Mahinda-phobia: Only the Mad Would Vote for Ranil

Looking objectively, not a single valid, factual, logical reason exists which would permit a sane person to vote against Mahinda. And underlying every illogical attack on Mahinda is thinly veiled anti-Sinhala, anti-Buddhist bigotry.

This blatant, shameless racism against the Sinhalese race, the Sinhalese-Buddhist nation and civilization, is what causes the vile, militant, base, and crude anti-Mahinda sentiment among the NGO-cabal, certain foreign agents, certain political parties, and the majority of Sri Lanka’s newspapers, TV stations and political websites.

The first signs of this new disease could be seen in the last 12 months of the war. As victory for the Sri Lankan government became more and more likely, the allegations about war crimes, the threats and intimidation, the suspension of aid, all began to be ratcheted up. As Mahinda refused to bend to the will of the various nefarious, conniving forces who were arrayed against him and the future safety and security of Sri Lanka — and principally of the Sinhalese Buddhist civilization — the attacks on Mahinda himself, his character, and his family began.

Mahinda’s re-election in 2010 left these forces in disarray, but they did not give up. In 2015 they thought they achieved their goal. But now as Mahinda appears to be on the cusp of a return to his rightful place — at the helm of this nation, leading it to greatness — those forces are now rabid. They have an irrational, all-encompassing, hatred of Mahinda. A condition that can only be explained as a phobia: Mahinda-phobia.

They call Mahinda “power-hungry”
In his first 2 terms, Mahinda had achieved things which rivaled the accomplishments of the great leaders of the West and of the East.

Mahinda won a war deemed by all experts as “impossible” to win, not only that, but it was a war against what the CIA labelled as the “world’s most ruthless” terrorists. In short, Mahinda was our Churchill, defeating Asia’s Nazis.

Like the ancient Romans and ancient Chinese, Mahinda united the country. And like the 19th century European and the 20th-21st century Chinese leaders, Mahinda built essential infrastructure and rapidly developed the economy. He turned Sri Lanka from a poor post-conflict mess into the next Singapore, literally the next wonder of Asia.

Mahinda Rajapaksa wanted a 3rd term because he felt that he was best placed to lead Sri Lanka at this key period in its history. And was it not logical, and reasonable, for him to want to continue his good work? He didn’t try to extend his term through legal gimmicks (as Chandrika tried), he didn’t create a dictatorship (as J.R. Jayawardene did).

Within a week of the election, people realized that they had made a big mistake. Mahinda was ready to retire to his village, but the people, from all across the country and from all social classes and castes, called him back.

Let’s contrast with Ranil. Ranil is a man who has never really won a real mandate from the people — his mandate has always been from Eelamists, Christians evangelicals, and foreign-sponsored NGOs. Every time he has been prime minister, it has been on the back of someone else’s largesse.

And whenever he wormed his way into power, he has behaved as a tyrant and a dictator. At least J.R. won a 5/6 majority before going nuts. Ranil hasn’t even won 50%. Yet, he has always run roughshod over the law and the constitution, always with the backing of his cult-like followers in a UNP which has been stacked with his loyalists, and under the control and guidance of foreign agents.

The only thing which was hard to blame him for was financial impropriety. Up to now that is. That “Mr Clean” mirage has also been exposed as a myth with his fraudulent activities regarding the bond scam and newly the road scam. As Rajiwa Wijesinha has pointed out through painstaking research, Ranil is careful to ensure that his financial corruption always enriches the party coffers (which he has access to), and not his own bank account. Who knows what other money scams he engaged in over the past several decades?

The last 8 months of despotism (financial scams, Gestapo-style FCID, and his unconstitutional appointment as prime minister) is testament to the true nature of his character. Who is really power hungry? Who is the real dictator? Ranil has lost 29 elections in a row yet he still won’t resign.

“Ah, but Mahinda was already president twice, but Ranil was never president” say some apologists. Ranil was never president because he was rejected by the people in 2005, and he hid behind puppets in 2010 and 2015. But he has already behaved as an illegal president all 3 times that he has been prime minister, such as signing the ceasefire agreement with the Tamil terrorists though he had neither the power nor the right to do so.

The real ones with power-hunger are Ranil, and the power-hungry UNP which follows him, and the power-hungry UNP voters who refuse to get rid of him.

They call Mahinda “immoral” and “corrupt”
In a recent wall of text over on Groundviews (gathering place of many nefarious characters), I saw an outpouring of bile, vitriol and outright anti-Sinhala racism, I have never seen before. Falsehood after falsehood, allegation after allegation, not just against Mahinda, but also against all the intellectuals who have been working hard to bring Mahinda back.

It says Mahinda accuses Ranil of financial corruption (regarding the bond scam) but apparently Mahinda himself has been “accused” of corruption. So what exactly is this author’s point? Ranil has committed not just one, but two, mega corrupt scams involving the misappropriation of public funds running into 100s of billions of Rupees — all in the space of just 6 months of an unelected regime. And these are verifiable, evidence-backed charges.

The president himself said that he wanted the Central Bank chief sacked over the bond scam, but Ranil had refused to do so, to this day. On the other hand Mahinda faces “7000” allegations and innuendos which cannot be corroborated by a single scrap of evidence, despite 8 months of scouring the country (even searching under Namal’s mattress) and the globe (involving FBI and Homeland Security officials).

Groundviews goes for the “morality” argument against Mahinda. Is it possible to call Mahinda or his governance immoral? Is it immoral to bring peace to the country? Is it immoral to then develop the country’s economy? Is it immoral to stand up to former-powers who sought to bully the nation?

And shouldn’t they be careful going in to the “moral” territory? Some, though not I, could easily say that it is immoral for Ranil, a man who has no children, to be given leadership of the country. Some might say it is immoral for Ranil, who covered up a massive theft of public funds in the bond scam, to be prime minister. Some might say it was immoral of Ranil to sign a ceasefire with the world’s most ruthless terrorists when military victory was the moral and just course of action.

Some might say it is immoral that Rajitha’s son is holding an underage girl captive in his house, despite protest from her parents. Some might say it is immoral for Mangala to have taken an unrelated 17 year old boy with him on foreign trips. Some might say it is immoral for Ravi K to entangle himself with underworld gangsters.

These are the immoralities of the UNP culture, which many people would point to as the real immoralities in Sri Lanka.

They say Mahinda is obsessed with his family
Mahinda did things which were good for this country, such as making it safe and making it prosper. This created a better future for his children, and also for every other family and every other son and daughter of this country. Mahinda has a family. Ranil and Mangala do not.

They call Mahinda a “murderer”
After years of calling Mahinda a thief, saying they know about corruption but can’t prove it until they get to power to be able to check the books, the barrage of lies finally worked in 2015. After 8 months of persecution, they have not been able to prove a single charge. So they have changed the attack.

Now they say Mahinda is a thug who punches supporters, a murderer who killed a woman and put her body in a suitcase, and a gangster who shot and killed some of Ravi’s underworld associates. But facts, as always, are on Mahinda’s side.

The facts show that Mahinda didn’t try to punch anyone, but was defending himself from a drunken thug who was grabbing him. The facts show that the suitcase killer was a Tamil resident of Jaffna. The facts show that Ravi’s underworld henchmen were shot and killed by a rival underworld gang. Now they are changing the attack again, and trying to say that Mahinda and his sons killed a rugby player. These are all just desperate, pathetic insults.

They say Mahinda is a racist
Is it racist to bring peace to the country? Is it racist to end the suicide bombs? Is it racist to create the conditions in which Tamil children could go to school instead of being forced into a “baby brigade” under the patronage of an Australian woman? Is it racist that Muslims no longer need to fear being hacked and shot to death inside mosques in the East?

There was no campaign of racism or discrimination against any group in the country. There were isolated incidents instigated by foreign-backed thugs like BBS, but such things happen in every country. We don’t have deranged racists going into places of worship and shooting minorities, as happened recently in the USA.

They say Mahinda wears rings
Rings containing gems associated with various planets and stars have been part of Sinhalese Buddhist culture for millennia. The foreign occupiers ridiculed Sinhalese culture in their campaign of racial superiority. Now Ranil and his media lackeys continue the same pathetic attacks. What is abnormal, from the Sri Lankan perspective, is someone like Ranil, who has no religious compass and no attachment to the culture and religion of the majority of the country’s population, and who has no stake in its future.

They say Mahinda will not be appointed prime minister, even if he wins
This is desperation at its worst. Mahinda must be made prime minister if he is able to hold on to 113 or more seats. It is a total violation of the constitution if this is denied to him. It will be the cruelest rebuke against the will of the people if Mahinda is not appointed prime minister after winning. It is a slap in the face of democracy. And it will not go without a fitting response from the people.

They say Mahinda cannot win
If this is the case, why even spend so much energy and vent so much hot air about how “evil” Mahinda can never win the election? The vituperative outburst on Groundviews was more an articulation of utter frustration, frustration at events getting out of the control of foreign powers, as Mahinda’s campaign gains momentum.

Conclusion
From the UNP/NGO side all we hear is why we shouldn’t vote for Mahinda. And as I have shown above, none of these “reasons” hold water. But what is it that Ranil offers? Why should we vote for him?

There is no plan for the future. Ranil asks for 60 more months. But to do what? To continue in the vein of persecution, slander, abuse of state resources, and police thuggery, all targetting Mahinda Rajapaksa and his family? 60 more months to steal from the central bank, and to commit highway robbery from the expressway projects? 60 more months to create a “new country” that is called Eelam, leaving behind a rump-Sri Lanka?

The UNP in general and Ranil in particular has a terrible record in Sri Lanka. The terrorist wars of Sri Lanka, both northern Tamil extremism and southern Sinhala marxism, began under J.R.’s rule. The UNP created the conditions in which terrorism started. J.R.’s UNP launched Sri Lanka’s own perestroika, which had equally disastrous consequences for the economy here as that unleashed on Russia. Over the last 8 months, Ranil’s UNP took on his uncle’s legacy, and began a second even worse perestroika, chasing away foreign investors and brazenly robbing money from the central bank to boot.

I will end as I have begun. Comparing Mahinda and Ranil, I will say boldly and clearly: you have to be mad to vote for Ranil. The reasons to vote against Mahinda are based on lies, hatred, anti-Sinhala racism and above all, Mahinda-phobia.

With no offspring, and therefore no stake in Sri Lanka’s future, how can Ranil have the best interests of the nation and its civilization in his heart? At every opportunity, he has shown that he is a force that is regressive and destructive, he stands and fights against our country. In January 2015, Ranil sneaked into power through the back door. We all saw the havoc he wreaked on the entire nation.

Never again.