My dear Mahinda maama and Namal baby,

I thought of writing to you when I heard your names being mentioned again in an investigation, due to an affidavit submitted by someone implicated in the Airbus scandal. When will all these people let you get on with your lives and do your usual job of engaging in politics, was my first thought.

That, however, is not to be.  I suppose that is only to be expected when the person in custody is the former boss of our airline. Apparently, he first said that money from the Airbus scandal was given to you. Then he says that he made that statement allegedly under duress and there is no truth in that.

Pardon me, Mahinda maama and Namal baby, I am so confused by all this. I would like you to shed some light on this matter because it has become the talk of the town now. What a shock it has been to hear that both of you, the ‘appachchi’ of the nation and his son, were allegedly engaging in bribery!

We do know that this case was heard in a British court where it was agreed that 16 million dollars was offered as a bribe to influence our airline to buy aircraft from Airbus. The gentleman who is being investigated now was our airline’s boss at the time. Mahinda maama, you were the big boss then. 

What must be really annoying is that, of the 16 million dollars promised, only 2 million was ever paid. Nevertheless, when the matter was investigated in Britain, Airbus themselves accepted they were guilty of bribery and paid a large penalty. So, something was not quite right. That was six years ago.

When that news broke here, this chap who had been our airline boss was arrested by our authorities. The arrest made headlines. He was soon released on bail. Nothing seems to have happened after that. I am not sure whether it is of any relevance, but it was Gota maama who was the big boss at that time.

Now, this whole can of worms is being re-opened. With the former airline boss first saying he gave money to you and then saying he said so because he was allegedly threatened, your names are being dragged in to the mess. We, the people who paid for all this, are wondering where all the money went.

What we know is that 2 million dollars was paid because Airbus themselves have said so. The former airline boss first said some of the money went to you, Mahinda maama, and Piyankara, who was a minister then. Soon after, he says he said so because he was allegedly threatened by the investigators.

That is the cue for all your ‘pohottuwa’ supporters to go berserk. This is how investigations are done under the watch of the ‘maalimaawa’, they scream on social media.  They seem to think that all this is an attempt to frame you. You haven’t said anything in response until now. I am sure you will, soon. 

On the other hand, the ‘maalimaawa’ chaps offer a very different explanation. They agree that the former airline boss could be threatened, not by the investigators as alleged but by other ‘interested parties’. We can only imagine who those ‘interested parties’ are. That is not a nice thing to say, is it?

Mahinda maama, I do feel sorry for you. As the leader who gave political leadership to end decades of war against the Tigers, you are entitled to a peaceful retirement. You could have relaxed quietly at Medamulana- or even Colombo- enjoying your famous ‘kurakkan thalapa’ and ‘ambul thiyal’. 

Instead, you have been evicted from your official residence, Shiranthi is being dragged to the CID and people are making claims about millions of rupees in bribes and then disputing them. Am I right in thinking that if you retired and kept Namal away from politics, none of this would have happened?

As for you Namal baby, it has been tough life, isn’t it? First, your credentials in law were disputed. When you contest an election, you get just two and a half per cent of the vote. When you visit Britain to give a talk, that gets cancelled. Now, so many allegations are being made about accepting bribes!

You are not getting much support from your extended family too. Chamal is busy trying to protect his sons. Gota maama hasn’t uttered a word since he was chased away although he did write a book. The worst culprit is Basil who has returned to his homeland, America, and appears to be staying there.

Your Secretary, Sagara, who keeps a straight face when saying the most outrageous things, said these latest claims are insulting. We haven’t had the usual parade of people defending you like, for instance, they did recently with Sallay and Pillayan. Now, why is that, Mahinda maama and Namal baby? 

Yours truly,

Punchi Putha

PS- Whatever you do, I hope you won’t get that Gammanpila chap to defend you about these claims. The rule of thumb about ongoing investigations in Paradise is that everyone is presumed innocent- until he holds a media briefing on their behalf. Then, they are presumed guilty until proven innocent!