By Vishwamithra –

“When virtue is lost, benevolence appears, when benevolence is lost right conduct appears, when right conduct is lost, expedience appears. Expediency is the mere shadow of right and truth; it is the beginning of disorder.” ~ Lao Tzu

Photo by Kasun Pussewela

History’s judgment on the present Parliament will be unquestionably harsh. Its scorn will be centered on the current occupants. Almost all, except perhaps a handful, have outlived their usefulness. Their conduct inside the chambers over the last three months, immediately prior to June 9 and outside its premises during and since June 9, has been one of total dismay. Watching the developments, both on the Aragalapitiya and outside on television screens, the average Piyadasa, Natarajah or Mohamed may have made up their minds as to what would follow.

In that unkind context, what’s occurring in the country is even more depressing. The wrath of the masses seems to have exceeded the anticipated confines. It’s not only the politicos of either side of the aisle, but the Aragala Karuwo themselves might have underrated their own strength and the power that flowed from that strength. When that power becomes unwieldy for those who possess it, all mayhem breaks loose and its aftermath is what is unfolding today in broad daylight and under the shadows of night as well.

The democratically elected President has run away; his immediate entourage is nowhere to be seen; the other siblings, except Basil Rajapaksa who is reported to have fled to America, are missing. A textbook version of anarchy is rapidly and surely setting in. The people at large, mostly those who chose to be spectators of the events are now lining up to visit the mansions and mansion-like offices which were once occupied by the Rajapaksas and the Wickremesinghes.

Ranil Wickremesinghe, the designated driver of the Rajapaksa vehicle is discernably more dangerous than the power-drunk original driver, Gotabaya Rajapaksa. We are in the process of installing a more delusional sociopath for one wicked ruler. Both Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Ranil Wickremesinghe are on either side of the same coin. This ‘heads you lose; tails I win’-convolution is being experienced by the masses.

The dastardly acts of these two jokers are still fresh in our minds. Sri Lankan society may have been duped into a hallucinating siesta; yet the lullabies are not all that sweet and soothing to the intellectual thirst of the average Piyadasa, Natarajah or Mohamed. The crackling firewood and disturbing sounds of the cricket do not provide easy passage to creative and original thought. On the contrary, they, in fact, are the very impediments to clear thinking and stormy brainstorm. The Rajapaksas subjected the then General Sarath Fonseka (now Field Marshal) to the most inhumane harassment; they turned him over to the caprices of prison guards and jailors. One single man who was once the war-hero was portrayed into a traitor and villain by the public relations goons of the Rajapaksas.

They humiliated the then Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayake; impeached her because she, as a stoic pillar of the Supreme Court, gave a judgment against their corruption-ridden Divi Neguma scheme. Within hours of the hearings, she was impeached and removed from that once-august (not anymore) body of the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka. Ranjan Ramanayake, a vociferous and determined parliamentarian was sentenced to rigorous imprisonment while pardoning Duminda Silva, a convicted killer awaiting hanging. Not only was Duminda Silva pardoned of his hideous crime, he was later offered the Chairmanship of the National Housing Development Authority. Galagoda Atthe Gnanasara, a political hooligan and hack in yellow robes and a known racist was made Head of the ‘One Country One Law’ task force. This appointment ridiculed the purity of the Buddha Saasana and was a slap on the face of some of the sublime members of the Buddhist Order.

In so far as the Rajapaksas are concerned, the list is long and still fresh in our collective memory. When it comes to Ranil Wickremesinghe, it’s no shorter and no less dreadful. Ranil Wickremesinghe hails from one of the most notable pedigrees in Ceylon. Both of his maternal and paternal grandfathers were among the most illustrious men who dominated Ceylon’s administrative and business in the first half of the twentieth century. His maternal grandfather was D R Wijeywardene, the media mogul who founded the famous Lake House Group of Media companies and the paternal grandfather C E L Wickremesinghe was the eminent Civil Servant who happened to be the first ever Sinhalese Government Agent of Ceylon. However, that remarkability and eminence has surely not brushed on the grandson’s complexion. He was thoroughly rejected at the last General Elections. Ranil, being the leader of the United National Party (UNP), founded by his grandfather Dr Wijeywardene’s close friend D S Senanayake, the first Prime Minister of Ceylon, could not secure even one single seat in the House at the last General Elections.

Apart from the sheer inability and incapacity to understand the nuances of politics, Ranil Wickremesinghe has learnt the dark side of politicking; his fiendish maneuverings and crafty game-playing has served him right to sustain himself as leader of United National Party (UNP), yet the debacle his leadership has brought upon the Party is well-chronicled history. His modus operandi is sleazy and unpredictable; anyone who underestimates his MO would do so at his or her own peril- that much one must remember.

With political power vested in crooked and dishonest individuals such as Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Ranil Wickremesinghe, unraveling of venom and anger of today’s youth can not only be anticipated, it could also be presented, however much unacceptable, as defensible and reasonable.

Piyadasa, Natarajah and Mohamed have not joined miles-long lines to purchase tickets for a concert; nor are they spending their otherwise productive time in queues because they enjoyed the hours and days under burning sun and with sweaty bodies. Piyadasa was waiting to buy a cylinder of cooking gas; Natarajah stood in line to get diesel for his van that was used to transport schoolchildren and Mohamed too waited for his liter of petrol, otherwise his three-wheeler would be parked in his premises without earning rupees and cents that would ultimately put food on the table.

Their Aragalaya bore fruits at the beginning. Basil Rajapaksa left the Ministry of Finance; Mahinda is no more the Prime Minister and Gotabaya had to flee the country to evade the wrath of the masses. But the job is not done. The rapid progression of the Movement has now come to an unkind bend and unless they are careful in skirting the bend with utmost care and unbroken focus, the final goal will start receding, rendering everything achieved so far meaningless and worthless. Such is the order of a mass movement and we have arrived at the disorderly phase of the order. How would one navigate the disorder and how would one negotiate the sharp and cruel bends shall tell the rest of the story. The momentum of the movement is now carrying the process; if one lets go of that momentum, the whole progress could be lost and political bartering would raise its ugly head once again.

As much as the problems and issues are complex, the solutions too would be hard to come by. If no resolution of the issues are reached within the next few days, Sri Lanka might well end up as a nation that would have more governments than the number of months in a year. It is apparent that the wrath of the Aragala Karuwo has been stretched beyond our shores. The international community is now expressing their bewilderment but even that, after a little while, may die down. Now it’s not the Rajapaksas and Wickremesinghes who are the enemy of the movement, it is apathy. Therefore never let your guard down; never ever succumb to that dreaded creature called apathy.

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