My dear Wimal, I am writing to you after seeing footage of you running at first, faltering and then falling flat on your face after trying to place flowers at the memorial for fallen heroes last week. It was a most ungainly sight. It might be unkind to say so, but I daresay it looked [...]
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I am writing to you after seeing footage of you running at first, faltering and then falling flat on your face after trying to place flowers at the memorial for fallen heroes last week. It was a most ungainly sight. It might be unkind to say so, but I daresay it looked quite funny too.
You played cricket for Tissa Central in Kalutara but this performance suggests you would never make it to the rugby team. You got close to the memorial, inch by inch. Just when it looked as if you could make a dash for it, you fell, even with no one standing in your way.
The incident gave you the opportunity to make a speech, which you did in your usual style, including several inflammatory statements claiming that ‘Tigers’ were freely commemorating their dead in the North while you were prevented from laying flowers for ‘our war heroes’.
The Police could have acted differently. If they allowed you to lay your flowers and return, we wouldn’t be talking about this at all. However, as the Police have shown us recently at A’pura, they have more brain than brawn. They use less of the former and more of the latter.
Then, given your history of seeking publicity, Wimal, we are not surprised. We recall your so-called fast unto death against Ban Ki Moon appointing a panel to probe alleged war crimes. We agree that the panel was uncalled for, but that was showtime for you.
You succeeded in making international headlines. At first, you said that not even Mahinda maama can stop your ‘fast unto death’ which however appeared to be sponsored by Lemon Puff. In the end, he did stop you, offering a glass of thambili . The panel also went ahead!
Now out of office, out of parliament and out of the limelight, you must have been a worried man in the past few years. We didn’t see you, nor did we hear your voice. The worst fate that can befall a politician is to be forgotten. You are at risk of that.
Besides, others are in the news. Gammanpila is doing his own comedy show, writing books and inviting former presidents to his book launches, being Pillayan’s lawyer and giving verdicts on the deaths of Treasury officials. Not a day passes without some news of him.
Champika is conducting his own road show, holding seminars on coal tenders and projecting himself as a candidate for 2029. Even Delete, the roti magnate is slowly but steadily trying sneak into the race with an appearance here and a statement there. You are the odd one out.
That must be what prompted your arrival at the memorial a day before the official ceremony with a camera crew. You wanted to be the hero who fights on behalf of the war heroes. That is why, after your fall, you asked for lightning to strike those who voted for the maalimaawa .
We do understand your distress, Wimal. About two decades ago, you were the rising star of the rathu sahodarayas , the firebrand orator that people flocked to listen to. You were a kingmaker too, being the main speaker at rallies that first brought Mahinda maama to power.
Back then, Anura sahodaraya was hardly in the reckoning. Somawansa sahodaraya , though the leader of the rathu sahodarayas , was ageing. You were the public face of the ‘bell’ party. If only you waited for time to take its toll, you would have become the leader of your party.
Instead, you were a young man in a hurry. Maybe you never dreamed the rathu sahodarayas will gain power by themselves. It was a crucial mistake. So, you didn’t worry when they expelled you. You formed your own party and hitched your wagon to Mahinda maama ’s star.
The rest, as they say, is history now. Today, Anura sahodaraya leads the nation. You are just another opposition politician, jostling with many others like you to make it to the night time news bulletin. Didn’t someone say that the saddest thought of all is ‘what might have been’!
Sadly, you don’t appear to have learnt your lesson. Anura sahodaraya goes about vowing to eliminate racism. He won an unprecedented vote in the North and East. You still stick to your mantra of saving the ‘rata, jaathiya’ hoping that will bring you back at the next elections.
If your objective was to get some publicity, you had great success last week. I don’t think you should be too concerned, though. With plenty of court cases against you and your better half coming up shortly, publicity should be the last thing you need to worry about now, Wimal!
PS: You fell on your face last week, Wimal, but your fall from grace in the eyes of the public came years ago. Your actions mean that, while Prabhakaran may not have won his separate state, 17 years after the war, he has succeeded in still creating a divided nation!
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