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JVP's track record in govt.
Sripathi's bodyguard was a
notorious gangster
Donors worry over negative
signals
Who's
afraid of Nirupam Sen?
By Vimukthi Yapa
The Dissanayake duo, that's who. As little as they may like one another,
the unrelated Nuwara Eliya Dissanayakes, Naveen and S. B., are united by
at least one common bond: Nirupam Sen.
In the past fortnight, they have come earnestly to the aid of the
beleaguered Indian High Commissioner, informing the populace that Sen
had not interfered in the internal decision-making process of the UNF
government, making false promises and giving undeliverable guarantees.
S. B. Dissanayake chose to make his apologetic remarks in the Central
Province, to an audience made up of party faithfuls and released
it as a press realease to the media at the request of High Commission
officials. Young Naveen Dissanayake, for all the gumption he showed in
giving Mervyn Silva the elbow in parliament last Tuesday, chose to make
his plea on behalf of Sen to the UNF's parliamentary group, no less.
Sen's
cause
Addressing his peer MPs last week, young Dissanayake pleaded Sen's
cause, asking that the party dissociate itself with the criticism
levelled against Sen by a newspaper he dared not mention by name, but
accused falsely of being associated with the UNP. No one listening to
him can have doubted for one moment that it was The Sunday Leader to
which he referred, for we have been strident in our criticism of Sen and
the manner in which he, assisted by his political affairs sidekick at
the mission, Taranjit Singh Sandhu, are setting about trying to work
local politicians and the media according to their personal agendas.
Indeed, Sen has been accused of doing just that by his former boss, J.
N. Dixit the one time Indian foreign affairs supremo and presently the
National Security Affairs adviser to the new government of Manmohan
Singh. It is well known that Sen and Sandhu assiduously manipulate local
politicians, and young Dissanayake is known to associate intimately with
both of them. While mere association is one thing, stooping to do their
dirty work for them is quite another. It appears to be not that
Dissanayake loves Sen and Sandhu more, but that he loves Sri Lanka less.
Record
of duplicity
Dissanayake should not forget Sen's record of duplicity: even as the JVP
on a bloody killing spree in the 1980s publicly attacked India and
called for a boycott of Indian goods, going so far as to rename Bombay
onions and Mysore dhal, it was Sen who, as an underling in the Indian
High Commission, illegally and surreptitiously smuggled Somawansa
Amarasinghe out of the country, via India. Today, Sen and his sidekick
Taranjit Singh Sandhu cultivate a carefully selected set of quisling
courtiers, Dissanayake prime among them.
We take strong objection to Dissanayake seeking to align The Sunday
Leader with the UNP and will not let the insult pass. Among the entire
gamut of the Sri Lanka media, no newspaper has more stringently
criticised the UNP than we. Indeed, in responding to Dissanayake, UNP
Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe said as much, adding that even his personal
leadership style had been portrayed to be weak by The Sunday Leader. And
too true, it has. Wickremesinghe went so far as to say he had not heard
of any protests on those occasions adding any newspaper was free to
express an opinion and that it was not the job of the party to challenge
such private view points. While young Dissanayake has been quick to leap
to Sen's defence, one wonders where he has been hiding on the many
occasions we have taken Ranil Wickremesinghe, or for that matter,
Father-in-Law Karu Jayasuriya, to task? Are his loyalties to Sen greater
than those to his party and its leadership? Let's hear him at the next
meeting of the parliamentary group, telling his fellow MPs that The
Sunday Leader erred when it said that Karu Jayasuriya did next to
nothing to bring electricity prices down in his two years as Power and
Energy Minister, or that Ranil Wickremesinghe has only himself to blame
for being duped by Nirupam Sen.
Dissanayake must remember that he has by his own volition quit electoral
politics, pusillanimously becoming a mere chit MP. As such, he would do
better to spend more time defending his party and its leadership than
gassing on in defence of Indian diplomats who actively strive to
undermine the Sri Lankan polity. In responding to Dissanayake, Ranil
Wickremesinghe touched the nail on the head. He said he had good
relations with Manmohan Singh, Sonia Gandhi, Atal Behari Vajpayee and
the Indian High Commission, carefully avoiding reference to Sen by name
or designation. Touch‚.
His statement that the UNP cannot comment on opinions expressed by a
newspaper with regards to the conduct of a diplomat was also a subtle
reminder to young Dissanayake that at least in his books freedom of
expression was a respected commodity that cannot be silenced at the
instance of a potty little MP with a clip on his shoulder.
Failed
attempts
When young Naveen made his desperate plea to the UNF parliamentary group
last week, few were in doubt that he did so at Sen's behest. Indeed,
this was exactly what Sen has been accused of doing by none less than J.
N. Dixit, India's vice-regal envoy to Colombo in the 1980s: interfering
in local politics and conniving with local politicians. According to
Dissanayake, this newspaper is associated with the UNP. He therefore
wants the leadership of the UNP to dissociate itself from the views we
have expressed (and will continue to express) about Sen's perfidious
conduct. The leadership of the UNP may or may not have the brass to
stand up to Sen, but The Sunday Leader certainly does, unbowed and
unafraid. What Dissanayake may not have known when he rose to Sen's
defence was that three former ministers had already pleaded Sen's case
with this newspaper and failed. Naveen it appeared was an after thought
for the mandarins at the High Commission to do the bidding.
It was then refreshing to note that UNF stalwart M. H. Mohammed did not
delay in taking young Dissanayake on, informing the parliamentary group
that he too, was aware that the Indian High Commissioner was interfering
in local politics and domestic issues. This had the former Hindu
Religious Affairs Minister, T. Maheswaran too, on his feet, saying that
he also was aware that the High Commissioner was interfering in Sri
Lankan affairs. These two senior members said Sen had gone so far as to
comment on the "takaran case," thereby interfering in domestic politics.
Clearly outnumbered, Dissanayake then relented, saying that if that was
indeed the case, action should be taken against the High Commissioner.
While that is a matter for the government, what Dissanayake should chew
on is where his own loyalties lie.
His battle for precedence over Sajith Premadasa was struck a mortal blow
when he ducked out of popular politics and took cover in the national
list. It would do him little good now, from that position of
vulnerability, to appear to be the cat's paw of a petty, scheming
diplomat (and we use the term in its broadest sense). The parallels hang
ominously over Sen that he may suffer the same fate as his kinsman
Macbeth, and one hopes Dissanayake can rise to the occasion by proving
to be the true son of Duncan.
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