By Vishwamithra –

“To be truly radical is to make hope possible rather than despair convincing” ~Raymond Williams

Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s exit from the country may have rendered a sense of temporary relief to the general populace. It may have quieted the cantankerous minds of the Aragala Karuwo. But that too might well be short-lived. A very few in the current political arena know the successor, the real Ranil Wickremesinghe.

However, a very narrow window was opened on Thursday, July 15. It was telecast on Independent Television Network (ITN); Palitha Range Bandara, the current General Secretary of the United National Party (UNP,) an ex-policeman turned politician whose reputation for raw thuggery is well documented and recorded appeared on the ITN and accused Sajith Premadasa of all people, the current Leader of the Opposition, of masterminding a plot to murder Ranil Wickremesinghe on the night of Saturday, July 9. No uglier falsehood could have been concocted and uttered in the current conditions of chaos in Sri Lanka. Without presenting a shred of credible evidence, Bandara recited what appeared on the paper he was given, most likely by Ranil Wickremesinghe himself.

It was widely reported that ‘protesters in Sri Lanka on Saturday evening entered the private residence of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe in capital Colombo and set it on fire’. However, there was no proof whatsoever as to the real fellows who did this dastardly act. Whilst not retracting one word of criticism of Ranil and his UNP-gang, the writer condemns this act of setting fire to Ranil’s residence in most unequivocal fashion.

However, one would rightly assume that it’s to the advantage of the Wickremesinghes if the blame is placed on either the protesters themselves or on anyone who is associated with the Aragalaya. It’s not difficult in this instance to point the finger at Ranil Wickremesinghe himself for such a diabolical scheme.

Ranil Wickremesinghe is the ultimate master of scheming and if there is one field of skill and competence in which he has not failed, it is his uncanny ability to indulge in devilish and wicked scheming, whether political or otherwise. Entirety of his political life has been built on this delusional notion that anything could be achieved by wheeling and dealing. Having failed to project a single virtue of personal amiability, Ranil Wickremesinghe is being viewed by the public at large as a living portrait of what a likeable politician should not be. But that trait could be construed as one of his personal characters which one cannot and should not argue against. But if he tries to present his political views and enact public policy in order to overcome such personal qualities or lack thereof by undercutting all his friends and foes alike in the most reprehensible fashion, it’s another story altogether. In that context, Ranil deserves to be critiqued, criticized and ruthlessly scorned by the public.

Ranil’s first entry into Parliament was in 1977. Thanks to the historic electoral victory of the UNP in 1977, Ranil secured the Biyagama seat which was earlier held by his uncle JR Jayewardene. He was appointed Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and later became the Minster of Youth Affairs and Employment.

‘It was alleged by the People’s Alliance (PA) government that Wickremesinghe, as Minister, was the political authority behind an illegal detention center in the Batalanda housing and industrial complex outside Colombo between 1988 and 1990 which was allegedly run by a government-backed counter-subversive unit as part of the state’s operation to put down an armed insurgency by the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP). The People’s Alliance government of President Chandrika Kumaranatunga appointed a Special Presidential Commission of Inquiry to investigate activities of Batalanda and on September 3, 1997 Wickremesinghe was summoned to testify before the commission. The Commission’s report was released on April 12, 1998. The commission was a fact-finding mission and had no judicial powers; however it recommended the government to “bring the guilty to book”. One of its findings was that “Wickremesinghe and the Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), Nalin Delgoda, are indirectly responsible for the maintenance of places of unlawful detention and torture chambers in houses at the Batalanda Housing Scheme”. It further stated that Wickremesinghe held “unauthorized meetings of police officers involved in counter-insurgency operations in the housing complex, and that as such, he had abused his authority”. No criminal proceedings took place thereafter (Source: Wikipedia)’. It’s unmistakably accurate and suffice it to say that Ranil’s resume is not all that rosy and complementary.

One unambiguous character flaw that Ranil time and time again exhibited is his malice and hatred towards those who exercised their own freedom of independent thinking and unprejudiced action. When the crunch time came, he never ever hesitated to resort to any and all means in order to survive the day. That trait was most vividly displayed when his leadership of the UNP was challenged by Karu Jayasuriya. He sought the assistance of Mahinda Rajapaksa, the then President, to block entry into the UNP headquarters in Pita Kotte. Ranil never forgave Karu Jayasuriya for challenging his leadership of the Party and that is precisely how the way was opened for Maithripala Sirisena to become the Presidential candidate representing the joint opposition in 2015. Ranil’s stand as leader of the UNP was ‘anyone but Karu’, and Venerable Sobitha Thero and Chandrika and the rest of leadership of the then Opposition had to submit to that utterly destructive slogan: ‘anyone but Karu’.

Ranil’s hands are not clean. Appointment of Arjuna Mahendran as Central Bank Governor and the creation of ‘Perpetual Treasuries Limited’ and the eventual ‘Bond Scam’-debacle that was mostly responsible for the fall of the Yahapalanaya government are but a few of his monumental failures as Prime Minister and the forged leadership he rendered towards the country’ fiscal and monitory policies.

Ranil loves to project himself as a shrewd manager of the country’s economy and it is an A grade farce. And that is the irony he knows too well. The Rajapaksas turned to Ranil not because of his alleged acumen for financial management of the Exchequer, but they knew in their hearts of hearts that Ranil is the only one from whom they could ask for their pound of flesh when the time comes. Quid pro quo worked in its most rudimentary fashion.

Ranil Wickremesinghe was made Prime Minister by the fleeing President Gotabaya Rajapaksa not to bring a healthy resolution of the country’s ailing economy; he was brought in to safeguard the evils that they themselves committed during the last one and half decades of the country’s life.

Now Ranil Wickremesinghe is the Acting President and most likely he would be the duly sworn in President for the remainder of Gota’s term until Presidential Elections are called. The task for the Aragala Karuwo and all patriots is formidable; in no way should they underestimate the cunning, craft and cruelty of Ranil Wickremesinghe. With all forces of the Army, Navy, Air Force and the Police answerable to him under the terms of the Constitution, Ranil would not spare, to pen the much-abused cliché, any stone unturned in order for him to survive under the cruelest of conditions.

If Ranil resorts to unleashing of force and pressure on the Aragalaya, then they, Aragala Karuwo, too must return the favor in kind and in tens of times. Ranil does not understand softness and gentility; nor does he hesitate to release venom and wrath in the most primordial fashion, way and means. A man whose breed cannot be questioned has become the very denial of good breed. A man who could not secure one single seat in Parliament, a man who lost more than twenty five elections consecutively and a man whose only strength is his own venomous psyche cannot be allowed to dictate the affairs of state for a small country like Sri Lanka.

Aragala Karuwo must keep the momentum to themselves and should that momentum be allowed to drop from the hands of hundreds of thousands of men, women and children who showed their fury, rage and intensity for the whole world to witness, the consequences for our nation would be immeasurably harmful and fatal. What Ranil expressed through the mouth of Palitha Range Bandara is ample testimony as to how he would conduct the country’s affairs and ultimately he would make Gotabaya Rajapaksa look like a boy scout. But remember, when you engage in the Aragalaya, your policy unto your opponents, politicians or their henchmen or the peacekeeping forces should be guided by the principle: ‘do not touch a hair of their heads, and do not give them a drop of water’. Non-violent and peaceful demonstration of one’s opposition to corruption and incompetence still has its ways of achieving its desired goals. You proved that point beyond any reasonable doubt by banishing Gotabaya Rajapaksa from the country.

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