5th Column
Bringing in Justice
View(s):My Dear Wigneswaran,
I thought I should write to you when I heard that you would be contesting for the Chief Ministerial post in the North in the upcoming elections. I suppose you wouldn’t mind being called ‘Wigneswaran’ instead of being addressed as ‘Your Lordship’, now that you are a fully-fledged politician!
You are making history as the first Judge of the Supreme Court who is taking to politics. I am sure there will be many who believe that what you are doing is taking that short step from the ‘sublime to the ridiculous’ but I do greatly admire your courage for doing what you are doing.
A few years ago, when there were two Saraths being promoted as presidential candidates, we thought the ‘other’ Sarath would become the first Supreme Court judge to take to politics. That didn’t happen and I am sure he doesn’t regret that after seeing what happened to the Sarath who took to politics!
But of course, Wigneswaran, your decision to run for office is hardly surprising. That is because you have always been a voice which has spoken about what you thought was right and being on the Bench of the highest court didn’t stop you from expressing your opinions without any reservations.
We were also happy to hear that you were contesting because your track record as a Judge has been impeccable and it would be difficult for people to sling mud at you. Remember, that is what they did to the General when he quit the military and took to politics, so I hope you are prepared for that.
I am sure they will still try to fix the ‘kotiya’ label on you-that has been the strategy they have used against many people, including the Green Man, with great success. Don’t be surprised if that happens and our state media suddenly begins to portray you as the re-incarnation of Prabhakaran!
One would think that would be a silly tactic when you consider that the real ‘kotiyas’ such as KP, Daya Master and Thamilini are contesting on the Blue list but they would claim that these ‘kotiyas’ have changed their stripes while you haven’t-and some people in the South may even believe them!
I do understand, Wigneswaran, that you are contesting from a party that is agitating for more devolution to the provinces and there is nothing wrong in that. In fact, we have heard you canvassing the same opinion from time to time even before you thought of contesting elections.
However, I must also point out that the party-or the coalition of parties-that you are contesting from has not been very helpful in the way they have conducted themselves since the end of the war. That is because there are times when they seem to have taken up what the Tigers were doing.
Now, I would be the first to agree that Mahinda maama has not been very enthusiastic about winning the peace as he was about winning the war and that there are few factions in his own coalition which would argue that all is well and nothing more needs to be done to give more powers to the provinces.
Even so, the party you are contesting from has only made it easier for Mahinda maama to take up a hardline position by laying down pre-conditions, refusing to take part in committees set up to study these issues and then running to New Delhi for help whenever they encounter a problem in Colombo.
I am sure they will argue that they cannot trust Mahinda maama-and there are many who don’t. But I don’t think we can trust India either to sort out what is best for us. We all remember the Indo-Lanka Accord and what happened thereafter, don’t we, Wigneswaran?
That is why I was especially happy when I heard you say that we must try to settle our differences by trusting each other. I just hope that you will be able to convince those in the party you are contesting from to agree to that because they don’t seem to realise that these days.
I am told that everyone expects your party to win the election and for you to become the Chief Minister. While that appears to be a real possibility, I would still be cautious about such hopes because in these days of low voter turnouts and computer ‘jilmart’s, anything is possible!
I do wish you good luck, Wigneswaran because, regardless of whether you win or lose, politics needs more men like you. After all, it is the silence of the ‘good’ people that allows the deafening roar of the ‘bad’ people to be heard loud and clear.
Yours truly,
Punchi Putha
PS-Some are comparing your entry to politics to that of another distinguished Tamil lawyer who took to politics late in life, Lakshman K. Those are big shoes to fill, Wigneswaran, and I am confident that you wouldn’t encounter the fate that befell him. And, as you embark on a second career I suppose it is worthwhile remembering that the reason why we all respect him—and the reason for his success—was because he thought of himself first and foremost as a Sri Lankan and not as belonging to any particular community.
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