(Rajapakse) & Co.

A Tragi-Comedy in Three Parts

Act I
“& Co.” is a political satire on Swarnavahini that’s quite hilarious, until of course we realise we are essentially laughing at the tragedy that is Sri Lanka today. Comedy flourishes as a form of political commentary precisely when political repression is the greatest. For example, one SMS I received after the eviction of the Tamils in Colombo last week read:

“Limited offer! Stay in a Colombo lodge and win a free to Vavuniya and back! Courtesy, Ministry of National Security. Call Gota on XXXXXX”

Soon after however, I got another SMS:

“A one time offer! Those who forwarded the previous message to more than 10 people will be picked up from the Fort Railway Station and transported, one way, to Kiriella or Wennappuwa. There is no need to speak to Gotabaya. He is already looking for you”

Truth, it is said, is stranger than fiction – and this is certainly the case with the Rajapakse administration. Keheliya Rambukwella’s assertion that those who were evicted went voluntarily does little to explain why the victims chose to go to Vavuniya and other places, en masse, at 3.45am. Victor Perera asserts that those who came back returned because the Government offered free transport. Sadly, even Rajitha Senarathna scratched the nether regions of this government by justifying the evictions.

The media, local and international, told a different story. The President, perhaps moved to grief by the stories, immediately ordered investigations, reports, commissions and probes into the matter. (Here’s a bet that there will not be a single report that sees the light of day in this regard).

The donors, the media, civil society, the UN, INGOs and the diplomatic community came down like a ton of bricks on this government for their action. CPA went to court, and succeeded in putting a halt to the disgraceful act of this government.

Act II
The Prime Minister’s public apology must have come as a shock to the Chief of Police and Keheliya Rambukwella!

Act III
Just when you thought it was all over, in comes Gothabaya with a riveting twist to the plot:

“So you can tell them, if you don’t have any legal business in Colombo … we don’t want to detain you, you go back to your homes. In fact this operation was much better. We could have put all of them in detention.”

In one sweep, the PM is now a traitor who now needs to atone for his contrition from Gothabaya, now indubitably the kingmaker in the administration. Victor Perera needs to stop his investigation, lest he too becomes a traitor to the cause.

Epilogue: Brother vs. Brother
Gothabaya said that even the US had extra-judicial covert operations to whisk away terror suspect, but that they were unfairly bullying Sri Lanka when it attempted to do the same. Let’s not forget that Gothabaya is a citizen of America and was living in America till his brother became President!

Meanwhile, the President appoints a 24 hour standing committee to look into abductions and disappearances!

What drama! What horror!

Sadly, the drama and horror is not on our TV screens. Bizarre, frightening and ultimately depressing, this is the absurdity of life in Sri Lanka today.

Read my article in full here (in Sinhala).