Gotabhaya Rajapaksa at the LLRC.
So Defense Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa (probably the second most powerful man in Sri Lanka) wanted a puppy. This puppy was to be flown down personally from Geneva by one Capt. Wijesinghe, aboard a commercial SriLankan Airlines flight. There was a question as to whether this meant changing planes (and offloading passengers) which the Editor of The Sunday Leader called to clarify. What emerged, however, was an embarrassing and kinda scary tirade. I don’t know the facts of the puppy story, but Gota’s reaction and foul language is way out of line. Either don’t pick up the phone or be civil. This type of tirade is an embarrassment from a public official.
For example:
FJ: Mr. Rajapaksa I am calling you again because I have now been told that Mr. …….. spoke with you this morning and you had said you were not aware that the management at SriLankan were changing a plane resulting in a loss of 56 passengers in order to accommodate Capt. Praveen Wijesinghe to bring down a puppy dog for you…
GR: I warned you yesterday not to speak with me. If these pilots are idiots to change a plane for this… that is not my fault. I was doing this the right way – but these pilots are fighting among themselves. And you shit journalists listen to them. They are f……g idiots… This is not my fault.
FJ: True. But the fact is a decision like this was taken and later changed when pressure was brought on the management by senior pilots…
GR: That is not correct! I have since checked and there was no such decision.
FJ: There definitely was. However since you have promised to take action I have decided to hold the story but I want you to know that I am not doing so because you threatened me yesterday…
GR: Yes I threatened you. Your type of journalists are pigs who eat shit! Pigs who eat shit! Shit, Shit Shit journalists!!! Ninety percent of the people in this country hate you! They hate you!!! You come for a function where I am and I will tell people this is the Editor of The Sunday Leader and ninety percent there will show that they hate you.
FJ: I don’t think so.
GR: You don’t? That is your ego!! You are a shit, shit journalist. A f…..g shit. A pig who eats shit! I will go to courts!!! I will not withdraw the case on the MIG deal – this is how you wrote…
FJ: I had nothing to do with that story so I cannot comment.
GR: But I will put you in jail! You shit journalist trying to split this country – trying to show otherwise from true Sinhala Buddhists!! You are helped by the US Ambassador, NGOs and Paikiasothy – they pay you!!!
FJ: I wish.
GR: You pig that eats shit!!! You shit shit dirty f…..g journalist!!!
FJ: I hope you can hear yourself Mr. Rajapaksa.
GR: People will kill you!!! People hate you!!! They will kill you!!!
FJ: On your directive?
GR: What?? No. Not mine. But they will kill you – you dirty f…..g shit journalist. (Gota Goes Beserk)
I mean, WTF. Who talks like that, and who in their right mind talks that way to journalists. The attitude of ‘you will get killed’ is also terrifying, especially from one who’s supposed to ensure our security. And all over a puppy.
Man that was a whole lot of shit!
Our very own éminence grise – I get the feeling even his brothers are a little scared of him…
Given what we know of Gota, not sure why people are surprised at this diatribe.
To me this has been Gota. Never had any illusions about him.
But where did the Sinhala Buddhist come from? And why? That takes the scare quotient up a few notches for the direction of the country.
Well done fredrica, though.
Gota is single handedly the man who layed the foundation to erradicate terrorism in this country. He also has helped in the modernisation of Sri lnkan towns. Remember there was a time when you cant walk on the pavement at Nugegoda because of those @#! pavement hawkers? Well now they are non existant thanks to Gota.
Gota won’t win awards for diplomacy but he is a straight talking man whom we should admire. He had the guts to say that Karunanidhi should setup eelam in tamil nadu as that is the place with the largest amount of tamils! How many sri lankan politicians would be able to do that?
What Gota says is true in that there are a lot of Journalist’s who are under the pay of foreign powers who will push forward any agenda just to continue to live the high life in Colombo with whisky parties etc.
Gota may yell and loose his cool form time to time, but if you filter out the essense of what the man says, it is true. For example suppose someone introduces the editor as the sunday leader to you at a party, as Gota says you wont be impressed at all.
For the record i am not a Rajapakshe supporter but I give credit where its due for Gota for being a man with Balls of steel and bringing some sense of order to out country!
G.R is not known for being a man for mincing his words. Fredreika Janz is not a well loved person. The sunday leader has deteriorated under her leadership by becoming nothing more than a gossip rag. This is probably a case of Gotabhaya being harrased too much. It is a known fact that quite correctly as G.R says that the US ambasssador and other NGO’s are trying to use the media to portray sri lanka in a bad light.
As G.R says if janz was introduced at a party i will just think of her as a cheap money grabbing woman who is under the pay of foreign powers.
What makes you think people are surprised?
But you’re right about the Sinhala-Buddhist thing. It’s not clear what he was getting at, but I can’t think of any possible interpretation that isn’t even a little scary.
As for the rest of it, it seems to me that really it is this brown-nosing idiot pilot who should be called to account. It’s quite possible that Gota actually had no idea that the scheme would involve a change of aircraft and off-loaded passengers.
The Sunday Leader has been carrying some good stories on SriLankan, the one below is also good.
http://www.thesundayleader.lk/2012/07/08/a-sell-out-at-srilankan-airlines/
Their work is normally a bit sloppy but the Srilankan stories are good, and to the point. The reason, I suspect is that there are still a number of fairly straight employees within, who are unhappy with the way the airline is being run and who leak the info to the press.
In other state owned enterprises and ministries I guess much the same goes on, but since they are packed to the gills with lackeys who have their own nests to feather, nothing ever comes out.
Gota & the sunday leader are quite predictable.
All’s good until they take your land or your house…then the balls of steel really come a-swinging
@Ruwan de Zylwa
So you are not a Rajapaksa supporter eh? ROFLMAO. :)
Firstly, I would take anything written in the Sunday Leader with not a pinch of salt, but a huge sackful of salt. The newspaper is the definition of the “gutter press” and “yellow journalism” and is one of the worst newspapers that Sri Lanka has ever produced. Mind you this is my opinion.
Secondly, if the “interview” was remotely true, then I would agree with Gota’s assessment of Fredericka Jansz. I certainly have a very poor opinion of her, and I’m pretty sure many others do as well. I wouldn’t be surprised if she herself inserted the “kill” bit to add some extra drama so she could sell her paper. Then again I could be wrong.
Scary if it’s true. Did Frederica record this outburst?
Yeah I would like to hear the tape before believing everything at face value.
This may be all true and well but he should keep his temper under tabs and be a LITTLE more DIPLOMATIC. How can he make threats like that? even if he meant it or not. Making threats to local journalists is not ‘okay’ and exploding in front of international media is also not ‘okay’. I don’t care about gota…i only care for the reputation of our country.
I never thought Gotabhaya was such a 3rd class fellow. I lost all respect I had for him. I thought Gotabhaya was a respectable person. Looks like he is no better than a common thug. I am begining to think whether the White flag case and other accusations against him could be true??? Foul language can come only from a foul mind.
Well looks like Fredrica called Gota to get a rise out of him, so that she can show the West and be like …”hey look guys, I’ve got something great to spin around…here…take it!”. Gota just reacted in the worst possible way and I’d rather hear the tape as well…just to see if it matches the transcript :D .
Its true…the paper has gone to the dogs since Lasantha’s death.
I don’t condone the language GR used, but he may well have been provoked by the leader journalist.
This is also not a one off issue. There have been bad blood btw both sides for a while now.
So at some point Gota lost his cool. I’m not justifying his actions, but stating the facts.
Ironically GR is right, Sunday Leader is not widely respected as some of it’s staff or the west would like to believe.
All though they run good articles occasionally, they mostly rake mud.
I also don’t think they do these things with good intentions.
There is an agenda and they may very well be funded by a 3rd party.
Sunday leader will do anything to sensationalize a story. A good example is the article they carried about the mother theresa house in rawatawata, without checking out the facts. It’s precisely this kind of journalism that has caused people to loose faith in their work.
Gota has done a lot from the country and the Leader is deffa no saint.
Still doesn’t excuse the way he spoke. Either speak diplomatically or DON’T TAKE THE CALL. This is incredibly immature behavior from a public official.
which is what Fredrica wanted….to get a rise out of him, a cheap low blow.
Lasantha was hardly a saint. He was the one who started used the Sunday Leader as a personal rag to go on witch hunts against people who crossed him, or those he did not agree with. The same wine in a different bottle.
I am not a Rajapakse supporter. But I am gratefull for them for erradicating terrorism. I am also mature enough to know that we don’t have any other leaders than the Rajapakse Brothers for our country. Just name one man who is a better alternative to the Rajapakse’s. Surely it is not Ranil, Sajith, Karu, Fonnie etc etc etc. So it is in our national interest to protect the Rajapakse’s for the sake of the country.
Indi, Gota actually cut the first call. This outburst was due to Janz harrasing him a second time within 24 hours. I quite understand the man loosing his cool.
Let me categorically state that no one can question Gota’s love for his motherland. Everything he says must be analyzed in that context. His anger at Paikyasothi etc is quite justified as Paikyasothi is leading a gala life in colombo womanising and partying under the pay of Foreign NGO’s who want to tarnish sri lanka’s image.
Well he is a hero, but not a saint..!
‘no one can question Gota’s love for his motherland’… like really? if so why did he leave the army and move to America in the middle of the war.
I’m no fan of Pakyasothy, but his ‘gala life in colombo womanising and partying’ is not of any interest to me. Pakiasothy is someone in a think tank with no authority over me, Gota is our Defence secretary and as such is accountable to the public for his actions.
So if you leave Sri Lanka it means you hate the country does it?
People can leave the country for monetary and security reasons.
Paikyasothy is important to us as Sri Lankan’s because we should know who are the people under the pay of foreign powers and NGO’s. The same people who would like to see Sri Lanka divided in to just like north and south sudan.
These people know the power of the media, it was the media which bought down gaddafi, and likewise these NGO’s are trying the best to incite civil war in this country again.
Gota wants a puppy now? Aww, that’s cute, after everything he’s done to the dog population of Colombo.
You could say its already divided-into traitors and patriots?
well done sir!
Maybe the Leader’s one and only tape recorder was being used by someone else again..