Saint Mahinda

By Jagath Asoka -November 28, 2013 |

DR. Jagath Asoka

Today, we are going to have fun, get to know each other, and play a game. This is our playground; if you want to play with me, keep on reading. Always, I like to play, both cerebral and corporeal games. My heaven is where I can play tennis; hell is where there is no tennis. All work and no play makes Jagath a dull boy. Before we play our game, I need to tell you why we are going to play this game. It is all about politics, stupid; you cannot escape it; even when you are alone in a cave, struggling to concentrate on your own breath, it is all about politics: your conscious mind against your unconscious. Only death will separate you from this scourge: politics.

Even though I abhor the methods, tactics, vision, white-van abductions, intimidations, collusions, thuggery, bribery, impunity, and nepotism ofMahinda Rajapaksa, I understand why some people think that Mahinda is a saint. Most Sri Lankans behave worse than barbarians when it comes to fighting for political power. Since independence, we have not had charismatic, sagacious visionaries like Washington, Lincoln, Roosevelt, Churchill, Gandhi, Martin Luther King, and Mandela. There is no difference between the Sri Lankans who elect their politicians and the politicians that they elect. It is like picking an apple from a barrel of rotten apples. I was told that as far as thuggery is concerned, the way Madam Chadrika used thuggery makes Monsieur Mahinda look like Mother Theresa.

In all recent elections in Sri Lanka, some people think that Lankans are electing their devils; I mean, “They elect the devil they know than the devil they don’t know.” I totally disagree with them; I think in all recent elections, Sri Lankans had to choose between a crook who is a notorious thug and a crook who is also a thug, but not yet notorious; Sri Lankans always choose the crook who is a notorious thug because the crook who is also a thug, but not yet notorious, may turn out to be worse.

Right now, if Mahinda were to drop dead—relax, all of us are going to drop dead—because of some divine intervention or afflation, who is going to be our next president: Ranil, Sagith, Karu, Sarath Fonseka, a JVP member, a Tamil politician, a Muslim politician, Gotabaya, Basil, or Chamal?

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