Thoughts from London

Thonda's thottam: What price politics?
When sprinter Susanthika Jayasinghe flew to the Athens Olympics, some at home expected her to return with a medal. But hardly had she set foot on Greek soil than the woman who went to run announced she would rather walk the walk.

So instead of sprinting, she walked carrying the national flag ahead of a rather depleted Sri Lankan contingent, many of the accompanying officials raising the flag elsewhere, I suppose. She walked away from the race whereas she was sent to Athens to run -- not to adorn the sidelines.

Had our Sports Ministry and those tasked with the selection of athletes shown enough of the brains and perspicacity they claim to have, they would have nominated some of our politicians to participate in the Olympics without wasting money and energy in sending runners who don't or cannot run.

Surely when it comes to changing their minds our politicians do it far better and faster than any athlete we could have selected. Doubtless some other countries have already started planning for the next games in Beijing, four years from now. The trainers would already have their eyes set on possible competitors and even potential winners.

If our sports authorities have the same kind of foresight and commitment, they would already have started the search for talent instead of planning how to get themselves on the officials list for a fast plane to China.

In the killing fields of the Eastern province and the capital city and thottams of the hill country, surely there are enough potential medallists. When it comes to pistol shooting, the somersault and long jump we could give many others a run for their money.

Why, only the other day the Ceylon Workers' Congress did one of those political somersaults for which it has rightly gained an unchallengeable reputation.

Had CWC chief Arumugam Thondaman been entered for the long jump event or gymnastics, Sri Lanka would not have come home from Athens empty handed and Susanthika's freewheeling antics might even have been forgiven, if not forgotten.

Is it surprising then that many people are questioning the competence of those officials in sporting bodies who make the selections that are then generally approved by the Sports Ministry?

While the Olympics were still on in Athens, TV here carried an interesting programme on Chinese children certainly below the age of 10 undergoing training in gymnastics. They might not be ready for the next games in Beijing. But they will be athletes to reckon with in the next eight to ten years.

That is a reminder to our own officials whose forward planning is somewhat limited to their own personal progress . If they had had any sense, they would have realised what great untapped potential resided in Thondaman and the CWC. Look at the history of the grand old man, the original Thondaman.

One day over a cup of tea in the canteen of the old parliament by the sea, a member of the now defunct traditional left told Saumyamoorthy Thondaman: "I say Thonda, you know which side your bread is buttered, no?"

Thondaman, who had done another of his spectacular political pirouettes some time earlier smiled and said "I do what is best for my people", meaning the plantation workers. He was then the uncrowned king of the thottam. No wonder the slogan of the plantation workers was "Kaude (who is the) man, Thonda man."

That day at the parliament canteen, where unlike today, one could sit with prime ministers, ministers and MPs and talk of cabbages and kings, I learnt the essential political logic that guided Thondaman senior. It did not matter which side his bread was buttered because he ate both sides.

If I remember correctly this happened some time after Thondaman, a nominated MP of the Sirima Bandaranaike government, had abstained on a crucial vote that eventually led to the defeat of the government by a single vote.

Thereafter Thonda, as he was popularly known in political and journalistic circles, supported the Dudley Senanayake government of 1965. But today's CWC is a poor and shadier imitation of what Thonda senior had made it. True, the "old man" as he was sometimes called, did political somersaults that would have had any performing monkey applaud vigorously.

Yet personal aggrandisement was not his aim. He sought to do the best for those he called "my people". That was why he was venerated in the plantations though, at times, he did show authoritarian traits in the exercise of power.

Unfortunately the CWC has sunk to the lowest depths and its recent political long jump appears to have been dictated by personal benefit rather than the long-term interest of the plantation workers who have for decades been treated shabbily and with little consideration for their welfare.

The current leader of the CWC, Arumugam Thondaman, feels safest when he is with the government. Under the protection of state power he appears to think that he could get away with anything. On one occasion the media reported how he turned violent in a Nuwara Eliya hotel and the police who were with him at the time did nothing to stop him.

Only the other day it was reported that Arumugam Thondaman has been trying to push through some IT deal for the National Water Services Board costing some $7 million, which, if really necessary, could be obtained much cheaper from elsewhere.

Curiously enough, this was a deal that President Kumaratunga is said to have rejected when she presided over the cabinet in the Ranil Wickremesinghe administration.

President Kumaratunga's argument at the time was correct. Several months ago a delegation from the Information and Communication Technology Agency of Sri Lanka (ICTA) was telling people in London how it was going to provide government departments and corporations with a system that would streamline their work and introduce efficiency.

So why should the National Water and Drainage Services Board have a separate IT system? If this deal with an Indian firm is allowed to go through, then President Kumaratunga, who originally opposed it quite rightly, would have to answer for this volte face that will not be second to the CWC's own somersault.

In time the public will know what the quid pro quo for this latest jump was. The UPFA government wanted the CWC votes to ensure a majority in parliament and it has been wooing the Congress for months.

That is understandable. The crucial question is, how many pieces of silver did the CWC get for those votes? Arumugam Thondaman is hardly likely to be bothered by the gossip that now surrounds his unsavoury politics.

But others closely identified with the CWC would have to hide their faces in shame for a long time to come, especially if they have shown their commitment lay elsewhere. White man speaks with forked tongue, said an Indian chief betrayed by the European invaders. It seems that it is not only the White man that is capable of doublespeak.

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