End of the Road for Bandaranaikes

Dilrook Kannangara

Sri Lankans had enough with this clan that ruled our country for 26 years of which most memorable was the long famine that engulfed the country in the 1970s. It is said that while the hard toiling public went hungry, the B.s treated themselves to Basmati rice, etc.

However, a distinction has to be made in regard to Mangala. True enough he was fooled by CBK as she completely hoodwinked all of us. He should be taken back to the fold provided he distances himself from the nasty aunty. He should be guided by all patriotic forces to bow down to the public opinion and join forces with the President. A confrontational approach will only be counter-productive. If he thinks he can form an alliance of strange bed fellows (CBK-Ranil-Somawansa-Prabakaran), they are only dreaming. Worst still is to follow Anura into the political rubbish bin.

It is relevant to recall events that took place 2,160 years ago when Tissa defected Gemunu when the country was at a crucial juncture. It was completely a futile act on behalf of Tissa in restraining Gemunu in his rock like determination to save Sri Lanka. Tissa had to make amends with his brother soon thereafter, but that costed the nation a lot of unnecessary drudgery and time. Tissa was never a traitor but was misdirected by the then political elders, mainly his father.

Although there are no contemporaries equal to the illustrious Gemunu, there is a hard lesson that we should learn from these events. It is hard because as a nation we resist advice, we (and of cause our children) oppose any form of guidance and we have forgotten to forget and forgive.

We urge Mangala to continue with his good work with the President; there is a lot of good he brought on this country. We also urge him to be realistic in identifying CBK’s dirty tricks. CBK uses lives and efforts of honest and hard fighting SLFPers to achieve her selfish ends. She is no better than a good actress or a marketeer and the country needs neither role from her. We know Mangala to be a patriot and not a traitor; simply Mangala should realise that CBK is not worthy of his respect. He has enough courage to admit his misdeeds and join the mainstream SLFP politics, and when he does that it will be taken as an act of bravery; in the likes of Tissa making up with Gemunu.

Also let me urge the hard hitting critics of the defecting trio to be constructive in their criticism. It is very easy to flare up infighting within a family, society, village or at the national level. This will only make things miserable for all the parties involved and the winners will be those vultures awaiting their turn. Please help put out this fire of hatred constructively just as we urge the public to have restraint when the LTTE tries to flare-up ethnic tensions.

Let me not forget Anura; well, he is nothing but a football aimlessly kicked around the political arena by forces beyond his control; only the memories of the distant past are left for him; especially the time at Royal when he schooled with another born loser. It’s a shame that they didn’t teach telephone etiquette, good eating habits and fruitful marital relations at Royal.
He may call others clowns, but Sri Lankan intellectuals call him a buffoon. The UNP will be making a monumental mistake to take him in to a rank ahead of staunch UNPers which may trigger more cross-overs.

On the other hand the JVP should not feel indebted to the B.s for the brief bout of time they held several key ministerial portfolios themselves.