Sunday Times 2
Misery acquaints a man…
View(s):Three months ago, the only thing that I knew about Chikungunya was that it was a difficult word to spell.
That was just three months ago.
Since then, I have not only caught Chikungunya fever, but I have suffered quite badly with the infection as well as the after-effects of it—weakness with joint pain, muscle weakness as well as ongoing fatigue and a depressed state of mind.
It is a terrible situation to be in, particularly for an octogenarian like myself. I am relieved that I am finally getting out of it, although my getting back to normal is still a very slow process.
I apologise for complaining about my ailments to my readers—but it is only to explain why Citizen Silva was absent from these pages for the past couple of months.
Anyway, I am finally able to start musing again and putting my fingers (albeit painfully) to my computer keyboard.
What a month we have had in this country!
As we approach September 22nd, the first anniversary of President Anura Kumara assuming office, we have witnessed the unprecedented arrest of the former president—and not just his arrest but his actual incarceration in jail.
It reminded me of the case of Al Capone, Chicago crime boss and one of America’s most notorious gangsters, who was convicted in 1931 of tax evasion and spent years in prison. The American federal authorities found themselves unable to indict him for the many crimes and murders he is alleged to have committed (which would have been difficult to prove in a court of law)—so they fixed him for the lesser crime of tax evasion (for which it was easier to provide evidence and achieve a conviction to put him behind bars).
So too with Ranil Wickremesinghe. Hailing from what could truthfully be described as a highly respectable family and having cultivated a reputation as Mr. Clean, the former president proved the truth of the saying, “You can’t touch dirt and not get dirty.” By association with the unprincipled politicians who we gullible voters elect into office, he too became dirty—turning a blind eye to the money-making activities of his trusted subordinates. He is alleged to have condoned the atrocities of Batalanda and the activities of notorious associates like Gonawela Sunil as well as authorising the Central Bank Bond scam. All these allegations would be extremely difficult to prove in a court of law and obtain a conviction.
So the government utilised the Al Capone technique: indict the man for a relatively minor offence for which it would be easy to obtain a conviction and prove to the people that even the former president is not above the law and will be punished for wrongdoing.
But what amused me in this situation is observing all the politicians who have come together to defend Ranil and show their solidarity. In the court to “support” him, even sitting next to him in the courtroom, was the devious Maithripala Sirisena—the man who betrayed his former boss Mahinda Rajapaksa, joined Ranil to contest Mahinda for the presidency, and after becoming president, subsequently fell out with his ally Ranil and tried to illegally dismiss Ranil from the prime minister’s post!
Politicians who had opposed Ranil in the past, vilifying him from political platforms, were all there to show their support and loyalty to their one-time enemy.
It is ironic to see these rejected politicians (who themselves are alleged to have committed a variety of financial improprieties whilst in office) coming together to defend a former political enemy. It is not about defending an ‘assault on democracy’; it is not about protecting principles. It is all about self-preservation. When the coming colour is perceived to be no good, political differences are set aside for mutual protection.
If an elite member of society like the former president can be put into the dock, arraigned before a magistrate and remanded in jail, lesser mortals like ministers of health and deputy ministers of home affairs can also be remanded—with others from the New Democratic Front and the Jathika Seva Sangamaya as well as those who have been rugby captains at S Thomas’ and head prefects at Royal College also in the sights of the new law enforcers. Like in The Tale of Two Cities, the tumbrel of justice is waiting in the wings to cart them to prison.
If a former president can be brought before the courts and taken away in handcuffs, the message of the new government is clear: there is no longer immunity provided by previous position and privilege.
All that we see in the coming together of Ranil’s former adversaries to champion his cause outside the courts and to defend the political opponent they once took delight in attacking is to realise the truth of that quotation from Shakespeare’s The Tempest, ‘Misery acquaints a man with strange bedfellows.’
These newly united bedfellows must be very miserable indeed.