sooner or later all pretensions had to go – and we must see ourselves as we are

so all this is very good

I would only suggest to the great intellectuals to start asking a very important question –

whatever your magic formula – and for me this is all magic – first ask

WHAT ARE THE HUMAN QUALITIES THAT WE NEED TO ENSURE THIS WORKS?

Siddhartha in Herman Hesse told the merchant whose employment he sought

I can think
I can fast
I can wait

a pretty tall order – but this is the way forward

most of the talk that assumes that we have the requisite human qualities is I must say IDLE TALK

they do not have the flavour of truth and the ring of conviction because the solutions being advanced are not answers tried and tested in the university of life but simply the product of superior reading, analysis and presentation

our pothe gura’s must become real

thanks for scattering the high brow stuff I had some difficulty following

I understood one thing – that liberation is not a 9 to 5 thing

do we really need wages or are we attached to them? how do mendicant monks live?

first there is the strength to go hungry if there is no food – I mean Muslims do this every year … and there is also some trust and reliance in the goodness of someone to provide some food to keep you alive. finally there is an amazing sense of gratitude for any food that is given

what comes out is character

less feed – better quality

I knew this buddhist monk (not priest but monk) who lived alone – he died recently – who lived this life – great compassion and selflessness – great sense of humour and humility

when we have more human quality – liberation will happen

till then my learned friends – theorise until death do us part

Please understand there is no common man in Sri Lanka now. Aftr killing the Prabhakaran and liberating the country everybody is becomiong more and more uncommon. What common man is watching like idiot when fellow common man is tied to tree? What common man lighting cracker and eating the kiri bath when other common man die? What common man watching and saying nothing when the Mervyn gets the Kelaniya side for breaking law and the General getting the Welikada side for contesting election?

Please be thanking the most uncommon man of all His Majesty the Rajapakse for making all of us uncommon and very rare indeed. I am already on my two knees thanking Him for all the uncommon things I am getting.

I am willing to fall on my two knees before any son or daughter of lanka who is giving me the Kelaniya side to run and ruin forever and ever. Before I am falling to the knees before the Chandrika and I am now falling to the knees before the Mahinda. If Sajith is coming I am also falling to the knes before him. Nothing to worry about the Ranil coming because he is never coming – or going.

Why do you think comments here are out of touch with the common man? People writing in this forum have been saying things like: (a) when police arrest someone, they shouldn’t beat up the arrested guy, (b) when a minister wants to take action against an employee, he shouldn’t tie the employee to a tree, (c) when a mentally handicapped man throws stones at trains, you shouldn’t beat him until he drowns. What they seek is a framework that is democratic, that has a decent legal system that makes sense and is implemented effectively, so that the kind of things in the above three examples don’t happen; that there is fairness and transparency in the system so that those who act badly cannot hide behind power and influence.

Show me the common man to whom these are not issues?

To begin with, yes, I agree that my contribution is tempered with a soupçon of idealism- I hope and believe in change and that, is all. I believe in change, because like all of you who contribute to Groundviews, I want it with every fibre of my being.
When I look around at the situation in Sri Lanka, I see many things that render me quizzical. The violence and chauvinism that the Sinhalese exhibit, not only to non-Sinhalese, but also toward each other. The narcissism of the leader of the opposition ( and to that end I would like to think that Dr Jayatileke is a little more idealistic than I if he thinks that the Oppositon can get its act together). And also, I see leaders and thinkers in civil society who argue for freedom, for rights, for equality and who are neither praised nor heeded but ridiculed and made the objects of hate speech. I see journalists labelled as dissidents and made to go undercover because they dared to speak. I see also one of the most abrasive examples of a radical religio-nationalism that we have in the world today.
Somehow, against all this ‘wrongness,’ Mahinda Rajapakse’s regime which itself is nothing but the symbol of this misplaced ethos, is given more power than, I should think, any other regime in SL’s history.
What’s wrong? Or what is right here? Sanjana , hits the nail on the head. Because we need wages. Wages equals stability and security and for the ‘people’ , perhaps the choice to return MR to power is because he is the best possible way that the order and security they crave in their lives can be maintained. Feelings of fear, distrust, and anxiety are perhaps a little less than they used to be. Nothing else can explain why the message from civil society isn’t getting through. CS, and Ranil Wickremasinghe, who have been made the ‘Other’ are obviously also seen as elements of disorder and chaos. This does not make the ‘elite’ in civil society irrelevant as Sanjana seems to think. It simply means that they need a new strategy. And that, really is how I ended the article.
Yes, state media and the rhetoric of political bhikkus can influence and manipulate ‘the people’ to an extent; but all human beings have intellect and agency, so that they are able to filter and either accept or resist an ideology. Politics is dialogue, and debate. MR and co are the best for this time, for the preservation of their security, and I think everyone who commented here knows this.
the point is, now that there is semblance of order, we need to find dissident voices and organise that into a forceful point of change or atleast strong enough pressure on the government. and of course, the leaders for this will come from civil society and within ‘elite’ figures within the Sinhala community. All I’m asking for is a change in strategy. However, I don’t think I am incorrect in thinking that without the critical mass of bodies that will come from ‘the people’ any form of resistance will descend into no more than fifteen minutes of hysteria.
Of course, I don’t have as much experience as Mr Thiranagama and I bow to his knowledge in the matter. But I do think it is interesting that, thinking that I suggested that ‘elites’- and I was wrong to use the term perhaps- are irrelevant, many of you commented. It is indicative of the fact that CS is perhaps unwilling to see where they have failed. i certainly hope that is not the case. I have every faith and admiration for the wonderful work that is carried out by my friends in civil society.
No, unlike Mr King, I don’t have a dream; I just don’t want to give up. Nor do I ever want to see Meryvn silva’s face on television again.

Indeed, dream we must. Even King famously did that once, but with a better understanding of his country’s politics at the time. He also inspired others to do the same. On both counts, Sylvia’s dream falls short and Dayapala Thiranagama captures it best. Also, as Pratchett, an author quite adept in conjuring dream worlds noted, “Only in our dreams are we free. The rest of the time we need wages.” Sylvia I would hazard a guess is not someone in need of wages, yet.

And why just a son? There was, not so long ago, a ‘daughter of Lanka’ from whom much was expected. But little again delivered. Perhaps ‘elitist’ fathers are to blame.

SH

Politics is the art of the possible and under the current situation it would seem impossible to make drastic changes.

But there has to be a complete change of heart in society and I think it is fair to dream like WS Senior of a “son of Lanka” who will make this change. Whether it is Rajapakse or Wickremasinghe – both of whom have had fathers/uncles who played major roles in building post-independent Sri Lanka – or any other, they are all responsible for the corrupt ossified system that misgoverns Sri Lanka.

We need to dream of a day this system can change.