the great november revolution the inside story according to dinesh weerakkody

7/23/2019 The Great November Revolution the InsideStory According to Dinesh Weerakkody

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The Great November Revolution: The inside story according to Dinesh Weerakkody

Author Dinesh Weerakkody presents his book The Great November Revolution to

President Maithripala Sirisena at its launh held at the !M"#$% Prime Minister Ranil

Wikremesin&he' $ealth Minister Ra(itha Senaratne and Deputy )orei&n Minister

$arsha de Silva look on

* Pi by +rishan Ranasin&he

Monday, 7 December 2015

Misunderstood ,oun& !loodsYoung bloods are always misunderstood and unappreciated by thesocieties they lie in! "hat is because they tal# and do thingsoutside the $rame set $or them by their elders! Yet, it is these

young bloods that change societies by %uestioning the alidityo$ the accepted iews!&e it politics, art, religion or culture, reolutionary changes in allthese areas hae been instigated by young people who thin#di'erently! (orld history is replete with e)amples that supportthis generalisation! *n e)ample proing its alidity relating to +rian#a has been narrated in detail by another such young blood,Dinesh (eera##ody, in his latest boo#, "he -reat .oember/eolution released in olombo last wee#!
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Takin& risks in -&ht a&ainst the most ruthless re&imeDinesh (eera##ody, a priate sector managerial e)pert with an M&* $romthe s niersity o$ eicester, was noted well $or things other thanpolitics! 3e was the youngest chairperson o$ the largest priate commercial

ban# in +ri an#a! 3e is a writer and columnist ta#en to that art $rom arelatiely young age! 3e published a collection o$ articles in a boo# titled 4nthe 4nterest o$ My ountry in 201! "his writer had the opportunity toreiew it earlier 6aailable at http88www!$t!l#8article81952:8Dinesh;(eera##ody;s;dream;;May;it;be;;4n;the;&est;4nterest;o$;My;ountry;

political history!4t was a daring attempt which only a bunch o$ rec#less young people wouldconsider putting into action! "hat was because their adersary was themost ruthless authoritarian regime in +ri an#as recent history! "he regimehad proed more than once that it would not tolerate een the slightestopposition to its right to rule with #indness!

"he sta#es were, there$ore, well #nown be$orehand! 4$ you $ail, you hae to>nd a country willing to accept you as a re$ugee $or the rest o$ your li$e!

"hat een, i$ you are success$ul in ?eeing the country in time! 4$ you arecaught, either you disappear without a trace or languish in dungeonscursing the society that has $ailed to support your cause!Despite these odds, they tried and succeeded in their high ris# enterprise! 4tis this success story which Dinesh (eera##ody has narrated step by step inhis recent boo#! 3e has been assisted by an apt editor, the eteran senior

@ournalist =aneetha *merese#ere, to put his story in a reader;$riendlylanguage! "hus, the boo# is li#e an *gatha hristie noel with suspense ande)citement throughout capturing the readers attention $rom beginning toend!

!e.are o/ those .ho hero*.orship

you"he Mahinda /a@apa#sa regime thatcame to power in 2005 managed to endthe 0;year;long ethnic war in 2009 witha resolute ictory $or the -oernment!(eera##ody too gies credit to /a@apa#saon this count!*lmost all those in the plot against his


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rule in the current case were his supporters at his preious election topresidency in 2010! "hey all had supported him at the election in thee)pectation that he would usher in a new era to the country! 4n $act, he wasin a position to do so with the massie support he had got $rom the peopleat the election! &ut within years, the plotters say that they all gotdisillusioned about his rule, his ambition, his goernance, his ethics and so

on!An eery count, Mahinda /a@apa#sa was not the man they e)pected to betheir ruler! 3is rule, there$ore, diided the people into $our groups thosewho hero;worshipped him, those who supported him in e)change o$numerous economic bene>ts, those who were disillusioned and those whowere opposed to him! (ithin a $ew years, the >rst two groups began tocrimp, while the last two groups began to swell! n$ortunately, Mahinda/a@apa#sa could not read the emerging deelopments in the country! "hatwas because he began to beliee in the lies he and his supporters had beenspreading in the country that he was an inincible deity! 4n this bac#ground,

an idea seemed to hae sprung up in the minds o$ a $ew young bloods thathad supported him at the elections but disillusioned about his rule!

Madmen in authority hear voies in the air4t is in $act ideas that change the course o$ history and not the lethalweapons which mortal men bear! .early 2,:00 years ago, the &uddhareolutionised the spiritual world by coming up with a noel idea called "heaw o$ 4mpermanent +oul! 4ts e'ect is still $elt in many parts o$ the worldand will continue to do so $or many more years!4n the modern times, the power o$ ideas was put cogently by the 20thenturys most in?uential economist, Bohn Maynard eynes, in theconcluding part o$ his path;brea#ing treaties, "he -eneral "heory!+ays eynes C4deas are more power$ul than are commonly understood!4ndeed, the world is ruled by little else! Madmen in authority who hearoices in the air are distilling their $reny $rom some academic scribblers o$a $ew years bac#E!+ooner or later it is ideas, not ested interests, whichare dangerous $or good or eil!FMadmen in authority #now o$ this danger! "hat is why they ta#e allmeasures to suppress the independent ideas o$ citiens! &ut history hasproed that they always $ail because independent ideas are more power$ul!

"his was e)actly what happened to Mahinda /a@apa#sa regime too!

Topplin& Ra(apaksa re&ime throu&h a bloodless revolution*ccording to Dinesh (eera##ody, two young bloods got a strange ideawhen they met at the niersity o$ ambridge in the in 201! Ane wasDr! apila /anasinghe, an e)patriate +ri an#an who had studied at both3arard and ambridge, and taught strategy to many generations o$


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students worldwide! "he other was hatura +enaratne, son o$ Minister/a@itha +enaratne and now an M= representing the -ampaha District on the.= tic#et!&oth o$ them had supported Mahinda /a@apa#sa at his election topresidency in 2010! Disillusioned by the /a@apa#sa rule and being unhappyabout the gloomy $uture it portended, they as#ed the bold %uestion C3ow

could the /a@apa#sa rule be toppled in a bloodless reolutionGF&oth o$ them came to the single conclusion that the toppling should bedone $rom within the regime and not $rom outside! 4t was too dangerous totry it $rom outside because the regime had all the powers and weapons tonip it in the bud! "he regime could portray it as a coup $unded by (esternenemies and @usti$y its suppressie moes! 4t had a notorious intelligenceserice which was watching suspected citiens, tapping their telephones,$ollowing them whereer they moed and logging into een their priateemail accounts! 3ence, without their #nowing it, not een a bird could ?y inthe s#ies o$ +ri an#a!

"he regime was ery con>dent about its ability to ta#e pre;emptie actioneen i$ someone spo#e in priate against the -oernment! 4t appeared thatthat oercon>dence was its *chilles heel which the young bloods wor#ingagainst the -oernment could use to their adantage! "hey were able tooperate below the -oernments radar system without being seen, heard orwatched! .aturally, the radars o$ the intelligence serices did not displaythem on the screen because they were @ust youngsters $rom within thegroup and there$ore not worthy o$ being $ollowed or watched!

Mahinda Ra(apaksas o.n propa&anda hid the erosion o/ popularity/rom him


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+oon, they had the adantage o$ e)amining a report prepared by anotheryoung blood, Malith Bayathile#e, a national list M= today but an adisor toMinister Dulles *lahapperuma at that time!

Bayathile#e had done his Masters degree in social sciences $rom a leadinguniersity in 4ndia and was well ersed in surey methods and statistics! 3emade an electorate;wise elaboratie study o$ the oting pattern in the last

$ew elections! 3is study led him to the conclusion that Mahinda /a@apa#sacould not get suHcient otes $rom the +inhala &uddhist ote base in thesouthern part o$ the country to win a presidential election gien the $actthat he would not be $aoured by minorities!

"o win, /a@apa#sa should getat least 70I o$ the otes $romthe +inhala &uddhist otersbut it was unli#ely in iew o$the erosion o$ his ote baseoer the years! Dinesh

(eera##ody says that MalithBayathile#es ob@ectie wasnot to topple the /a@apa#sa-oernment but to pre;warnit that it has to change itsstrategy and course! &utinstead o$ welcoming thereport, says (eera##ody, hewas accused o$ being asaboteur by /a@apa#sa

brothers who were erypower$ul at that time!Ane cannot blame them

because they were ery con>dent o$ their strength based on the $alsereports >led by their own reporting agencies! "hus, /a@apa#sa lost aaluable opportunity! &ut it was a treasure $or the young bloods that wereplanning to topple the regime $rom within! 4t gae them con>dence thatthey could succeed in their enterprise i$ they wor#ed tirelessly with correctstrategies! 4t was at this point that Dinesh (eera##ody @oined the club!

An ultra*seretive operation to reruit po.er/ul politiians"he young bloods then started to recruit ciil society leaders and politicianso$ worth surreptitiously to their cause! "he list is long but includes Jen!Maduluwawe +obhitha, Jen! *turaliye /atana, =atalee hampi#a /anawa#a,/a@itha +enaratne, handri#a &andaranai#e umaratunga and >nally /anil(ic#remesinghe! Dinesh (eera##ody $unctioned as the conduit between/anil (ic#remesinghe and the rest o$ the group! 4t was easy $or all o$ themto @oin together because they had been watching with concern the


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deterioration o$ the country economically, politically, socially andinternationally under Mahinda /a@apa#sa who had enormous promise in2010 when he was elected =resident $or the second term but $ailed sincethen!(eera##ody e)plains that they all had to wor# in utmost secrecy withoutbeing nabbed by intelligence serices! 3ence, midnight meetings were held

in di'erent locations, $ace to $ace communications were conducted insteado$ using telephones and pieces o$ notes were e)changed instead o$ emails!*ll these were done to operate below the radar system o$ the intelligenceserices! =eople were #ept in$ormed only a need;to;#now basis! Ken(eera##odys wi$e did not #now where he was going in the middle o$ thenight in di'erent ehicles! (eera##ody says that it bothered her much#eeping her awa#e till he returned home in the early hours o$ the morning!

#ommon andidate .as -rst approahed .hen Gotabaya .as also

present"he roping;in o$ Maithripala +irisena as the common candidate was done by/a@itha +enaratne on the instructions o$ handri#a &andaranai#eumaratunga, according to Dinesh (eera##ody! "he process had startedonly three to $our months be$ore he actually appeared in public in.oember 201L!(eera##ody has dramatised the >rst approach by saying that it hadhappened at a wedding ceremony at which the all power$ul De$ence+ecretary -otabaya /a@apa#sa too was present! /a@itha, -otabaya andMaithripala had been seated at the same table and the loud music in thewedding hall had gien total priacy to /a@itha to conerse with Maithripalawithout being heard by -otabaya! "his initial approach had been $ollowedat a subse%uent public meeting at =olonnaruwa to get Maithripala +irisenasconsent to come $orward as the common candidate against Mahinda/a@apa#sa!*ccording to the narration o$ Dinesh (eera##ody, /anil (ic#remesinghe,another strategist par e)cellence, had mobilised all the $orces againstMahinda /a@apa#sa to end his rule in Banuary 2015! (hat happenedtherea$ter is well #nown!

Takin& the pro(et to a suess/ul onlusionDinesh (eera##odys boo# is the inside story o$ some young peoplestrategising to topple the most ruthless regime in +ri an#a! "he pro@ectwas later ta#en oer by top leel politicians in the country who only couldta#e it to a success$ul conclusion!&ut the idea and the strategy to be $ollowed came $rom these youngpeople! 4t also teaches a good lesson to the current as well as $utureadministrations o$ the country! "hat is, securing =arliamentary ma@ority


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een at a two;third leel will not guarantee the stability or the continuity o$any administration! 4$ the administration does not $ollow the principles o$good goernance, openness in actions, $ull disclosure and accountability $orwhat they do, it is unaoidable that its popularity gets eroded oer time!Ance it reaches a low leel that could not be reersed, that would be thebeginning o$ the end o$ the administration! 3ence, the destruction o$ any

administration is done by the administration itsel$ and not by $orces $romoutside! "his should be an eye;opener to the current goernment which hascome to power on the promise o$ good goernance, a clean society,listening to the people and $ull accountability $or what it does! Made up o$di'erent species o$ dierse political comple)ions, it is speci>cally ulnerableto such implosions!

All are heroes in the enterpriseDinesh (eera##ody has done a serice to his $ellow citiens by un$olding

the secrets that had shrouded the whole story o$ toppling the /a@apa#sa*dministration! 3e has not named any hero in his boo#!3e himsel$ has not tried to be a hero! &ut all those people whose nameswere mentioned aboe hae been heroes! A$ them, the real heroes hadbeen the young bloods that $elt the necessity $or a regime change and thenactually strategised to attain that ob@ectie! "he lesson to be learned is thatno one should underestimate the power o$ ideas and especially when thoseideas come $rom young people who are willing to act on them!Dinesh (eera##odys "he -reat .oember /eolution is a must read!3oweer, to ma#e it aailable to a wider readership, it is suggested that itbe translated into both +inhala and "amil promptly!

0W%A Wi(e.ardena' a /ormer Deputy Governor o/ the #entral !anko/ Sri 1anka' ould be reahed at .a.23435&mail%om 6

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the great november revolution the inside story according to dinesh weerakkody

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