5th Column

My dear Mother Lanka,

I am writing to you knowing that some of the darkest days of Paradise are yet to come. Tragic events await us in the coming weeks. While hoping that these never become a reality, I know that there is more desperation than hope everywhere – and a sense of frustration as to why this had to happen.

You will remember that this time a year ago, Paradise was sitting pretty among other countries in the world in the manner in which they dealt with the pandemic. We were not a rich country and we didn’t have many resources, but we did better than those who had more facilities.

That is because we closed our borders and went into a lockdown. That meant we had to postpone our election and stay at home for national and religious holidays without the usual festivities. It also meant that until late last year, we had a few hundred infections and a handful of deaths due to the virus.

Since then, we seem to have done everything possible to sabotage our success. When clusters of infections appeared in many parts of the country, we didn’t acknowledge that the pandemic was spreading. We were told to believe that all of them were from either Minuwangoda or Peliyagoda.

Instead of trying to work out agreements to buy vaccines from different manufacturers that would have kept us safe, Pavithra was busy throwing pots of ‘holy water’ into rivers and tasting Dhammika’s magic potion. Control of the pandemic was entrusted to those in uniform, not to doctors.

That came as a surprise because this government has more medical men in its ranks than any other government ever had. They have Professor Tissa whose whole career was spent dealing with viruses. They also have the services of Sudarshini, Seetha, Ramesh and Jayasumana readily available.

Professor Tissa has simply been ignored. Seetha and Ramesh are missing in action. Jayasumana is keen to please His Master, which is why he sacked doctors who refused to approve Chinese vaccines without supporting data. Only Sudarshini is trying to tell the truth, but she is fighting a losing battle.

In the meantime, the powers that be had other priorities, rather than tackle the virus. Surely, selling the Port City to China, charging people who so much as toot their horn in protest, and detaining Rishard and preventing him from coming to Parliament takes precedence over the pandemic!

It is not that the authorities have forgotten about our health altogether. They do want to keep us fit and healthy which is why Namal is encouraging Dilith to set up mini-gyms everywhere. Thanks to them, one day we will be a healthy nation, at least those of us who are lucky to be alive after the pandemic!

Now we are told that ‘local’ lockdowns are enforced –  like the one that was declared in Piliyandala. There, when the going got tough, the tough got going. Lokuge didn’t like the lockdown and hey, presto, that was lifted. Who needs lockdowns and vaccines, when we have people like Lokuge?

For the past one-and-a-half years we have been repeatedly told how the Easter attacks were not only an act of terrorism, but also a crime committed by those who were negligent enough to ignore the warnings that came their way. Unfortunately, Mother Lanka, I find the current situation eerily similar.

In the Easter attacks, intelligence experts repeatedly warned of what was to come and yet, the powers that be at the time took those threats lightly and ignored those warnings. As a result, more than 250 innocent people died – so the powers that be have blood on their hands.

Isn’t what is happening now much the same, Mother Lanka? The warnings from medical experts on the pandemic spreading have been there for many months. Yet, this threat to peoples’ lives is being treated lightly or being completely ignored, all in the name of keeping the economy afloat.

We can only conclude, Mother Lanka, that we have reached a stage where the economy is more important than the lives of your citizens. The only difference from the Easter attacks is that in this instance, the death toll will be much more than 250, and in their thousands.

Maybe, just like the Easter attacks, some years from now, there will be Commissions of Inquiry, probing why the pandemic was neglected and why so many had to die. They too will find that those who ignored warnings and did nothing were criminally negligent and have blood on their hands!

This, Mother Lanka, is the state you have been reduced to by those who promised ‘vistas of prosperity and splendour’. It is not too late even now to stop this unfolding tragedy by declaring a total lockdown and controlling the pandemic effectively, but then, none are so blind as those who do not wish to see!

Yours truly,

Punchi Putha

PS: There is that famous saying that there are three kinds of lies: lies, damn lies and statistics. Now the time has come to amend that, at least in our land. It should now read, ‘lies, damn lies and the official Covid-19 statistics’, don’t you think, Mother Lanka?