Photo from the Daily Mirror. The protesters reassembled after security and thugs blocked them.
Today’s protest for the Chief Justice (for justice, really) was broken up by goons, who seemed to be backed by the cops, or at least ignored. This is the truth behind the legalese nonsense the government has been trying to pull – that lawyers, attorney generals and judges have been assaulted and threatened with violence, all because Basil Rajapaksa wants to violate the Constitution and get access to a bunch of provincial monies. They’re willing to tear the whole legal edifice down to get what they want, and that includes encouraging goons to threaten peaceful protestors with violence, like my mum.
Here’s my mother’s report from the protests today:
First, these goons are government goons. If they were not, the police would not have let them run amok with their sticks and threaten people. Yes, we were not any passerby. We were going to attend a protest. If it even crossed your mind that we should have stayed home, think again. “Labbata thiyapu atha puhulata thiyanva”. Next day it could be you.
Secondly, we are not all that powerless. It was interesting how the goons got exasperated with us at one point and said “Madam, why don’t you leave without creating trouble. I think, we got that response because we were engaging with them making eye contact with each one, and that made them uncomfortable. When one of them lifted the stick, my hand went automatically to my umbrella, but, he did not hit. One man even said, if you can’t go why don’t you bed with us. I looked straight in the eye and asked him and “what kind of talk is that” in my schoolmarm voice I suppose. I am not suggesting anybody tries to go one on one with goons, but, lot of us in white saris, for example, can have an effect, I feel.(Colombo Telegraph)
This government has rapidly devolved into a mafia, with the family at the top taking what they want and these violent goons on the streets. This is not a racial or territorial issue, they’re actually just violating natural justice now. On one hand there’s the nonsense they do in Parliament, on the other there’s thugs and physical violence on the streets.
Mahinda says this is what the people want, and that the Parliament is the will of the people, but that’s nonsense. He only has two-thirds there because Ranil Wickremesinghe is a dictator of the opposition and UNP MPs have crossed. Essentially the Parliament is broken, from both sides, and the Rajapaksa family is taking advantage to gobble as much money and power as they can.
So the result is that we get a family at the top, taking all the money and racing cars and airplanes and satellites they can, while we get murderers like that Tangalle tourist killer on the loose and random thugs accosting my mother in filth and threatening regular people with sticks. This is the modern injustice and it’s choking much more than our courts.
Lol. Samarajiva’s are coming around. But only hope is Ranil.
RT @indica: Amma Vs. The Goon Squad: my mother’s experience getting harassed at today’s protests http://t.co/AaaNNrfI
Indeed this is a very sad and miserable situation. How sad it is to see the rule of the jungle prevails and some relish it
very heartily.
RT @indica: Amma Vs. The Goon Squad: my mother’s experience getting harassed at today’s protests http://t.co/AaaNNrfI
Daily mirror has published videos of thugs with stick, right in front of the Police with the cops turning a blind eye.
http://www.dailymirror.lk/video/24894-might-is-right.html
Much optimism in the papers today *sarcasm*. If I go missing in the next 72 hours, assume abduction and/or assassination!
RT @indica: Amma Vs. The Goon Squad: my mother’s experience getting harassed at today’s protests http://t.co/AaaNNrfI
The debate needs to be about the system of governance, not personalities.
We cannot pin our hopes on any one individual to get us out, it has to be inbuilt within the system, starting with the constitution.
The conundrum is how to fix the constitution without some individual being in charge? A difficult question.
what we really need is a NEW CONSTITUTION that would help to solve the problems of this country. People should demand for it.
Exactly Sach.
In fact if we can even go back to the old one, that would do for a start. Why rewrite? Simply go back to 1972 constitution (1948 would be better but at least this would be a start. The damn Presidential thing would be out and some semblance of balance would be restored).
Please, not the 1972 abomination. The 78 is far superior. 72 had no justiciable rights. Destroyed the public service and made a mockery of judicial independence. It laid the groundwork for 30 years of war.
Didn’t you and your father realise what “the family at the top” was doing when you’ll backed MRs stooge Milinda for mayor of Colombo? Good to see that you have finally seen the light. Hat’s off to your mother.
I take decisions based on the specifics of an issue. What is now happening at the CMC confirms the correctness of my decision to coordinate policy for the Moragoda campaign. I opposed the 18th Amendment. I supported the overturning of Sarath Silva’s illegal judgments. I wrote against the impeachment in early November.
I have worked in government under the Kumaratunge administration and under the Wickremesinghe administration. I will continue to decide how I participate in public affairs as an independent thinking human being rather than as a party acolyte.
It was a Colombo election. You can support different candidates or parties in different elections.