, there are still many faculties that lack examination halls, library facilities that require upgrading and cafeterias and the public environment that demand cleaning and maintenance in order to create a pleasant learning environment in campuses. And in another dimension the inaccessibility of a majority of urban and rural poor students to these private educational institutions need to be remedied; a standard scholarship system (on a quota basis) orchestrated by the state by order of merit, with a view to provide equal opportunities could be ideal to rectify this perceived inequality. Steps also need to be adopted to protect and promote the academics of local universities by providing them incentives to continue work for the betterment of state universities; the Federation of University Teachers Associations (FUTA) demands of a wage hike is paramount in this regard, as it is a state’s responsibility to make sure that such frustration does not occur In the future under a system of competing private universities.

It seems that many have underestimated the potential of privatized higher education; the prime argument raised to support this is that Sri Lanka is not yet ready for privatized education. Thereby the government has an obligation to first arrange the social setting of this country by eradicating the problems and thorns of higher education and then secondly moving on to introduce privatized higher education for the benefit of that large number of youths deprived of higher education under the present educational structure.

‘The Conspirator’ is a Hollywood film based on a true story with regard to the assassination of American president Abraham Lincoln and the legal suit that follows, directed by Robert Redford. What interest me most about this film are the deep insights it provides to the system of rule of law of a country, and its relevance to our present day. The movie rotates around the legal suit of the alleged assassins of President Lincoln and the story of a young ambitious soldier turned lawyer’s struggle to achieve justice for Mary Surratt the mother of an accused assassin who herself is charged for the assassination of the President. The movie is characterized with the portrayal of the innocence of this middle aged woman and the bias of the judicature on this position, along with a lonely battle of a counsel to achieve the unreachable justice. There were many interesting aspects which are worth discussing in this movie in terms of justice, law and order, and nationalism of a country which I thought is important to share.

At first the topic of ‘Nationalism’ could be evaluated in terms of this movie, is nationalism good or bad? To answer this question the concept nationalism need to be defined, but I would not attempt to provide a standard definition to this concept; instead I would try to discuss the concept with regard to the scenes which unfold in this movie. The main character Fredrick Aiken played by James McAvoy happens to be a Soldier in the American Civil War who fought against the south in the peak of nationalism, and his love for his nation remains intact throughout the movie. However his anti southern prejudices are short lived in the story, as he encounters coincidently his client Mary Surratt he appears to fight for her cause; which is her innocence and thereby justice. However when he chooses this decision his fellow soldiers in the battlefield and those others who shared the same commitment with him in the battlefield including his superiors challenge and strongly oppose his decision. “You all are so blind with hatred and you cannot see the truth” is how he responds to them; the question which arises here is then as to whether obsessive nationalism blinds our sight of the truth humanity, and justice; the question is best left unanswered as it always requires a moment to think in order to answer it.

The next most important phenomenon addressed by this movie is its clever exploration into the concept of Rule of Law. The movie outlines the importance of Rule of Law to prevail in a society through the necessity of the Lawyer Aiken’s tireless efforts to represent the innocent Mary Surratt. This explains the most essential prerequisites of Rule of Law in any society that being a person’s entitlement for legal representation, and the presumption of innocence; where an accused shall be considered innocent in the eyes and in the process of law until such time he/her shall be found guilty in a court of law, the importance of an opportunity for a fair trial of a legal system is thus highlighted throughout the course of this movie. But as it is depicted very well in the movie the concept of rule of law has many impediments in a society, where through the operation of many forces how it could be distorted. The character of the Secretary of War, Edwin M Stanton played by Kevin Kline, shows to us the operation of these forces whose interest exceed the scope of Rule of Law. In the movie the reasons for such devaluation of the Law and order maybe because governance may entail higher priorities such as the stability of the state; in the words of the character Secretary of War of this movie “I need to make sure the war stays won”. The scene where Anna Surratt is not even permitted to see the sight of her mother Mary Surratt in the courtroom as her mother’s view was blocked by army officers, provide us the directors view on how growing militarism could prove to be a impediment to rule of law and how it could lack the most essential qualities of humaneness in society. However once again in terms of modern society we come across two extreme ends in governance, which are the ‘national interest’ spearheaded by the actors of governance, and the aspects of Rule of Law and Humanity which may be impeded in the quest of state security and stability. However it should be borne in mind that both these ends are of equal importance to the well being of social democracy and both aspects require equal attention and balance.

The third and my most favorite aspect of this bioscope are the social reactions to the stand taken by the lawyer Aiken, such stand coming in form of humanity, professional obligation and justice. The very words used in this context by Aiken’s girlfriend against the accused assassins are “these are criminal despicable people, who you risked your life as a soldier fighting against’; such remarks aren’t alien to even us in the present social context, but what is of importance in this regard is to remember that even such people share the same pain, grief and wounds as our own which require healing and thereby giving rise to a question whether in a humane sense we can abandon them? And most importantly one is enabled to think of the meaning of ‘fighting for the country’ as to whether the very powerful phrase refers only to battle’s in war or in a broader sense it encompasses each persons commitment to safeguard the country’s law, order and justice?
At one stage Fredrick Aiken was denied entry to a social event where a notice had been displayed of, providing as reasons his ‘Conduct Unbecoming’ which referred to his commitment to the legal suit of Mary Surratt. It is important for us to think a moment of how such labels such as ‘conduct unbecoming’ could be defined, and contrast it with the actual social constructions of such narrow stereotypes. Amidst all the cons in society this movie highlights the role which can be played by religion in terms of catering the equal and best interest of people, such role which could be equated with the ideal concept of rule of law and ideal practice of good governance; the question once again is as to whether we in our society witness such a religious role played beyond the walls of churches or temples that extends to the hearts of the masses.

In the movie throughout the course of court proceedings we see how arguments of the Counsel Aiken are either objected or his objections overruled, But it comes clear to the viewer that what is objected is not his arguments but a fair trial for the interest of political governance and what that is overruled is not the counsels objections but the country’s rule of Law. Ultimately what is the response that the lawyer who sacrifices many of his options for the best interest and well being of society get from society, ‘Your best option is to stop this nonsense and help us empty this bottle’. The concluding message I see from this movie is that the bottom line of conflict diseased societies is Inter Alma Silent Leges meaning at times of war the law is silent; thereby the choice of choosing our best options is open to us.
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The Conspirator.2010.Robert Redoford.

A truly festive look has suddenly seemed to emerge throughout our country; anyone who passes the roads of the capital city surely will not miss the colourful hoardings commending our honorable President. Public Institutes and corporations stand remarkable in this respect over the fact being that they are used as pillars to portray the strength and authority bestowed in our sovereign State, or being more frank on the Sovereign.  Decorations are usually signposts for a party, so one may ask where is the party? But then again look more carefully; with mini carnivals in the suburbs of Colombo, temporarily carpeted roads, recently painted public buildings, undergoing hasty rural development…our country is most certainly heading towards one heck of a party.  Ironically the birthday boy in this late celebrated party happens to be non other than our Honourable President who is prepared to take oaths for his second term in office.  However the emphasis I attempt to make through this article is not primarily on the legitimacy of our President’s taking of oaths, instead what interests me greatly is the enormous effort this administration invests on creating a public awareness to every step they march, the necessity of which is highly dubious to me.  This feature which we Sri Lankans presently experience in form of bombastic propaganda at every government project, policy and decision; is apparently a personality trait of power passionate political figures throughout history which surprisingly has psychological roots linked to its occurrence.

“It was precisely that evening in Lodi that I came to believe in myself as an unusual person and became consumed with the ambition to do the great things that until then had been but a fantasy”; These words erupting from the famous ‘thoughts’ of Napoleon Bonaparte speak to us the covert language of the political drive that produced great miracles which he perceived as such.   This political drive is what fascinates me most since its prevalence in societies of both past and present and the pressure it thrust’s on human communties is of colossal damage to organized social systems.  ‘Narcissism’ is the psychological concept that explains this phenomenon, originally coined by Dr. Sigmund Freud ‘Narcissism’ occurs through excessive love  one places on his ‘Self’ that gives birth to an uncontrollable drive’s dominating one’s behavior in an eccentric manner.  The significant episode in this abnormal psychological drama however is that throughout history the conduct of certain political Don’s show incredible similarity to this psychological context of ‘Narcissism’ ; providing the ancient political saying  ‘Power Corrupts and Absolute Power Absolutely Corrupts’ a psychological rationalization.  From the earliest Democracies of Greece hidden in the Spartan military fantasies up to Nazism and beyond, the psychological EGO battle remains untarnished and reinforced through political power. In the volume ‘Introduction to Psychology (by Hilgard & Atkinson 1981) Narcissism identified as a Personality Disorder defined as follows, ‘It is an inflated sense of self importance being pre occupied with fantasies, constantly seeking admiration and attention, whilst being insensitive to the needs of others while exploiting them’; which by all means makes sense when compared with political supremacy that reigns far above the ordinary masses at the expense of their tears, sweat, and blood.

As the theories of Narcissism makes perfect sense to all what we experience today, it would not be a waste for us to learn more of this insanity; so we would know better the next time to refuse mirages in form of miracles and prevent the feeling of disillusionment every time we step out to the roads.  A Narcissist Political leader is a personality that loves none but his Self, it is a life of fear the slightest feeling of criticism or threat causes panic and chaos within the personality; which being the reason why many popular historical leaders were renowned to suppress their oppositions by means of killings, torture or rigorous imprisonment. At a period where all ills are pointed at the West the Asian example of Myanmar Junta leader Senior Gen. Than Shwe and his political revenge against Nobel prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi (recently conditionally released) depicts the prevalence of strict Narcissism in Asia.  The leaders of this caliber are also philosophers of their own ideology, masters of their own beliefs they are governed by none other but by themselves; this mentality becomes the concrete ground through which all their administration run’s. The prime concern is none but their survival the cost of it which may be in form of taxes, increase of commodity’s or nuisance to the masses in whatever way is least of their concerns; As the popular saying goes ‘To make an Omelet an egg has to be Broken’ and narcissist does not have adequate empathy towards the populace that may suffer on the frying pan as long as his hunger is satisfied.

As explained above Political Narcissism is based on a love towards one’s Self, therefore such a personality is passionate in boosting their self image. In Sri Lankan history during the Polonnaruwa era the tenure of King Nissankamalla of Kalinga dynasty was a chapter in history of Narcissistic origin, King Nissankamalla who was in love of his own self had a strange habit of naming all establishments of his kingdom under his name; the naming of ‘Nishanka Lata Mandapaya’ and the renaming the ‘Parakarama Samudraya’ after reconstruction as ‘Nishanka Samudraya’ demonstrate to us his aspirations of self promotion,  there are even historical evidence to suggest that this King used to carve his own image in coins and currency of that period for the same psychological desire.  How strange may it seem even more realistic it feels as this sense of Narcissism has been all over the pages of our history that its ink is yet to dry.  A Narcissist is at all times not a humanist therefore traits such as racism and discrimination may be its weapons from which he asserts his power and fulfills his ideological desires, Minorities, weaker segments of society may it be women or other lower classes are vulnerable to discrimination before the powers of such leaders. The example of Adolph Hitler is classic in this regard, as to the manner in which he slaughtered millions of Jews with rhetoric rationalizations confirm to us the unconscious psychological drive that spilled blood and lacked humanity.

Well all the articulations I made was of one distinctive point that being of ‘Narcissism and governance’ and I think the curiosity that lied within me on the prevailing political environment of Sri Lanka seems a piece left unnoticed in the global puzzle of Narcissism.    As oppositions begin to shrink while voters watch in implausibility, as critics disappear or migrate and as leaders rise and masses crawl; our intuition smells of forces behind the curtains corrupting the rules of fair play.   Wait this is not right!  Something is wrong here, not just, something scandalous Yes I feel it …….  Yes something truly was unjust, wrong and impure but we let that something crawl through the loopholes of our consciousness and now that something had become a cancer in our society and has spread across Everything; It seems too late now to rectify the imbalance, too late to heal it; Because now it is everything and we are part of it. This isn’t about a single character or position it’s about our Sri Lankan society We ourselves have been the Narcissist and that sense of Narcissism which we approved created a pseudo society in our soil.

The Second swearing of oaths of his Excellency the President is days ahead, a leader is the guide of a community, the captain of our voyage; a huge burden of responsibilities lie at his shoulders for the next six years and the obligation of bringing us out from this maze of pseudo order is his topmost priority in a moralistic perspective. The festive looks throughout the country speaks to us a special message, every colourful banner or hoarding depicts the colourless omnipotence that governs us above morals, each artificially glowing public building reminds to us our sinister ways of omniscience which override the values we had preserved for so long ,   and finally the Lion flag at each corner reminds to us of the Sri Lankan self within us which lies dormant before our  unconsciousness eagerly staring at us to triumph those lost moralistic values within this pseudo context; the need to awaken the qualities of true Sri Lankan humility is our challenge today. To anoint the King is the right of the people may the true people’s will prevail and may their demeanor  at this decisive juncture of history be subservient to the powers that reign high above the dark clouds of the blue sky.

References

1. Vaknin , Sam. Malignant Self Love, Narcissism revisited. Narcissus publication.Macedonia.1999.Print

2. Atkinson & Hilgard. Introduction to Psychology. University of California. 1981. Print

It has been since quite a while that the global arena seems to be heating up again with hot politics between nations; it seems that the Eastern world has once again stepped in to a series of reciprocal relations with the ever dominant West. The recently concluded United Nations General Assembly was a forum where the gravity of this covert hostility was overtly unveiled before the world, when American president Barrack Obama reprimanded his Iranian counterpart Mohommad Ahamedijenad for his speech at the UN general assembly that he so considered as an attack on the interest on the American populace. When analyzing these tensions one should always be aware of the recent historical evolution behind this whole phenomenon; not forgetting the foreign policy of America which is renowned for interventionism and most importantly the religious extremism that had taken roots in the Republic of Iran which has transformed into a dynamic political force since the 1979 revolution.

However history itself has taught us that these East West tensions are of no good to the developing world, which may inevitably include a small isle as Sri Lanka (SL). The shelter of the then powerful Non Alignment Movement (NAM) was a safe haven for SL during the cold war tensions but now unfortunately the NAM is beleaguered as much as we are within the international arena of contemporary hard politics. So there lies the essential question as to where we are at this juncture of heated global politics?  Looking at the way our country’s foreign policy is heading it sure comes clear to us that we should do much more to avoid ourselves collateral damage through this political fiasco in the world; since as for now we are stuck between Eastern Autocracy and Western neo conservative Democracy.

For us to clearly understand the nature of this most recent Iran- American tensions the histories and political strategies of both these civilizations would be productive. The American hand for sure is not clean in looking how its rich nation gained all its wealth, but however one should always bear in mind that the Persian soil may not be gold either with respect to the amount of blood it had shed around the world through its atrociousness.

The New World, of Liberty or Gunpowder?

The discovery of America was predicted to be the most decisive milestone in history; and those predictions prophetically turned to be a reality with this ‘New World’ (as it was called then) turned out to be a predominant global entity that dictates the fate of the world around. But however the strategies and policies of this New World known as the American Mind were always at the center of criticism amongst global scholars, the prime reason being the amount of force and arbitration they used for the purpose of dominance; which led some scholars to even label America as the New World of Gun powder.

The American dominant arbitrary politics is nothing new to the world, their history starts with blood as they eliminated the native Red Indian communities in the continent through the imposition of capricious violence on them. The writings of the Red Indian head ‘Chief Seattle’ are salient proof on this, where he states “We know that the White man does not understand our ways. One portion of land is same to him as the next, for he is a stranger, who comes in the night and takes from the land whatever he needs; the earth is not his brother but his enemy and when he has conquered it he moves on to another”.

These words pronounced by Chief Seattle could be identified as the earliest definitions of what is now widely known as ‘American Mind’, which later on turned out to be more dynamic and forceful in achieving it’s interest’s. The American Mind in the years after always targeted the benefit of their European settlers and the expansion of their national boundaries. To achieve this ultimate goal the US administrations used all resources at their disposal along with a propaganda mechanism that condemned other civilizations as barbaric and stressed the superiority of the American culture and society of great democracy.  Around in the 1840’s the American’s stepped into confrontation with the Spanish and acquired the vital Puerto Rico and Philippines territories and subsequent clashes with the Mexicans earned them many island of the Pacific seas.. The hidden American Mind had been turned into words once by William H. Seward who served as secretary of state for both President Lincoln and Johnson, his words are as follows ; “Give me more fifty, forty, thirty years of life and I will engage to give you the possession of the whole American continent and the world in whole”.

Western exploitation and the Gulf

Iran from time immemorial had been considered as an faithful Middle East ally of the West; this relationship dates back to the period of early Christianity where during the Council of Nicea in 325 AD which was an significant historical conference which led to the evolution of the present Christendom, it was reported that there were more Bishop’s from Persia then many Western Nations. And in later centuries the Persians were a greater Trade ally than religion for the west since their tobacco, jewelry and other material goods were of immense value to the western populace. The intellectual ties between the West and Iran too was instrumental in maintaining the good rapport between the two nations, many elitist leaders of Iran including Malkum Khan, Nasir Al Mulk and even the nationalist Prime Minister Mossadegh were educated in European universities.

If one thing went wrong between the Persian regime and the West led by America, it was the exploitative policy orchestrated by the British and later the Americans that shattered all hopes of collaboration with the Persian regime in the years to come. Oil was the priceless discovery of Persia during the 1920’s; however even though Oil was discovered in the Persian soil matters turned complicated over the fact being that this priceless resource was discovered by western Hands. The Iranians even though had realized they were bestowed with the riches of god’s in their land were not rich enough with expertise to discover them since it being a risky and extremely costly endeavor. The initiatives of the British led west in discovering Oil and the hasty greed of the Persian Shah’s for wealth that sold most oil fields to British paved way for future fiasco’s pertaining to their region.  The result of Western prudence and Persian greed at this paramount phase of Persian history was the creation of the Anglo-Persian Oil Company which legitimized the presence of the West in Persia that brought them collateral damage for many years.

The presence of the Anglo-Persian Oil Company (APOC) was strongly felt as they carried the rich income to their lands leaving the Iranians only the crumbs of their bread; poor living standards of laborers, public appeal to rectify the financial drawbacks and criticism against Western exploitation echoed in all corners of Iran building a wave of hatred against the Western agents. This animosity amongst the masses soon took roots within the governing circles of Iran, which finally resulted in the strict policies of Iranian nationalist Prime Minister Mohammed Mossadegh who nationalized most oil fields in Iran which shut the doors for the westerners to earn big bucks from the gulf.

It is at this point only did the Iranians see the true colours of their western allies; the expansionism of the west unveiled here. The British used all their diplomatic subterfuges with the intension of regaining their lost wealth in the gulf, but of no avail; finally the English sought the help of the Americans for their mission of exploitation. As mentioned above the American Mind functions in its own unique way, rationalizing all its dastard actions in the name of a fair and equal society; US president Dwight Eisenhower blessed the operations of the American Mind in Iran which resulted in giving birth to a sense of hatred amongst Iranians against the USA which they thus long paid immense respect.  The Americans well versed with the song’s of democracy began singing it aloud in the gulf with a chorus well designed that accused the Mossadegh government of being a corrupt, nepotistic and authoritative rule, their allegations were well supplemented by various media circles and wide ranging politicians who were rewarded with cheque’s  with Washington ink.  The dastard politics of American architecture did indeed succeed in ousting the nationalistic regime of Mossadegh and managed to pump the gulf oil into Dollars under the auspices of the Shah Empire who was assured his royal seat but only with strings dictated from Washington. This era under the Shah of Iran was of great detriment to Iranian culture; the Islamic traditions of Iran were discouraged, liberalization took place in Iranian society boosting western morals and traditions. The ever strong clerical circles soon smelled the danger ahead; they realized that if the US stringed Shah regime continues further it would not take long for their sacred Quran to turn into an American versioned Bible; so they immediately started to act with a series of reciprocal political actions against the American sponsored government. The Islam revolution as its known continued for years under the pioneering guidance of Ayotollah Khomeini, and finally their efforts bore fruit in 1979 with the overthrow of the Shah regime and the establishment of an Islamic republic of Iran.

It is from this moment onwards that the modern criticism against Iran starts whispering and later on ululating from the mountains of the West. The Americans have since the 1979 revolution has had hostile relations with the Iranian state; the violation of human/media rights, authoritative autocracy, expansionist security threats have been the common rhymes of the American foreign policy against Iran. This antagonistic policy against Iran turned out to be more fierce than ever before as the American’s suffered bitterly at the hands of terrorism in 9/11 September attacks; The speech of former American President George. W. Bush in the State of Union address in 2002 calling the Iran state as an “Axis of Evil” is the overt depiction of this American ferocious approach on them.

Iran the Axis of Evil

Whether the term ‘Evil’ is something that fit’s the Islamic Republic of Iran is a question of immense contingency, most certainly one has to accept the fact that the American Mind always functions in style; their allegations against Iran does indeed have a firm grounding which needs close analysis.

The primary reason for American led Western suspicion on Iranian endeavors is the high amount of Religious extremism that has taken solid roots within the Iran State, which the West perceives as a potential red light on the liberal world. The Iranian Republic even though has installed many democratic element s into it’s governing structure, in reality it is the voice of certain Religious elites that counts in policy and strategic formulation in the administration of the Islamist republic. The circles of advisors both official and unofficial around the Iranian supreme leader Ayotollah Ali Khamenei, the clandestine roles played by the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) and the Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) along with the extremist forces instrumental in State administration armed with fanatic intellectualism and military goods make their governing process hardly democratic. The argument of ‘Iranian Evil’ is well built by the political architecture of Washington which cites historical post revolutionary violence of Iran, where the conservative regime used all their power to hunt down the close associates of the Shah empire whom they recognized as enemies of the new built Islamic nation. The assassination of Shah’s last serving Prime Minister Dr. Shapour Bakthiar in Paris and the killing of Dr. Sadiq Sharafkandi leader of the Iranian Kurdish Peoples Organization in Berlin Germany; were clearly a depiction of the arrival of a malignant wave of Iranian air into European borders posing a potential threat to its well preserved democracy.

However in Most recent history the Iranian path in global affairs had created two massive rocks which impede the Western or American interest; these are respectively the Iranian alleged involvement in abetting Terrorism and their dangerously racial views against Israel. These two areas are the centric reasons which led to the heated extremely hostile relationship patterns between America and Iran we presently experience.

The Iranian involvement in Terrorism has its own history which basically has close affinity to the Israel factor; during the Middle East tensions Iran as a nation basically maintained an Anti-Israel policy; as a result they were predominantly involved in forming the Lebanese based guerilla organization Hezbollah, and were responsible either directly or indirectly to the dastard sense of inhumanity spilled by the terror organization around the world.  In more contemporary times specifically aftermath the 9/11 debacle the Neo Conservative American thinking has tirelessly indulged themselves in search of evidence that would build a link between Al Qaeda and the Republic of Iran; the theory they present argues that the insecurity in the borders of Pakistan and Afghanistan attached to Iran would have inevitably made the Islamic republic an safe haven for fleeing terrorist. At one stage the American Intelligence was said to have solid evidence that Saa’d Bin Laden (son of Osama Bin Laden and a pioneering figure of Al Qaeda) had been accommodated in Iran; the allegation itself was highly argued between the secret diplomatic agents of both Iran and USA and never came out to the open arena of global politics officially.

The Iranian antagonism towards the state of Israel is one of the most striking concerns of the American led west that designs their neo conservative policies against Iran. The Iranian state has been playing a significant invisible role behind the world curtains in respect of Middle East politics. Their most devastating involvement on Middle East affairs was the 1994 bombing of a Jewish Community Center in Buenos Aires Argentina which left 85 killed and over 200 injured; The responsibility of the attack was accepted by Hezbollah but then as the investigations proceeded it was proved that it was the Iranian authorities that had initially planed the attack through their institutions ranging for the Qod’s of IRGC ( a brainwashed military wing of the revolutionary guards promulgating violence within and outside the Iranian borders) to the Iranian embassy in Argentina. The recent statements given by the Iran regime led by president Ahamedinejad  himself against the Israel State and the elimination of the Zionist regime  no doubt worsens the American fears of a Iranian domination in Middle East affairs that would challenge the power order of the world we know.

More importantly the government of President Ahamedinejad has been perceived as an abnormally aggressive regime fuelled by Islamist extremism that baselessly opposes the West at all times. The 2005 speech by Ahamedinejad that speaks of the replacement of the Israel State by a Palestinian state, up to his 2009 UN General Assembly address that describes Israel as a nation built up upon racial principles, has earned the Iranians nothing but condemnation and sanction from the Western world. And it is amidst these political debacles that the State of Iran prepares to acquire nuclear technology; the suspicion and constrains for such an endeavor from the western world is no surprise given the recent historical fragmentation of relations between the two nations.

Oh! My Serendib

The above speak of the tensions of the world, but then what about us? Do we as a nation have repercussions from these clashes of world nations? The answer is yes, when the world Heats we as a nation Boil and the more intense such hostilities reach more decisive would our fate be as a developing nation.

The classical example at our disposal on this respect was the Sri Lankan (SL) role during the cold war; we were foolish that time to get excessively involved on Cold war politics which paid us bitterly then. The then SL regime led by J.R Jayewardene (JRJ) was fantasized with Americanism and aligned themselves with the US power during Cold war tensions, they took various decisions in favour of USA such as the permission to build a tower for Voice of America in Iranawila, calling of eased tender prices for the lease of Oil Wells in Trincomalee for America etc. The JRJ government’s hasty decisions this period sure enough served our nation bitterly in the years to come as the aggrieved East  retaliated in form of Indian intervention, that cost us a intense war which lasted over three decades bringing us suffering and backwardness as a nation.

Now the same phenomenon has repeated itself in global politics, there certainly remains a lesson that we ought to have learned from the past and through which our foreign and domestic policies should be designed and promulgated.  However as we look at our nation placing it in the present context, the question as to how much we’ve learned is immensely dubious. Today not only do we align ourselves excessively with one power bloc but we also are acquiring dangerous political complications from the world arena to our very own system.

In exploring this fetching truth, we see that just as much as America are struggling to find the division line of Freedom and Terrorism today our SL power masters our engaging themselves in the most puerile effort to divide the SL political spectrum as Patriots and Conspirators, which unknowingly to their amateur ness spreads fast into the mass populace spilling beans of divisions among the society bringing more adverse consequences.

The Government of Sri Lanka’s (GOSL) excessive corporation with the State of Iran has taken most in the global arena and even our own people by surprise; the attempts of the GOSL to draw investments from Iran for the furtherance of our national development should indeed be lauded. But the repercussions we would have to face through such extremism in global politics especially in form of American retaliation certainly deserve attention in respect to our nation’s long term future. The American resentment to SL’s present state of affairs was clearly depicted when President Obama made remarks during the UN General Assembly on the American rejection and condemnation on leaders who extend their power through Constitutional reforms and promising development over the sacrifice of Civil and Human Rights, which was believed as a hint on Sri Lanka.

However in more recent times the GOSL has taken more measures to increase their allegiance with Iran in both global forums’s and even in domestic politics, it would take many of you by surprise to hear some striking similarities between SL and Iran under Ahamedinejad rule which makes the affinity of the two regimes more understandable. President Ahamedinejad is a perfect Machiavellian Prince who carefully makes sure that his administration is loyal to him, he does so by appointing many of his relations and close associated to top governing chairs within the administration irrespective of their personal records; the appointments of Esfandiar Rahim Mashaie the brother in law of the President as Iran’s Vice President and later as his chief of staff, his close political confident but yet the inexperienced Heydar Moslehi as the nation’s intelligence chief, and many other extremist but close comrades of his Excellency such as Mojtaba Hashemi Samareh as his top political advisors, are few examples. The Iran president also is dexterous in safeguarding his interest and extremism inherent in his administration in guise of rhetoric religious and patriotic exclamations blindfolding the democratic appeals of the people; for example when criticism was mounted against his brother in law Mashaie he was given guard by the President who called him “ Olya Allah, or man of god’.

Given the above situation it comes clear to us that dirty politics of world nation’s has dominated the entire international political sphere; but the question which lies amongst us is as to whether we as Sri Lanka are becoming a part of this impure practice of global politics, and if so why?  Presently a mass appeal is generating within Sri Lanka for its own domestic record of policy decisions that allegedly distort our united society. Therefore in the time has arrived for us as a nation to be sage enough to view the prevailing world politics with maturity and accordingly shape our policies in line with the most acceptable middle line and that of an unbiased nature. The Iranian and American debate in the global platform is an inevitable result of an evolutionary history, which has its own pros and cons. So it is prudent for SL as a nation to be attentive in its domestic and foreign policy initiatives, and at all times to make sure that they not be a prey of either nation’s who are hungry of dominance.

In early Zoroastrian faith which long ago was firmly adhered by people of Persia, teaches that leaders are representatives of God, but reiterates the fact that they deserve allegiance from people only as long as they have ‘Farr’ or in other words divine blessings which ought to be earned through moral discipline in their rule. However in looking at the prevailing politics in the world stage rulers act always in their best interest according to their whims and fancies thinking that the Divine Farr is their birth right; be it America, Iran or even Sri Lanka this is the reality we face. It therefore seems that the people also have a responsibility to bring back these power driven politicians back to their proper senses and remind them the realistic truth that public allegiance or ‘Farr’ is never their right but an essential condition for rule which they ought to earn from the very people they represent.

By Migara Doss

(The Writer could be reached through migarad@gmail.com)

References

1. Howard, Roger. Iran in Crisis. Zed books Ltd. New York. 2004. Print
2. Kinzer, Stephan. All the Shah’s Men. John Wiley & Sons Inc. New Jersey.2008.print
3. Chief Seattle. Our Sacred Land. Print

by Migara Doss

At an period where our film industry is at its most detrimental stages where movies merely have a entertainment scope which excludes any rationale, logical message to the viewer; veteran filmmaker Bennet Ratnayake’s initiative to direct a movie on a socially pivotal but taboo topic such as the ethnic conflict most certainly needs to be commended.  Ira Handa Yata is a symbolic bioscope which addresses the most painful but important aspects of humanity lied unnoticed during Sri Lanka’s long driven ethnic crisis; it not only represents the need’s and strategies of separatism and repressive forces but also underlies the covert similarities between these two forces that appear in form of humanity inherent to all mankind which is too strong to be reared apart through socially constructed boundaries that of religion race language etc.

The characters of Major Mahasen (played by Saumya Liyanage) and Capt. Rakitha depicts to the viewer the powerful innate force of humanity that comes first over other social thrusts  which captivate man and motivate his actions accordingly. Throughout the movie these two characters display a sense of superior humanistic qualities from the scene where Capt. Rakitha refuses to leave injured Maj. Mahasen in the wilderness; to the scene where he extends his assistance to the LTTE leaders informing them of the existence of Maj. Mahasen going contrastingly beyond his military obligations for the sake of saving a colleague’s life. This aspect of the movie is also illustrated through the role of the female LTTE cadre (Role played by Kaushalya Fernando) who experiences sorrow at the sight of Maj. Mahasen being killed by his senior guerilla leader ‘Pole Master’ (played by Bimal Jayakody) where he (Maj. Mahasen) dies uttering his beloved’s name; and once again when she resents furiously at the instance where the guerilla leader kills a child soldier at her presence. The fundamental message here left unexplained would be to understand the obligations of humanity which we all fall under  encompassing compassion, generosity, sympathy, empathy which are scarce as gold in a conflict environment; the quest is to find these lost human values in the darkness of disparity.

Another important aspect addressed through this film is Patriotism and Pseudo Patriotism. The scene where Maj. Mahasen stresses to his Tamil wife Thiruba Devi  that he needs to accept his immediate transfer to the North since it is his obligation to his motherland, conveys to us the true sense of patriotism bestowed in him through his firm will to represent his motherland over other lucrative comforts; Capt. Rakitha’s exclamation to his girlfriend of his desire to rejoin the battlefield if required irrespective of the injuries he attained displays this sense of true patriotism of society. Whereas the role played as Maj. Mahasen’s sinhala mother (played by Suvineetha Weerasinghe) who curses her Tamil daughter in law using the narrow social architecture of racial boundaries with very less rationality depicts this sense of Pseudo Patriotism which also exists in our society. Leaving room for the intelligent viewer to make a choice between these two options.

This movie is most certainly not a romantic bioscope, but we often come across the term “I love you” in it; the importance of this term throughout this movie is the broader meaning added to this word. Love is in the broader sense a meaning of compassion and humility, nearly every religion endorses it as a powerful human mean to unite each other. It is this broader sense that the word love is displayed in this film. The term “I love you” used by Maj. Mahasen to his Tamil wife Thiruba explains to the viewer how powerful the human bond of love can be beyond the circumscribed racial and religious boundaries.

Finally the movie’s ending is left open to the audience, the young girl (daughter of Maj. Mahasen & Thiruba) ‘Sama’ makes a birthday wish of being together with her Tamil mother and Capt. Rakitha’s sinhala family. But this dream is not to be an easy goal, Shama and Capt. Rakitha gets caught to heavy bombing in a battlefield; their survival or death is the question. The answer has been left wide open cleverly by the director, which ultimately becomes our responsibility! The role we play in this post conflict environment is as decisive as one can imagine; we could either stick to our racial, religious biases and set ablaze the hopes of unity as a nation or can fit into the shoes of humanity and bring about a instrumental change to our hostile society of racial and religious discrepancies and permanently heal the wounds of the ethnic crisis in our motherland.

]]> http://migisz.wordpress.com/2010/09/15/ira-handa-yata-a-quest-to-champion-humanity-in-an-unearthly-context/feed/ 0 Fortes et Liber http://migisz.wordpress.com/2010/09/08/the-18th-amendment-and-its-repercussions-on-a-democratic-society/ http://migisz.wordpress.com/2010/09/08/the-18th-amendment-and-its-repercussions-on-a-democratic-society/#comments Wed, 08 Sep 2010 04:27:01 +0000 Migara Doss http://migisz.wordpress.com/?p=107 ]]>

It had been since many years that our nation felt the need of a constitutional revision to the II Republican Constitution of 1978 since the well worn promise of a “Just and Free Society” (as in it’s preamble)  just doesn’t seem to be a reality. The call therefore from amongst the commons was for a constitutional reshuffle that minimizes the centralized potent executive power to a decentralized mechanism that empowers the long impotent legislature. Nearly after 20 years since the II Republican Const. we now as a nation are ready for the 18^th amendment of the Constitution that brings about drastic changes to the document which we are governed under; So it is of immense vitality that we understand the pros and cons of this hastily prepared amendment of crucial importance to our future lives.

The Constitutional Council (CC) has become the key interest of this new amendment which makes significant alterations to it. An institution formed under the 17^th amendment of 2001 the CC was entrusted with a obligation of creating a system of checks and balances on the unlimited executive power; but now looking back after nine years it seems that these checks and balances has created an imbalance of interests on the higher echelons of state power which now attempts to strip the CC from its powers. From amongst the many changes of the New Amendment on the CC its composition had been brought down to five members who are all to be parliamentarians representing political parties, as opposed to the previous composition that had open doors for prominent apolitical public figures to make their input on governance (Article 41C 4). Furthermore as with the 17^th Amendment articles 41(b) & 41(c) entrusted a broad framework of powers to the CC to be a pro active body that places control on the wide discretion bestowed under the Executive by means of obligatory recommendations and approvals on the president’s official appointments. However under the new amendment the CC’s powers are merely limited to that of an advisory nature without any constructive authority, making it virtually another White Elephant.

The Executive however seems to be the natural beneficiary with the constitutional murder of the CC through this amendment. The President on one hand gets total unquestionable discretion on state appointments, where he could easily manipulate the Cabinet of Ministers to his whims and fancies. And on the other unlimited power is followed by virtually unlimited duration in office with the eligibility for the President to contest for a third term.

So in general view this constitutional revision seems to have gone in contrastingly different ways with the public demands of a responsible executive to an irresponsible executive. As once exclaimed by Julius Caesar “Veni, Vidi, Vici” (I came, I saw, I conquered) through this amendment the executive has conquered the whole governing process in our country. “Democracy” has been the defining term for all those who propose this Constitutional amendment and those who oppose it, but ironically in looking at the turn of events unfolding during the past few days it so seems to us as that “Democracy” is the precious that all seek and the very one that appears to be lost in our society.

By Migara Doss

http://www.lankaoil.com/index.php?q=aHR0cDovL3d3dy5sYW5rYW5ld3N3ZWIuY29tL0VOX0ZFQVRVUkUvRkVBVFVSRV8xMF8wOV8wOF8wMDIuaHRtbA%3D%3D

Colombo is the centric organ of the Sri Lankan (SL) body, economically socially and most importantly politically Colombo plays an extremely vital role in the affairs of the country. During the recently concluded 2010 SL general elections all eyes drew towards Colombo where both major political parties put up a tremendous effort to maximize votes into their bank; but the final result in Colombo was a symbol of change of winds where one dominant party was given a clear message from the people that their power hold in the district limits are now no more. The United National Party renown for its strong vote base in Colombo suffered a major setback at the recent elections managing only a percentage of 36.17%; the reason behind this most unexpected result and the subtle socio political circumstances pertaining to it needs close scrutiny.

Colombo even though is the economical capital of the country is not at all a territory circumscribed to the elites; true enough that many upper middle class families do reside within the Colombo city limits but this significant minority is clearly outnumbered by a insignificant majority of middle and lower middle class families in and out in the large district of Colombo. The perspective through which these two social strata’s view politics is at all levels contrasting to each other; the upper middle class always give priority to intellect and expertise over wealth and charisma in choosing their representatives whereas the ordinary lower middle class voters look for charismatic and colourfully wealthy politicians who throw around tons of money to buy votes, these class of masses give intellect and expertise very minimal importance. So this stratification plays a pivotal role in each election and the efficacy of approach by political parties to attract these two social levels makes the difference of a win and loss in the typical vote game.

Since the periods of independence it was the United National Party that maintained all honour and glory in Colombo politics; The UNP leadership hierarchy was strong enough to satisfy both social strata’s in the district though their political calculus of prudence skills and expertise. The UNP Colombo throne was well guarded by Hon. J.R Jayawardena whose intellect in the field of academics and political expertise was well lauded by the Colombo elites who needed no introduction for reasons to vote for him seeing his dexterity in governance from a youth leader in Ceylon Nationalist Movement to Financial Minister of Independent SL ; Even though he was from a elite background  his affiliation with the lower middle class vote base in Colombo made sure that the colour green remained bright in the capital city. When J.R retired from electoral politics the noble responsibility of guarding the treasure vote in Colombo was entrusted to Hon. Ranasinghe Premadasa; even though not the ideal man of intellect the elite crowd rallied around him astonished at his political commitment and efficacy, the lower middle class thought the very same way and added even more votes to the predominant UNP vote bank in Colombo under the Premadasa tenure.  This powerful and extremely skillful leadership of the UNP created a firm vote base in the Colombo city and passed on a lesser responsibility to the next in line UNP leadership which was merely confined to protecting the Green ballots in the capital.

However in looking at the performance of the present UNP leadership who was assigned the earlier mentioned responsibility we clearly see that the UNP dynasty in Colombo has fallen to the ground under the leadership of Hon. Ranil Wickremesinghe; the party which at one stage got no lesser than 60% of registered votes in the capital only managed to clinch 3, 39 750 votes out of 1, 0 50 000 votes in the district. And for the first time in political history the Ranil W who never fails to cross over 300,000 preferences barely managed to reach the 200,000 mark becoming the second in the preference game in Colombo. What are the reasons for the fall of the Elephant dynasty in the capital and who orchestrated prudent political strategies for the collapse of the mighty empire of the greens? all these answers could be found only from 2005 onwards when typical Medamulana politics began expanding their tactics to conquer all lands which were beyond their reach.

The United National Party’s kingdom of Colombo showed signs of collapse since the beginning of the 21^st century where their power became instable at elections disadvantages to them. The Rajapakse government under president Mahinda that came into power in 2005 was clever enough to understand this subtle disadvantage of the UNP which could be twisted into their (Rajapakse govt’s) own political advantage.  The Medamulana political directors consisting of the predominant brotherly union started to draw plans in conquering the capital that has been a long term need of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP); they very wisely understood the earlier mentioned social stratification in the Colombo population, and needed a grass root level political leadership that would grasp their attraction. The government with this intention at the back of their mind initiated their plan through the Colombo Municipal Council Election 2006 putting forward leftist oriented leader with political expertise as their mayoral candidate; the main idea behind this highly orchestrated series of events was to capture  the Colombo elites and from them to reach towards the ordinary Colombo masses. However their plan turned out to be unsuccessful with the election results where the Govt candidate was not able to live up to their expectations even with the UNP out of the election run; The Rajapakse’s thereafter executed many other plans to win the Colombo high society votes and establish a blues empire in the capital but in all such instances their motives were unsuccessful since the upper middle class Colombo folks was a step ahead to be fooled by Rajapakse politics.

The Government for a while abandoned their task of Colombo focus and allowed time to bring them solutions; and then the higher echelons of power in the Govt. benches came up with a bright idea of absorbing the Colombo lower middle class population towards their political ideology; this idea seemed to be the most effective strategy to realize their goal for a Blue Colombo but the practicability of this strategy was highly dubious since this particular population are die hard greens (Kapuwath Kola) saturated with the UNP for the tremendous amount of work done to them by previous staunch UNP leaders. So the plan and strategy seemed just too perfect but the ways and means of realizing the ultimate objective of filling the boxes with blue ballots seemed a little impractical. But the Rajapakse’s intrinsic feature of achieving the impossible with means known very little to many was the only reason for one to be optimistic, So the drama was directed and the need of the Rajapakse directorship was a main actor that would make their dreams in the capital city a reality. The Rajapakse choice for the mission virtually thought impossible by many was entrusted to personalities with less expertise and prudence but charismatic and wealthy enough to gain access to the people.  Who could have been the personality that rattled the Colombo city in the last few years other than our most familiar R. Duminda Silva whome the Rajapakse’s entrusted with the most complex responsibility; and after a while when Duminda Silva was doing his role fairly well the Rajapakse’s created another character to his assistance whose characteristics is of no difference to the latter, Thilanga Sumathipala was also sent to the assistance of Duminda in making the Colombo victory for the SLFP a reality. These two main actors had no rich political expertise to attract the masses with rhetoric political theories and nor did they have a philosophy of their own but they certainly did have one thing: MONEY…. Tons and tons of money were thrown before the people, they traveled across the most scruffy territories of the capital to which no other representative had set foot and wiped of the tears of the suffering masses with temporary comforts which basically involves a lot of financial spending. The more they worked double they publicized them in and out of the capital through massive banners and cut outs, they polluted the city with posters like never before in SL. A day to test the waters came for the Rajapakse masters when the Provincial Council elections came by in 2009; the result was remarkably successful, the SLFP led UPFA easily recorded victory with the R.emarkable Duminda and T.hunderous Sumathipala leading the preferential list with over 1 lacks of votes.

The Rajapakse theory of Machiavellian politics was showing winds of success; but the day to make their victory more jubilant arrived as the General elections were announced; The Govt. led UPFA totally relied on the lower middle class Colombo Votes to sweep the polls in the capital, they also put forward their other super seniors like  Wimal W. Gamini Lokuge, Jeewan Kumaratunga to supplement the Duminda Thilanga mission as well as brought forward candidates as Fowzie, Rohitha B, Milinda to make a effort towards the elite votes in Colombo.

The 9^th of April the day after the elections the trumpets of victory were very much aloud in all parts of the country for the UPFA, and almost all were very much enthusiastic about the Colombo outcome of the ballot. As the results was beginning to be declared the Duminda’s and Thilanga’s were very much a success as UPFA began winning almost all electorates in the capital of lower middle class domain paralyzing the UNP camp taking them with surprise. However the UPFA approach towards the elite votes in Colombo was not of much success as their candidates selected for the task started falling before the ballot; candidates of immense esteem like Rohitha Bogollagama, Milinda Moragoda were few whose mission as well as political survival failed pathetically. But still the plan A of the Govt. of winning the general Colombo masses proved effective to give them a landslide victory in the capital with a handy 51.19 % nearly 15 digits ahead of the main opposition; The preference game too was turning Govt.’s way pretty much unexpectedly as Wimal W gained the highest preferential votes of 280,672 comfortably ahead of the opposition leader who usually leads in votes in the whole island at elections of loss or defeat to the party.

As in the case of the UNP this drawback in Colombo comes into them in two major ways; firstly as a humiliating defeat before the people whom they had long forgotten and secondly as a lesson for them to fortify their power in the capital with dedication and honesty which is weapons unique to them in Colombo Politics. In closely scrutinizing the UNP’s 3,39 750votes in the Colombo district we see that their Vote base had been clearly dependent on the elite crowd in the suburbs of the capital city; the leading winners of the preferential list including Ranil W, Ravi K, Grero, Rosy Sujeewa S. all happen to be candidates with a close affinity to upper middle class voters in the city. Therefore the urgent need of the party to restructure their polices and strategies in approaching the lower middle class vote base should definitely come as a top priority of the party; and also new players of political charisma needs to be brought forward into the fray  to realize the above goal.

So will the Colombo Politics remain the very same as seen in the election Results? Will the temporary satisfaction given to the general masses of the capital by the UPFA be adequate enough to maintain their legacy or will the UNP elephants struggle to win back their dynasty in Colombo. All these questions of immense complexity would only be answered by Colombo Politics that would unravel before the public in the days to come.

Traitors, Betrayers, Plotters against the majesty that  saved a nation from brutality, violence and terror; Ohhh yes action should be executed against all those that plot, all those who speak and all who stand against this governing structure of our nation that had done so many for us, our children our future and for our generations. The value of the commitment made by this rule for us is certainly immeasurable, as priceless as the treasures gathered by a company of brothers in an isle we all well know of. The Italian Fascist Dictator Benito Mussolini once exclaimed that the ‘State is Eternal’ this sentiment expressed by this great dictator of the west most certainly motivated rulers of dictatorship origin to overestimate their political capacity and measure their political power as eternal. But very little did they know that Mussolini himself had been obtuse to make this statement where he clearly makes a contradiction considering his legitimate governing authority as the State; a blatant error in politics. Certainly there have been and still are political dunderheads who stick to this assumption and exercise power to their whims and fancies creating havoc, chaos and destruction under the impression that their kingdom would have no end. OK enough beating around the bush now I am referring to Sri Lanka the small miracle of the world as exaggerated by the government; the pearl of the globe….  There was hope in the minds of some when the year 2010 approached that fear would end, that brutality cease and democracy restored. Yet again a dubious intuition said to them that the Machiavelli theory of Expediency, Prudence and Interest vested with those of ulterior motivations to secure power for the benefit of their well being would not allow such gladsome fate to this isle. The Presidential Election was the hope and the Rajapakse brothers were the fear!

Four years had we gone through this brutality, this undemocratic mechanism that sanctioned our right to express what we thought was right; to do what we ought to  and to stand by our consciousness. The nepotism inherent to our country certainly did continue from Senanayake’s to Bandaranayake’s and finally replaced by Rajapakse’s whose detriment caused to our nation could be compared with no other. As the election drew close it was only one valuable in the Rajapakse bag; ‘War’ which liberated the nation, won us true independence ect. They also bought forward many more before the people hilarious from nature such as ‘development’ development that they claimed to be theirs. Certainly it is theirs since nearly a quarter of the budget estimated for flyovers, bridges and other development activities go into their own pockets, excluding the ten percent which goes to a  well known sibling of the majesty. The only credit deserved by the government prior to the election was therefore the war triumph which has to be clearly reminded was not an individual effort of the Rajapakse’s but an concerted effort which succeeded its goals though the tears, sweat and blood sacrificed by valiant warriors who struggled with life over death in wild fears territories which smelled death at every corner. Therefore the question prompts into our minds whether the above sacrifices could be credited to a handful who enjoyed conditioned air in luxury rooms and had never even thrown a mere stone at the enemy or even set foot to their battle territory.

It was under this phenomena that Sri Lanka reached to the brink of the 6^th Executive Presidential Elections, The President Mahinda Rajapakse reentered the fray with his broad smile confident of victory which means were known only to him. The main theme exhibited by the Rajapakse’s to the people was to make Sri Lanka ‘The Miracle of Asia’ certainly this miracle came true before many even expected it to come, so fast and very lively; The Rajapakse’s who never fail to keep their word initiated their act to make the Asian Miracle from TRANS ASIA where the opposition candidate former Army Commander General Sarath Fonseka was lodging at. The word miracle had been included in the Rajapakse election propaganda but the implication of the word miracle was not elaborated. The elaboration was however revealed on 27^th morning where a stringent army battalion surrounded their former chief; loaded with guns which once were fired at the command of their present adversary; the implication therefore we can assume as a miracle to democracy where the concept would have a new meaning mingled with a bit of Fascism, Nazism and a bit of typical Madamulana politics. The pathetic ness of this new political calculus was that it ultimately had trapped the pioneer of trapping Vellupillai Prabhakaran, LTTE chief at the Nandikadal Lagoon of the North in a very similar manner near the Beira lake of Colombo. An attempted coup was the charge leveled against General Sarath Fonseka; the action against it was adopted in most dramatic fashion creating a comedy of errors before the viewers of local and global origin.

First and foremost the government had zero evidence to prove that the General Sarath Fonseka (SF) was involved I such an effort, therefore their quest was to collect or create evidence to put behind the bars the person whom they considered an ally at time of need but again at the hour of triumph an enemy of least use. The mission was launched right after the well orchestrated election concluded, the plan that was set up long before the election was put to test by the Rajapakse brothers. The main reason behind this drama of revenge is the escalating anger built upon the royal brothers for SF’s sudden enter into politics that spoiled their long term political ambitions and the most harsh sentiments expressed by the general in election platforms. So commenced the action of the newly elected president and his legal henchmen who scrutinized every bit of legal paper available searching for a provision that would be sufficient enough for a reasonable charge against SF. Unfortunately for them the Civil Law was inadequate to fulfill their dastard aspirations which left them with a Hobson’s choice to depend on the Army Act that well suited their desires. Accordingly SF was arrested by the military police violating all ethics in army service and was detained as a culprit of treason. 

The legal phenomena behind the SF’ fiasco and the success level of the Rajapakse trap needs more elaboration; First and foremost the toils put on SF are from nature incapable of hunting this Man whom a nation adores. In legal terms the Army Act only allows action against a retired officer eligible within a period of six months from the date the subject person allegedly committed the crime; In the case of the former General who quit the Army in June and took up the post of Chief of Defense Staff (CDS) not related to the Army alone raises questions on the legal validity to indict charges against him for misdeeds committed as a army officer that clearly exceeds more than six months time. And another legal blunder made by the Brotherhood Union was that their inability to present the charges against the arrested General within 24 hours as stated clearly under the Army act; thereby posing more questions on the validity of this arbitrary arrest that where the authorities were incapable of charging the arrested for days. Last but certainly not least it is a fundamental right of any citizen to be free from Cruel, Inhuman, Degrading Punishment or Treatment as described in the constitution; But the arrest and detention of the former Army Commander executed according to the whims and fancies of the conspirators clearly breaches this law as well. Therefore under the legal perspective of General Sarath Fonseka trial; He (SF) clearly has an upper hand as far as law is concerned which leaves the Rajapakse union in utter confusion on their next step to make.

However the hunt for democracy of the Madamulana Empire did not start from SF and nor did it end from him; freedom protests, agitations, public rallies have all been under attack brutally by the most prominent Silva faction of the government to whose acts even the police turn a blind eye. And to the greatest detriment the hunt has now recently started against all those who stood by SF purely for the sake of reestablishment of democracy; Many of these victims are now traced by the Terrorist Investigation Division (TID) derisively those who stood by the commander who eliminated terrorist are now subjected to interrogation by the TID. The rational behind these actions are most certainly questionable which clearly implies the political motives behind all these actions.

The political witch hunt of the Rajapakse brothers has many more episodes to unfold quite similar to an Indian mega teledrama where the very same story continues over and over again but pathetically Sri Lankans eagerly watch them with their mouths open. So many happen but little retaliation has been seen over time; the escalating violence, suppression and oppression of rights, democracy, franchise needs to be addressed in an efficient manner where the dictatorship will be silenced through voices of democracy, liberty and a sense of fraternity. The time is up for you and me now to realize the reality and make the initiative of changing this system of anarchy which leads our nation towards catastrophe; It is not an question of the practicability of our efforts which should not be our consideration but it is purely about doing the right think and the need to act according to our consciousness. The difference between coming forward against this injustice is a difference between Bravery and Cowardice, about being heroic or impotent and most importantly being a true Patriot or Traitor. There is a vitally important lesson that contemporary history teaches us at this hour of need; according to my conscious there are two great human beings that existed in this world excepting the religious leaders. They are the Indian born Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi commonly known as Mahatma Gandhi who took the path of Ahimsa to counter brutality and the other well known Argentine figure Earnest Che Guevara who stood brave and bold against the bullet of the oppressor with revolution at his hand. We as Sri Lankan’s now face a situation where mere silent revolutions succeed not; a time to act has arisen and both the paths of Ahimsa and Revolution are open before us. Mahatma Gandhi once said “I cannot teach you violence, as I do not myself believe in it. I can only teach you not to bow your heads before any one even at the cost of your life”. Through which emphasis is given towards a mandatory representation for democracy when placing it in our national context. The great Argentine Revolutionary opens our eyes towards this approach more clearly through his own words which say “The revolution is not an apple that falls when it is ripe. You have to make it fall”. Which makes it crystal clear for us now that to make the change our action is inevitably required and if we don’t act we would never be able make the change that our nation’s future so greatly deserve. Some people may strongly agree with the above expressed thoughts and readily join the fray for a struggle towards a better society ; whilst some others even though agree to the rational of our argument may be reluctant to act! this of course deserves no other word better than feebleness for as Gandhi puts it “To believe in something, and not to live it, is dishonest.”

So Sri Lanka time has now come for you to act! The time to give up silence and take up weapons of democracy to bring down the mighty dictator!  Let us unite and make our dream for a better tomorrow come a reality!!!

Migara Doss

 Let us get Together & Fight for Democracy

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A Great Dictator

By Migara Doss

‘Sri Lanka no more has any minorities or majorities’ a comely sentiment expressed by our very own H.E the President of Sri Lanka in the house of Parliament during his most famous victory speech after concluding the long driven ethnic war that haunted the nation for many decades. Looking at it in retrospect it seems to be very true, the way the country is running right now there wont be any room left for majorities or minorities as well as for journalist or dissent it seems that this isle in the near future would turn out to be a place confined only to Rajapakse henchmen. Why I say so is worth closely scrutinizing because with the recent threats and continues harassment inflicted against media men their remains very little or no room at all for dissent and the government expects nothing but  commendations from media which is a fact of great detriment to free journalism of the world over. It is quite surprising to find this sort of a environment from President Rajapakse who vowed to establish and ensure the use of free media during his run up to the presidency, anyone who comes across the well famed propaganda called ‘Mahinda Chinthana’ should examine the 81^st page of this manifesto where rhetoric language boasts of the use of free media and journalism to be established under a Rajapakse era. How lies it has now proved to be! His Excellency has now created an environment where fear and panic runs in the mind of a journalist before picking up a pen. It could be opined that our President’s close association with infamous world leaders such as Hugo Chavez and Ahamedinejad had given him this new theory of ‘destroy and rule’ with concern to media and that he has taken those dictators as a role model for his rule implementing their dastard acts against civil society and media. Many people fear to utter a word against these acts of iniquity; but it is their infertility! We as proud children of mother Sri Lanka consider it as our supreme obligation to expose the harsh truths of this isle hidden beyond the veil and expose them to the world over.

It was a heavy blow to the media of this country when the high court recently gave their verdict against J.S Tissainayagam(Tissa) imprisoning him with rigorous labour for twenty years under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) for the offense of publishing nothing more then just two articles which the government claims has caused heavy detriment to the State. On the 7^th of March 2008 the Sunday Times columnist and senior Tamil journalist J.S Tissainayagam was detained by Terrorist Investigation Department (TID) officials without any given explanation and arbitrarily continued to search the offices of Tissa which ran the publication of North Eastern Monthly Magazine and the www.outsreachsl.com. The mulish nature of this arrest is evident through the harsh treatment Tissa had to undergo during his imprisonment in police remand where strict sanctions were imposed on even seeking a attorney to adapt legal measures against this dastard act, But still even through the limited openings the civil society stood by Tissa and fought valiantly to seek justice which was far beyond their reach in what could be defined as a police state. Tissa had been imprisoned from March 2008 until August 31^st 2009 where the ghastly decision was observed by the high court, It had been 17 months and from the succor of the emergency law and PTA which were incepted to counter terrorism the Government utilized them to the zenith and fought a war against journalism simultaneously to the one with terror. The imprisonment and the sentencing of Tissa posse’s serious questions unresolved which needs close scrutiny, there were three main charges leveled against Tissa by the government and all these allegations were puerile in nature. Firstly Tissa is accused of ‘writing to discredit the government’ an accusation which anyone with the basic knowledge of Political Science knows is lame; A member of any society which has the slightest touch of democracy has an invariable right to express ideas against the government! It is a very basic theory in Politics and unless the judiciary is blind this is no offense at all; it is against the State that one cannot stand up against which can be charged of treason; So Tissa has not raised his pen against the State! It is the government acts he condemns through his article highlighting the TMVP’s  (broken wing of LTTE) involvement in child abductions and the alleged government affiliations to them. These are contentious social issues that the society should be aware of! And it is the rightful obligation of the media to expose it to the society and if that becomes an offense it is quite perplexed as to what extent democracy exists in this nation. The very second misdeed the government points at Tissa is even more hilarious than the first one, ‘Inciting Racial Disharmony’ it is pity that these brainless dunderheads are unable to understand the contents of Tissa’s articles! They are purely focused on the detrimental situation that Tamils face during the final phase of war and most importantly one should never forget that Tissa had to undergo many hardships in police custody despite his physical illness just for the fact that he happened to be a Tamil; is that not racial abuse? The H.E President vowed that there would be no minorities but nationalist and traitors, maybe this categorization placed strong Tamils like Tissa into the latter category but as far as the concept of democracy is concerned this accusation is lukewarm. Last but certainly not least the final charge leveled against Tissa stands as the strongest of all; in it he is accused of ‘Obtaining Money from Pro LTTE parties’ this refers to mainly NGO’s and other foreign donors who had funded Tissa for his journalistic endeavors related to his North Eastern Monthly Magazine and his website. This is a rhyme frequently sung by the government and its chauvinist allies accusing NGO’s and Foreign factors of influencing the sovereignty of our country; but these allegations suddenly come to a halt when the government pleads money from NGO’s for development activities and turn to the IMF for loans and other benefits. Therefore the third accusation too needs more strong evidence to prove the fact that it most certainly was LTTE elements that funded Tissa; and even if so why not take action against those elements?

It is said that Tissa had made a confession for the charges leveled against him but it is quite obvious to any dumb head that the physical and psychological duress he had to undergo during 17 months in prison could have led to this confession that it may have been distorted. The latest comedy of the government is that when international pressure is leveled on it for the release of Tissa through a Presidential pardon it claims that the President cannot interfere on issues until court proceedings are completed; What astonishes me is the fact that Tissa who is alleged to have indirect links with LTTE is imprisoned for 20 years but people like Karuna Amman LTTE former Eastern Province Commander and Pillayan ex LTTE cadre given high government perks including Ministries and Chief Ministries rather than taking legal action against them for the crimes they have orchestrated against our very own military. And moving on to journalist it still is a question as to how the apprehended State Media ‘Rupavahini’ journalist Saman Kumara Ramawickrema who was accused of filching technical equipment while reporting news in the battlefield was released without any legal action taken against him. As I said before the law in this nation differs from the ones to Rajapakse henchmen and the other rigorous law to the rest. It is time for us all to rise up against this cowardly act inflicted on this brave journalist! It is time that we should fight for the freedom of his rights!  Or else we would prove to the would our feebleness.

Harassment and threat to journalism was not something new to our country we have gone through that in the past during the end of 1980’s; But now the threat is inflicted on journalist strongly as ever. The most critical stage of this war against journalism was when the Sunday Leader publications Editor in Chief Lasantha Wickremetunga who was a heavy critic of the LTTE and the Government was brutally assassinated on his way to work.  This incident which was a time of moaning to the whole country and a unmistakable black mark to our nation’s media; the Defense Secretary Gothabaya Rajapakse who is privileged more than any other civil servant for his brotherhood to the President has had a good laugh about the assassination of Lasantha when questioned about it in a BBC interview. He being the defense secretary it was his obligation to safeguard brave journalist like Lasantha who have had many death threats; but proving his haughtiness he has commented that ‘It is just another murder’; would he express that sentiment if his brother faced a similar fate? Very doubtful !  The accusation of Lasantha’s murder is pointed at the government; to which the President has vehemently denied stating that Lasantha was his close friend. This friendship that the President describes is quite rum since it was reported that he (H.E) had once accused Lasantha over the phone in raw filth. And also raising the suspicion of the government involvement in this play the President’s pet dog and notorious Minister Dr. Mervin Silva made a remarkable sentiment which says ‘ Lasantha from Leader paper went overboard I took care of him’ which connects the torn apart parts of this puzzle as to how Lasantha was murdered and why the pompous Gothabaya mocked at his death.

This tragic fate on journalism was not confined only to Tissa or Lasantha but after the Rajapakse government took over there have been 34 deaths of media personals out of which 30 happen to be Tamil journalist. The Rajapakse government has a nerve of setting world record and has taken the country’s name to the second most dangerous place for journalism ( The other records include the jumbo cabinet which exceeds 100 odd Ministers, Visiting UN summit with the largest delegation). Very little does the world know on the fate of Poddala Jayantha an journalist who was brutally assaulted days after his colleague Sunanda Deshapriya ( Senior Journalist) gave evidence against the Government at a United Nations meeting concerning Sri Lanka. Very little might have the assaulters known that Sunanda was not the first to give evidence against Sri Lanka; way back in 1989 it was none other than President Mahinda Rajapakse himself then as a parliamentarian started this tradition to discredit the Sri Lankan state at the world arena. This unfortunate fate also fell on many other journalist namely Upali Tennekon Editor in Chief of Rivira Publications who was also assaulted and the MTV /MBC media headquarters set ablaze. And not forgetting the comedy of errors that they made in arresting the Sudar Oli Editor Mr. Vidyadaran firstly abducting him and then finally claiming that it was the police who had apprehended him for alleged LTTE links; our unmistakable character on such dastard acts none other than Gothabaya Rajapakse who has extracted the Presidential powers of his brother and uses them to his whims and fancies made his voice aloud at this arrest stating that ‘He (Vidyadaran) is involved in the recent air attack of LTTE and I am telling you if you try to cover up for that you will have blood in your hands’   a very contentious sentiment which finally became a joke with the release of Vidyadaran unable to find any connects of him with the LTTE. Therefore the question lies in our minds as to how much blood Gothabaya and his Brother has got in their hands right now ?  If one is to come under the conclusion that after the end of the war the threat on journalism is stalled; then it is a terrible mistake! The verdict on Tissa and the government intention of enacting the Press Council Act that if implemented would cause greater detriment to the media are salient evidence of this threat over the future of Journalism in Sri Lanka is still very much alive.

So as described above there lies a great threat to the future of Sri Lankan journalism the consequences of this dastard trend of acts does not relate merely on journalist of today but would have a negative impact on the future of Sri Lankan Journalism.  Already many leading journalist in Sri Lanka have left the nation for the love  of their lives; Many journalist fear to pick a pen and there is also a trend of journalist giving up their profession which is a pathetic plight; the recent closure of the news website Lanka Dissent Is a clear sign for this tragic trend. This situation even applies negatively in respect of students fearing to take up journalism as career and parents not allowing their children to take forward this noble tradition of journalism.

Sri Lankan’ s are not cowards! Even though how much this government thinks they are; we have gone through circumstances of this caliber and we have triumphed in the past defeating those who put sanctions on our right of expression. If the powerful governmental bullies think that their ‘Destroy and Rule’ policy is of success they are very much mistaken! We are a strong nation; a strong people who stand up against injustice when it occurs; the message I can give in conclusion is that we are not impotent but courage’s, not feeble but strong, not dormant but awake; So bear in mind WE WILL FIGHT UNTIL THE LAST DROP OF BLOOD THIS BATTLE FOR DISSENT AND WE WILL DEFEAT YOU!  WE WILL TRUIMPH !!!

The year of 2009 is significant to us as Sri Lankan’s in many ways, It was the year that our country achieved what was called the impossible moving beyond the parameters of common capabilities and showing exceptional skills to tackle a unresolved problem for nearly 30 long years. Yes our nation reached unexpected heights leaving the external world in utter confusion by defeating the giants of global terrorism and annihilating its roots from all corners of the world. This year further has been of great interest to our nation economically where much debate was apparent on the level of economic development our motherland has reached and the allegations of corruption and nepotism as raised by the opposition benches. Well we Sri Lankan’s had been mute spectators thus far in this whole phenomenon; their silence would be broken soon with the dawn of the New Year when Sri Lanka decides on the 26^th of January electing its sixth executive President for a term of six years.

As it seems the two main contestants are prided with the same achievement where terror had been silenced by actions, But who orchestrated the actions? Seem to be the question that lies in the minds and answers would be heard in just a matter of fact of months. Hon. President Mahinda Rajapakse is ready as ever to go for another fresh term and is loaded with immense reputation amongst the general masses for his term of four years where rhetoric language from the benches of the government boasts had bore fruit nourishing the local cream. While in the other hand competition emerges with the rise of many leading political parties into one platform under the umbrella of General Sarath Fonseka whose reputation and popularity is no less than the latter’s. It certainly would be one of the above to whose clutches our country would go for nearly another half a decade; therefore it is vitally important for us to critically evaluate the Socio Political problems ahead of the new President.

The main argument brought forward by the Opposition Candidate and the taboo phrase of the ruling regime on the elections ahead is the ‘abolishing of the Executive Presidency’, the credibility of the promises that come before the people during election period and a controversial one as this of  course draws speculation amongst the general public to a great extent. However is it the most vitally important issue that we as a nation face right now? True enough on the fact that the prejudices of this system had resulted us with many negative outcomes since its very inception but is not this powerful tool of great importance for our nation if we are to focus on large scale economic development in the long term interest of our nation. And was it not this centralized power formula that did wonders to our national economy with the introduction of the Open Economic approach and the rapid development that followed thereafter which includes large scale infrastructure augmentations. As the great Indian jurist M.P Jain says “For even the best paper of Constitution may break down if not worked with the right spirit, and even a bad constitution may contribute for good governance if worked with the right spirit”. Which basically means that it is the hand that carriers out a constitution which is of pivotal importance to good governance in a country. This eternal truth of constitutions certainly is applicable to our nation that has produced an incomparable executive vested with extraordinary power through the 1978 constitution, even though constitutional amendments such as the 17^th amendment had done so much to prevent a centralization of power among a single person these provisions have been hardly active over the past years. Therefore the lesson that ought to penetrate in our mind is that whether the executive presidency is plummy or not what is of importance is the manner one uses its powers. So as Sri Lankan’s it is our responsibility to make sure that the hand which exercises executive power is clean and that this enormously powerful mechanism of state power does not go into the hand of an atrocious ruler.

It would be improper not to mention the issues that threaten the existence of democracy within our shores, one of such could be identified as the ‘Proportional Representational System’ which had been disastrous of nature since it’s inception. The whole meaning of elections is violated by this dastard practice of representation which sends millions of rupees down the drain for unethical election campaigns. The vulnerability of this system is so high that it creates unethical political practices within the same party where candidates betray the principles of the party they represent and engage in dastard actions to bargain votes. We as a nation have had enough of this practice and it is the time to place a full stop on this and this seems to be the right time for it. We Sri Lankan’s deserve a new system of representation that bridges the distant gap between the representative and the voter, a system which ensures equal representation to the minorities and a mechanism where democracy is prevailed by making the elected more accountable to the elector. The arduous task of solving this puzzle goes over to the 6^th Executive President of Sri Lanka.

Among all contentious issues the most fundamental question before the incoming president would be to come up with a lasting solution to the Tamil community of the country. Over the years a strong distrust has occurred among the Lankan Tamils against their brother community whom they share their motherland with. This distrust is most clearly portrayed at present with the leading Tamil political party in the country the Tamil National Alliance and other Tamil political parties showing reluctance to endorse a candidate in the presidential election. TNA parliamentarian Mr. Sivajalingam who expressed his distrust on the Sinhala candidates was even tempted to give up his membership of parliament and come into the fray before the Tamil community for elections. Therefore one must never forget the burning issues before the Tamils in the North and East; their burdens, sorrows and hardships are known very little to us and it would be the uttermost obligation of a new President to present solutions for them. Resettlement and provision of essential commodities to stabilize the living conditions of those who waved good bye to the LTTE and found shelter under the Sri Lankan government is the most urgent duty of a new President.

The main slogan for this election is the War and the candidate who markets this brand most would win the vote of the general voter. Therefore very little importance would be given to economic stabilization, educational reforms, health reforms and even the Tamil grievances during the run up to the election which makes it hard for us to judge the main contestants General Fonseka and President Rajapakse. However a choice has to be made one has to lose and one would triumph so the intelligent choice has to be made by us it is our ballot that decides the fate of our country for the next six years.  So over to you Sri Lankan’s May the Best Man Win !