"Common Presidential Candidate" Dr. Vickramabau Karunarathne
Statement by Nava Sama Samaja Party
We are suffering because we have failed to resolve basic problems in our country. We cannot claim to be a free and democratic country unless we resolve the national problem and also stop international global capitalist interference.
Mahinda regime used military forces backed by India and global powers to crush the Tamil uprising caused by continuous discrimination and repression. They claim it is a great victory. However our country is devastated. The Tamil homeland is in ruins and people are made paupers drifting here and there.
Dr. Vickramabahu Karunarathne, at a rally protesting the burning of Sunday Leader offices, Nov 23, 2007
Thousands were killed; thousands disappeared; thousands are disabled, and thousands are made political prisoners. Large numbers living abroad curse the rulers who brought this misery to them. In Sinhala areas too a large number is killed while a larger number are made invalids. The people in general are made poorer. Many young people are unemployed. Cost of living is simply unbearable and the working masses are forced to bear the cost of the war.
Continuation of 300,000 armed forces means that they are unable to find suitable jobs for them. On the other hand the war is not over. If this situation continues, and there is no other way out, inevitably youth will take up arms against oppression and discrimination. In the mean time unbelievable corruption exists from top to bottom. Corruption and misappropriation has become the common practice in society. Indian and global companies are gobbling up the economy. We have become vassals of Indian rulers.
Estate worker's powerful strike started a wave of strikes that came to Colombo shaking the regime. The inability of Mahinda to use the military power accumulated during the war, against the workers, created a big hole in the system. The repercussion of this strike wave was a split in the monolithic chauvinis structure. The inability of Mahinda Regime to crush worker's strikes, student's actions and mass protests, made the capitalists to seek an alternative leadership from a military hard liner, General Sarath.
Mahinda followed the agenda given by the Indian rulers backed by Global powers. He is still prompted by these masters to continue their agenda. On the other hand the terrible bankruptcy in Lankan society is used by far-right militaristic section of the global powers to put forward General Sarath. Sarath hails bloody devastation created by the war and stands for strengthening the military, and also for centralization. JVP four points proposal designed to eliminate devolution and crush aspirations of Tamil speaking people is accepted as the common programme of General Sarath. It is no way an answer to the tragedy created by Mahinda Chinthanaya.
It is necessary to condemn what Mahinda regime has done and sharply take up the issue of national unity based on Equality, Autonomy, and the Rights of Self Determination. Democracy and freedom can prevail only if there is state based on national unity. Without this fundamental task achieved, no development could take place, and we will be eternally trampled by Global powers. Therefore on behalf of workers, peasants, fishers and other suffering masses, Left Front with the support of other left and democratic parties, organizations and intellectuals decided to put forward Comrade Vickramabahu as its Presidential Candidate.
Vickramabahu was born in March 08, 1943 at Lunugala in Badulla in a traditional teacher's family. His father was late Mudiyanse Karunarathne. Mother was late Vimala Kothalawale; both retired as principals. He received primary education at Ananda Shasthralaya, Mathugama. Joined Ananda College Colombo in 1953.
Passed university entrance from Ananda College, Colombo in mathematics stream and entered the Engineering faculty of the University of Ceylon. He graduated as a first class electrical engineer and qualified for a commonwealth scholarship to read for a doctorate at the Cambridge University. With a doctorate from Cambridge he returned to Lanka in 1970. As an under graduate he joined the LSSP in 1962. He was elected to the Central Committee in 1972. But in the same year he was sacked from the party for opposing opportunist politics of the leadership.
While being brilliant in education, he excelled as a sportsman and a sculpture artist as well. While teaching at Peradeniya University, he was thoroughly engaged in politics. In 1978, he was sacked from university and jailed for hoisting black flags against the draconian constitution of J. R. Jayawardhane.
Since then, he dedicated his life for left politics. He always actively participated in struggles of workers and for the rights of the communities that were marginalized gender wise, racial wise and economic wise. He was in remand for long periods and in 88 he was shot by the JVP for defending the rights of the Tamil speaking people
Dr. Vickramabahu Karunarathne is contesting Presidential elections as the candidate of the Left Front.
11 Comments
Dr Vickramabahu is a rare politician who has made sacrifices and speaks out on behalf of the Minoriites and Common Man. Unfortunately Politics today is at its lowest depths and genuine people like him are not able to garner adequate support to win elections. Politics today requires Political and Financial support as well. The majority of voters too are not mature enough to vote for people with principles. Hence it would be better if he uses his platform to expose the misdeeds of the current regime and garner support for SF.
When visionaries like DR. Karunarathne comes the presidential arena, minorities must support him. When two fools who is willing to sell the country to global powers, the true leader looks out for the future of the country. Voting for DR. Karunarathne at least reflect the cry and struggle of minorities in the country. In contrary MR or SF will be a disaster for minorities and will also push the country as a puppet state.
You need more than 6 million votes to win. Dr. Karunaratna's credentials to build a Sri Lankan nation are admirable. He has voiced his outrage against injustice to Tamils for a long time - againt threats to his life. The best he could do, under the circumstances is to join the anti-Govt forces and work for their victory.
In the event of victory he should be considered for a Cabinet position - ideally that of Minister of Racial Integration and Nation Building. Unlike the bums in Parliament Bahu is educated. He has a Maths Degree from Cambridge U and, I believe, is scrupulously honest. His fault is he cannot come to terms with the fact that the Commununist ideology went down with the Wall
The Chinese, Russians, East Germans, Poles, Chzechs, Bulgarians have all come out of the cold and are now in business suites. Castro and Kim Il Jung are enjoying themselves with their kit and kin sufficiently. He and his loyal friends Thiru, Linua and others can do more from within the Govt to the thousands who have been faithful to him for so long than the agitation he has been leading on behalf of workers and the minorities from outside the Govt for so long.
ISS
People like Vickramabahu Karunarathne, depicts and represents the sane Srilankan intellectuals with courage and determination to fight against Chauvinistic/Patriotic view carried by our own political fools. They are good quality human beings/political hermits survive in difficult political environment only because of their good will and courage. Most of average Srilankan are unaware of/not used their pattern of rational thinking. Indeed minorities without a voice should support him!
You have less than 2000 vote base in SL.The politicians like you can't do anything but brag your mouth criticising the politicians who sacrifice their life to motherland. Compairing you to MR or SF you are a midget.
At least now[when your old age] shut your rotten mouth and mind your own business.Better look after your grand children and tell them about the great kings in our history.You can tell them that I also have a name of a great king. Then at least your grand children might love you as a great grandpa.
Finally, You keep on bragging because you want to retain the meagre source of income you receiving from INGO's.
Very true both Ruby & Sri Lankan. I think Sri lankans should think in the best interest of Sri lankans. I think Tamils and Sinhalese are being used by India and some world powers and MR regime is working according to their agenda. We as Sri Lankans should elect someone who will work in the best interest of our people. Enough is enough with bloody ethnic/civil war. We've lost enough.
Dr.Wickremabahu Karunaratne is regarded as an idealist by many people and that his vision for Lanka is unrealistically Utopian.Even many Tamils say he is a maverick and that he supported the LTTE in its terrorist quest for separation.That his contention on the right of Tamil self determination autonomy and democracy will not materialise and a vote for him would be a vote down the drain because the majority community does not believe in his vision for affording any equal treatment to Tamils.They do not understand that by that yardstick voting for the TNA is same.
This is the irony of the situation for Comrade Bahu.He is far ahead of his time for Lanka and that is the tragedy and curse of the country.
People with vision,principle,honesty of purpose,or sincerity of action are not needed in politics there as yet. But that surely is certainly not a loss or disappointment for Bahu or those who stand with him if that is the way Lankan's karma works.
The present situation may be tolerable, but when the threshold of pain becomes unbearable with prices escalating and black market for essentials thrives and law and order degenerates, corruption and nepotism burgeons and the media is tightly controlled by the administration with no disclosure about missing persons and hounding white vans that is the time when the realisation of the relevance of Comrade Bahu's message will sink in, and it may be too late by then.
Dr.Wickremabahu Karunaratne, you carries most beautiful and powerful sinhalese aristocratic name which is our pride, but you insulted your name and our pride by adopting inferior foreign culture.
According to your feeling, you are no body in Sri lanka
Good luck to you - Karu. I was at Ananda College till first term of 1953, when I entered the University and did engineering! The English teacher at that time was a Tamil supporter of your party politics!
Pity that other politicians do not have your desires, to make Sri Lanka a better place to live in. It is corruption and racial politics and attitudes, unfortunately necessary for them to win power!
What a shame the country cannot escape from racial politics and corruption.
To those of you who accuse him of being after NGO dollars (that uniquely Sri Lankan insult) I can only say he has more integrity as a Sri Lankan and a human being than any of your demi-gods in parliament.
A man with two PhDs (in Mathematics and Electronics) does not need to travel on the footboard in a pair of rubber slippers. He could have made plenty of money with his talents either in Sri Lanka or overseas if that was his aim in life. Do not judge others by your standards or your favourite politicians' standards.
Bahu is easily the most desirable of the Presidential candidates; his disappointing performance in the Western Provincial elections notwithstanding, he should obtain a sizable number of votes, 'cos the squabling between the "War Heroes" will help undermine the credibility of both the "major candidates."
The hitch is that Bahu's campaign is not professional enough - learn from Obama (and never mind that Barack is no Marxist!!).
The "English Educated Elite" have neen a curse to Sri Lanka; true, but it would help if this page were better proof read. Putting it quite simply, good English will attract more readership. (Assistance available!!)
Secondly, you must educate the people regarding the system of preferntial voting. Bahu, I'm no Marxist, I've never met you, but I am a great admirer of yours. For me, honesty, decency, and humaneness are more important than ideology. Keep your ideology untainted, Bahu. I respect you for the burning Marxist zeal that has enabled you to run the gauntlet for almost half a century. I don't have it, but please don't spurn my consistent support for you because I'm a lesser mortal than you.
Readers, let us support the causes of Truth and Goodness by adopting the Socratic method of peripatically asking, "How many preferences are you allowed at this election?" Amazingly few know that you can put down three. Next suggestion - few non-partisans take kindly to being "ordered" to vote for a candidate; so yes, "suggestion" only: "If you are disgusted with both Tweedledee and Tweedledum, why don't you have the less obnoxious of them as THIRD PREFERENCE, while voting Bahu and Wije Dias as numbers one and two." After all the most serious charge that can be credibly maintained against either is that he is "eccentric" or "idealistic" -not damning words in my vocabulary!
Readers, Bahu cannot make those "idealogically impure" statements, but we can.
Bahu, I've been monitoring the media as best I can. You are quite simply not getting enough publicity - and don't expect it!!
The "major candidates" will continue to pretend you don't exist, because this time you are a real threat to them.
Message to the media world-wide: don't you realise that it is YOUR DUTY to give adequate publicity to a man with the intellect, honesty and courage that Dr (dash it does almost nobody relise that this man HAS had the capacity to reach the summit in an exacting field), yes, Dr, Vickramabahu Karunarathne has exhibited for so long.
More strength to your arm. Bahu!
p.s. Please adopt one spelling for your name. Three spellings must be a hellish mess for an internet browser to handle. I suggest we settle on "Wickremabahu Karunaratne". This is just common sense.