Wednesday, February 7, 2018

Are we dealing with APOPLEXY or a false sense of Nationalism in this latest Social Media Hysteria - the meaning of "Repect!"


Brigadier Priyanka Fernando’s conduct not in keeping with his position as an officer and a gentleman, resulted in his suspension from his position as the Defence Attache at the UK High Commission in London.

Unfortunately for the majority of Sri Lankans, this is seen as a heroic act of defiance by a Hero, at wonton aggression, and FB is full of “Respect” for his action. Obviously the jokers on FB won’t understand or cannot understand that it is this sort of action that has put Sri Lanka in harm’s way internationally, and has resulted in our Valiant Security Forces being put through the meat grinder of International Public Opinion. Of course Island mentalities don’t care about opinion of others, only about their own inflated self importance of being part of a herd of donkeys!

He is a unashamed traitor, for showing his hand slicing the neck, in defiance, which meant that the regular LTTE sympathizers who loiter in front of the High Commission on Independence Day, actually won this tussle for Public Opinion, which is what this charade is, as an annual event. Surely if we ignore their demonstrations it will surely die a natural death, as it simply will go unannounced. TILL NOW and Priyanka’s sheer stupidity, against all rules!

We must understand that this stupid act by a serving officer, will result in a more vociferous demonstration by the fools backing a lost cause (LTTE ambitions in Sri Lanka for a separate state) who cannot bear the idea of Sri Lanka being a United Nation!

If you cannot think of anything more pathetic on the part of a soldier who is trained, or at least if he is our Defence Attache, who should be trained on restraint which a hallmark of diplomacy, who has let down the whole Armed Forces by this act, then we have a shameful population who don’t even deserve the right to Democracy, as they cannot understand right from wrong.

When an act of treachery is assumed as an act of heroism, and is treated as such on social media, further enhancing the Brand Mahinda, which is why we are in this mess with the rest of the world in the first place, where is the future for Sri Lanka?

Not taking anything away from winning the war, Mahinda has DONE NOTHING to win the peace, when he had every opportunity to do so the day after the victory, without indulging in theatrics. (kissing the soil on arrival when he was really out of the Country when the war was won!)

Just think where we would have been nearly 10 years on from winning the war? Instead we are still in this Island mentality, of soldiers being protected, no matter what they do, and demanding their release, when offences are subject to legal processes, are the basis on which the polls campaign is being run by the Mahinda Faction in order to break the law.(lawyers please note)
Brigadier Priyanka Fernando, instead of being ashamed by his ill thought out action, is basking in ill-fated glory, by his countrymen’s false sense of values, further justifying the pariah treatment meted to Sri Lanka as a whole, very unfairly, but due to a few soldiers’ actions continue to derail the peace process and international recognition the war is now done and dusted.

I am simply ashamed that many people, I know, continue to praise him and many are seeking election to office on Saturday, with this social media share! Are they ignorant? Then they are not fit for office, sharing what they don’t know! Or are they racist? Then they are not fit for the office they seek, or are they of the belief that what he did is right? Then they are still not fit for office, as they are representatives of the people who should be leaders and show leadership quality and not be BAITED BY IGNORANCE!

One so baited, is no different to the loser who is doing the baiting (LTTE)

A clear case of a traitor being tagged a hero by an ignorant public, following the herd, like a donkey, which makes the Brigadier and all those who support his action donkeys, and as you know you are a donkey, because of your inability to identify right from wrong, making you a traitor in this particular instance, as you are harming our gallant Armed Forces in their duty to protect our country, instead of supporting them.

This goes to the heart of our education system, which does not permit, or encourage thinking and evaluation of issues, but merely believes in what others say. Even the Lord Buddha will abhor this social media spread of this misinformed sense of gallantry (or following the herd). He has always said, think before you act, rationalize before you say anything, and do what you have to, purposely and with regard to the consequences of your actions.

In fact this goes to the heart of our very existence, where we must always have a sense of purpose in life and goal we are striving to achieve, irrespective of negative thoughts and actions of others, We have to stand above gallery and educate this gallery on ethics, behavior and even simply what is good and bad, right and wrong, as that is the basis of life itself.

A society self-destructs if they carry on this notion of doing the wrong thing which is lauded by the gallery. It has no future, and in Sri Lanka we must arrest this path of self-destruction, and move in the path of belief in ourselves, our values and our uniqueness of a nation of peoples, whose genes are from a polyglot of cultures, where there is simply ‘NO PURE bred’ anything, and so this idea of religion and race which are merely meant to divide, as they are only recent, should not take away from the fabric of being a civilized society.

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

Absolutely right

A person of this stature should not behave like a third class gutter snipe. Sadly the gutter snipes who applaud this behavior form the majority of Sri Lanka's population, resulting in its banana republic status. Any surprises there?

Anonymous said...

He shamed the Armed Forces of this Country, and he does not deserve to be called one, this act is sufficient proof of misconduct.

Anonymous said...

A fine way of showing Deshaya Abhimanaya in front of a bunch of hooligans, who have been paid to demonstrate! Army officer show respect by ignoring, not by joining in being a hooligan yourself.

Your conduct will now ensure that this will lead to more, not less agitation, so it is treachery pure and simple. Court Martial out now. Our brave soldiers cannot have traitors in their midst.

Anyone supporting this treachery is also a traitor to the Country.

Anonymous said...

This man's act has caused so much apoplexy within the Armed Forces. That is all they are talking about in the messes today. He was a nobody who has suddenly become a somebody, and in this Country those who work every day for the Country don't get noticed, only those who work against the Country.

So in a country where fame is only gained by stealing, breaking the rules, behaving badly, no wonder Priyanka did not want to miss the boat, he also wanted fame, and he got it.

Unless we teach him a lesson, this Country will only become known for being an island of bad people, because only bad deeds are applauded. Let us see how the media deal with it from now on, whether they join the herd of donkeys, or collectively take the moral high ground.

That will tell the world whether Sri Lanka is still a screwed up place or finally able to take its place in the civilized world

Anonymous said...

We are now told that his actions shown on Video cannot by itself prove he did what he did. It is a cop out, and that is how the Army Commander is dealing with this, the MOST important decision he has had to make in his whole military career.

He is worried of a mutiny in his own army if he acted against the Brigadier, as the forces are still seething with the way they have been treated by the Government, believing mistakenly that they have been double crossed.

Due to the fact that all Sri Lankan organizations protect their own, and the Army is no different, if an allegation is against one, it is against them all, and so we can never have justice, as a few bad apples make the whole stock of apples rotten, as they don't want to excise a few for misconduct.

How can you then enforce discipline? For an army it is critical

Anonymous said...

Sri Lanka will be the true wonder of the world if people felt this way about real issues faced with society, rather than still be fighting a non existent war with non existent combatants who only seem to be living in other countries.

Let us concentrate our energies on social media on that which is important and positive and not that which is only harmful and negative as this stupid act has turned out to be.

Anonymous said...

This is a good way for officers in the Armed Forces, who are clearly not taught properly these days, that such behavior is frowned on. Now all officers know, earlier few did. So it is a good lesson they will all remember. You can bet they will not engage in such behavior in future jeopardizing their promotions that are so important for success.

So at least this is a good lesson for them. One good thing came out of it after all.

Anonymous said...

Defence Attaches are diplomats as much as soldiers. He clearly has not been trained on how to behave on foreign soil, as a representative of the Sri Lanka Government. It is prestigious position and clearly has brought discredit to his status. Shame

Anonymous said...

Don't run a country based on social media. After all before social media, this suspension will not even hit the news. Further without video evidence, it will be his word against those who witnessed this act. So then you rely on his honesty in what he did. He should apologize and a reprimand, on conduct unbecoming of an officer and a gentleman, and put in his file and sent back to base.

That was the past and this is now. Why should it be dealt with any differently?

Ratmale,Minneriya,Sri Lanka said...

The Financial Times of Wednesday, 7th February Captioned - London HC Defence Attache suspended as followes:

Video of official making threatening gestures to protestors goes viral

The Foreign Ministry yesterday suspended the Minister Counsellor (Defence) attached to the Sri Lanka High Commission in London after a video of him making a threatening gesture to protesting crowds outside the High Commission went viral.

Brigadier Priyanka Fernando was seen making a throat cutting gesture to a group of largely Tamil diaspora protestors outside Sri Lanka’s High Commission on Sunday, which was Independence Day.

Authorities in Sri Lanka have taken serious note of videos being circulated on social and web-based media of an alleged incident involving the Minister Counsellor (Defence) attached to the Sri Lanka High Commission in London behaving in an offensive manner, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Tuesday.

“In this connection, instructions have been sent to Sri Lanka’s High Commissioner in London on 6 February 2018, to suspend the Minister Counsellor (Defence) from work, with immediate effect. Authorities in Sri Lanka, including the Sri Lanka Army, will initiate inquiries on the incident immediately,” the statement added.

Meanwhile, British Labour politicians Joan Ryan MP and Siobhain McDonagh MP have called on the Foreign Secretary to “withdraw Brigadier Priyanka Fernando’s diplomatic papers and expel him” from the UK.

Ryan and McDonagh, the Vice Chair and Senior Vice Chair of the Tamil All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG), also said in their letter to Boris Johnson MP that the conduct of Brigadier Fernando – Sri Lanka’s Defence Attaché to the UK – was “inappropriate, unacceptable and threatening […] from someone who is serving in an official capacity as a guest of this country.”

Anonymous said...

Sadly a spineless President reinstates him to the Army with no blemish. How can the forces instill discipline, if the Commander in Chief himself breaks that code, in the interests of political expediency? How can he say he is for good governance, as he breaks that governance in one swoop. God help Sri Lanka with leaders like this.

He just wants to avoid a mutiny that will overthrow him, and so he is only interested in power, not what is right as a human being.

Anonymous said...

Can you blame a war hero who saw close action with terrorists? His enemy was the LTTE and anything like LTTE flags, shouting people, he grew to despise, so his action was normal for him, but not for his position.He is a killing machine trained to kill the enemy. Can't expect wonders from that ilk.

So he should never have been sent to London. He is just a battle scarred jackboot, who you cannot reform. We must understand that reality. It was the Army's fault for sending him overseas, instead of keeping him in some job within the Army.

Anonymous said...

He has a very important job, one of the tasks is to work closely with UK intelligence to identify potential terrorists, and he should have been directing a film unit, disguised as a TV station, making sure everyone in the demonstration is included, so he gets their details of who they are and if they are on any terror lists, as some could be, they could be a threat to the UK security forces too.

They can then act on our intelligence to apprehend known terrorists among them, as we may have files on their activity within Sri Lanka.

Instead of fighting against the global terror, he was behaving like a hooligan showing him to be an instigator terrorism and not a fighter against it. He cooked his own goose without even knowing it, and even his Commander in Chief does not know how to identify an incompetent buffoon from a competent soldier.