A Lost Revolution? Book by Rohan Gunaratna

A Lost Revolution? The inside story of the jvp is a book, written by the world renowned sri lankan author Rohan Gunaratna, which has created a long lasting impression on me. The book not only contains a very good description of how the jvp was formed and transformed into one of the most feared politico-military groups but also the book tries to investigate the causes that pushed a generation of southern youth into a struggle against the system they belonged. I highly recommend this book for anyone who ever thought why Sri lanka had to go through two uprisings and one war in a short time span of 40 years of independence. Something must have gone wrong somewhere isn’t it?
These are the parting words, taken from the book, of Upali Jayaweera the last politburo member to be killed. “Large numbers have died from this war – policemen, military men, JVP activist and innocents. This is such a waste of human lives. Those who should be responsible for this and those who should be blamed for this are nobody, but the capitalist class of this country.”

It’s not the capitalist class that should be blamed. It is us who should be blamed. We sri Lankans. Every one of us. We keep on failing to address our socio- economic problems. We keep on failing to bridge the gap between Colombo and outstations. We keep on producing a high number of educated men and women but keep on failing to provide them with quality jobs. But most of all, we allow these fake nationalist and patriotic sentiments to distract us away from our real problems.

Why obama should win

This post is written at a time when the comfortable lead held by Barrack obama is been diminished because of the dirty tactics played by clinton campaign and stupid remarks made by black associates of obama, which has alienated some of his white supporters away from him. Although obama won missisipi easily, 70% of whites have voted for clinton. It should be a worrying factor for obama campaign because he kick started his campaign by winning 95% white, Iowa. It looks like Clinton will win Pennsylvania in a big margin.

There are many leaders who can change a country but there are only a few who can change the world. I firmly believe that Barrack Obama can contribute something positive to the world. I don’t think it’s just rhetoric when he tells his supporters ‘Let’s go change the WORLD’.

One thing i have noted is, although we talk about diversity gloriously we practice it poorly. I think barrack obama hit the bulls eye, when he said that the Problem of the 21st century is the problem of people who are not alike. Because of the rarely seen diverse background obama is coming from(father kenyan muslim, mother caucasian freethinker and with a half sister who is a buddhist) he would be able to see the world from a more moderate view rather than from a american view. If closely monitored, most people look at problems through only their eyes.

The world deserves a more responsible america. When america acts irresponsibly, other countries take it as a free ticket to act in the same way. It’s evident if you take the stances taken by US and china towards the Kyoto protocol. Both are using lame excuses to stop the implementation. How a US or a Chinese citizen can justify these stances?

If america could elect the black man called barrack obama as their president it could be the turning point in the history where racial and religious lines are crossed. It could lead to a Tamil president in Sri Lanka or a buddhist president in Malaysia(very unlikely at present) or who knows what. So american people are having the chance to create a new world order where unity is chosen over divide. I hope that american people will identify this oppurtunity, because i believe chances only come in once. America should be rediscovered as the land which inspired all the liberals and moderates.