Women to the Fore and Furor in Parliament

Cassandra Cry: A Woman’s Critical Look at the Past Week AND Speculative Look to the Future

September 20, 2018, 9:23 pm 

You would sure wonder why the double barreled Cassandra Cry this week since usually Cass casts a look only at the past week. The change is due to an article by Laksiri Fernando - an academic of professor status who was in the University of Colombo and migrated to Australia, for good or temporarily, we do not know. His article in The Island of 14 September titled Possibility of a common democratic woman candidate? had a brilliant suggestion for the next presidential election. He bravely goes the whole hog by saying that is the only way to stall the Rajapaska political juggernaut of Father, Brothers and Son since M Sirisena and R Wickremesinghe are singly, or with common cause, unable to defeat a Rajapaksa. Cass read through his article feverishly keen to get at his suggested candidate fearing her curiosity would cause a seizure in her Trojan brain; Cass being of Troy. He obliged by not leaving his suggestion hanging in the ether. He named his proposed candidate – Dr Deepika Udagama. Cass stands up and cheers loudly and gives her assent in stentorian voice. She promises to even do a sit-in at the polling both the previous evening and be first to cast her vote for Deepika Udagama as President of Sri Lanka come 2020. But to be clichetic: there’s many a slip ‘twixt cup and lip; the chief slip here being that Deepika may well refuse.

Women are tops, not of pops but in jobs

Please read Prof Laksiri Fernando’s article where he enumerates Deepika’s superiority both academically and personally for the post. Cass too knows her as a superb speaker, a true academic and dedicated to a job in hand. Cass also firmly believes by acutely observing the primates’ species of Homo Sapiens for long, that women are much better politicians and leaders of nations than men. And Deepika Udagama is definitely one such. Local women may be less brash and showy but they are almost completely non-corruptible in money and sex matters. Whatever the age or status, a man is Trumpish or Harvey Weinsteinish. Cannot resist dolls. Men love lucre too so are easy to corrupt with bribes and commissions. Think of the Profumos who have fallen due to chasing a skirt and Karunanayakes who grabbed greenbacks. (Funny, not much documentation of Sri Lankan Lotharios. Our men certainly are an over-sexed lot. Maybe the eyes of compatriots are more tolerant of kana-bona minissu and everyone winks at sexual shenanigans. To Cass’s memory, only one bigwig was exposed, as he exposed himself in his office on a holiday and wifey came around and smashed a chair on his stout self. The girl fleet- footed away!)

Quotes that say it all

Many quotes suit Cass’s purpose in documenting a woman’s superior claim to being an excellent leader of this land of ours. Here are some:

Once made equal to man, woman becomes his superior - Socrates – the idea so old.

I think women are foolish to protest they are equal to men. They are for superior and have always been. William Golding

Even the wisest men make fools of themselves about women, and even the most foolish women are wise about men. Theodore Reid

Basically, all women are nurturers and healers, and all men are mental patients to varying degrees. Nelson DeMille

And the aptest of them all: In politics, if you want anything said, ask a man; if you want anything done, ask a woman by Margaret Thatcher – outstanding politician. So we all ask Deepika Udagama to save the country and us honest and loyal citizens of a country that is so beautiful and can be an example to others with intelligent people and great women.

We await with baited breath her decision. Sangakkara refused, but Ms Udagama has no reason to refuse as she is fully qualified for the job we plead with her to take.

Typical Sinhalese

behaviour

I specify the race on purpose since we Sinhalayas are true to the ditty that runs about kavun kanta yodayo. Maybe there were others in the motley group that staged a protest against the closure of the Galaha hospital, as news itemed in a daily on Monday 17 September. Who caused the closure? Those very persons rampaging when an infant died after being admitted to the hospital and being told to transfer the child to the Kandy hospital. That was wrong; since no ambulance was at hand to transport the child, but is that enough justification to invade the hospital and cause grave damage to buildings, personnel and medical equipment? And now another protest at the hospital for not being fully functional. People really seem to feel they have only rights to be immediately fulfilled with no duties and responsibilities at all. Cynical Cass does not, justifiably, put it beyond the father of the infant of neglecting to seek medical attention until the child was direly ill. Always blame another for even your sins of omission and commission, is another national trait.

Uproar in House over assassination plot

That was a news item heading in a daily on Wednesday 19 September. You don’t need any brain power to guess at the identity of the House. Those cantankerous windbags, most of our MPs, would have been delighted a topic was raised to rant about. One Namal Kumara heading an anti-corruption movement (they spring like mushroom these days) pointed a finger at a DIG of the Terrorist Investigation Unit, no less, and accused the police high-up of being involved in a plot to assassinate our Prez and Gotabhaya R. What manna to the noise crazy MPs; what a newsy morsel to be drooled over, chewed and ranted about. JO Loud Mouths were quick to insinuate that at the bottom of the plot was a person who wanted to be Acting Prez with the demise by gun/poison/ knife’/gas or even bare hands of the sitting Prez. Cass sniffs with disdain. Her sixth sense detects a desire for publicity. Is young Namal Kumar narcissistic? Anyways, it just means we have to await the unraveling of the plot, not, Cass hastens to add, the assassination per se but the veracity of the self proclaimed anti-corruptionist. "The recording, which talks of assassination attempts on me and Gotabaya Rajapaksa, states that they want to do so because we are against drugs. I already spoke to the IGP and will discuss the issue further this evening as well," announced the Prez to media heads.

Dignified effective protest

People gathered for a silent protest at Independence Square organized by "a coalition of civil society and rights groups to issue a public statement calling on the Australian Government to ensure fair treatment of Kamer Nizamdeen and to expedite investigations into his arrest." In sharp contrast to the usual ranting prancing drunken sots protesting this and that, the people that gathered "to highlight the fact that Nizamdeen, who was arrested 30 August, had not been given legal representation neither at the time of his arrest nor when he was produced before judicial authorities", was effective and could have results. The Australian Reps in Sri Lanka will take note for sure. From what has been written about this, and the endorsements freely given by people of stature that Kamer is a superb student and fine individual will, we fervently hope, clear his name. Suspected is that he was framed with the purpose of marring his future. That too is Sri Lankan nature.

And so, ‘bye for another week of world turmoil and local chaos with a tumbling dollar.