Curfew and ban on Social Media further irritant; welcome resignations

 

2022/04/8

 

Thought for the season from Shakespeare: Bloody thy act, bloody will be thy end; shame serves thy life and doth thy death attend.

Word processing this on Sunday afternoon in a lather of sweat and shiver of apprehension. The reason for the first is obvious; the second is for the country as a whole and for the people who rose up having had enough; up to the eyeballs in irritation mounting to positive anger and desire for making known their severe disgruntlement. Starting with silent candlelit vigils holding posters with the messages they wanted conveyed. The People, or in Cass’ vocab – The Ordinaries – gathered at Jubilee Post junction and moved to Pangiriwatte. It was THE PEOPLE who walked in PEACE but with the burning urge to make known their disgust, disappointment and increasing rage. They were middle class and higher; with no intention of battle, burning or barging into homes. The bus in flames and flying rocks were from hired hands to discredit the protestErs and garner an excuse to arrest, declare curfew and subdue through tyrannical rule and strong-arm tactics.

And then today’s (Sunday April 3) 36-hour curfew. Loud protests about the declaration of a state of emergency. Hats off to the Head of the SL Human Rights Commission who has come out strongly against an imposition of a state of emergency. And the Head is a woman, bold and abiding by laws and the Constitution of the country. So we sit, watch TV, cheer and savour gladness that the high and mighty who thought no end of themselves (as we used to say as kids of people overblown with hubris) are being brought several pegs down by proving the fact that most Sri Lankans are NOT sycophants or afraid of the might of the police and army which could be called out. So, derisively named Royal Family members are sure shivering in their expensive shoes and chappals.

Many have already left the island while the others are poised to flee, in disgrace, pegged down, exposed but having stashed away enough and more pilfered lucre from an impoverished motherland to live well in selected havens. However – not their island Paradise. Some might go to Seychelles, cosseted during Mahinda R’s presidency with a BoC opened with less than a handful of Sri Lankans resident there. So those who go there will have a surfeit of the three Ss and sure will long for their island home. No Come Back will follow Go Gota Go Home! Some may slink away to Dubai – a hotel awaits them, or to some African state. What a drastic tumble from prestigious high places! And to compound matters, homesickness will eat into entrails. One reaps as one sows. People on both sides of the divide – the royal family and cohorts and those against the government – surmised they would never in their lifetime be taught the lessons they needed to be taught. But retribution has come swiftly, with mere silent vigils of good people who could not bear to see the damage done to the vulnerable sector of the population by a selfish misgovernment.

At the end of Sunday my palms were red with clapping. Curfew was broken by Parties that were not to join the People’s Silent Protest scheduled for Sunday. They marched forth and made themselves and their protests well known, internationally too. The clapping was because a senseless government decision, nay foolish and as usual and counterproductive – imposition of curfew – was broken by the thousands. Also banned social media was restored in a couple of hours.

 

Cheers and Hosannas to the Women

Goodness, Hirunika with her band of intrepid women bussed it all the way to Jaffna; chased a man set up to disrupt their peaceful gathering with the women of the Northern Peninsula and then came down to Anuradhapura to have their fortunes forecast by a woman who has very suddenly captured hearts and minds and is supposed to be not only fortune telling but even dictating country policy to the highest in the land. In the meantime, she has garnered strong disapproval and disdain. But lo and behold! The police were ready to debar Hirunika and her band from having a fortune telling session with this dame shot to fame and wealth and having access to uniformed menials. Is she a Medium? Astrologer? Shaman? Go-getting b…h? The tale is told she was a hospital attendant but now all powerful and a hotelier to boot. How was she so well guarded? She is no official VIP, is she? She is rumoured to have encroached into the centuries old and thus sacred Nuwara Wewa with her newly built hotel with a so-called infinity swimming pool above the wewa. Cass intended seeing this wonder on Friday April 8 when she went on pilgrimage to A’pura. Diesel shortage and now curfew curtailment made her cancel the trip. Otherwise, Cass would have reported on the hotel first hand, along with two other hotels belonging to two Cabinet Ministers, now exs, thank God! Cass shivers to think that People Resentment night attack these symbols of privilege and money making.

 

Significant

The sentence of this season is attributed to Hirunika. Addressing the police graciously she asked, “Who are you guarding? Shouldn’t you be giving us the women of this country security?”

Further hosannas to the large number of Attorney’s-at-Law who immediately gathered to defend a hapless university student who was a Facebook aficionado accused of being the author of the now world-widely used slogan ‘Gota go home’.

Cass derived great joy and comfort seeing on TV, gatherings of Sri Lankans in New Zealand, Australia, UK, France, US, even Finland, mirroring our silent, poster hoisting protests. So good to know our own people are demonstrating that we and they are a family against the tyranny of a particular family and mismanagement of government.

 

Resignations

Monday April 4th The Island headlined resignation of the entire Cabinet. GROBR is loudly pronounced by Cass, echoed by millions of other Sri Lankan voices. Good riddance of rotten rubbish in the way of chain snatchers, rapists, druggies, murderers, loud mouthed empty vessels, vociferous pontificators, all sycophants nodding aye to 20 A to the Constitution and strengthening the arm of the Prez and inviting dual citizens to wield immense power here with one leg firmly planted in the adopted country. They were all corrupt to the core. Later, it was on grapevine that the Governor of the CB followed the Ministers exiting with tails trailing.

Except for the appointment of Dr P Nandalal Weerasinghe as CB Gov and Dr Indrajit Coomaraswamy with two others to negotiate with the IMF, all other appointments have been ridiculous.

Cassandra’s reporting week runs from a Saturday to the Wednesday of the week. So, maybe what she has written about is stale. Much more exciting things will be in the offing. Enjoy!