5th Column

My dear friends who were at the ‘aragalaya’,

I thought of writing to you today because most people seem to have forgotten that it was exactly one year ago that you set up camp at Galle Face with the aim of sending Gota maama home. That was also when you christened Galle Face as ‘Gota Go Gama’ and the slogan ‘Gota go home’ became official.

That was after several days of protests that began at Mirihana, near Gota maama’s private residence. It was also a time when citizens had to stay in line for days to get fuel and gas and power cuts were the order of the day. No wonder then that the people had had enough and desperately wanted change.

Exactly one year has gone by. Gota maama has certainly gone home, fleeing through the backdoor of President’s House in the nick of time. However, dear friends who were at the ‘aragalaya’, the time has come, one year later, to look back at what happened and ask whether the ‘system’ has changed.

One change that occurred is Uncle Ranil replacing Gota maama. I know you didn’t expect that. I don’t think even Uncle Ranil expected that. A year before the ‘aragalaya’, he was sitting at home, out of Parliament after four decades, with his party bickering over a nominee for a single seat!

You may recall, dear friends who were at the ‘aragalaya’, that Uncle Ranil was an opposition MP when you began your struggle. He spoke in support of the Galle Face protestors in Parliament and urged that you be treated gently, not with tear gas and water cannons. Doesn’t that seem so surreal?

There are those who also question Uncle Ranil’s mandate to rule Paradise. He didn’t get enough votes to be in Parliament, so how can he get the most powerful job in the land, they ask. There is some merit in that argument but he got the job through an entirely legal and proper constitutional process.

What got him there in the first instance was accepting the PM’s post when Mahinda maama resigned. Uncle Ranil wasn’t Gota maama’s only option. Sajith was asked. He imposed conditions if he was to take the job. The Field Marshall was considered. The rest of the ‘R’ clan didn’t want him.

Once he was PM, there was no stopping Uncle Ranil. When Gota maama fled, he happened to be in the right place at the right time. Uncle Ranil did not win the big election despite trying twice but he knows how to fix an internal vote: He had plenty of experience in the UNP Working Committee!

So, here we are, dear friends who were at the ‘aragalaya’, one year later. Uncle Ranil is the boss. His classmate Dinesh is the new PM. The Cabinet that Gota maama last had is still in place with the exception of GL who was booted out for the crime of proposing Dullas to run against Uncle Ranil.

The momentum that sustained you at the ‘aragalaya’ came from the economic hardships at that time. They have been dealt with to some extent. Prices are sky high but fuel and gas are available. There are no power cuts. We are running on borrowed money, but we are at least able to borrow money now.

Does that mean you have been successful, dear friends who were at the ‘aragalaya’? A year ago, you could protest against Gota maama continuously for more than three months, so I guess there was freedom of expression then. Now, can you protest without being hit with water cannon and tear gas?

You fought against corruption in high places and wanted transparency in government. Have those in the ‘pohottuwa’ camp (against mostly whom those charges were levelled) been at least investigated, leave alone prosecuted? Will they ever be, while the ‘pohottuwa’ remains friends with Uncle Ranil?

That Gota maama had to flee and resign indicates he had lost his mandate to govern. The right thing to do was to ask voters for a fresh mandate. Major elections are not due yet but are even elections that are due being held? Or, are they being postponed on some ridiculous pretext over and over again?

One of the aims of your ‘aragalaya’ was for the law to be equally applied to everyone. Is that occurring now when selected persons are being targeted under anti-terrorism laws, while chosen others go scot-free, and the halls of Hulftsdorp shirk their responsibilities and maintain a deafening silence?

At the height of the ‘aragalaya’, there was talk of abolishing the Presidency as we know it. There was hope that the Presidency, which began at Galle Face where JR took oaths as the first President would also end because of Galle Face, with Gota maama’s departure. Will that ever happen now?

If you think about all this, my dear friends who were at the ‘aragalaya’, the question is not whether the ‘aragalaya’ was successful. The real question is whether you realise that the ‘aragalaya’ did not end when Gota maama fled – and whether you now know that the real ‘aragalaya’ has only just begun.

Yours truly,

Punchi Putha

PS: Is this song, sung at the ‘aragalaya’, more relevant now?: ‘Do you hear the people sing, singing a song of angry men? It is the music of a people who will not be slaves again! When the beating of your heart echoes the beating of the drums, There is a life about to start, when tomorrow comes!