5th Column

The biography spells who is 'most important'
My Dear Satellite,
I thought I must send you a "Get Well Soon" card when I heard that you were "indisposed" but then again, I thought I must write to you because you yourself have been doing quite a bit of letter writing lately even though some of the letters you have been receiving don't make pleasant reading, especially when they are from the Green Man.

I know many people criticise you on many issues but I'm glad that you had the good sense to let the Reds fight their own cause instead of hanging on to the Blue saree pota.

Your critics are arguing that the Blues, unlike the Greens have never come to power by themselves and have always had the support of the smaller Red parties. Although that is true Satellite, it is also true that it was always the Blues who dictated terms to the smaller parties whenever an alliance was formed. This time around however, Wimal and Tilvin were taking a leaf out of Velu's book and demanding the impossible and we have to admire your courage in dismissing them!

But, Satellite, we are still confused about this argument over who should address the United Nations. We really don't know who is right and who is wrong in this, but what we are worried about is that if you and the Green Man cannot agree on such a simple matter how you two could even agree to disagree on matters of more importance such as the North East issue.

Then there is this latest "correspondence" between you and the Green Man. You are accusing the Green Man of bargaining away the North and East in his dealings with Velu and he is accusing you of discussing these issues in public for political advantage
Satellite, frankly most people don't care whether you two see eye to eye on these matters as long as they are not caught in the middle of your petty squabbles. But on the other hand the country or any long-term settlement to the North and East shouldn't suffer as a result of your differences.

And that is particularly why your suddenly being "indisposed" and therefore being unable to meet the Norwegians sounds so suspicious because you were so hale and hearty only the other day! In any case Satellite you must be careful about giving such excuses because I believe the Constitution provides for the Green Man to take over your duties if you are "incapacitated". For the moment though we must assume that you are only "indisposed" but not "incapacitated", I hope.

Whatever it is, we all hope that you do get well soon and become more "disposed" towards tackling all outstanding issues with the Green Man in a spirit of co-operation rather than confrontation.

Yours truly Punchi Putha
PS-And while you are recuperating, maybe Velu's biography which has just been released may be good reading for you. What is sad though is that of all the biographies of Sri Lankans that have been published this has generated the most international interest which probably means that he is the most important Sri Lankan of this generation of leaders!

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