Your Sunday Times highlights for this week

Read this week's Sunday Times for your interesting articles

Among tomorrow's articles are:

- Ditwah leaves over 150 dead, 200 missing, one million affected

- President declares Emergency to deal with Ditwah disaster 

- Govt directs airlines to provide relief for disaster-hit passengers 

- NWSDB says no disruptions to operations at Ambatale water treatment plant 

- Ditwah leaves carnage and catastrophe in its wake; 20 districts badly hit 

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

The 5th Column's full text is as follows; 

My dear Namal baby and the organisers of the Nugegoda rally,

I thought of writing to you after seeing you at Nugegoda last week. I heard it being called the ‘first gunshot’ against the ‘maalimaawa’ regime and the beginning of their end, but seeing all of you in action, I am not so sure. You promised Mahinda maama but delivered a string of ‘B’ team speakers.

It seemed that you were intent on creating confusion. First, you tell us that none of the ex-Presidents- and we do have five of them- will be attending. Then Mahinda maama tells us that he will ‘definitely’ be there. When the day dawns, not only is he not there, even most other opposition parties are absent!

When one of the ‘top’ speakers is that Gammanpila chap, you know that something is not quite right. One year ago, he was with Wimal and Dilith. Now he has lost those two and is cosying up to the ‘pohottuwa’ once again. One thing was clear: whatever his faults, you clearly missed Wimal’s oratory!

All the speeches, without exception, were quite uninspiring. You had a young lady doing the honours upfront. She did well until she addressed Anura sahodaraya as ‘that Thambuththegama Ranbanda’s boy from ‘your class’, hinting that the ‘pohottuwa’ leaders are in a different, elite class of their own.

What followed a string of ‘never heard of’ speakers interspersed with Gammanpila and Chamara Sampath. Obviously, you chose Chamara Sampath to speak instead of Nimal Siripala and Anura Yapa who were seated in the front row, because you wanted to speak to gallery. He did so, and in style too.

He said those in the front row had many issues about their degrees. He was referring to those in the front row in Parliament but the cameras focused on the front row in the rally- including poor G.L.! Then, just as he spoke about the ‘leader of the laundry’, as if on cue, Namal baby arrived on stage!

Speaking of that front row, some commented that most of them were those on bail for various offences. Then, you were careless enough to not allocate a seat to Thalatha. Though the General Secretary of the Greens, she had to stand and wait for some time before someone found a seat for her.

Namal baby, when there were questions about your UK law degree which allowed you to enter our Law College, you dismissed them saying those questions will be ‘answered on the 21^st’. The fact that only Chamara Sampath referred to it and you remained silent raises more questions, does it not?  

Then there was Udith, WiJaMoo’s son, standing beside you, Namal baby, his hand on what looked like a pistol. He is in hot water for that. Asked what he was clutching with his hands, he said it was money to give those who attended the rally. No wonder Mahinda maama said, ‘moda yakek moo’!

Perhaps confirming what Udith said, we saw many people, obviously intoxicated, dancing their cares away. Now you are holding press briefings, saying they may have been sent by the ‘maalimaawa’. Well, if they were, that would greatly reduce the ‘hundreds of thousands’ who you claimed attended!

Namal baby, it was agreed that no party would take prominence over another at the rally. All speakers were on stage by themselves- except you. You were ushered in by an artificially created rugby scrum like mob and hailed as the ‘future leader’ of Lanka. While you spoke, that mob surrounded you.

Namal baby, if the aim was to hoodwink all those parties into believing that they were part of a ‘joint’ opposition while you proclaimed yourself as the next leader of the ‘pohottuwa’, you did well. The worst hit were the Greens. You gave them the ‘karapincha’ treatment: used and then thrown away.

The icing on the cake came from Harin. First, he threw Uncle Ranil’s message into the wastepaper basket. Then he referred to Namal baby as the ‘Prince’ and remembered Mahinda maama as the leader who ended the war. Was this the same person who claimed credit for coining the phrase ‘Sir fail’?

Harin tried imitating Tilvin and failed miserably. Then he tried to quote a Sinhalese poem and botched his lines- not for the first time. Watching all this, I am not sure whether he is a Green party spy sent to wreck the ‘pohottuwa’ rally or an undercover ‘telephone’ party spy sent to wreck the Greens!

Still, the ‘Man of the Match’ award must go to Sajith. Unlike Asalanka who wanted to withdraw from Pakistan but couldn’t, he kept away despite pressure from his own camp. Had he been there when Namal baby was hailed as the ‘country’s future leadership’, it would have been a disaster, wouldn’t it?

Yours truly,

Punchi Putha

PS- Namal baby and the organisers, you didn’t also foresee that rain would be a problem at the rally. Yet, many of you now blame the government for not acting quickly on the ongoing natural disaster. Let’s forget party politics on both sides and get together for once to help those affected, shall we?