Groping
in the dark for who exploded bomb
"Thaaththa," Bindu Udagedera asked, "is the ceasefire
over?"
"Why," Bindu's father Percy asked, "what makes you
think it is?"
"Why, thaaththa now it seems we are back to the bad old days
of war…"
"Why do you say that?"
"Why, thaaththa, those days when you go for work in the morning
not knowing whether you would return in the evening…"
"Why
is that?"
"Why, bombs are suddenly exploding in Colombo once again, thaaththa…"
"But no one has said the ceasefire is over…" Percy
argued.
"Yes, but what is the purpose of having a ceasefire agreement
on paper when there are bombs exploding next door to the Prime Minister's
house…"
"I don't think the Prime Minister can complain about that…"
Percy said.
"Why
do you say that?"
"Why, Bindu, remember, Satellite asked him not to live there
because he has to leave in four to five months. Maybe she knew it
was an unlucky house, she too got hit by a bomb when she lived there…"
"But thaaththa," Bindu protested, "that still doesn't
answer my question about the ceasefire…"
"And
what question is that?"
"Is the ceasefire finally over or not?"
"Well, you are making a very dangerous assumption, Bindu…"
Percy said.
"What is that?" Bindu wanted to know.
"The ceasefire is only with the Tigers, Bindu," Percy
said, "By saying the ceasefire is over because a bomb exploded,
you are assuming that the Tigers are responsible for the bomb …"
"Well,
they were responsible for most of the bombs that exploded in Colombo
before the ceasefire, weren't they?" Bindu asked.
"Yes," Percy conceded, "but that doesn't automatically
mean they are responsible now…" Percy pointed out.
"Who
do you think did it, then?"
"Well," Percy said, "it could be so many people…"
"And who are they?" Bindu wanted to know.
"Why, it could be Karuna of course" Percy said, "He
seems to be creating problems for everyone…"
"Or
it could be the Tigers themselves, just to blame it on Karuna…"
Bindu observed.
"Or, as you said, it could be an enemy of the Prime Minister…"
Percy suggested.
"Oh, yes," Bindu agreed, "He has so many of them
and most of them are red and blue rather than green…"
"And
of course it could be the reds," Percy said, "just to
get the ceasefire called off, so they won't have to face the embarrassment
of supporting the peace talks…"
"Or," Bindu proposed, "it could be the greens, just
to say 'we told you so' and demonstrate to everyone that the reds
and blues can't run the country properly…"
"I
don't think they need to go that far to prove that…"
Percy said, "but it could be the military as well so that they
can blame it on the Tigers and justify helping Karuna …"
"Or it could be the other Karuna, thaaththa," Bindu suddenly
remembered.
"And
which Karuna is that?"
"Why, thaaththa, Ravi Karuna who is being blamed for everything
these days," Bindu explained, "Why, Satellite has already
pronounced him guilty. May be that is why he took bail before he
could be blamed for this too and then arrested…"
Percy didn't know what to say to that. |
