5th Column

My dear Sajith,

I thought I must write to you when I saw that you and your party, the ‘telephone’ chaps, had finally staged a protest against Gota maama and his ‘pohottuwa’ camp. It was good to see some kind of dissent, even if it was not on the scale of the ‘Mahinda sulanga’ that we saw just a few years ago.

In fact, many people were complaining that there was no opposition and that Gota maama and his ‘pohottuwa’ chaps seem to be getting away with almost anything without a murmur of protest. So, it was finally good to see you on the streets – even if it meant challenging the Covid-19 restrictions.

We heard that the powers that be went to extraordinary lengths to try and prevent the protest, stopping your supporters from crossing provincial borders under the guise of Covid-19 regulations. I wouldn’t be too unhappy about that – it means that you are at last getting ‘official’ recognition for your work!

Sajith, you would have been very young those days, but I wonder whether you remember the seven years from 1970 under Mrs B. There were shortages of essential items. People were in queues for many hours to buy them. The current situation is not quite like that, but there are some similarities.

In the ‘70s, Mrs B changed the Constitution. Ceylon became Sri Lanka and a Republic. There was nothing wrong in that but in the process, Mrs B extended her term of office by two years. Now, we are told that the Constitution will be changed yet again and we wonder what changes that will bring?

Then, as now, it was one family that held sway, and we remember how the Green Party published a booklet which had a picture of the ‘B’ ‘family tree’ showing which members of the family enjoyed the privileges of high office. Don’t you think that almost 50 years later, history is repeating itself?

At that time, the ‘B’s and their Blue Party were very unpopular though Mrs B was on the world stage, chairing the Non-Aligned Conference. There was a sense that privileges and comforts were reserved for those with links to the ‘B’ family or the Blue Party while the ‘common man’ had to suffer.

Why I am recalling all this now is to remind you that, at that time, the Greens led by JR and your father didn’t rely on the obvious unpopularity of the Blues and the ‘B’ clan to automatically return the Greens to power. They campaigned long and hard and staged the famous ‘satyagrahas’ in protest.

Sajith, I am not sure whether you are aware of this, but there is a sense that you and your ‘telephone’ chaps are not doing enough to counter the ‘pohottuwa’. It is as if they believe that Gota maama, his ministers and his party are so unpopular that your victory at the next election is a foregone conclusion.

It is not that there are no issues to take before the people. In fact, there are too many issues that can be canvassed. The pandemic was mismanaged. We saw teachers and farmers take to the streets. We have seen trade unions up in arms. Even the rathu sahodarayas were making more noise than you do.

That is why it was refreshing to see you and the ‘telephone’ chaps protesting at Galle Face last week. I am sure you know that one protest does not win an election. You need to do more. You have to sustain this momentum for three more years which is a very long time during which a lot can happen.

I hope you will not forget that politics is the art of the possible. With the ‘pohottuwa’ chaps, anything is possible. Remember how the Green Man was expecting to win his race against Mahinda maama and then suddenly found Prabhakaran calling for a boycott? Only now we know how that happened.

You also need to put your own house in order, Sajith. Already Lady Diana has decamped. She will create more problems for you in the future. Then there are two chaps who have resigned from their organiser posts. There are also rumours that the so-called ‘43rd Brigade’ has an agenda of its own.

Our voters are quite fickle in their loyalties. They voted out Mahinda maama six years ago but, when the Easter attacks gave them just a reminder about how unsafe we can be, they went back in droves to vote not only for his party but also for the same set of ruffians who are part and parcel of his brood.

Sajith, you must realise that this battle is far from won – if that is what you are thinking. In fact, the race hasn’t even begun. You will need all the support you can get to make your outfit a better version of the Greens you once represented. If you can do that, you will be completing the task your father began.

Yours truly,

Punchi Putha

PS: Aiyo Sirisena had heated arguments with the ‘Pohottuwa’ chaps in Parliament. They are heading for a parting of ways. I know I said you need all the support you can get, and I know he has a soft spot for you but I hope you don’t enlist him. If you do so, the public will beat you with a ‘madu waligey’!