Thursday, February 12, 2009

Simoundou Chronicles - 5

(Continued from Simoundou Chronicles - 4)

Basil felt like his head was going to explode. He has always been a practical man. He always likes to think about problems in advance and plan ahead. But he was never prepared for anything like this. Things were getting so confusing and scary that he started wondering if he was dreaming. This just can’t be real. It doesn’t make any sense.


Things happened very fast in the next few seconds. The young man pulled out a mobile phone from his trouser pocket so fast that it looked like he had creating a phone out of thin air just by waving his hand. The fast movement of his hand shocked Gota. Gota thought he man was pulling out a gun. Feeling he was running out of time, he wanted to lift his gun up as fast as he could. But by then the young man was already pointing the mobile phone towards Gota and pressing a button – as if Gota was a TV set and the man was simply changing the channel with a remote.


Gota felt very strange. He wasn’t sure what it was. It felt like he was struck by some kind of lightening. He didn’t feel any pain but his body was just collapsing like a pack of cards. The gun slipped from his hand and hit the carpet with a faint thud. He felt so weak he couldn’t even keep his head up. His upper body came down crashing towards his desk. The man leapt towards Gota and stopped Gota’s head from hitting the Desk hard. He then gently lowered Gota’s head down.


“I told you we should only use it as the very last resort! “ The old man sounded cross.

“I am sorry sir” said the young man. Looking like an obedient schoolboy facing an angry teacher. “ He was too fast sir, He would have fired if I hadn’t acted”. He then turned towards Basil who was still frozen with shock. He then pulled out a little cylinder that looks like a body spray and sprayed something on Basils face. Basil looked terrified and opened his mouth wide as if he was going to let out a loud scream. But then all of a sudden he seemed to calm down. He looked sleepy. His eyes closed slowly and he almost fell off the chair before the man pulled him off the chair and let him lie down on the floor.

A few minutes later, when Gota opened his eys he realized he was tied up to his chair. The younger man was standing across the table. “How are you feeling now Sir” he asked. Gota didn’t reply. “Sir, can you hear me?” Gota nodded. He then noticed that his shirt was gone. A black rectangular box was attached to his bare chest using some sticky stuff. A few wires extended from the box to a silver grey laptop that was placed on the left edge of the table. The older man was peering into the screen. Gota could only see the back of the laptop.

“Right!” said the old man. “Let’s start”. He turned towards Gota “Are you comfortable?” He asked. “Oh sorry! I didn’t mean to be sarcastic. I know getting zapped and being tied up to a chair are very uncomfortable. But do you feel any pain anyway?” And then his eyes were on the laptop screen again.

“Who... Who are you? And What .. is this...?” Gota struggled to get the words out.

“We will explain it all in a minute. But now listen very carefully. If you listen to us and co oporate then there is a good chance that we will not……. er ….. kill you.” The old man was still peering into the screen as he spoke.

“OK” said the older man. “Let’s start”

The younger man was still standing in front of the table. He held a 9mm pistol in his right hand and a coin in the other.

The old man spoke as he continued to peer into the laptop screen. “Here is the deal Sir, he will throw that coin 3 times. If we get heads all the time then we will kill you. If not we will just walk away. Is that clear? ”

Gota didn’t speak. The man continued “ you still have a 7 out of 8 chance of survival which is pretty good”

“Wha… What is all this shit about?” Asked Gota. “Who are you and how did.. did you get here? ”

“Sorry Sir, we can’t answer questions until it is over” But we will explain everything when it is over. If you are still alive that is”

The younger man threw the coin and then caught that in his hand. “Head” he said.

“Easy” shouted the old man. The younger man lowered than gun and walked away. “We lied! We are not going to kill you.” said the old man in a calm voice.

Gota looked thoroughly confused. His heart was pumping like crazy now. sweat was pouing down his trembling face. “Take a deep breath now and relax.” Said the old man. “It is over! We will be gone in no time! ”. Gota obeyed faithfully as if the old man was his doctor. He actually took a deep breath.

The old man spent a few minutes looking at the laptop. “OK!” he said. And he began to remove the black gadget from Gota’s chest.

“Who ... Who is... ” Gota stammered. The older man didn’t reply. The younger man was packing the briefcase without a word. “Who are you?” Gota asked. This time the words came out more easily.

“I will explain everything!” A new voice thundered . The door had just been opened. It was none other than President Mahinda Rajapakse standing at the door.

(to be continued)

Friday, December 12, 2008

Simoundou Chronicles - 4

(Continued from Simoundou Chronicles - 3)

"Rajith!" Gota barked into the phone. "Listen! Now Don't ask me any questions. Do what I say. Don't let my brother leave the place OK. Tell him there is a security risk. Tell him not to answer any phone calls. ANY PHONE CALLS YES! Tell him there is a plot to murder him ... SHUT UP AND LISTEN YOU IDIOT!... I don't care!.. I SAID I DON'T CARE!... What? DAMN! Then where is that idiot Kelum? Get Kelum to talk to the head of the presidential security team NOW and tell him they must return now. Of course with the president you idiot. If the president isn't back in his residence within the next 20 minutes then you will be sorry... And then don't let him go anywhere..... I don't give a damn... I DON'T GIVE A DAMN RAJITH!"

Gota slammed the phone down and looked at Basil. " This has to happen just when we are about the finish this war!" sighed Gota, as picked up a glass of water and gulped it down within seconds. Basil didn't say a word. He was still too shocked to speak. Gota continued.

"This is the problem with the LTTE. Every time when we are about to finish them off some idiot comes along and tries to stop the war and spoils the whole thing. That's why this has continued for this long. At first India saved them by forcing us to stop the war, Then when the Indians were about to finish them off President Premadasa saved them. Now when I am about to finish them my own brother is trying to save them. I just can't believe it. This foolishness has to stop someday. And that day has come"

And then the door flung open. Two men entered the room. A tall well built man probably in his twenties and a much older man with gray hair and a matching gray beard. The younger man wore blue denim jeans and a plain black T shirt. The older man wore a white shirt and white trousers. He looked like an academic type. He was carrying a briefcase with him. He could be a college professor or a teacher. As soon as they entered the younger man turned around and shut the door behind them.

"Sorry I am not seeing anybody today! Please leave Now" said Gota. The older man looked up at Gota. He remained silent for about two seconds and then he spoke.

"We won't take long sir." Before he finished the sentence the younger man took a step towards Gota.

It was then that Gota sensed something was wrong. Who are these guys? How did they enter his room so easily? Why didn't Palitha ask him before letting these guys in. Palitha never lets anyone in without asking him first. Has the security been breached? All the layers of security has been breached so easily? Then how come he didn't even hear a single shot? Has his entire personal security team decided to betray him and made a deal with the LTTE? The entire team? Every member? That just doesn't make sense! How do you explain this? The thoughts sent his heart pumping like mad. But there was no time for such thoughts now. The man was within about ten steps of Gota's desk now. Gota's brain switched into soldier mode. Now it is all about survival.

There is a pistol in the drawer on the left. He remembered. He always liked to keep weapons with him even after he left the army. He never imagined he would need to use it again. But he just liked the idea of having them with him, fully loaded. He felt it was part of him being a soldier at heart. Now he has to use it. It is ages since he last fired a gun. His mind was still racing as his hand slowly reached for the gun in the drawer while he was still looking straight at man who is now about five steps away from his desk. Is he carrying a weapon? Is he a.. shit!.. is he a suicide bomber? Then what is this old professor type man doing with an LTTE suicide bomber? Forget it! there is no time for that. Shooting the man might hit the explosives under his clothes and blow up the whole place. But wait a minute! he is wearing a T-shirt. A tight one. A stupid thing to wear if you are a suicide bomber. May be the explosives are in his trousers. They say that was how they did it when they blew up minister Jeyaraj! In any case it should be safer to hit his head. There can't be any explosives there. He has to be careful. He can't afford to miss. Must hit him the first time. Gota felt the cold metal of the Kel-Tec P-32 in his right hand. He tried hard to look relaxed as grabbed the handle firmly. He was still looking straight at the man. "Yes what can I do for you?" He asked, trying hard to sound casual as he prepared to lift the gun up and fire.

Monday, June 16, 2008

Simoundou Chronicles - 3

(Continued from Simoundou Chronicles - 2)
Prabha smiled at Pottu's suggestion as he watched another explosion on the big, high-definition screen. "It is one thing to blow him up in Colombo. But to take him out here when he is our guest - that doesn't sound right Pottu. We can even justify blowing up bus loads of civilians as revenge for their clymore attacks and air attacks on our civilians. But killing someone when they come to our place for talks is different. We have never done anything like that before have we? "

"No sir. I don't think so" Agreed Pottu.

"And then there is international opinion. Our image is already badly damaged. But if we do anything like this it will destroy it"

"But sir, already we are listed as terrorists by many countries and we are banned almost everywhere. So can it really get any worse?"

"Yes Pottu. It can get worse. We would get banned in the few remaining countries where we can still operate legally - like Norway and Switzerland. And worse still, those countries that have already banned us could put more effort into crippling our front groups there. We are already having a bit of a problem these days. The money isn't flowing that smoothly anymore. We can't afford to make things any worse"

"But sir if our image abroad is that important, then how come we have always ignored those foreign idiots all the time?"

"Of course we can't please those white guys. If we send all those under aged kids back to their homes or refugee camps or wherever they came from then you and I will be minced meat in minutes!" Prabha said as he picked up the remote. "We can't do everything they want us to do. But we can't ignore them either. That's one of the reasons why I selected Mahinda during the last elections"

"What has Mahinda got to do with those foreign guys and what they think of us sir?"

"Well, we can't turn into nice guys to please those western countries. And those white skinned do-gooders don't like bad boys like us. so what do we do?" Prabha paused the movie and continued. "We simply make our enemy look just as bad as us, if not worse. That way things are a bit safer for us. Although we are evil so is our enemy. That way those western countries won't be so enthusiastic about helping our enemy defeat us. So all we needed to do was to make the Sri Lankan government look just as bad as us. And Mahinda was the right man for the job! So far he has not disappointed us"

"Hmm... yes." Pottu agreed " The US has stopped military assistance. They got kicked out of the UN Human Rights Council and the EU is applying more pressure as well. They are being compared to notorious 'rogue' states and some are even talking about economic sanctions."

"That's the idea Pottu. When they look that bad, those white guys won't be so enthusiastic about helping them defeat us. That's why even in some of those countries where we are banned now, we still have front groups and they don't seem to be too bothered"

"I knew Mahinda was ideal for this job because he was seen as a hard liner from the start. He was very close to people like JHU and JVP even before the elections. These guys hate the western governments. I was sure from the start that he won't get along with the international crowd very well. But if we kill him when he is our guest things would change. We become worse than terrorists but more importantly he becomes a hero! And that, Pottu, is really bad for us!
It will hit the international headlines 'The president who died for peace!' And what would they call us? The whole world would get behind Mahida's successor to help him defeat us!"


"Yes sir, And the successor will be our old friend Ranil! He is quite good at dealing with those foreigners. He doesn't have any of Mahinda's bad baggage like Human rights violations so it would be easy for him to get the western countries to back him. And he would be ready to consider some form of power sharing so it would be harder for us to stay relevant"

"Exactly, So the question is do we want to see Ranil in power now? With the whole world behind him?"

"OK sir, So what do we do now then. We can't kill Mahinda when he gets here! So are we really going to talk peace with him?" Potto asked.

"Ah! peace!" Prabha smiled sarcastically "I love peace! when there is peace everyone seems happy except me! Even our own boys and girls seem so happy. They want to have fun, They want holidays,they want to visit their families and then they never come back!"

"Yes sir, And then we learn they are in some western country! That's the pattern."

"And the people forget what we have done for them. They forget we have been fighting for their rights all this time. They start arguing with us!"

"Yes sir, during peace they quickly forget about all the killing and raping the Sinhalese have done in our country. They don't even feel angry anymore"

"Yes, peace would destroy our struggle Pottu. That was the game Ranil was playing."

"So what do we do if Mahinda starts playing the same game?"


"I don't think we need to worry about that Pottu. Because I don't think he is serious. If I know Mahinda he won't come here! He would be damned scared about risking his life! A Sinhalese can never be that brave!"

"Yes sir! That's why they don't have suicide bombers. Only a Tamil will have the guts to blow himself up for what he believes in! It is in the Tamil blood! I don't think a Sinhalese can ever have that kind of courage"

Just them they hear a faint ringing noise. Prabha puts his hand in his pocket , digs our a satellite phone and says "Yes"

His expression turns serious as he listens. After a few seconds he says "OK" and puts the phone down.

"I was wrong!" said Prabha "He is coming! The Norwegians have just contacted Nadesan about this! This is getting complicated now"

Prabha looked worried.


****************************************************************************************

It is Sri Lanka's defense secretary Gotabaya Rajapakse's office. The place looks neat . Gota is sitting at his desk talking on the phone. A huge potrait of Mahinda hangs on the wall behind him. He is doodling as talks.


"Another protest march?... JVP?........Right....."

The door opens and Basil rushes into the room. Gota looks up and waves his hand towards the chair in front of him as he continues " Yes some Engine oil should be fine ....... What?....You don't have any? What happened to all that engine oil?......."

Basil looks impatient. He picks up a 'post-it' note from the desks and writes 'URGENT' and holds it up for Gota to see.

Gota looked at it and nodded. 'Just a minute Basil!' he said. Then he continued on the phone "...Yes about that Engine oil... You used it up yesterday?... Why? was there any protest marches yesterday?......You idiot! It was our guys! You threw burnt engine oil at our guys? You crazy fool! Yesterdays protest was organized by us! It was a protest march organized to protest against the protest march by JVP the day before! .... Yes I did tell you to 'throw engine oil if you come across any protest marches' but I didn't say you should do it to our own people you fool! "

Basil was getting annoyed. "Gota" he interrupted. "I need to talk to you now. I have some.."

Gota took the phone away and stared at Basil angrily. "Can't you see I am on the phone? I am dealing with issues of national security! Can't you wait for a few minutes? " Then he continued on the phone. "Oh where was I? Oh that engine oil stuff. OK you stupid don't do this again! Check whose protest march it is before you throw anything on them OK! If you do that again I will throw something much worse than burnt engine oil on you. By the way have you got that journalist I told you about the other day?... OK... Make sure there are some fractures... No.. don't kill him this time... "

Basil stands up "Our Aiya's(Brother's) life is in danger! Can you put that damned phone down Gota?" He shouts.

Gota looked startled. He slams the phone down immediately. "His life is in danger? Have they exploded a bomb near him? Is he hurt?"

"No No Nothing like that!. But he wants to go to Kilinochi and meet those murderers there!"

"What?.... Has he gone mad?"

"I don't know. I couldn't even get him on the phone for a long time after I heard this news. But when I did he didn't say much. He sounded very strange. He refused to even listen to me"

"What exactly did he say?"

"He said something like 'I have always listened to your advice Basil, but right now I need to do what I believe to be right. So don't bother me know' and he slammed the phone.

"It must be the stress Basil. I know Aiya is under a lot of stress these days. He really needs some rest. Then he will be fine. What what do we do now"

"He seemed to be hell bent on going there. And I have a feeling that he won't come back alive if he goes there'

"Of course he won't. You think those murderers would let him come back in one piece?"

"I really don't know what is in his mind now. He never starts anything without talking to me. I am really worried about his safety more than anything"

"Me too" said Gota. There was silence for a few seconds. Then Gota broke it.

"He is not going there" Gota uttered each syllable slowly and clearly. "He will not leave the Temple Trees for the next few weeks."

"How are you going to stop him?"

"I am the defense secretary remember? The armed forces of the state fall under my command. And that includes the presidential security devision"

"Are you crazy Gota? Are you going to place Aiya under house arrest at temple trees?"

"I hate to do this Basil. But if that is the only way to save Aiya from those blood thirsty killers, I will have to do it." With those words, Gota reached for the phone.

"Listen Gota, I don't think this is the best thing to do..."

"Hold it Basil!" Gota interrupted. " You may be aiya's advisor, but I don't need your advice now. No body is going to know about this except you,me,aiya and a handful of security personal. Everyone else will be informed that the president is busy and he has canceled all appointments for the next few weeks to focus on matters related to national security."

"You are crazy!" Shouted Basil

"Aiya has gone crazy!" Gota shouted back "I am just trying to save him" He picked up the phone


(continued)

Monday, June 9, 2008

Simoundou Chronicles - Part 2

(continued from Simoundou Chronicles - Part 1)

"I know they may want to kill me" said the President. "I have taken certain steps to minimize the risk, I can't tell you about them now. But in the unlikely even that I don't come back alive, there is this dependable leader who will look after the country until the next election. And here he comes!"

With that he turned to to right. Just then Ranil wickremasinghe walked in from the right hand side of the stage smiling and waving to the dumbstruck journalists.

"But Ranil is not even part of the government! He is your sworn enemy! And more importantly he is a born loser!"

"I have made an agreement with the Ranil. He is perfect for this job. Besides, how can we expect to make peace with Prabha if we can't even make peace with the leader of the opposition? But most importantly, as you all know, Ranil is the real leader of this country my dear friends! I am only a fake! So he is not a loser. He actually won the last presidential election."

With that the president paused, smiling. There was not a word from the journalists. The president continued.

"You all know how I "won" the last election. The LTTE cheated. They helped me by preventing millions of Tamils from voting. The results of the election did not really reflect the will of the people. It only reflected the will of the LTTE. Ranil would be the president now had the election been free and fair. So he IS the real leader of the country. The one chosen by the people."

"But will the parliament support this?"

"Of course it will! . Ranil's men will agree to this. And my men, who are a bunch of corrupt fools, will agree to anything as long as they continue to be minsters."

"But if you want to do something unconstitutional, you will need a 2/3 majority in parliament. Can you get that many mps to back you Mr president?"

"If I don't get enough backing then I will buy a few more mps from the opposition. All I need to do is to make them ministers!"

"But there aren't any vacancies for ministers Mr President! We already have too many ministers don't we? In fact we have the world record for the highest number of ministries! much higher than even India and China who have huge populations! "

"Well I will create a few by moving some existing ministers to some new ministries, the ministry of Hair Dressing and Cosmetic Affairs for Wimal, The ministry of Waste ,Corruption and inefficiency for a number of others. I will move Mervin to The Ministry of Thugs and Violent Affairs and Rohitha to the "Ministry of Oral disaster creation and mismanagement". Then there is "the ministry of Spineless LTTE Lap Dogs" for the TNA mps and "the ministry of double crossing" for GL peiris. That will free up a lot of existing ministries for new comers. you see?" Then there is also this "Ministry of Imagination and Fairy Tales" for Kehaliya.

"But Mr President, The whole idea seems ridiculous, I mean we are in the middle of a war, And we are making progress, and all of a sudden you want to go to Kilinochi to talk to the leader of the LTTE! They are exploding bombs in Colombo and killing civilians but you are willing to negotiate with terrorists! You said we should wipe out terrorism and..."

"Sorry to interrupt! The press conference is over! I wish I could spend more time with you but I just don't have enough time. So good bye!"

"But Mr President, Just one more question...."

But the president just walked away.

Meanwhile far away from all this, in Prabha's air conditioned bunker in an unknown location in the North, Prabha is eating 'Thosai' while watching "Iron Man" in a 42 inch plasma screen as Pottu walks in.

"Come Pottu! This looks damned good! If we could get one of those high tech suits, we can knock the hell out of those stupid Sinhalese Suckers!"

"Yes sir, But we'd need a smaller size as now we have mostly kids"

"Is that true Pottu? Do you think he is serious about coming here? I mean that fool Rajapakse?"

"I don't know yet, But I am quite surprised by this move sir!"

"Me too Pottu! I think this is another gimmick by that dog Rajapakse! May be just to appease those stupid foreign idiots!"

"May be sir, But if he is serious, he won't go back alive. will he?" Pottu asked with an evil smile.

(to be continued)

Monday, June 2, 2008

Simoundou Chronicles - Part 1

It was a dimly lit bedroom. The only sound was the sound of a clock ticking. Suddenly there was a loud ringing noise.
An arm stretched out from under the expensive blanket and stopped the alarm clock. The man on the bed slowly gets up,walks into the toilet and switches on the light. Suddenly he could see everything clearly. Including his face in the mirror. The face of president Mahinda Rajapaksa.

The president looked tired. He couldn't sleep very well on the night before. He had so many things to worry about. War,poverty, debt , increasing prices of food and oil. The war was supposed to finish this year but now it looks like it is going to take longer. How much longer can the struggling economy cope with a costly war?

"There has to be a better way" he thought. As he stood there staring at his face in the mirror, something struck him. "Yes! There IS a better way"

The press conference was arranged in a hurry. "I am going to Killinochi. I am going to talk to Prabha directly. I am going to ask him if he thinks there is another way to end this conflict. Without fighting, without dividing the country into two."

"Mr President. Why did you take this decision all of a sudden?"

"I took this decision a long time ago. Remember my manifesto? I promised this years ago?"

"But why do we need to do this now? Aren't we winning the war?"

"Yes we are winning the war. And we will continue to win the ware. But as we continue to win this war for many many years,people all over our country are losing sons,daughters,fathers,brothers. Winning the war won't repair this damage."

"So are you going to surrender to the terrorists?"

"I am not going there to surrender. I am going to there to negotiate"

"But we have tried negotiating with them before! It never worked out!"

"It never worked out because we never trusted each other. We are always scared they will use the peace to trick us. And they are scared we would do the same"

"So how is it going to change this time?"

"Someone has to start trusting. And someone has to take the risks. I am going to travel to their place. It will send them a message about trust."

"How do you know they won't just kill you as soon as you get there?"

"Good point!" said the president. "I thought about that too." he continued.

(to be continued)

Thursday, May 22, 2008

The Myth of Tamil Political Leaders

Every time I come across the phrase "Tamil Political Leaders" I laugh. They just don't exists!. If you are Tamil and if you want to survive in Sri Lankan politics there are certain requirements. Let me list them.

The first one is that you should be a crook with no sense of principles. But then this one is a generic requirement that applies to almost everyone in Sri Lankan politics irrespective of their ethnicity. But there are a few others that are specific to Tamil politicians. So let's skip this one and go to the next.

To put it simply they have a choice to make. They can suck up to the LTTE or Suck up to the government.

LTTE really feels it knows what is good for the Tamils in Sri Lanka. So it doesn't want other Tamils to bother thinking for themselves. The LTTE has done all the thinking and taken all the decisions. So all the Tamil people need to do is just support it. If you are a Tamil and if you want to think for yourself LTTE doesn't stop you. But you better keep your thoughts to yourself.Even if you start talking about it still it is fine with the LTTE as long as your views match 100% with those of the LTTE. If that is not the case, then talking about your views would shorten your lifespan dramatically. This has happened to lots of Tamil people who committed the crime of daring to disagree with the views of the LTTE while refusing to suck up to the government. That will be a long list that includes great people like Rajini Thiranagama (I have to write a seperate post on her someday)

So if you speak out against the LTTE they will kill you. If you are Tamil and if you want to get into Sri Lankan politics and if you prefer to get old before you die there are two options.

a) Be an LTTE supporter. I mean not just a supporter. Your definition of Right and Wrong has to change a bit. Right is what the LTTE does. And Wrong is what their enemies do. If you can stick to this simple principle then you can be sure the LTTE won't kill you. If you can't support the LTTE at least refrain from opposing them. That is the golden rule. Just keeping your mouth shut when it comes to LTTE will be enough to save you. But you will still face the risk of getting killed by the government. That risk used to be low in the good old days but now it is increased significantly. Some of people who chose this option and got killed recently include people like MP Maheshwaran,MP Joseph Pararajasingham ,MP MP Sivanesan , MP Raviraj etc Raviraj) So this is no longer a good option. But all the TNA members are sticking with this option now. No wonder they are getting killed every now and then.

b) Be a government supporter. Just stick to the definition of what is right and wrong that I gave you above. But this time you have to replace the word "LTTE" with "government". That's it. But now the LTTE will try to kill you. But the government will protect you as long as you suck up to them and turn a blind eye to all the gruesome murders they commit. So many are sticking to this option. (Ananda Sangari,Douglas Devananda etc)

So where are the independent Tamils who are not afraid to voice their views? Ha Ha Ha! Naturally they are all dead my dear friend! they are all dead!.

No not all of them are dead yet. There are a still a few that are alive. They are damned brave! They try to tell the truth all the time. No wonder they are pissing off both the Government and LTTE.

And then there's me of course! I know I don't have to be that brave because it is just a blog without my real name on it. But still... :)

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Liberated East!

It is a tiny mud house in Kalmunai. It is night time. Men armed with pistols knock on the door. A woman answers. They force their way in. Walk in to a bedroom.Take turns to rape two young girls aged 18 and 16. The terrified girls cry but there is no one to protect them. Their mother watches helplessly as her daughters get tortured by thugs sponsored by the government of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka,tears pouring down her eyes. Later that night the armed men returned to this house and after assaulting the father and mother they abducted the 18 year old girl. They forced her into their white van and drove off while the rest of the family watched helplessly.

Sometimes I feel so depressed. I feel this mixture of anger, frustration and sheer helplessness. It is not a nice feeling. But that's how I feel after I read this story in the daily mirror.

Of course the mother tried reporting this to the police. You would expect them to take the details,put it in a file and forget about it right? Surprise! They are even more advanced now. They even refused to lodge her complaint.

This happened on the 10th of May the day of the Eastern Provincial Council Elections which President Mahinda Rajapakse's party won.

Pillayan and his gang know they can do whatever they want in the Tamil areas in the East. The government has given them a free hand there. They just have to stuff the ballot boxes whenever there is an election as they have done this time.

"..The results of the elections to the first Eastern Provincial Council show the people’s endorsement of the government’s policies of restoring democracy and normalcy to areas hitherto controlled by terrorists and the overall development programme already initiated in the Eastern Province..", said President Mahinda Rajapaksa in a statement following the successful conclusion of elections to the EPC.