New Recruits . . .
Amidst flashing bulbs the second son of President Rajapakse, Yoshitha, was sent off to China Bay, Trincomalee for training to join the Navy.
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Are there any implications of this for the other Sri Lankans? What are the implications of this historic event for Sri Lanka? They can be three fold, two short to medium term and one long term ramification. Firstly it portrays the military mindset of the present regime. This event was first class propaganda for the ongoing military operations. The media circus that surrounded the event intimated the importance that was laid on sending one’s children to war as a patriotic gesture in her hour of need. There is belief that a military victory is at hand in the East and there will be dire need for personnel in the coming years. The message is clear, Sri Lanka is at war and all able bodied young should be in the forefront!
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The phrase ‘mandatory conscription’ at the age of eighteen was touted around the second half of 2006, but was laid to rest because of the opposition towards such an effort. The move has re-emerged with a cacophonic blast. With the President’s own son in the Navy it would be problematical for the middle class well entrenched in the comfort zone to use the excuse that politicians only declare war and that none of their children would go to war. The situation has changed dramatically. The reality could well be that Yoshitha would never be cannon fodder at the front lines and that he in all probability would be shipped off to Sandhurst for two years training and come back to a senior job well away from the battle fields, but this reality will be ignored. This essentially means that it would be terribly ‘unpatriotic’ for the middle class not to send their children to fight Sri Lanka’s battles, it will be a moral obligation. Those who cannot afford to send their children for ‘higher studies’ and ‘greener pastures’ will be morally obliged to send them to war if and when they are asked.
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Finally the strategy has long term consequences. Could it possibly be seen as either a coaching for the future or a clearing space for the future for the Rajapakse family? Of the three brothers Gothabaya has a military background. There is a possibility that Yoshitha is trained as a part of the next generation to take over the reigns.
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There are positive aspects as well, it is be a moral boost for the forces and for the families. The Presidential visit to Trincomalee training base would have also acted as a moral booster.
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One just has to wait and see what happens next. . .
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Well said. But waiting and seeing is a strategy that while most Sri Lankans choose to adopt, is increasingly not an option for those interested in maintaining whatever remnants of democracy there is left in Sri Lanka. While not directly related to Y’s entry into the armed forces, the issue of keeping up the morale of troops and the resulting blanket censorship of opinions or viewpoints in the media is reprehensible. This government, as with other governments in the past, shows little respect for media freedom – and as you say, the media circus surrounding Y may not be one that Y himself enjoys, but is necessary in what is essentially a totalitarian regime hell bent on dictating to all of us how we should lead our lives according to Mahinda’s Chintanaya.
And while we are all supposed to become converts, other issues – more vital and grave – go unseen, such as the gross violation of basic fundamental rights. See http://www.freemediasrilanka.org/index.php?action=con_all_full&id=25§ion=news_reports
On the subject of “greener grass” and “higher studies”, these don’t necessarily need to be exemptions from conscription if the law is handled smartly. For example, in Israel and South Korea (both heavily dependent on conscript armies), all citizens within the conscript age group MUST serve. If abroad, they must return within a set period or face penalties. What is more likely is that there’ll be corruption within the system that will enable the ‘select’ to avoid fighting.
One thing that must also be remembered is that the biggest opposition to conscription comes from within the military itself.
I don’t think mandatory conscription is a good idea. If it’s cannon fodder that they need, they shouldn’t have much difficulty finding what they want in the villages and hamlets full of unemployed working class young men and women – especially women.
It’s quite obvious now that the government believes in a military solution, at least as far as the East is concerned. Perhaps they want to completely clear the East, go for provincial council elections, and then have negotiations on the North.
“I don’t think mandatory conscription is a good idea”
Course not. You’d have to come back and fight those nasty Tamils you hate, eh?
Mandatory conscription is only going to bend the country more towards war. As David Blacker said only the select will be sent to the battle zones. Those with clout will be safe and sound.
It’s an unnecessary move for Sri Lanka. We aren’t Israel or Korea. Far from it.
Bringing it in will be true destruction for society here.
Interesting discussion. If we look at those TV news clips where Prince William is passing out as a British army officer and think its a load of crap, then to hold a view that what the President’s son is doing is simply a propaganda drive to me would sound fine and non-contradictory.
However, I personally, am moved to admire the patriotism of the Brits when it comes to such activity and ceremony and how their royalty has also served in the military etc. While it glorifies the military and military solutions, and for that reason I wouldn’t mind seeing an end to the practice, maybe we can admire patriotism in itself.
If so, then where Sri Lanka needs to head is not for Sri Lankans to admire British patriotism and the practices of its royalty, but to admire the Presidents’ family and what happens here in our own country.
In that vein, I think what his son is doing is admirable.
If some Sri Lankans have to serve in the Army simply due to poverty, thats wholly unfair. Conscription, which is the model chosen by so many countries in similar situations would be the way to go forward.
If you feel you won’t fit into a Sri Lankan army where the majority are rural Sinhala-speaking rough-necks, well at least you will get a reality check as to who the majority of this country is, and feel more agreeable to accept your position as a minority in this country.
Justmal I didn’t understand your response. Were you saying that its okay for rural folk to be cannon fodder and not middle and upper class Colombo folk? If so at least your being honest about not wanting to be cannon fodder, so I can respect that.
This is just a part of Rajapakse’s big plan – he intends his clan to rule this country for many generations to come. The stage is being set now.
He himself will rule for 12 years and by the then the son should be ready. If he is not, a caretaker fron the family will keep the seat warm until the sons are ready.
One son will probably then hand over to the other.
I have been raeding a bit about Saddam Hussein’s background and Rajapakse seems to be shaping up on similar lines. Saddam was a deputy ruler for about a decade in the 1970′s and he then ruled for a further 20 as absolute ruler until depsosed in the American invasion. His brothers and half brothers plus an extended family/clan ran the country.
I think it’s admirable what Yoshitha has done too.
Jack, I’m sorry, but you’re being sillly. There’s been no precedent for such a thing to happen here, and it’s unlikely it ever will. What you just said has been said about several political families (the Bandaranaikas, the Jayawardenes, and the Premadasas). Only the former had any sort of a dynasty, and even then there was a large time gap between Mrs B and Chandrika. Such dire warnings were groundless where the other two families were concerned. Mrs B was only family member of a former politician to be fast-tracked. The others spent many years on the road and still haven’t got a sniff at the top job. Saddam was installed in a coup d’etat, and even then he didn’t get the prez’s job immediately. He had to knock his boss off first. There’s never been a coup in SL, and it’s unlikely to happen. As long as Sri Lankans still elect our leaders, there’s no such danger.
One of my class mates back in SL happened to be Mahinda’s nephew, and his dad was appointed the chairman of the Ports Authority when Mahinda took charge of that ministry back then. Politics for Rajapakses is a family business just as it had been so for other dynasties in Sri Lanka.
Your predictions were right. It seems that Yoshitha has already been shipped off to Blighty.
JustMal you are quite right – the Sunday Leader had this to say of the entire fiasco:
“…while wide publicity was given to Yoshita joining the navy with the sycophantic media carrying banner headlines on the President ‘donating’ and ‘gifting’ a son to the navy in November and December last year, in order perhaps to use him as bait for more recruits, it was not two weeks into his training that Yoshita, with none of the previous publicity hindering his progress, was surreptitiously shipped off to United Kingdom to follow a two year course in Dartmouth.
A spokesperson for the navy confirmed that Yoshita Rajapakse left the island to complete a two year course in Dartmouth. That means he will not see any fighting in the north and east for that period contrary to the hype generated through the media for political purposes.”
http://www.tamilcanadian.com/page.php?cat=527&id=4733