5th Column

My dear Mahinda maama,
I thought I must write to you because you seem to be very much in the news, even more so than Maithri – even though you are out of office and out of power. And you seem to rather like it, too, often making comments on ‘Yahapaalanaya’ to the media, so that you can get your 15 seconds on the news.

You must be happy that there was at least a May Day rally in honour. All these years, I thought that May Day was for the workers to celebrate but this year, Wimal, Vasu, Dinesh and Udaya celebrated it with a rally demanding your return. For them at least, it was more Mahinda Day than May Day!

Anyway, what aroused more interest was your meeting with Maithri this week. We heard you say that these days are like Hitler’s rule, but the way in which your meeting with Maithri was being publicised, it was as if Hitler was meeting Roosevelt. I’ll leave it to you to figure out who is who!

We used to think that you were very smart in making political decisions, Mahinda maama and indeed a few years ago you were, ‘buying’ Greens in return for Cabinet portfolios. Now though, it seems that Maithri is learning fast and he seems to have totally outwitted you when he met you last week.

At the talks, you must have expected to see the high command of your party — those like Nimal, Susil and Anura. They were, but also present were Rajitha, Duminda and MKDS who were the first to defy you and leave your government to join hands with Maithri. That must have been a rude shock to you.

I am told you asked to be Prime Minister. Isn’t it strange, Mahinda maama, that when you were the boss and had absolute power, you didn’t give Maithri the Prime Minister’s job. Now, you have to go and meet him and ask for the same job — and it doesn’t look as if he is too keen to give it to you either.

Even before the meeting, Maithri made an announcement saying that he wouldn’t betray the trust placed in him by 6.2 million voters. Now, 6.2 million voters didn’t vote for him to see you return as Prime Minister, did they? That should have told you that something was wrong at the outset itself.

Besides, we do not have a tradition of announcing a prime ministerial nominee before elections. Remember how Premadasa kept us guessing as to whether it would be Lalith or Gamini but appointed Deaf and Blind? Since then, most Presidents, including you, wanted their PMs to be deaf and blind!

Correct me if am wrong, Mahinda maama, but what we have been used to seeing is Presidents appointing their most loyal and trustworthy colleagues as their Prime Minister. Satellite did that first with her mother and then with Ratnasiri and even you did that with Ratnasiri and Di Moo.

Satellite made an exception to that rule when she appointed you but she regretted that very much only a few years later. So, what makes you think that Maithri will appoint you, especially now when the Prime Minister has more powers than he used to, with the passage of the 19th Amendment?

As for the rest of the talks, I think all you got was the standard reply that anyone gets from any politician: “salakala balannam”. And even when you complained about your supporters being arrested on a daily basis, you were told that they could seek help in the courts of law.

That reminds me, Mahinda maama, about all these former ministers who are being arrested. There was young Johnny this week, emerging after being arrested, holding his handcuffs high for all to see and proudly grinning from ear to ear, as if he had just won an Olympic medal for his country!

Now, most people accused of serious crimes would be hanging their heads in shame and hiding from the media, so that is quite puzzling. But then, in a couple of days I am sure we will hear that young Johnny has fallen sick and needs to be transferred to a paying ward in the big hospital in Colombo!

Speaking of politicians who fall sick, Mahinda maama, this week is not all bad news for you despite not getting what you wanted from Maithri and Johnny being arrested. Basil malli, we are told, is quite fit and healthy — which means he would have recovered from that illness he so mysteriously developed!

Anyway, Mahinda maama, my advice to you is that you should be careful these days. I am no Sumaney, but even I can see that this is an ‘apala kaaley’ for you because anyone and everyone who associated with you seem to be landing in jail: and even Salman Khan in India is not safe!

Yours truly,
Punchi Putha
PS: Thinking about what has happened to you recently, Mahinda maama, I feel that there is a lot in common between you and Sanath, our champion cricketer. Remember, he dared to be different and as a result, helped us to achieve what no one else had done — to win the World Cup just like you did in winning the war. But then, he didn’t know the right time to leave the stage, waited around too long and people were asking him to leave. I think there is a moral in that story for you, Mahinda maama.