5th Column

My dear Wimal,

I began writing to you when I heard you had begun another protest. I was hopeful it would be a ‘fast unto death’ to prevent the proposed educational reforms. Then, I heard that, firstly, it was not a fast unto death but a ‘satyagraha’ and then that you had called it off, before one could say ‘Lemon Puff’!

Whatever your faults, Wimal, we know you are not silly enough to repeat the same mistake twice. That is why your protest this time was not a ‘fast unto death’. We all remember how you staged your first ‘fast unto death’ against Ban Ki Moon of the UN 15 years ago. That didn’t end well, did it?

We recall you saying you will fast unto death until Ban Ki Moon withdrew his ‘Panel of Experts’ probing our war against the Tigers. That didn’t happen. Still, you ended your ‘fast unto death’ after Mahinda maama visited you and gave you thambili to drink. What a missed opportunity that was!

This time, you knew for certain Anura sahodaraya won’t visit you with thambili or even water, for that matter. So, being smart, you stage a ‘satyagraha’ instead of a fast unto death. That was clever. It was even cleverer to call it off at the first chance you got, when Harini postponed the reforms.

Of course, you had said that you would protest until Harini sahodariya resigned from her Education portfolio. Your fellow protestors were shouting ‘Harini go home’. She never did, but you still called off your protest. Why shouldn’t you, when you had your 15 minutes of fame and all the publicity you wanted?

That brings us to the reforms itself, Wimal. You opposed them, but your slogans targeted Harini sahodariya very personally, making the most out of a single line in a text book that provided a link to an inappropriate website. That was a big mistake, but should you discard all the reforms just for that?

Listen to what so many have said about the reforms in the past few weeks. Sajith was eager to point out that there was a difference in the ‘dharma chakra’ used. He is so selective about which ‘dharma chakra’ is correct but he is not so selective about who he partners with to protest against the reforms.

Sajith was with Dilith at Mathugama, to begin his protest. He may think his ‘Sa Ja Ba’ linking with Dilith’s ‘Sa Ja Ba’ (Sarvajana Balaya for those who are unaware) was a good idea. Doesn’t he recall that, when he ran against Gota maama, a snake emerging from the Kelani river was Dilith’s idea?

With regard to that same snake, that Jayasumana fellow, who is now with Dilith, got what he deserved from Nalinda at a talk show on Dilith’s own channel. Nalinda told him that changes to our geography education needed to undergo a radical change to ensure that people don’t believe stories such as that!

Another tall story was told by Jayasumana in the same talk show, of fallopian tubes and the plan to sterilise Sinhalese women, when medical experts in that field have already debunked that myth. That he repeats this claim and some may still believe him tells us our education definitely needs to change.

That, however, was not the tallest story we heard last week. That award must go to someone from Mihintale, who said that a boy he knew had studied with Trump’s son at Cambridge and he was able to convince Trump to reduce the tariffs imposed on Sri Lanka – and we are supposed to believe him!

We can just imagine other heads of state trekking to Mihintale for an audience, so they could get this ‘boy’ to speak to Trump’s son and get their tariffs reduced by Trump. Maybe Trump will transfer his newly gained Nobel Prize to Mihintale! And you still think our education doesn’t need to change?

Speaking of Trump, we can’t ignore your friend Udaya. Starved of attention, he holds a press briefing and eats kiribath to ‘celebrate’ the departure of Trump’s envoy Julie from our shores, calling her a ‘curse’ and saying she fears him. Even a major overhaul of education will not fix such narcissism!

Finally, it was left to Lal to bell the cat, saying he heard those in the jungles in Mihintale making disparaging remarks about Harini sahodariya, unbecoming of their calling. That generated a backlash and a rush to save our 2500-year-old culture. Lal got out of the mess saying ‘If the cap fits, put it on’.

I don’t know whether Lal’s words were deliberate, done to take the heat off Harini so he would be the target, but it generated too much heat. The powers that be had to defer the reforms till next year. Anura sahodaraya had to back down after saying only days ago that reforms will go ahead, no matter what.

After the ‘satyagraha’, you claimed ‘victory’ as if your action led to the reforms being delayed. If we are to go by all these recent words and deeds, they are essential. Harini sahodariya must bring them back, but only after discussion and careful scrutiny. Whether they can do that is the big question!

Yours truly,

Punchi Putha

PS: You were preoccupied with your ‘satyagraha’ and missed attending court on charges of amassing 75 million rupees in six years. Your lawyers told court you were unaware of the date of the hearing and the court asked how your lawyers knew about it then. Ah, you need those reforms too, Wimal!