5th Column

She says what she means not and means what she says not
"Hari Vedey, Harim…" Avamangala said, walking into the secretariat by the sea. "She has done it again…"
"Why, has she kept someone waiting again?" Harim the spokesman asked.

"No, no, it is not that," Avamangala said, "She has spoken too much again…"
"Why, what has she said now?"
"She has asked the rathu sahodarayas to leave…"

"But not in so many words…"
"She said 'yanawanam yana eka ne ethhe…'; you can't be more explicit than that…"
"What else did she say?" Harim wanted to know.

"She said she was talking about a party in the government which was fighting about one word when it comes to dealing with the Tigers…" Avamanagala explained.
"So she is definitely talking about the rathu sahodarayas…"

"But we must issue a denial…" Avamanagala said.
"How could we?" Harim was perplexed, "why, hasn't anybody heard about this speech yet except the people who were there?"
"You bet," Avamangala said, "all the other networks are broadcasting the speech over and over again…"

"So, what can we do except wait?" Harim asked. "We can't deny what she has said when there is clear evidence of her saying that, can we?"
"No, no, no…" Avamanagala insisted, "we must somehow deny it or else the Sandhanaya will collapse…"

"If she didn't mention the rathu sahodarayas by name, maybe we can say she meant someone else…" Harim suggested.
"But who?" Avamangala asked.
"Maybe Thonda and his men…" Harim said, "after all, they too were threatening to leave…"
"There is only one problem with that, Harim…"

"And what is that?"
"If we say that she was talking about Thonda's boys, they will actually leave because those chaps do have some self respect…"
"That is true…" Harim conceded.
"But we have done this before" Avamanagala said, "so, we can do it again…"
"What do you mean?"

"Why, first she said the judges and the police were corrupt and we had to say that she meant something else…"
"Then she says she won't have elections for another five years and we have to clarify that…"
"And now she says 'yanawanam yana ekane eththe…' to the rathu sahodarayas and we have to clean up the mess…"

"That is our job, so we have to do that …" Harim said, "but what exactly do we say by way of clarification?"
"The usual, of course…" Avamanagala instructed.

"Then we shall say that she was misinterpreted and that she never meant what she said…"
"She usually doesn't…" Avamangala said, "but that is not enough…"
"What more do we need?" Harim asked.

"Why, the usual story about sections of the media giving her speech a wrong and malicious interpretation…"
"So, we issue a statement and say sections of the media are giving her speech a wrong and malicious interpretation when all they did was to broadcast her speech…"

"Of course, Harim, that is your job…" Avamangala said, "and mine is to keep the sandhanaya alive, no matter what…"
"You know, you shouldn't worry too much about this…" Harim said.
"Why is that?"

"The rathu sahodarayas will never leave on their own…" Harim said, "if she really wants to get rid of them, She will have to sack them…"
Avamanagala was not unhappy with that.

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