By Liyanage Amarakeerthi –

Prof. Liyanage Amarakeerthi

Ms. Alaina B. Teplitz,

Us Embassy in Sri Lanka

Galle RD

Colombo

Dear Madam Leplitz, 

Knowing that you are not worried about hyperbolic formalities, I did not call you “Your Excellency” and so on. When I wrote to the Chinese Ambassador last year when we tried out a new prime minister for just fifty two days, I kept all my decorum because I did not want to anger the most powerful ambassador in the region. Now I am writing to the ex-most powerful ambassador, and I will be informal. 

So Madam, Let me to cut to the chase – to use a typical American idiom whose origin, perhaps, has in Hollywood. Do you know Wada Pitiya? It is a popular TV Talk Show in a channel named Derana. Yes. That is the one – the main media outlet busy trying to make one of your compatriots the president of Sri Lanka. Well, if he becomes the president he will be your ex-compatriot; right? Oh! The ‘chase’! Let’s cut to it again. This Wada Pitiya means “the debating ground” and it is an arena where our verbal gladiators fight each other. We watch them fight and go to sleep happily. It is almost like American wrestling shows but in this we can only see muscular words instead of bodies. 

On 23^rd of April, 2019, a couple of days ago, one of our national heroes- a known verbal gladiator debated with Mr. Azath Salley, the governor of Western Province. The topic was Easter Sunday terrorist attacks about which you had gracefully expressed your sorrow. It is terrorism; it must not be tolerated in the name of cultural diversity or religious pluralism. In their very names, this terrorism must be defeated. Sally represented Muslims. The hero represented us. 

So, in that TV debate our hero Wimal Weerawansa, whose words can drive Sinhala people crazy with nationalist fervor and make them brave enough to break even into your embassy,- perhaps the most secure building in our mother land, was deflated and wordless. Mr. Salley instantly exposed several lies Weerawansa told in that debate, and demonstrated that moderate Muslims in the country had done all they could to warn Sri Lankan government of the threat of Islamic terrorism. Dear Madam, the debate is on YouTube; please take a peek at it; you can see our hero ashamedly keeps looking at his cell phone. If he could dive into that phone and disappear, he could have done so. He was trying to exploit the debate to advance the cause of your compatriot’s presidential ambition but failed miserably.   

But I am writing this letter to draw your attention to something our hero mentioned several times in that debate. According to him, Easter Sunday blasts were the handiwork of US imperialism. He claimed, with his typically Anti-American rhetoric, the US wants to establish its dominance in the region. Around our beloved country, there exist ‘the busiest naval routes and the United States of America want the control over them,’ he argued quite passionately. ‘Our Pro-US prime minister mentioned “global terrorism” in his speech in the parliament and it is an excuse to invite the US military into our country’ the hero further claimed. After the talk show, many Sinhala people are convinced that the next Syria is definitely Sri Lanka. And Mr. Wimala Weerawansa further revealed that a US military ship has been permanently anchored in the ocean about hundred kilometers away from Sri Lanka, and suspicious cargo is often airlifted from our international airport to that imperialist ship of yours. 

Dear Ambassador, even though Mr. Azath Salley was able to make Weerawansa the hero wordless on nearly all other points, the former was totally silent about this revelation of American imperialist plot. We listeners of the talk show are almost convinced that the Easter Sunday blasts had the blessing of your country, and you are planning to enter our beloved island and to use it as the base to advance your global interests. He did not mention China; perhaps, his bosses had asked him not to.  

Dear Ambassador, I will not ask you whether you are directly or indirectly responsible for these bombs and over three hundred deaths. Even if I did ask, you would not say “yes” and you are experienced enough not to blush. But I am just writing this to inform you that the most vocal Sinhala nationalist in the country exposed your plot two days ago, and we are all convinced that he was right. It has been nearly three days now; your embassy has not denied this allegation. Perhaps, the embassy does not have enough Sinhala speakers to monitor those. 

Dear Ambassador, I am a Fulbright scholar, and I know that Senator William J. Fulbright wrote against American imperialism in 1960s. His book The Arrogance of Power elegantly expresses his views on the danger of American ambition of becoming the world’s policeman. You may have a mighty military machine, CIA, FBI and all other secret apparatuses but it took only a few minutes for our nationalist hero, a certainly a powerful minister under the presidency of your compatriot, to expose the whole plot of yours. The entire geo-political map is so clear to him as if it was his plate of rice.  And he will keep telling this story through out the presidential campaign that seems to take place sooner than expected.

This is a short letter of displeasure. If this leaves your conscience burden with guilt, I am sorry. I am merely reporting our hero’s brilliant exposé. If you need further information on this please contact him. Above-mentioned compatriot of yours knows whereabouts of Mr. Weerawansa. 

At the end of that wonderful talk show, I have in my mind the destroyed cities of Syria. Dear Madam, how long will it take for Colombo to resemble the fallen Damascus? Comrade Weerawansa did not give us exact dates. But he clearly demonstrated that US military is just about to disembark in our beloved land. Over three hundred innocent deaths on Easter Sunday probably signify an overture of a greater tragedy of power about to be staged in my country as if we did not see enough blood?  

Sincerely yours

Liyanage Amarakeerthi

Professor

University of Peradeniya