A new phenomenon has been born. This time too it is a Mahinda Rajapaksa and his kith and kin offshoot. This cat refers to the screaming mobs that now invade the Courts Complex premises each time a son or brother of the ex President Mahinda Rajapaksa is questioned in a court of law. The cheering reached frenzy proportions when the man himself was summoned to give explanations before a court of law, and on Tuesday this week - August 15- when men and women went berserk hailing the heavily made up Shiranthi Rajapaksa as Ape Maatha, Rate Maatha and to cap it all, to add a further figurative e superlative to the adoration: Viharamahadevi .
If that brave lady of historic fame (205-161 B C) who accompanied her son, Dutta Gamini as he went forth from Ruhuna to Raja Rata to vanquish the South Indian King Elara and regain Lanka to Sinhala sovereignty, heard this giving of her much venerated name to an ex-First lady, she would not only have spun in her grave, but thought it propitious to summon a few devatavas to manifest themselves in this Island home of her people, and perhaps, give a mouth shot to each of the mouthpieces who shouted themselves hoarse over a lady brought to court to explain a crucial matter: a vehicle that camouflaged itself from white to blue to white again in case it was seen on a nightly cruise that preceded a ruggerite driving himself to death against a wall, though alone and seated in the seat next to the driver’s seat, which driver’s seat in this instance was vacant.
Cheering or jeering – ignorance separates the two forms of hooliganism
The million rupee question is whether the crowd gathered spontaneously to cheer the ex- Prez’s wife who was appearing in Hulftsdorp, or was it a paid for organized, loud mouthed group. One never knows whether in the melee they knew they were brought there to cheer, not jeer, since thugs are hired to do both. Some of the noise that day sounded like the former while some of the animal cries were jeers. A close watcher of TV said, he recognized a couple of faces that are seen in these packs of jackals rounded up to cheer members of the family and jeer at yahapalanaya bods.
Comparison of the two ladies
This cat believes that since Shiranthi R was greeted and hailed as Viharamahadevi, the case should be studied and a decision made as to whether it is justified or ludicrously parroted by persons least concerned about the matter, but attracted and willing to shout for some money, a buth packet, a free bus ride, and a tot or two of that which cheers to make the voice louder. Viharamahadevi, having a second name Sharwaree (evening), was King Kelani Tissa’s daughter who volunteered to sacrifice herself to save the land from the sea that was tsunamied to express the wrath of the gods at a cruel punishment given to a monk for a suspected case of chasing a skirt with a love letter. Our Shiranthi was the cherished daughter of a respected, well-to-do Sinhala man by the name of Wickramasinghe who married a Miss Forest and begat a son and a daughter. Viharamahadevi begat, with King Kavan Tissa of Ruhuna, two sons. Our today’s Devi also got only sons but one extra. Like the 1st century BC royal lady who married a king from the south, from Magampura to be exact, our present day Devi too married a political king from the Deep South – Medamulana.
Did the latter day queen sacrifice herself and then make a very suitable marriage? This feline draws a blank with the sacrifice angle but she says with certainty that she rose to the level of queen of this country with her marriage. The mother of Dutugemunu had an unblemished life and is revered not only because of the son she brought forth and encouraged to unite the country but for herself too. However, in the case of the present day Devi, some slight moves on her part, through love of her children, has caused a Dharmauddaya of sorts. She’s hauled before courts to answer questions about a vehicle of an organization under her that chameleoned itself like a bhodiliya or bhodilima changing the colour of its skin to evade being preyed upon and caught.
So this Tabby Cat, along with some other Tabbys and Tom Cats, will just wait and see. Will statues be erected to the present day Devi and a Park, maybe in Ham BanTot, be named after her?
What cannot be stomached by ordinary people
Yes, in all of this, what gets this cat’s goat (double metaphor?) is that any time one of THE Family is hauled before an investigative body or a court of law, the cry from them is “Foul play; witch-hunt; revenge; fear of the rise of the family again to power,” echoed by those who follow: family members, the bandwagon of a bewigged attorney-at-law; several JO politicians and the bus-conveyed mob. Wonder what hosannas they’ll shower next on a member of the family!
If you have done something, you must be prepared to get praise or blame for it, whichever is due. If it is said very definitely that much money has been spirited away and stashed safely, when questioned, innocence must be proved, not accuse the rightful accusers of being stooges of yahapalanaya and revenge-takers. Didn’t the younger members of the family excel in a sport that called for team spirit and all that? So, it’s play the game even when out of power and servile folk don’t do as told, whatever the crime. It’s play the game win or lose. One simply cannot win all the time.
- Menika