By Fr Chryso Pieris SJ –

Fr Chryso Pieris SJ

What a victory for the Aragalaya, for Anura Kumara Dissanayake, for the NPP or the Grand Alliance of Good People and for Sri Lanka. Aragalaya is successfully concluded. Mission accomplished. People have won. The old evil political establishment and its scoundrels are defeated, dispatched and deleted.

Let us savor our victory. There is a deep satisfaction commonly felt by all decent good people. It is not a private victory of any one person, not even of Anura. Of course, there is no doubt about it, Anura rose to the occasion like a true Kumaraya. He led all of us with such sang-froid and confidence of victory, giving us hope and determination to work for it even when so many crooked FR petitions and constitutional deceptions by the shameless government and poison barbs aimed by the opposition were trying to create chaos to continue the old rotten system. The deep satisfaction we feel is the sweet relief after many a tense frightening newscast of not holding elections or postponing it or worse still an ensuing uprising, an Aragalaya II, which, under Batalanda Ranil, would have led to bloodshed.

Good People of this country who believed in decency, truth and fraternity, who kept on believing, in spite of countrywide corruption, injustice, communalism and violence, are vindicated. The latest evolutionary discovery is “The survival of the kindest”. It is no more the survival of the fittest, cruelest, strongest, most corrupt, most cunning, most dishonest or the most shameless. Latest research on the works of Charles Darwin show that “survival of the kindest” is more correct for explaining which species climb the evolutionary ladder efficiently and effectively. According to biologists from Darwin to E. O. Wilson, cooperation (altruism, compassion) has been more important than competition in humanity’s evolutionary success.

This was what the Aragalaya brought to the fore in Gotagogama. It was a visible, tangible and lived experience at Galle Face those days. I personally testify to that. That is why they called it Aadaraye Aragalaya.

If you have listened to the speeches of AKD and other NPP leaders in their campaign, you would have noticed that there was no violence, acrimony or demeaning attacks on their political opponents, even when they were falsely accused of misdeeds and fake news spread, to which they had to firmly respond without mincing words. They always respectfully and patiently explained their stand on issues, their plans and their goals again and again without losing their composure. Of course, they called a spade a spade; that could not be helped. And no mercy was shown to those responsible for the bankruptcy and destruction of the country which threw most of the people into poverty, misery and even starvation. After all, the Supreme Court named them and shamed them.

We are at the threshold of a new era. A paradigm shift has taken place. A renascence, a revolution; it is wholesale reshaping of a society which was cursed with ugly evil attitudes and moral decay; it is like inserting your hand into a pillow case and pulling it inside out. Politics will be cleansed and governance will be honest just and humane. Power will be at the service of the people though Lord Acton had said; “Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” Anyway, the NPP has promised to scrap the Executive Presidency with the help of a new constitution, which will be an important step in the right direction.

There is another kind of satisfaction in seeing the ugly privileges, perks and pensions of MPs removed and ex-presidents and their widows having to reside in their own houses and pay their own bills like all of us.  There will be some who will surely go to jail (and some maybe even to gallows!) and cough up the loot they have hidden away. On the other hand, seeing the new MPs and Ministers, their simplified life-styles and their selfless work for the people, will greatly enhance our respect for politics and for Diyawannawa.

Politics will become a beautiful thing. Just as the healing profession, the teaching profession and the nursing profession always evoke respect and gratitude, so also politics will be looked up to as a noble profession. As Pope Francis said: Helping an old lady cross a river is a beautiful thing and when a politician builds a bridge across the river, of course without any benefits to himself, it is beautiful politics. Yes, there will be not only mere politicians but there will be statesmen and stateswomen. It will leave in the hearts of citizens a sense of pride in their country. They will no more be ashamed of their passport and their country!

The knowledge that law and order will be maintained and justice will be served to everybody equally, will increase the sense of safety and fair play which will guarantee the dignity and freedom of each and everyone. Finally, people will have the true taste of their “Paramadipatya”.

Meritocracy will replace nepotism and favoritism. Positions will not be for pelf. The administrative and financial regulations will be back in play. There will be no interference of politicians in the administration of the country and conflicts of interest will be a thing of the past. But woe to those officers who try old rapacious tricks for graft, commissions and bribes. So much funds will be saved in buying coal, oil and gas; electricity, petrol, diesel and gas will definitely become cheaper. Private generators will not be needed in the new administration, unless of course in a very grave unexpected natural or social situation.

The thieves of the nation’s (people’s) wealth will be dealt without any rancor, vendetta or ill-feeling. Law and order will prevail to the last letter. STAR or stolen assets recovery of the UN, they say, takes a long time. So, we need to find our own methods to expedite the matter; for justice must be seen as done, soon. Also, the country badly needs those funds in the present economic situation. Courts will do their duty but we need to put together a Special STAR Force made up of CID officers, diplomats, Interpol officers, commandos and lawyers with knowledge of international legal systems. STAR is a MUST. There should be no hanky-panky about it. Restoration to the people must be done at any cost whatever to the thieves. Since we do not have James Bonds of 007 fame; maybe we have to give the people who will carry out this mission a somewhat free hand, no questions asked. What really matters is that the looted wealth is fully restored to its owners, the people of this country.

We look forward to the immediate initiation of fulfilling the three most urgent needs of the people. NPP’s top priority is FOOD. From the first day of their ascendency to power they will get down to the task of feeding the nation. All the people will eat and eat nourishing food. Next will be health care for all, with genuine and guaranteed medicines. This may not happen immediately. It needs time to put back into operation a credible NMRA and other institutions and clean up the health sector that Keheliya and his hounds corrupted and exploited for blood-money. Then it will be education. That will take a longer time. But the work will start immediately. Even the youngest child in the remotest village will have his right to education assured. All the three aforesaid vital needs of the people cannot be put off to another day, to another time (like 2048?) when all the conditions are met. They are red-light emergencies. They must be dealt with from Day 01; we presume IMF is a human organization and not some kind of subhuman ogre. This is at the heart of Anura’s governance and of NPP’s political philosophy. People matter. The poorer they are the more they matter.

May this article be a gesture of gratitude and a tribute to all those who voted for AKD. You have not only shared in the people’s victory but also saved the country for the future generations.  Some worked hard, and some very hard, for the victory of AKD and the NPP. Saying ‘Thank You’ to them is just not enough. It is incredible where Anura found the energy to travel non-stop from one meeting to another and always speak so calmy, logically, attractively and convincingly. When it was announced that Anura is ill and his doctor had ordered him to take at least one full day’s rest; our hearts missed a beat and a million hands must have been raised to Heaven in prayer for the well-being of Anura. His lieutenant colonels, the battalion leaders of the NPP worked as hard as their leader. And very many ordinary people of the country worked voluntarily for this victory. A middle-aged poor widow told me that she and her son walked with a group house-to-house canvassing and they will not stop till the last day. It was truly a people’s movement, the continuation of the Aragalaya bringing it to a convincing conclusive victory.

As we joyfully celebrate the victory, let us also remember the uphill task ahead and generously offer our share in the rebuilding of a new nation. A clean law-abiding nation in place of the corrupt lawless country; a peaceful nation in place of the violent murderous country; a happy fraternally united nation in place of the communally divided fearful country; a rich country of beautiful smiling people in place of the stinking rotten bankrupt ugly country.