5th Column

My dear Austin,
I suppose I should have written to you last week when your resignation as Maithri’s secretary was announced, but that went almost unnoticed, as did your parting words of wisdom because of all this fuss over Vijayakala. Still, I thought I must write to you now, because it is better late than never.

Your resignation did take us by surprise, Austin, because Maithri has only one and a half years more of his first term of office left, but it seems as if you have abided by the old adage of leaving when people ask you why you are leaving instead of waiting until they ask you why you aren’t leaving!

You take pride in the fact that you were a Secretary of Defence in a government of the Greens and a Secretary to the President to a Blue President. Very few people such as Bradman and DBIPS have managed to hold high office with both the Greens and the Blues and we do appreciate that.

Your appointment however did not come as a surprise because we have all heard the story of how you were Maithri’s boss when you were the Government Agent in Polonnaruwa and he was starting his working life as a grama sevaka. As fate would have it, your roles were reversed many decades later.

It was your decision not to grant him leave to attend an overseas conference that prompted Maithri to resign and take to politics. The rest is history. Do you realise, Austin, that many people, some even among the 6.2 million who voted for Maithri three years ago, now say that this is all your fault?

While you had mentioned many matters, Austin, you spoke only in passing about your role as the Defence Secretary during the ceasefire with the Tigers. I know you have written a book about it, but I think even you will agree, with the benefit of hindsight, that the ceasefire was somewhat of a disaster.

Still, we do appreciate the fact that you carried out your duties as Defence Secretary in your own unassuming manner. What you may not have realised at that time was that, had you played your cards right as Defence Secretary, you could be in the running for the highest office in the land today!

Austin, you seem to have let several cats out of the bag in your farewell speech. That is what I wanted to write to you about. We admire you for your candour. Correct me if I am wrong but buried there somewhere may be the real reasons for your departure from the highest office in the public service.

You speak of ‘hangers on’ who ruin governments, how you dealt with them bluntly and how you refused to please them. I am sure you saw more of them when you were Maithri’s secretary than in any of your other jobs. Is having to deal with them a reason for your sudden departure, Austin?

You also speak very caringly about your predecessor, Lalith, and your shock and horror when you learnt that he was being sent to prison for being the ‘middle man’ in the ‘sil redi’ affair and how only his family stood by him at that time. We agree, Austin, it was a sight that troubled us too.

You then say that you wonder whether it is Lalith who should have been sent to prison and how those who ordered him were not to be seen that day. Are you suggesting that Lalith was acting on someone else’s orders and that this person is still roaming free or perhaps even running for high office again?

You say that you have no ill-gotten wealth and that you have not been party to murder, torture, disappearances or the wrongful punishment of anyone and because of that you are a free man. We have no reason to doubt you, Austin, but are you suggesting that some others indulged in these?

Austin, it was also interesting to hear you say that true power comes only with the ability to give up that power. It is even more interesting that you have chosen to say so at your farewell. Obviously, you haven’t told this to Maithri, who promised us that he would only be serving for one term of office!

You also said that, before the last big race, when Maithri confided in you that he was running, you patted his back and encouraged him but, after he became the big boss, you no longer did that. I think you should have at least tapped him on the shoulder and told him that he is messing up in style.

In our land in this day and age, it is indeed uncommon for someone to retire before his time when most people try every trick in the book to overstay their welcome. Austin, now that you have played your innings and retired, I just hope that you haven’t ‘retired hurt’. So, we do wish you well.

Yours truly,
Punchi Putha
PS – In your farewell remarks, you say that ‘the one who laughs last, laughs best’. You also say that you don’t know who will have the last laugh. Well, I don’t know either but I do know who will not be having the last laugh. You can bet your pension that it won’t be Maithri!