Gota is a very noble man: Dayasiri

19 October 2011 06:31 pm - 1 - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

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Q: Dr. Rajitha Senaratne stated that the Secretary of the Ministry of Defence was unaware of the extent of MP Duminda Silva’s activities. Do you think that this is true?
No, that is wrong. Because before this incident took place I stated that it was very violent in the Kolonnawa electorate, since I was aware of all the incidents. Individuals fired at the cutouts of the President. It is obvious that a thug would have done something like this, because he doesn’t care—all they want to do is cause damage. This is why I said there would be violence, but they didn’t take it very seriously.
In the meantime, I must thank Dr. Rajitha Senaratne for being very critical on this issue. However by saying that the Defence Secretary was unaware, what he is trying to do is take the president out of the equation.
Q: But didn’t the President, know what was happening?
I think HE knows about this situation because the late Bharatha Lakshman was very close to the President. And his sisters, from Canada, have sent many letters to the President.
Q: The office of the President denies having received any letters calling for extra security?
Then there must be a postal problem between Canada and Sri Lanka. Anyway, I think that the president should take more responsibility; he must know as the Defence minister how to take care of his people.
Furthermore the Defence Secretary is involved in politics and on the campaign trail—we used to have high regard for him. As a Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa is a person who is very strict and noble—but now I don’t know why that is happening and why he is getting involved in politics.
Q: You said that the Defence Secretary was a very noble man, but one thing Dr. Senaratne said was that he might have a false impression of MP Duminda Silva and therefore unaware of his activities.
Actually that is the biggest problem, when you have a monitoring MP of the Ministry of Defence you need to be aware of his background, what he is doing, what is his business etc; because the Defence Ministry is something that is involved in the everyday life of the people and the rule of law in the country. Which is why it is surprising to us that he was appointed as the monitoring MP when there are so many allegations against him.
Q: The Director of the Media Centre for National Security has stated that at this time MP Duminda Silva is not a suspect in the investigation, this is justified by his present condition.
That is a ridiculous statement, as a lawyer I will tell you that. He can’t say something like that because he’s not a judge and the case is still ongoing and it is still an investigation and not in a court house.
We know that the driver of Bharatha Lakshman has stated that Duminda Silva was at the incident and he instigated the violence. Therefore, everyone can see that Duminda Silva is involved in this situation and I don’t know why Lakshman Hullugale is trying to exonerate him from this scene.
Q: The justification is his present condition, where he is unable to move and is in a fatal condition.
He should be under some custody. As human beings we are very sorry for the situation that he is in. But the problem is, when you talk about the law you can’t say that due to his condition no investigation or action can be taken against him. Because then the law is being sympathetic.
But if this goes to a court house and he is released from these allegations in a court house, then there is no problem. Someday I might be in such a situation, but then I couldn’t say that simply because I am in such a situation the law does not apply to me.
That is why I say that let the investigation continue without political interference. I heard that a police officer who was involved in the investigation has been transferred. Every day it would seem that someone is trying to manipulate the situation, take one or two fellows out of this scene and politicize the whole situation and pressurize these people.
Q: Who is doing this manipulation?
I also don’t know and we are going to question in Parliament why it is that the investigation is not going on in an impartial manner. If the President is saying that he is trying to stop lawlessness, and a peaceful existence for all these people then he has to show that in practice. Because, if in the meantime, the police are being blocked from doing their investigations, how can there be a calm situation in the country?
Q: Who is behind the manipulation though?
I don’t know the incidents that have taken place in the past few weeks have made me really sad. Bharatha Lakshman was someone who has served the government for many years and Duminda Silva is someone who has served the government only for a few years. Therefore what we can see is that they want young blood. It is very sad that they are forgetting all that Bharatha Lakshman did for them.
Q: The Defence Secretary has done a lot to control the underworld in the country, and you appreciated this before. Do you feel that Duminda Silva aided in this endeavour to curb the activities of the underworld?
His operations against the underworld were very successful and a number of these underworld leaders have fled the island. Now when we see this kind of incident, we realize that all the thugs have been involved in this situation. Everyday a new underworld member emerges, when one of them is killed or arrested, in the meantime new ones are created.
Q: One thing that Dr. Rajitha Senaratne said was that the reason individuals can act in this undisciplined manner is because of the power of the government. However, the government is so powerful because there is no strong opposition to hold them accountable.
I fully agree. You must understand that at the last election we got 43 individuals and from the 8 have been taken on by the government—so every day they are getting stronger. In the meantime we are also having problems. I must say that the government is getting stronger because of the majority that they have and the election results that they are receiving. The people must also think that when they vote the government in and give them the power over and over again that members of the government begin to think “they have given us the power and we can do anything that we want”.

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Comments - 1

Douglas Thursday, 20 October 2011 11:43 AM

Dayasiri, when are you going to join the goverment?

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Gota is a very noble man: Dayasiri

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