5th Column

My dear Gammanpila,

I am writing to congratulate you on the recent launch of your book which you claim is about searching for the ‘mastermind’ of the Easter Sunday terror attacks 7 years ago. It is not that I believe the book is the result of a great investigative effort. Far from it. Still, everyone talks about it.

For someone who went from being a powerful minister to an opposition politician, who is now not even in Parliament, any publicity is better than no publicity. If that is your yardstick, then the book launch was a massive success, even though the book itself was obviously a massive disappointment.

You built a lot of hype in the lead up to the launch. Some thought a sensational revelation was on the cards. However, all that you have done is to go through the reports of the many commissions and committees which probed the attacks, reproduce extracts and reach a conclusion that suits you nicely.

You titled the book ‘In search of the Easter attacks mastermind’, creating the impression of writing a whodunnit. However, at the end, you say that the attacks were all Zahran’s work and that no one else was involved in planning the attack. That is a rather convenient narrative for some, don’t you think?

Many felt your claim that Zahran was the mastermind was an attempt to call a halt to the current investigations. You have been acting as a lawyer, first for Pillayan and then for the recently detained Sallay. If this is your way of trying to protect your clients’ interests, you are not doing a good job.

Despite all this, I cannot help but be impressed by your guest list and the front row of your audience. It included three former presidents. That is no mean feat. I guess you didn’t invite Satellite, fearing a tongue lashing from her!

That front row was interesting. Some said it was a brilliant tactic by you. They said that although you said Zahran was the mastermind, it was your way of hinting at the real mastermind. They claim the ‘usual suspects’ were all there. We had to make up our minds about the real mastermind. Is that true?

Others said those in the front row were quickly scanning the book’s pages to see whether they had been identified as the mastermind. Not so, Maithri though, who said he knew who the mastermind was but would only tell a court of law. Sarath W had also named someone else as the ‘mastermind’.

Still, Gammanpila, for all the effort that you put in, you couldn’t stop one man from stealing the limelight from you. That was Sajith. After repeatedly lambasting the Rajapaksas in parliament over the Easter attacks, no one in their right senses would expect him to be in that audience. Yet, he was!

That took his own party by surprise. When two of his MPs, Nalin from Kurunegala and Jagath from Kalutara were asked about Sajith’s presence at the launch, they both swore that their leader would never have attended. Their explanation was that those photos of him must have been doctored by ‘AI’.

Of course, Sajith was there. In the history of book launches, no politician has done more harm to himself than what Sajith did that day by attending your launch. Now, everyone is making fun of him, questioning his judgment and asking him, ‘Why did you go, Sajith?’ or ‘a eyi Sajith?’ instead of ‘AI’!

The telephone party secretary Ranjith offered a feeble excuse by way of damage control. Sajith attended out of courtesy as Opposition Leader and that does not mean he agrees with the contents of the book, he said. That didn’t help. The ‘AI’ defence was far worse than the offence of attending.

Now, if Sajith surprised one and all by attending, another surprised no one by not attending. You probably didn’t invite him either. That was your erstwhile friend and leader, Patali, who you are fond of referring to as ‘Paa Cha’ Ranawaka. Beware, he is smart. He is quite busy, preparing for 2029.

Another conspicuous absentee was Navin. He said the launch should have been held the following day, April Fool’s day after hearing of your revelation. He said he was sorry Sajith, Sagala, Vajira and Thalatha all fell into the trap and attended. He was ‘glad’ he didn’t go. At least some are still
sensible!

Days later, you told the media that a ‘PDF’ of your book circulating on social media was not the real book and that it was a draft nicked by the CID when they detained Sallay. Why would an intelligence chief carry around a confidential document with him? Or, is it that the book is not selling fast?

Anyway, we are grateful to you. That is not for revealing who the mastermind of the Easter attacks is. Firstly, that is for showing us ‘how not to write a book’. Secondly, it is for showing us ‘how to market a badly written book’. Lastly, it is for showing the telephone party what kind of leader they have!

Yours truly,

Punchi Putha

PS: There was another very important person that you didn’t dare invite. That is the cardinal. Surely, you must be glad you didn’t, because if you did, he would have told you a thing or two about twisting the truth, conspiracies, and working for a political agenda. But then, you are not that brave, are you?