Trouble, trouble – Sri Lankan cauldron boils and bubbles

Hopeless title since it connotes no hope. Thus Cassandra joins her front house neighbour’s refrain of a couple of months ago, when things were not so hopeless as now. He said, passing judgment on the government: “Why won’t they let me die in peace? I have worked all my life earning income for the government – earnestly and honestly. Now, I need peace and a sense of security. They prevent even that!” It is not only the old retired who appeal thus. Those who can, have deserted the sinking ship of Lanka – more perfect than the Titanic – but abused and bruised beyond measure by those who were governing us from Prezs to PMs to Ministers of State to bureaucrats. The worst were the Executive Presidents. I proceed no further.

At least elections scheduled for early March should be held to at the least reduce protests and prevent a mass uprising. Warnings have been given repeatedly by those who know what’s what. The Editor of this newspaper has done so countless times and in straight strong language, too. Can’t Ranil W treat these warnings seriously and save the country from absolutely dire trouble, nay anarchy? He has to allow the EC to hold elections even slightly delayed. We cannot press him further. Those who advise him with the country in mind and not only their selves, should really work on him, countervailing wrong advice given by others who do not mind the country burning itself to cinders as long as they hold power and also, very importantly are not made accountable for past transgressions.

Short TakesThe Island

of Tuesday 21 gave Cassandra enough grist for her complaining wrist for this week. The headline on page 1 read thus: “AKD vows to stop allocating funds for ex-presidents, questions Sagala’s role.” All very relevant questions in the context of the country’s present mendicant state.

So, very many citizens have asked the first question from the very start of the 1978 new Constitution. It was JRJ who proposed that ex-prezs and spouses continue living off the fat of the land even if and when the fat disappeared and only lean remained. And not one of them––Hema Premadasa, Chandrika BK. Mahinda Rajapaksa, Gotabaya R and least of all Maithripala Sirisena––has requested a stoppage of the privilege when half of our population is food short and unable to keep up with the COL. A quarter of our people are eternally hungry and poverty stricken. The persons mentioned above seem to be very rich, very well off and in no need of state money. Did not some or all make extra money too. The only honest two who did not make money for themselves did not benefit from this concession: JRJ nor gracious wife, nor D B Wijetunge.

AKD says this will be implemented once the NPP (JVP) or Jathika Jana Balavegaya is in power. That too seems a pipe dream even in this dire state of the country. But any leader who takes control of this country must stop this unbearable, totally unnecessary burden to the Treasury.

A bonus to add to this rule to be passed is scrapping pensions for MPs after five years of many not being present for sittings It’s only in a country like ours – worse than an African Banana Republic – that continues with these totally imbalanced rules or regulations.

Former President and Leader of the SLFP Chandrika BK has promoted a headline on page 3. “Chandrika says won’t work with corrupt elements. Bravo! One honest leader!-? She will probably have to work alone.The worst form of corruption we read about recently was thieving medicines due for cancer patients and making money on them. Such are devils or ghouls, not human beings.

Coming back to CBK, Cass has heard and seen her look direct into a TV camera and say, that she has never taken a cent illegally. A wit intoned that she would be believed if the cent she mentions were a thamba salliya since such coins went extinct long before her time.

“Poll monitors step forward to find necessary funds to hold local government poll”. Oh my goodness! That was such an encouraging, hope giving statement, made by Exec Director of People’s Action for Free and Fair Elections, Rohana Hettiarachchi. In fact, Cass had been asking around whether volunteers donating the necessary money would enable the LG elections as scheduled. She was told it was not illegal. Let’s all get together and pray that the suggestion made will become reality so that the destruction of the country by the boiling over of people’s resentment and anger will at least subside a little for the time being.

Editing long ago Lit

Let’ move onto something lighter and in reality more sensible and having the quality of engaging our quiet interest instead of setting us on fire with fear as our local news does. It also includes a top politician whom we have great admiration for and has won the trust of the many in the UK. I will quote to retain the flavour of the incident and comment.

“A spokesman for the UK Prime Minster Rishi Sunak used a phrase from a Roald Dahl book to comment on the apparent censorship of Dahl’s works on Monday.

“When it comes to our rich and varied literary heritage, the prime minister agrees with the BFG that you shouldn’t gobblefunk around with words.” The word ‘gobblefunk’ was coined by Dahl to mean playing around with words and used in his book The BFG – the Big Friendly Giant.

Salman Rushdie too has condemned the recent editing on the part of publishers Puffin Books and the Netflix owned Dahl estate as “absurd censorship”. He further said Dahl was an extremely flawed person, including being a ‘confessed anti-Semite’ but Rushdie maintained that the way the edits had been carried out was nonsensical.

What are these edits? Those who were Dahl fans or had kids who had to be read from his books and devoured them when able to read may like to know some of these edits that went into Dahl’s Matilda, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and The Twits. Some were quoted in the article Cass read. The mention of pro-imperial Rudyard Kipling in Matilda has been changed to American John Steinbeck. (Cass terms this criminal!) In Charlie … Augustus Gloop is no longer ‘enormously fat” but ‘enormous’. Suzanne Nossel, head of PEN America, said she was alarmed by the move to edit.

“Amidst fierce battles against book bans and strictures on what can be taught and read, selective editing to make works of literature conform to particular sensibilities could represent a dangerous new weapon.” Philip Pullman, author of children’s fiction, said it is better to let Dahl go out of print than mess about with his language in his books. Another called the editing ‘botched surgery’.

Dahl was a controversial person, Born in Wales to parents who migrated from Norway, he fought in WWII. In 2020 his family apologized for his anti-semitic remarks. The lesson to be learnt and kept is: Do not mess around with literary works. We know how the Mahavamsa was added to fairly recently!!