5th Column

Green Man called you ‘akki’ then, what now?

My Dear Satellite,

I thought I must write to you after hearing what people are saying about you-especially after you invite them for a meal at your mansion!

There you are, thinking you could sway a scribe or two by inviting them for a meal and then talking quite frankly about this, that and the other and the least you could expect in return is a little sympathy for your cause and of course some discretion.

But as it turns out, the entire conversation that took place is reported verbatim though funnily enough, no one mentioned the menu-maybe they were worried of being sued for criminal defamation!

Satellite, what intrigued me was your saying that you could have worked with Dudley and JRJ but not our Green Man whom you say you knew from his 'jungee' days when he called you 'akki'.

I am certain he doesn't call you 'akki' anymore and I don't want to hazard a guess as to what he calls you now but what surprised me most was your saying that you could have worked with JRJ.

If memory serves me right, JRJ it was who used you cleverly to split the blues by offering Vijaya a larger than life role, encouraging him to visit the North, ostensibly to negotiate the release of soldiers held by the Tigers but also in the process emerge as an alternative to the Queen Bee. It was divide and rule at its best and you may not have realised it then, but you seem not to have realised it even now!

Of course, Vijaya's popularity did then pose a threat to the Greens themselves but JRJ was quick to snuff that out by ensuring he was not returned to Parliament at the now infamous Mahara by-election where the green candidate recorded a slender majority-after the lights went out at the counting center! That is vintage JRJ, yet you say you could have worked with him but not with the Green Man who has trouble controlling even the children of his ministers!

What worries me when you say this, Satellite, is that you seem to suggest that the Green Man is smarter than JRJ! This is not necessarily a catastrophe for the country, especially if he can outsmart Velu but then, he would have to get that camp in Kinniya moved first, wouldn't he?

So, Satellite, I think you should be more careful when you give your next dinner party for the pen pushers. Unless of course, all that you said was intended to be reported anyway!

Yours truly,
Punchi Putha

PS-And what was it that you said about Mallo-not to take him seriously because he had no authority to speak on behalf of you or the Blues? Well, no one-except himself- took him seriously anyway but do I sense something else here? I'm rather inclined to believe that you want all of us, the other Blues and especially the Southerner to believe that you are not pushing for Mallo to be the next Blue boss and then you will suddenly appoint him to the job, taking everyone by surprise. No, Satellite, you didn't fool me on that one…

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