The callous way the NGOs twist history, both local and global, to push their political agenda, is one main reason why the state should curtail their anti-national propaganda campaigns because it is the innocent people who will have to pay with their lives for their lies. Sri Lanka has paid enough for 33 bloody years because the NGOs had concocted histories, propagated political myths and deliberately pursued misinformation campaigns, with absolute disregard to the consequences of their venomous campaigns against the state which went all out to woo the Tamil Tigers and put an end to the futile war. It was the ideological and political justifications fabricated by the NGOs to white-wash Prabhakaran’s war crimes and crimes against humanity that prolonged the futile Vadukoddai War for 33 years. If they had campaigned against Prabhakaran the way they campaigned against the Sri Lankan Government the war would not have dragged on for so long. If the NGOs were truthful to the realities faced by the Tamil people under Prabhakaran’s fascist rule they could have saved the lives that were sacrificed in vain to keep Prabhakaran firing at his own people.
Jehan Perera, the man who claims to be a national peace-maker, is leading example of distorting reality to promote his political fictions. I’ve said this before and I am repeating this again to expose this humbug. He used to refer to Anton Balasingham, the LTTE ideologue, as “Dr Anton Balasingham” even though the LTTE Goebbels had not earned a doctorate from any university. When I met Jehan in Geneva I asked him why he keeps on boosting Balasingham’s image with a doctorate which he has not received from any university. He admitted that Balasingham is not qualified to be titled with a “Dr” but he did so because others did it. When I pressed him he admitted his sins and assured me that he would not do so in future. But like all other charlatans he reneged the moment he set foot in Sri Lanka. The moment he returned to his National Peace Council and resumed his anti-Sri Lankan propaganda he marketed Anton as “Dr. Balasingham”. I don’t mind him breaking his promise to me. I expect nothing less from him. But he has a moral duty to be truthful to himself. How could he lie to himself and to the public who know that he is lying through his teeth?
That was then. Now he is back again lying, hoping that he won’t be caught. Consider this statement made by Jehan (Pacha) Perera (May 12, 2014) on the victory parade to be held in Matara: “No wise country celebrates war victory after a civil war. The American Civil War is not celebrated as the victory of the North versus the South where 600,000 Americans died. After the battle of Gettysburg President Abraham Lincoln made his famous Gettysburg address. He went out of the way to show that it was a common victory. Unfortunately in Sri Lanka, the political leadership indulged and continues to indulge in triumphalism celebrating the victory over the LTTE.”
Now this is an out and out lie. Either Jehan does not know his history which is unlikely because he was at Harvard and he should know at least a basic historical fact like the triumphant jubilation that swept America when the Civil War ended with the surrender of Lee. Or he is lying as usual. He is old enough to know that he demeans himself in the eyes of the public when he lies without batting an eyelid. Besides, common sense should inform him that it is the natural instinct of any community/state to celebrate a historic even like the defeat of an enemy. He would have seen how the nation celebrated the World T20 victory in Bangladesh. If that is the spontaneous reaction to a cricket victory how much more would it be if a 33-year-old war is brought to an end with a comprehensive victory over the enemies of the state?
When the American Civil War ended it was celebrated at all levels – from the humble housewives to state officials. He says that President Abraham Lincoln considered it as “a common victory.” The attached picture gives the lie to it. The victory parade was held on May 23 -24, 1865. On April 1 he was assassinated. I have picked the following picture of the state celebration and the account of an average citizen who was a witness to the triumph of the North over the South.
Small Town's Reaction, 1865
“The news of Lee's surrender at Appomattox on April 9 spread quickly through the North. The impact of the announcement on a small town in upstate New York was typical - a mixture of unbridled joy and sorrow for those who lost their lives in the conflict
Caroline Cowles Richards was a young woman of twenty-three living in Canandaigua, New York, a farming village in the state's Finger Lakes region. Caroline kept a diary of her daily experiences and reveals the sacrifices the community made as the war progressed. Many of its young men joined the Union Army and the villagers closely monitored the news from the war front. Sadly, a number of those who went off to war did not return, losing their lives on the battlefields of Gettysburg, the Wilderness, Spotssylvania, Petersburg and others. Caroline's diary was published in 1913.
"..all the people seem crazy"
Caroline describes the scene as she awoke the day after Lee's surrender and is alerted to major news by the ringing of the church bells:
"Monday Morning, April 10
'Whether I am in the body, or out of the body, I know not, but one thing I know,' Lee has surrendered! and all the people seem crazy in
The Grand Review of the Union Army
celebrating the end of the Civil War
Washington, D.C. May 23-24 1865
consequence. The bells are ringing, boys and girls, men and women are running through the streets wild with excitement; the flags are all flying, one from the top of our church, and such a 'hurrah boys' generally, I never dreamed of.
We were quietly eating our breakfast this morning about 7 o'clock, when our church bell commenced to ring, then the Methodist bell, and now all the bells in town are ringing. Mr. Noah T. Clarke [Principal of the local boys' school] ran by, all excitement, and I don't believe he knows where he is. No school to-day. I saw Capt. Aldrich passing, so I rushed to the window and he waved his hat. I raised the window and asked him what was the matter? He came to the front door where I met him and he almost shook my hand off and said, 'The war is over. We have Lee's surrender, with his own name signed.' I am going down town now, to see for myself, what is going on.
Later - I have returned and I never saw such performances in my life. Every man has a bell or a horn, and every girl a flag and a little bell, and every one is tied with red, white and blue ribbons. I am going down town again now, with my flag in one hand and bell in the other and make all the noise I can. Mr. Noah T. Clarke and other leading citizens are riding around on a dray cart with great bells in their hands ringing them as hard as they can. Dr. Cook beat upon an old gong.
The latest musical instrument invented is called the 'Jerusalem fiddle.' Some boys put a dry goods box upon a cart, put some rosin on the edge of the box and pulled a piece of timber back and forth across it, making most unearthly sounds. They drove through all the streets, Ed Lampman riding on the horse and driving it" (Wikipedia).
Obviously there is an incurable proclivity for lying in the mental make-up of Jehan Perera. He is also striving hard to live up to his name of Jehan (PACHA) Perera. Can anyone respect this man who has turned out to be a professional liar spinning yarns to maintain his high-living and low thinking?
