By Sena Thoradeniya
1. Lumpen Elites”
Another myth propagated by the capitalist press, NGO coterie and deplorably by some activists in the nationalistic movement who have not severed their umbilical cord with the old JVP womb yet, is that the voters have rejected elite politics and transferred power to a non-elite political camp at the 2024 General Election. Is this true or false? The latter group has descended into a lower level[U1] calling all former rulers as Paadada Praboon” (my translation as Lumpen Elites”), some propelled by themselves from time to time. They have lived in conjugal relations” as Marx said, but allowed the bride to be prostituted”! Nothing more than that!
In our previousessay posted on December 1, we have stated that we know only about lumpen proletariat (in Sinhala Paadada Nirdhana Panthiya”) because ofthree reasons. Firstly, in Sri Lanka the term lumpen proletariat is being used for a very long time, from the days Marxist discourse began in this country.Secondly, there is no evidence that the terms Lumpen Bourgeoisie” or Lumpen Elites” has been used in our political discourse. Thirdly, we were unaware that thewriters who used the term Paadada Praboon” in their analysis of the 2024 election, used it knowing the theoretical undertones of what is meant by Lumpen Elites” or Lumpen Bourgeoisie” or they have a definition of their own to what Paadada Praboon” does mean.
They have not given either a theoretical definition to Lumpen Elites”, or identified attributes of Lumpen Elites” through a class lens. In general, they do not seem to understand what Lumpen means to bring it into their analyses. It was sheer anger and bewilderment playing with words.
2. Lumpen Proletariat
A detailed explanation of what is meant by lumpen proletariat is needless, as itis well known. But some definition about it, is justified to move ahead to explain what are meant by Lumpen Bourgeoisie” and Lumpen Elites”.
Marx and Engels in Manifesto of the Communist Party” (1848) described the lumpen proletariat as the dangerous class”, the social scum”. This term was coined by Marx and used by him in many of his writings. In The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte” (1852), Marx identifies nearly two dozen categories with dubious means of subsistence and of dubious origin”, such as vagabonds, discharged soldiers, discharged jailbirds, swindlers, gamblers, pickpockets, brothel keepers, pimps, prostitutes and beggars, in short the whole indefinite, disintegrated mass”. A class of outcasts, all declassed, degraded and degenerated elements, refuse of all classes”.
Mao in his Analysis of the Classes in Chinese Society” (1926) said that the lumpen proletariat was made up of peasants who lost their land and handicraftsmen who cannot get work.They lead the most precarious existence of all”. One of China’s difficult problems is how to handle these people”.
3. Politics of the Lumpen Proletariat
Marx said that from the above categories Louis Bonaparte formed the core of the Society of December 10, which helped his coup d’état. Hefurther described that Bonaparte himself was the Chief of the Paris lumpen proletariat, a princely lumpen proletariat”, that the political power base of Louis Bonapartewas lumpen and theSociety of December 10 remained the private army of Bonaparte. In Paris the lumpen proletariat organized as the Mobile Guard were with the side of bourgeois republic, along with the aristocrats of finance,industrial bourgeoisie, middle class,high dignitaries of the army, the university, the Church,the bar, the academy and the press, those who have impounded the Republic. Thus, Marx considered forms of aristocratic power to be lumpen.
In China lumpen proletariat had secret societies bearing esoteric names, in every part of the country. Some possessed arms. They were destructive and controlled and used by landlords and local tyrants. Chiang Kai-shek used them to disrupt the unity of the people.
4. Lumpen Proletariat of Sri Lanka
With the above analysis we can easily identify the Lumpen Proletariat of Sri Lanka. We may add elements of underworld, bootleggers, drug dealers, drug peddlers, illicit gun makers, dealers in illicit firearms, contract killers, goons employed by politicians and members of private armies of politicians etc. to the above lists.
In earlier days underworld elements were used by politicians and industrialists to disrupt strikes. UNP was notorious for this. In earlier days roads were blocked preventing voters of depressed castes (as all of them were supporters of Left parties) coming to polling booths. General elections and bye-elections in certain electorates were like turf wars”, fought with using intimidation and thuggery; shooting and killing were parts of this game. General election in Kandy in 1947, Agalawattabye-election in 1967,Maharabye-election in 1983, Northern District Development Council elections, Southern Provincial Council elections, Referendum were marred with violence; the so-called universal suffrage was abused by the ruling party using their paid lumpen elements. Election victorieswere celebrated with arson, destruction of property, intimidation, use of strong-arm tactics, mass scale transfer of public servants to difficult areas” and discontinuing the services of hundreds of public servants. We witnessed the peak of this in 1977.
The members of this underclass were used for thuggery and intimidation of supporters of opposing parties; preventing them from coming to polling booths; destruction of private property and burning private residences after election victories; election rigging, voter impersonation, stuffing ballot boxes at the Referendum and presidential elections; to stone Supreme Court judges private residences; to attack 1980 strikers; for arson and looting in 1983 communal strife; to burn Jaffna library etc.
It is an undisclosed fact that many members of the Lumpen Proletariat joined the ranks of JVP/DJV in 1988/89 and engaged in a killing spree carrying out inhuman punishment to their adversaries. Parliamentarians belonging to the ruling party and the opposition had their own private armies, body guards were detailed and firearms issued to them by the government. Some parliamentarians acted as patrons of paramilitary forces such as PRRA (Peoples’ Revolutionary Red Army). People like Gonawela Sunil, Soththi Upali, Baddegana Sanjeewa, Wambotta and Julampitiye Amare became household names. Some Ministers were notorious for organized terror, crime and assassinations.
Drug barons having cryptic names who held sway after the introduction of free economy are an integral part of this segment who rose to the ranks of Lumpen Bourgeoisie” within a very short period.
5. Lumpen Bourgeoisie”
Lumpen Bourgeoisie” is a term used to describe members of the middle class, upper class merchants, industrialists and lawyers who support colonial masters. This term was popularized by Andre Gunder Frank in his book, Lumpen Bourgeoisie and Lumpen Development, Dependency, Class and Politics in Latin America” (1972), although many writers have used it some decades ago. This neologism was created coining lumpen proletariat and bourgeoisie.
Mao in his class analysis in Chinese society (1926), described Comprador Bourgeois class as a wholly appendage of the international bourgeoisie, depending upon imperialism for their survival and growth, who represent the most backward and most reactionary relations of production in China and hinder the development of China’s productive forces. A Comprador was the Chinese Manager or the Senior Chinese Employee in a foreign commercial establishment, who served foreign economic interests and had close connections with imperialism and foreign capital.
Gunder Frank described Lumpen Bourgeoisie” as colonial and neocolonial elites in Latin America, like European Bourgeoisie. But their mentality is akin to lumpen proletariat, often supporting capitalism, resorting to crime. He termed this as lumpen development and countries affected by it as lumpen states.
6. Lumpen Bourgeoisie” of Sri Lanka
This leads us for a detailed analysis of the Lumpen Bourgeoisie” of Sri Lanka, its class characteristics, class interests, class relationships, economic and power bases, political affiliations and culture it represents and advocates. Main players of this class are the industrialists and exporters who park theirexport earningsabroad, racketeers, swindlers, drug barons, those engaged in illicit money earning activities and trade, rice mafia, destructors of natural resources, money launderers, media moguls who are behind Eurocentric cultural aggression, lawyers and doctors who fleece their clients and patients and many more.
A new set of people who joined this rank are the so-called think tanks, somegroomed by the Catholic Action, some funded by the US agencies; they invariably represent the interests of the US and play a pivotal role as agents of economic, political and cultural slavery.
Private sectorbusiness conglomerates and oligopolies who are engaged in bribery, corruption, frauds, scams, price wars, under invoicing, accounting irregularities, tax avoidance, market manipulations, insider trading and causing artificial behviours in the stock market, criminality and sexual abuse, easily qualify to be members of this class. They give kickbacks to politicians and government mandarins to get approvals and licenses, government contracts and are famous for political lobbying. They are powerful enough to manipulate activities of professionals – doctors, engineers, lawyers and academics, professional bodies by sponsoring their events, celebrations and anniversaries, providing foreign trips and educational facilities in foreign universities to their children.
As stated above the Lumpen Bourgeoisie” is closely linked with politicians and the bureaucracy.They fund various political parties and politicians; some control the activities of politicians. They in return are being benefitted by grant of multi-million contracts, diplomatic appointments, top positions in corporations and banks etc. This class was expanded and thrived after 1977; many of its members entered politics, appointed as MPs and powerful Ministers. Executive presidency became the manifestation of all conquering power.
In this manner politics in Sri Lanka became a handmaiden of Lumpen bourgeoisie. They made laws to protect themselves and engage in corruption; constitutional amendments were made to be in power.
Religionwas prostituted by them; establishing a Buddha Sasana Ministry, Ministries for Hindu, Muslim and Christian Affairs, providing Benz cars to Mahanayakes and official residences for them in Colombo were merely deceptive; rogue politicians, murderers, charlatans visiting Dalada Maligawa, Asgiriya and Malwatta chapters and now Anuradhapura with television crews, baskets of imported fruits and atapirikara, Mahanayakes listening to the homilies of these rogues(and now to JulieChung)without querying anything, Mahanayakas tying pirith nool (and now to JulieChung),donating Buddha statues and other religious emblems to rogues, bestowing esoteric titles (honorifics) to politicians, resemble an African masquerade, actors wearing different types ofmasks, costumes with elaborate headpieces decorated with animal hair, horns, teeth, sea shells, feathers, straw and grass.
In many of the so-called Third World countries,political clientelism, paternalism, providing opportunities to the cronies to plunder national wealth and resources, such as illegal sand mining, rape offorestlands, mining quarries and other minerals,in the shadow of legality,with tax privileges as in Sri Lanka, have turned states into Lumpen States”, keeping states underdeveloped.
Political parties have become private, family or corporate enterprises. Registering political parties with the Elections Commission has become a lucrative business leading to horse trading. From the very inception the oldest political party in Sri Lanka was known as Unge Nedayinige Pakshaya” (party of their relatives).
7. Lumpen Elites”
To make this more complex we would add that there is a class called Lumpen Elites” who bastardized politics and governance. Who are Lumpen Elites”? In Sri Lanka we have had many politicians whose power base was lumpen. But they were not described as Lumpen Elites”. This segment shares all what we havedescribed underLumpen Bourgeoisie”.
Who are real” elites or enlightened elites”?
Many dictionaries give several definitions and synonyms to the term elite. Upper crust or the highest social class, socially superior segment of a society, members of a ruling class, a group of persons by virtue of position or education who exercise much power or influence, superior in quality, rank and skill, the richest, most powerful, best-educated or best-trained group in a society and super-achievers are some definitions we have selected for this purpose.
Sociologically an elite may be defined as a person belonging to a social category having any one of the following attributes and functions, many interrelated and overlapping: high” castes, land, wealth; comprador bourgeoisie, land owners, office holders, professionals; access to commerce and trading and political power; having unique life styles, Western consumption patterns, proficiency in English, access to higher education; intellectual pursuits and cultural achievements; social status, rank and marriage ties. There can be traditional and village level elites and urban elites as in Sri Lanka. In the colonial setting colonial agents were regarded as the top most above the local elites.
Status and rank of a person within a group or organization or society are closely associated with elitism. Status and rank give recognition, acceptance and honour. Status and responsibilityare bound together.People attempt to protect and enhance their status and rank. These are visible and detectable externally attached to a person. Loss of status bring stress and trauma.
Then who are Lumpen Elites” (Paadada Praboon”)? Or the people who use Paadada Praboon” have a definition of their own to this? We do not think that this concept has been widely discussed by our political theorists although the concept has a long history. They may have used this neologism, Paadada Praboon” just to show their anger and frustration.
In Sinhala many including this writer have used Paadada Desapalanaya” (Lumpen Politics), Paadada Samskruthiya” (Lumpen Culture”) to describe the decadent, moribund politics and culture of the capitalists,that took firm rootsafter 1977, vulgarization and bastardization of art, literature and culture. The year 1977 marked the rise of a new super-rich Lumpen Elites”,isolated from the society, not dependent on the society.
At the 1956, 1960 and 1970 General Elections, verti clad, betel chewing, Sinhala speaking, non-elite (nirpraboon), politicians, Sinhala school teachers, clerks and middle level officers, trade unionists, Sinhala poets and literary figures, local level leaders such as Village Committee (VC) members or Chairmen, farmers,entered the Parliament. They used public transport and resided at Sravasthi” during parliamentary sessions. It was a common sight several MPs travelling to Kandy in the Friday evening train. But some of them reached heights that they have never imagined or dreamt of during the last stages of their political careers. One MP of lumpen origins, who later became a Junior Minister was fortunateto become the Basnayake Nilame of one of the Sathara Maha Devalayas” (four ancient devalayas) in Kandy. This is a case of men of lumpen origins embellishing themselves witharistocratic trappings.Big businessmen of depressed castes who bought old walauwas continued to call their abodes walauwas. A postal peon who was elected from Colombo Central multi-member constituency (as its third MP) in 1956 (SWRD’s MEP) became a big businessman in no time, later switched allegiance to UNP and was defeated.
This was totally changed in 1977, opening the floodgates allowing the lumpen elements to enter the Parliament. In 1977 UNP fielded some members of the Lumpen Proletariatas its candidates and they were elected to the Parliament.We refrain from naming them and the constituencies they represented.
Drug lords, some operating from abroad, lawyers, politicians and rogues in the police are in league with Lumpen Elites”.They havedealings with the underworld, some controlled by the underworld, or controlling the underworld. Several prominent members of this coterie who held powerful portfolios come to mind.
8. Lumpen Elites” of Sri Lanka, its Characteristics and the NPP
Lumpen Elites” are a set ofPretenders; false pretense for recognition is a characteristic of Lumpen Elite of Sri Lanka.
People by birth who belonged to so-called depressed castes changed their family names to show that they belong to top Walauwa clan; this enhancedtheirchances to move up the social ladder, to associate big people”, to marry from elite families;their children were admitted to elite schools like Ladies, Royal,
St.Thomas’, Trinity, Girls’ High School and Hillwood; this gave the opportunity for them to move with upper class/caste peers; among this category are retired revolutionaries, academics and bureaucrats.
Many pretend that they have studied in elite schools and prestigious universities, holders of fake degrees, that they are kith and kin of famous people in the top rung of the society; that they have connections to well-known people in the society.
The newest characteristic of this class is having an army of self-proclaimed intellectuals”, pretending that they have higher degrees and posing as Ph.D. s, Professors, Advocates (defunct after Felix Dias’s 1973 reforms and all known as Attorneys-at -Law), and engineers; this has grown into an epidemic level with the formation of the NPP as it wanted to purify” the parliament of illiterate” politicians.Tuition masters engaged in shadow education who fleece parents and children and challenge the educational system of the country joined this charade.
They were beneficiaries of free and Swabhasha education up to university level, proliferation of Maha Vidyalayas in the villages by Sirimavo governments, and Mahapola scholarships. Schools were upgraded as Madya Maha Vidyalayas (in addition to the original Kannagara era Central Schools) and Jathika Pasal (National Schools) by successive governments, providing more and more opportunities to rural students to study in science and math streams. Science education was the preserve of elite schools in urban areas and some Central Schools. Tambuttegama school is one such school upgraded, the alma mater of Anura Kumara. Opening of more and more universities led to an unprecedented upsurge in education, providing hitherto unknown opportunities to the underprivileged. Many of these were able to become academics obtaining higher degrees. Some of these academics became the nucleus of the NPP.
So, it is a blatant and unpardonable lie to say that nothing had happened in the last 74 years; they cannot deny the upsurge in education, the key factor which propelledthem into power even if they fail to observe the development in health care, social services, agriculture, irrigation and communication, changes in peoples’ livelihood, housing and even dress.
If not for the above facilities and massive changes that took place in the political, social and cultural landscape, most of them would have ended as coconut pluckers in the villages; they suffer from an inferiority complex, because of their backgrounds, parents, Sinhala education, cursing everything and the past; there is little information that these academicscontributing anything to the existing knowledge; all have failed to raise the standards and university rankings, solve student problems; unknown in the island, with no international recognition or publications in prestigious peer-reviewed academic journals.
As educated middle-class academics they are a set of declassed intellectuals cautious not to join either the UNP, SJB or the SLPP. They all found that the NPP as the haven for them to further their ambitions. As non-elite actors” they with a band of lawyers, other professionals and technicians and teachers began to challenge traditional power structures. Most of them were able to get elected to the parliament, some getting appointed as Ministers and Deputy Ministers, Speaker and Deputy Speaker. Anti-incumbency and popular discontent with mainstream politicians were the key factor that propelled these Lumpen Elites” to power, with the catchwords end patronage, corruption, public sector waste, bring back stolen money and punish the culprits. Thus, the lumpenized class has become the elite and the ruling class has been lumpenized.
Men and women who spent most of their time in the streets, paddy fields and village bazars inciting workers, teachers, university students and farmers to protest, agitate and other provocative activities suddenly appeared in TV and parliament wearing lounge suits, signifying the metamorphism of the lumpens as Lumpen Elites”.
All the people mentioned under Lumpen Bourgeoisie”, includinghoarders, rice mafia, corporate enterpriseshave supported and funded the NPP. NPP benefited from slush funds from Western Embassies, Diaspora, business conglomerates and rice millers.
NPP has become the party of corporate enterprise.A careful look at the appointments made to top positions by the NPP government, their connections to MNCs (Aitken Spence, CTC, Dialog Axiata, MTV Networks) and international capital, logistics giants, business conglomerates (Hayleys, Browns), Chambers, foreign banks (Citibank N.A.) and internationalaccounting firms (Ernst & Young, PricewaterHouseCoopers), provide ample clues to this bizarre phenomenon.
It is interesting to note that Anura Kumara did not appoint bumpkins, rusticyokels of Lal Kantha, Vijitha Herath, Wasantha Samarasinghe, Sunil Handunnetti, Bimal Ratnayaka (son of MR’s buddy), Nalinda Jayatissa, Samantha Vidyaratna, Namal Karunaratna, Mahinda Jayasinghe, Nalin Hewage or Ranjan Jayalal types or NPP Youtubers to top positions (Please see my article posted on 9 November 2024).
We have a strong suspicion that almost all the appointments made by Anura Kumara to top posts, are nominees of hidden hands of the NPP, corporate enterprises, diaspora and Western Embassies. It is extraordinary that Julie Chung, the self-proclaimed Viceroy of Sri Lanka meeting all these appointees and discussing her agenda with them. It is our contention that Anura Kumara, a village boy from Tambuttegama with no strong links to the upper echelons of the society cannot make these appointments on his own.
Thus, lumpenization of politics and culture began under different matriceswithin a new milieu. With this analysis we will be able to identify the lumpen ideology of them. The signal flares were seen at the run-up for the presidential and parliamentary elections. NPP Ministers, Deputy Ministers and certain MPS are now behaving as intoxicated with power. After a landslide victory we witness it raising its ugly head. Making of another Ranasinghe Premadasa could be witnessed at Anura Kumara’s meetings with top bureaucrats.
When Shehu Shagari won the Presidential election in Nigeria in 1983 this writerwas working in Nigeria. Newspapers supporting Shagari described his victory as alandslide, seaslide” and an airslide”. Very soonShagarigovernment was toppled by the military headed by Muhammad Buhari, which paved the way for a string of coups and counter coups thereafter staged by Buhari’s co – conspirators. So, the people who live in the glory of landslides should beware that there is an enemy within! JVP-NPP now hidden, now open” confrontation will come into the surface very soon. Bourgeois writers who described NPP victory as a Political Tsunami, a Political Earthquake are not aware that both Tsunamis and Earthquakes are disastrous to people and the environment.
Some bourgeois writers who write in English say that it is the responsibility of Anura Kumara to see that the elite class will not raise its head again as all these Anglophiles have become proletarian! It is only a daydream, empty talk made without understanding how parliamentary politics behave. They completely ignore or fail to comprehend which class is in power now. They are shy to think that lumpens have turned into elites overnight.
We do not want to comment on the disgraced Speaker, Deputy Speaker elected by the NPP, and many other Ministers and MPs pretending that they have Ph.D.s, that they are specialist doctors, professors, engineers, graduates etc. for the simple reason that as explained above, pretending is a major attribute of the Lumpen Elites”.
Anura Kumara at an election meeting said that they are no paupers; he said that Vijitha Herath’s wife owns a row of buildings at Narahenpita, Lal Kantha’s father was a big landlord in Mihintale (in Rajarata land was owned by families of Nuwarawewa, Thamarawewa, Thalgahapotane, Hurulle, Kiralawa, Palugaswewa families and aristocratic chieftains who held positions of Wanni Unnahe; Kuragamage Don Lalkantha’s father who migrated from elsewhere to Anuradhapura cannot be a big landlord.) and Wasantha Samarasinghe’s father was a Gambharaya,(there were no Gambharayas in the NCP; Gambharaya System was an agrarian system which was in existence in Giruwa Pattuwa in Hambantota District). So, the greenlight for the NPPers to lie about their credentials was given by Anura Kumara himself to his fold. Falsification is an attribute of Lumpen Elites” we said.
Sunil Handunnetti addressing the Parliament on the other day said that the Minister of Justice and Social Integration is a Presidents’ Counsel, which is a total fabrication. But the irony of this whole episode is this Minister going to the CID to complain that some mischief-maker had added the prefix Dr. to his profile!
9. Tilvyn Silva’s Re-emergence as an Apostate
In a press interview published on 29 November 2024 Tilvyn Silva, the General Secretary of the JVP has stated that, ours is not a leftist government; it is a government of leftist, democratic and progressive forces”. We should thank Silva for telling the whole world the truth, shedding its ‘‘Marxist”, ‘‘Revolutionary” costume loaned to them by the capitalist dressmakers (press) here and abroad. Silva renouncing Marxism-Leninism suits NPP core group and its Lumpen Elites”. This again shows us JVP-NPP divide, that Silva or the Loku Ayya” was pressurized by the NPP to make such a statement!
10. ABBA Tribute Band ARRIVAL
Tilvyn Silva, Harini Amarasuriya, Vijitha Herath, Harini’s female friend and many other NPP socialites (some cuddling old Tilvyn Silva who was in his virile make-up), attended ABBATribute Band ARRIVAL from Sweden at Mt. Lavinia Hotel on 23November 2024. Rustic Tilvyn was in high spirits when the singing went as, With a bit of rock music everything is fine”. Harini and her female friend in a hijab were seated next to Tilvyn. Who’s the Dancing Queen/ Young and sweet, only seventeen” when the Night is young and the music’s high”! Vijitha Herath made a speech in English bringing amusement to the crush” generation!
Tilvyn Silva in a newspaper interview said afterwards that, if there is an invitation from an organization for an event, we are duty bound to attend it”. We attended it. We enjoyed it. We are people with a palate for enjoyment”. He admitted that the tickets had been priced at Rs. 50,000, 30,000, and 15,000.
According to this logic Ranasinghe Premadasa attending a birthday party of a daughter of a drug baron is correct, what they have vehemently criticized when they were a two-pence party.
What they have criticized earlier – what other politicians enjoying, was because they were deprived of those opportunities, envious of those enjoying; what they have suppressed are now erupting out as molten lava from a volcano which was dormant for years; now is the time for them to feast, killing the fattest calf when the prodigal son” returned home.
When the prodigal son returned home, his father said to his servants: Bring forth the best robe and put it on him; and get a ring on his hand and shoes on his feet”. And bring hither the fatted calf and kill it and let us eat and be merry”. For this my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found”. And they began to be merry” (Luke: 15:11-32).
The people who criticized Tylvin and his entourage were like the prodigal son’s elder brother who was angry. The father answered: It was meet that we should make merry and be glad; for this thy brother was dead and is alive again; and was lost and is found”.
Maxim Gorky described Europe’s bourgeois writers as apostates, the prodigal sons of their class” (1934).
Gone are the days the JVP mobilized its killer gangs with Nanda Malini’s Pavana” and Sathyayaye Geethaya” and later with Gunadasa Kapuge’s Kampana”. But Vijitha Herath answering his critics said that they were fans of Abba and Boney M from their school days and they listen to Abba hits while travelling in their cars!
Are we to believe thatHerath at the height of the insurrection appreciating ABBA music when all of them preparing thousands of youth ascannon fodder, pushing Pavana” and Sathyayaye Geethaya” down their throats?
ABBA and Boney M were active in the years between 1972-1982 and 1974-1986 respectively. During this period ABBA and Boney M were not popular in Sri Lanka, having only Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation (SLBC) to air music. So Herath cannot be an ABBA and Boney M fan during his school days; there was not a remotest possibility ABBA and Boney M reaching a remote area in Uva Province (Herath’s birthplace before migrating to Gampaha after the 1988/89 insurrection, as a cover), considered as one of the least developed areas of Sri Lanka. Boththe lyricist and the nightingale of Pavana” and Sathyayaye Geethaya”,fled to India when thousands of Pavana” and Sathyayaye Geethaya” fans were massacred!
Now Herath says that music is a universal language. If it is so why did they kill songstressSagarika Gomes, lyricist Premakeerthi Alwis and actor/ singer Vijaya Kumaratunga?
We should not forget thataddressing a meeting of ordinary village folk at Uda Dumbara, Anura Kumara lamented that there are no Sinhala films in Netflix!
If Herath was a real connoisseur and a shrewd politician, he would have evaded the journalists firing questions at him cutting short that ABBA’ s hit Fernando” was his favourite song because of its political overtones!
Can you hear the drums Fernando”/ We were young and full of life and none of us prepared to die”/ There was something in the air that night”/ The stars were bright Fernando”/ They were shining there for you and me”/ For liberty Fernando”/ I can see it in your eyes”/ How proud you were to fight for freedom in this land”.
How can he do that, without listening to Fernando” and understanding the lyrics of Fernando” as a kid in Uva Province?
11.Vijitha Herath Wearing a Lounge Suit and a Bow Tie Attending US Marines Ball
On November 2, 2024 Vijitha Herath to match the Americans – wearing a custom-tailored lounge suit and a bow tie attended the 249th Birthday Marines to celebrate the legacy of US Marines at the USMC Ball. This was a case of Lumpen Elite embracing all what they have rejected sometime back.
12. Anura Kumara’s Address to the Parliament
Anura Kumara in his Address to the Parliamentquoting Martin Luther Kingcannot be considered as an accident or he loves quotes from Martin Luther King. No quotes from Marx, Engels, Lenin or theirformer mentor Che Guevara!This was a case of Lumpen Elite rejecting all what they have embraced sometime back.
This was the person who discarded chanting traditional Jayamangala Gathas as a manifestation of pomp and pageantry and extravagance and racial and religious prejudices. But Jayamangala Gathas are chanted with the aim of ending negativity and generating auspiciousness, promoting happiness and prosperity in an important event.
13.Rise of a Parvenu Class
This writer argues that although people like Anura Kumara have proletarian origins with upward mobility they have risen to the upper class. A parvenu class.All NPPers except Harini Amarasuriya belong to this group of upstarts, nouveau riche, social climbers.Look at how the NPP academics, lawyers, doctors and other professionals behave after entering the parliament. Not even Casanovas in SWRD’s and Sirimavo’s cabinets, mavericks in Sirimavo’s, JR’s and CBK’s cabinets did wear braces likeAnura Kumara’s Minister of Justice, son of a third-grade commercial film producer and CBK’s London benefactor.
Former goni billas, all Ministers, Deputy Ministers and MPs, including street agitators and paddy field fighters, except a few rustics wearing full suit are signs of upward mobility.
Anura Kumara said that he sold fruits and cigarettes in the trains, an academic elected from Anuradhapura electoral district said that his father was a bothal paththarakaraya, (collector of old bottles and newspapers),new Cultural Minister academic said that his father was a carpenter at Hiniduma Calvary Church, another Peradeniya academic, an NPP Central Committee member said that he mixed concrete at building sites, all for propaganda purposes. All have climbed up to the highest layer of the pyramid. The best yardsticks to measure their upward mobility are the types of mansions they live, motor cars they use, elite schools, international schools and private universities their children attend. Unashamedly they utter that nothing has happened during the past 75 years!
14.History Repeating: A Grotesque Mediocrity” Playing A Hero’s Part”?
Opening remark of Marx’s The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte” is quoted widely by all and sundry knowingly or unknowingly. The historical entities appear two times, the first as tragedy, then as farce”. Here Marx refers to Napoleon I and his nephew Loise Napoleon (Napoleon III). On December 2, 1851 a counter-revolutionary coup d’état was carried out by Loise Bonaparte (Napoleon’s nephew) and his followers, broke up the Legislative Assembly and established a dictatorship, and a year later proclaimed himself as Emperor Napoleon III. Marx in his Preface to the second edition (1869) says that Napoleon III demonstrates, how the class struggle in France created circumstances and relationships, that made it possible for a grotesque mediocrity to play a hero’s part”.
Similarly, are we witnessing in our own country, a grotesque mediocrity” playing a hero’s part”?
Marx wrote: Historical tradition gave rise to the French peasants’ belief in the miracle that a man named Napoleon would bring all glory back to them.” We change this to voters’ belief in the miracle that a man named” Anura Kumara and his outfit Malimawa catching thieves, bringing back money horded abroad, reducing prices of rice and other foodstuffs, petroleum, electricity and would bring all glory back to them”.
Marx explains the divisions and alliances among the bourgeoisie and the lack of dominance of any one led to the re-emergence of monarchy in France despite the Revolution of 1848. Same thing happened in Sri Lanka. Electoral victory of the NPP in the Northern and Eastern Provinces (excluding Batticaloa) was due to divisions among Tamil political parties.
Marx said, the change concerned the table of contents, not the contents, the name, not the subject matter”. Heroes without heroic deeds” have taken the center stage; history without events” is unfolding. Victory to the Struggle of the Orators of the Platform”!
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