My Dear Mahinda maama,
I thought I must write to you once again — and it is not just to congratulate you on the Blue party's convincing victory at the local government elections, but also to discuss the terrible incident that happened on election day.
I know, Mahinda maama, that you may not be celebrating the election victory quite so much. How can you, when one of your advisors was brutally gunned down apparently by the bodyguards of one of your own parliamentarians?
Remember, Mahinda maama, the days when people of this country were afraid to walk on the streets because a terrorist bomb could easily kill them? And remember how grateful they were when you took very decisive steps to eliminate terrorism and all those who were responsible for it?
Wouldn't it be a very sad day for all of us, if people of our country are again afraid to walk the streets because our politicians are killing each other? And you wouldn't want to be remembered as the leader of such a bunch of murderous hooligans, would you?
Unfortunately, Mahinda maama, the signs that something was wrong have been there for some time. You could be accused of not doing much about it either because the war kept you busy or because you needed the numbers in Parliament, to ensure that your reign was smooth and trouble free.
We still have with us the Kelaniya King Kong, who struts around calling himself an avatar of Dutugemunu and doing pretty much as he pleases. He may be an asset in providing entertainment, but you are sending the wrong message to everyone else by tolerating him.
Why, when he raided Rupavahini, it was said he shouldn't be punished again for what he did because he was assaulted by the employees there. Then, when he tied a public servant to a tree, he escaped saying it was an 'act'. Now he has assaulted someone in public and got away again!
When such high-handedness is tolerated and such people are entertained in the Cabinet, Mahinda maama, I believe it sends the wrong message to others. That is why the Kelaniya King Kong is not the only hooligan in your camp-and that is also why you should at least now do something about it.
To mention a few others, there is Seeni Bola Superman who thinks undergraduates, university lecturers and doctors should do his bidding. Then, there is the Pearl of Galle whose specialty is remodelling bus stands. And, who can forget the 'other' Mahinda who terrorises polling booths in Nawalapitiya and the pistol-packer from Puttlam who fortunately is no longer an MP?
All these people, Mahinda maama, have become so arrogant with power and behave as if they own this country – or small areas in it, like Kelaniya. They truly believe they are above the law and they can get away with anything. And the fact is, until now they seem to have done just that.
It is this kind of arrogance and a lack of respect for their fellow citizens displayed by people like this and those around them that led to the incident last week in which the body guards of Angoda's Angel of Death allegedly pumped a handful of bullets into one of your trusted advisors.
There have been many comments about that incident but few have blamed Angoda's Angel of Death for initiating it — and that is probably because he too is now in hospital, recovering from serious injuries.
The fact though is that there were tell-tale signs that Angoda's Angel of Death was in fact no angel. He was charged with some dreadful offences previously and had a skirmish with an actress who is also one of your elected representatives. But then, these blemishes were hardly taken note of, were they?
I know those in the Green camp are quick to condemn last week's incident and they are entitled to do that. But what they and everyone else seem to have forgotten is that Angoda's Angel of Death was not originally from the Blue camp but from the Greens!
I know Mahinda maama, that there was a time when you welcomed anybody and everybody from any party to join you to increase your majority in Parliament. But now, surely you could afford to be selective and leave out the riff-raff, couldn't you?
I suppose the voters are to blame too, to a certain extent. After all, in Colombo they gave Angoda's Angel of Death more preferences than the gentlemanly Millie who lost the mayoral race last week. In Gampaha, Kelaniya King Kong got more preferences than most!
I sincerely hope, Mahinda maama, that the investigations into what happened at Kolonnawa last week will not be like the inquiries that followed the many incidents involving Kelaniya King Kong. If that happens, many people are likely to lose faith not only in our judicial processes but also in you.
We hope you will have the courage to rise above party politics in dealing with this. I am sure you realise that if you don't put a stop to this kind of behaviour by some of those around you, by the next election all your stalwarts will be busy plotting how best they could get rid of their colleagues in their own party! And if they all succeed, you won't have any candidates left, to choose from!
Yours truly,
Punchi Putha
PS: And if you are looking for alternative employment for Kelaniya King Kong, why not send him as our special representative to the United Nations? Then, he can be the chandiya that he claims to be and take on Ban Ki-moon and who knows, if he is lucky, the good Secretary General might enrich his knowledge of the more colourful words in the Sinhalese language too!
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