By Vishwamithra –

“A single event can awaken within us a stranger totally unknown to us. To live is to be slowly born.” ~ Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

National People’s Power (NPP) is a very powerful name for a political party. What was once commonly known as Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) reached its maturation after fifty four (54) years; it is now enjoying the comforts and luxuries of being at the helm of the country’s affairs. Dictatorship of the Proletariat did not materialize. In its place is a government elected by the people. The outdated Marxian principles belong in the dustbin of history. Its machinations have been put on hold, not for the time being, but for good. The subject of the class-struggle, ownership of the commanding heights of the economy by the State, every socioeconomic and political thought and inscrutable concepts of social evolution have been born after ‘contradictions’ of social dynamics, all such lingo has been relegated to the past. Market-economy, democratic governance and scientific approach to the modern ways of life have taken precedence and the leadership of the NPP seems to be doggedly pursuing a sensible goal in a more sensible manner and fashion.

Macro economic numbers seem to be favorable; statistics that usually define the  country’s path to recovery from bankruptcy are being enunciated many times by the so-called econ-gurus of the government. However, ignoring the micro aspects of the people, their silent suffering without a word of complaint and their apathetic attitude towards even more suffering have all come together to portray a nation still at a crossroads of a major economic transition, from unaffordable to affordable.

What we are witnessing today may well turn out to be a nightmarish mirage. Unless the leaders of the government, including President Dissanayake, accelerate the very process of execution of the so-called people-friendly policies.

Then the dreaded Ditwah happened. It single-handedly changed not only the physical landscape of the country, it altered the sociopolitical and economic contours of a society and called for a material rejuvenation of a people. The destruction was ruthless and its aftermath needs more attention of the decision-makers than ever. This is the time for the NPP government and its leaders to show the country that they have grown up beyond sloganeering and electioneering. Words would not feed the hungry and pontification does not bring about relief to a devastated citizenry.

In a context as described above, the winners will appear in every street corner and sinners would try to raise their ugly heads on many an occasion. And every now and then, one may fail to tell the real sinners from the genuine winners. The line that separates the two might be so blurry and faint, one would find many sinners hiding behind the balmy cloaks of winners.

In politics, as in all professions, winners are not completely pure and sinners cannot be found to be disgustingly impure. Those who ultimately pass judgment on politicians could be more impure and even incorrigibly sinful. Relative judgments made in these self-contradictory contexts, eventually turn up to be more erroneous; they end up being a genesis for a much more harmful process that claims more victims in the long run; they very rarely succeed in effecting individual fulfillment and lasting societal peace. Therefore, while hinting at particular winners and sinners, I shall make every attempt to refrain from naming specific men and women who happen to dominate our sociopolitical skies.

Yet when one looks back at the year 2025, aside from the NPP and AKD forming a seemingly workable government machinery, the most prominent and domineering episode that nearly consumed all life of the country as a whole is the Ditwah cyclone and its attendant destruction to people’s lives and property. This is not the first or last time such a devastating phenomenon chose to visit the otherwise calm and peaceful environment; the path it coursed through our society’s material and socioeconomic dynamics cannot be more life-withering.

Yet in the midst of this calamity rose some genuine gems of humanity. Families displaced by the raging waters, their properties damaged beyond repair and left with whatever they were wearing at the time, these moving humanity clung on to their little children with undying faith in the spirit of man that drove the ancient species to challenge the new and unknown. That march which began hundreds of thousands of years ago and the spirit that sustained their march was still alive and vital to nourish, nurture and consummate another phase of this vast evolutionary process.

We honor the men, women and children who endured and withstood the onslaught of the latest environmental attack. Their material wealth may not have survived the invasion of floods, storms and mudslides, yet their determination and the will to overcome any and all adversities apparently knew no boundaries. They certainly are outright winners. They could not have overwhelmed the water’s rage, but the will for excellence overrode the ecological disasters.

Those who fought the recent cyclone and the resultant catastrophic damages, whether they survived or not , are all winners without a doubt.

But amongst these brave men and women, typical political charlatans also meandered. They call themselves patriots. But the values and measures that have defined the nation within the confines of detailed love for the land of birth, neighbour and family do not seem to live in these political sinners. They are not only political sinners; they are sinners of the unkindest kind and cruelest of cruelty. In order to win a political argument and show the country that they are also visible amongst who ran the race, these politicians have opted to critique the government and its chosen set of policies and principles. Opposing for the sake opposition is no real fight; nor does it serve any meaningful purpose. It kills time; it wastes energy that could have been put to real use in other spheres.

Deployed in inhospitable conditions, the security forces have found themselves equally challenged and confronted by the same might of the raging waters and torrential rains. Yet, they never complained; their lending hands and equipment came handy in the adverse conditions and more often than not, their assistance was the equalizer that decided whether one could live or perish. They were winners too. Commanded by their military leaders and led by an understanding civil leader, President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, they performed their duty without any bias or choice to any particular creed, race of religion. Confronted by a natural disaster of the unprecedented kind, their days had more than twenty four hours. From one sunrise till the next sunrise, they toiled and lent their mite to the sustenance of families’ lives. It was not an easy task; nor was it measured by man-hours of work or how many litres of fuel spent on helicopters and other vehicles. It was measurable only by the number of lives rescued and saved and dwellings recovered.

There was hardly any mention of illicit businessmen who were trying to make a fast buck at the expense of innocent customers. Such men and women spring up like wild mushrooms in the midst of natural calamities; every country experiences them when the proverbial going gets tough. But in the midst of the Ditwah, or in its immediate aftermath, there was hardly any news of such social scavengers. The sinners have rarely been sighted.

Sri Lanka has not recovered from her usual apathy; she is not a totally different personality after the NPP assumed power. Yet what the Aragalaya-22 has engendered in the mindset of the average citizen and its eye-opening cascade of a totally disparate thought process seems to be taking deep root. There are winners residing in the very persona of sinners and vice versa. Those who hold political power and the wheels and cogs of the government machinery should handle each new situation with its inherent issues and problems. There is no universal solution.

Our people were used to expecting each new government that was elected since 1947 to wave a magic wand and bring about prosperity and economic salvation. Maybe the Aragalaya -22 has shown another way to the promised land.

Usually in a situation such as the one Sri Lanka is experiencing today, one finds more sinners than winners.  It should be the solemn promise of AKD and his NPP-led government to turn sinners into winners and winners into champions.

*The writer can be reached at vishwamithra1984@gmail.com