Today’s patriot is tomorrow’s traitor. That lesson we have had to learn the hard way. The truth is that there are no permanent friends or enemies in politics, diplomacy, and the kind of one-upmanship that was staged for the home crowd and overseas audiences alike. We refer, of course, to the grandstanding show that was put on earlier this week by the fire-breathing mob that congregated outside the UN office.
And the biggest ham to strut and fret his petty hour upon the stage was none other than the leader of the NFF. Some may hail him as a hero. Others may vilify him as a cardboard villain cut out of the same cloth as the chauvinist suzerains to whom WW is enjoying playing villein.
A few may think they see the wily pragmatist behind the lowly pretender to the throne of patriotism around which so many vassals fawn these days. Because if you’re not for us you’re against us; but if you’re for us and are willing to lay siege to the local UN office, you’re the BFF of the powers that be. Who knows, as one blogger said, you may even be the next PM?
Funny side
Be that as it may, there’s a funny side to all of this… with apologies to the good folks of the foreign office and the United Nations – who may have felt that in addition to the injury of being held virtual hostages, they were insulted by virtue of being treated as pawns in a game of international one-upmanship. For starters, that such a riot (sorry, protest) can take place in a putative high-security zone. Then, the undeniable reality that had such a revolt (excuse me, demonstration) taken place outside a Sri Lankan embassy abroad, the sympathy of many if not most of our citizens would have been with those inside the building. In the limit, a sad proof that given the tone of admiration, tenor of approval, and timbre of authority ascribed to the proceedings, the war machine and propaganda machinery and jingoistic mechanics have done their job only too well and in the shortest time thought possible. Admittedly, when we said above that there was a funny side to all of this, we may have been exaggerating a little, just for fun…
The mood darkens
But seriously, folks! “There is a tide in the affairs of men, which taken at the flood leads on to fortune” (that’s Shakespeare, by the way, so you may as well jot it down, dear WW, for future reference). But there is also a flood in the machinations of pseudo-patriotic politicians, which leaves behind in its wake the flotsam and jetsam of clever politicos who abandoned their uh, scruples, and um, principles, for what passes for power, prestige, and privilege (that’s me, so don’t feel pressured into taking notes). The idea is not to become the laughing stock of the polity while you expose your, er, respective derrieres while jumping like a monkey from tree to ladder to your own doom… we coin a phrase, do we not? (Try it in the native tongue; it tastes nicer.)
On a lighter note
Last but not least, discretion is the better part of valour. Weerawansa & Co. may seriously believe that hamming it up for the home crowd is a savvy strategy that if taken as the default practice long and hard enough, will lead one and one’s party up the golden road to the presidential palace.
 |
| Wimal Weerawansa starting a fast-unto-death in front of the UN office in Colombo on Thursday |
But for such shrewd strategists who have come a long way and survived riots, national revolutions, and intra-party rebellions with aplomb, panache, and a certain savoir faire that even their detractors cannot deny, this route may well be the garden path up which the powers that be will lead their acolytes, proselytes, and most ardent disciples – until it is expedient to ditch them… Don’t say you weren’t warned, dears! Remember that some ungracious pastors show the steep and thorny way to heaven; while like puffed and reckless libertines, they themselves the primrose path of dalliance tread. Write that also down… it’s pure 200-proof advice from the Bard of Avon…
Trust the heroes of today are taking note? Lest they take the fast track to becoming tomorrow’s zeroes virtually overnight! We need more politicians who have the masses’ ears, who will take the long-term view… Not some jack-in-the-box, prime-time-TV, shadow-boxing, narcissistic opportunists who wouldn’t know true patriotism from a pretentious riot… |
E-mail
