5th Column

My dear Gota maamey, Mahinda maama, Green Man, Sajith, Rauff, Sampanthan seeya and Anura sahodaraya,

I have never written to all of you at once before, but I thought I must. These are, after all, desperate times, and desperate times call for desperate measures. Besides, what better time to come together than when the lives of not only all citizens of our land but of all those in the entire world are at risk?

Gota maamey, I think even your critics will agree that you are doing a difficult job well under trying circumstances. It is clear that you are handling the coronavirus crisis as if it were a military operation. That is perhaps why you put your most trusted General in charge of the job, which is not a bad idea.

It is easy to find fault with what you are doing. There will be many who will do so, Gota maamey. It is true that some issues – such as the distribution of essential supplies – needs fine tuning or else anything else that you do will mean nothing because people will gather in crowds wherever these are available.

We wish you well in the crucial days and weeks to come, Gota maamey. During the last election that propelled you into office, you told us that, not being a politician, you will try to change this ‘system’. In these difficult times, it may be our good fortune that we don’t have a politician in charge right now!

Nevertheless, you are not one to miss an opportunity, are you, Gota maamey? Even amidst this fuss about the coronavirus you found the time to sign a pardon to a convicted murderer, who was given a death sentence, not by some foreign court but by our own highest court. Is that the best thing to do?

Cheerio Sirisena pledged that he will put drug dealers to death but he pardoned someone in yellow robes and another murderer. Surely, you don’t want to follow in his footsteps because there is an ex-parliamentarian who was linked to your ministry when you were secretary who wants to be set free!

Mahinda maama, it is good to see you directing the day to work in dealing with the coronavirus.  There are many who think that the decision to keep public life going even after the epidemic hit us was because you wanted nominations for the general election completed. I hope that is not the case.

We do trust you, Mahinda maama, as the person who led us during the previous ‘war’ but the same cannot be said about some of those around you. This is a more dangerous war because the enemy is unseen but present everywhere. So, I hope you will think of the next generation – not the next election.

Mahinda maama, you would have realised that some are trying to use this epidemic to harass one community. Some people in that community do not want to follow instructions about the disposal of bodies – which they should – but that shouldn’t be a reason to hound that community. I hope you agree.

Green Man, you must be heaving a sigh of relief that you gave up your job and resigned before the general election. After seeing how you managed the events of last Easter, we too feel the same way! We are glad that you are seeing eye to eye with Gota mama, even though you don’t with young Sajith.

Sajith, you must be wondering whether to laugh or cry. You were just getting your new party up and running when this pandemic hit us. Still, as long as you do better than the Green Man you shouldn’t be unhappy. We hope you confine yourself to what you know about, instead of prescribing medicines!

Rauff, this is a time to be rational and reasonable. We are dealing with a foe that was unheard of just three months ago, so there is no way we can know about how it will behave in the future. By insisting that you must follow your beliefs, you are only adding fuel to the fire, not helping douse it.

Sampanthan seeya and Anura sahodaraya, we haven’t heard much from you – although someone from seeya’s camp wanted Parliament summoned. I don’t think that will fix everything. This is a chance for Anura sahodaraya’s comrades to do some work – then maybe they will get more than three per cent!

We are depending on all of you to stop bickering with each other and to avoid gaining a political advantage out of what is happening. So far, despite a few mistakes, we haven’t fared badly compared to even the most developed nations. We hope you will all work together until we see this through.

Yours truly,

Punchi Putha

PS: At present, we have no functioning Parliament and only a few ministers. Most decisions in the fight against the corona virus have been taken by the professionals involved- and we have done reasonably well. When all this ends, maybe we should ask ourselves: are politicians needed at all?