July 30, 2009 at 10:00 am (Extremes, General, Patriots, Personal, Political)
Tags: civilians, gangsters, killers, license, Patriots, Terrorists, underworld
Now then, in the small miraculous island where miraculous things do happen, licensed killers have taken the place of unlicensed killers. There are increasing numbers of underworld figures getting killed day by day, either by executing the “Police Algorithm” or by another mysterious algorithm which is yet to be decoded.
You may think they are just getting a dose of their own medicine and the ordinary man does not have to worry about this trend. With all due respect, I would like to remind you that this is Sri Lanka where such trends have turned into humongous disasters not so long ago. Let me tell you one such true story.
My father had absolutely nothing to do with the JVP, their terrorism or so-called revolution any time in his life. In fact, he had totally contrasting political views and beliefs. Few of our close relatives were brutally killed by those patriots during the late 80s and early 90s and my father was also a clear target. He had to flee and hide to save his life from them in a couple of occasions.
But somehow, the army contingent which was controlling our area received a ‘tip’ from someone that my father had close links with the rebels. Luckily for my father and all of us, a high ranking officer in that contingent felt a familiarity with my father’s name and decided to investigate further, only to find that two of them were classmates in a prominent school in Southern province.
He immediately contacted my father, informed about the situation and asked to hide away for some time. Apparently, someone wanted him killed for some personal reason and found the smartest way to do it. If not for that random share of luck, I wouldn’t have a father as write this. Such was the situation during that time and you have no guarantee that history wouldn’t repeat itself, even under the rule of your beloved King.
So, while you cheer for the deaths of those underworld gangsters, do keep in mind that being an innocent civilian alone wouldn’t keep you alive if this trend continues, specially in this sacred island.
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July 27, 2009 at 3:30 pm (General, International, Personal, Sports)
Tags: column, cricinfo, Cricket, decision making, mahela, Sri Lanka
It seems like Mahela is overstepping in his newly started column in Cricinfo. His divulgence on decision making process is a bit too much I suppose. I sense a no-ball call coming from somewhere.
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July 22, 2009 at 7:20 pm (Extremes, General, Patriots, Personal, Political, War)
Tags: civilians, Freedom, journalists, Kingdom, Opposition, speak, underworld, War
After monitoring the latest developments of the Kingdom in post-war era, I thought of modifying the famous poem by Martin Niemöller to sum up the situation.
When those ‘civilians’ were killed in numbers, you didn’t speak up because your kith and kin were not amongst them.
Then they came for the journalists, you didn’t speak up because you thought those journalists were betraying the motherland for chunks of dollars.
Then they came for the underworld gangsters, you didn’t speak up because they were already a menace to the society.
Then they came for opposition politicians, you didn’t speak up because of the simple arithmetic of (opposition politicians = traitors).
Then they came for you. But don’t worry. You are a patriot and you have a King to speak up for you. Long live the King!
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July 21, 2009 at 9:00 pm (International, Personal, Sports)
Tags: Ashes, Australia, Controversy, Cricket, England, History, India, Jinx, Umpire
At the end of the 4th day’s play of the second Ashes Test at Lord’s, the game was right on the balance with Aussies needing 200 odd runs to win with 5 wickets in hand. Yesterday, I was prepared to watch the game all the way through, because whoever wins, it was going to be a remarkable achievement.
If Australia was to win, they had to smash all the run chasing batting records (including a Sri Lankan record of highest successful run chase in first class Cricket) and if England was to win, they had to break a 75 year old jinx, not having won a single Ashes Test since 1934 at Lord’s. It happened to be the latter, and luckily for me, the game was over minutes before the lunch break. A Test Match that was Australia’s to win and England’s to lose for 75 years was dramatically ended and history was made.
There were quite a few umpiring decisions that went against the Aussies, specially during the run chase. But I was amazed by the way they took it over. It was just another aspect of the game for them and Ricky Ponting vowed to move on, rather than worrying about the things out of their control. This was pretty much contrary to how Indians behaved after a few bad decisions against them when they last toured Australia.
After the match, Greg Matthews, (remember the guy who took away a victory that was in our pockets back in 1992?) made an interesting comment. “Last time England won an Ashes Test at Lord’s, Aussies came back and went on to win the series. But in that team, they had a chap called ‘Don Bradman’ to turn the things around”.
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