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| Sunday, 21 December 2003 |
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| News Business Features Editorial
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Mahinda arrives via Internet by FACTOTUM From the backwoods of Medamulana in Giruwaya, the heartland of 'Kurakkan' (the cereal that was sustenance to rural folk in the war days) to the centre stage of national politics and now beyond via the worldwideweb, leading the Opposition today to lead the nation tomorrow is the baby of the 1970 Parliament who rode the giant wave that swept the United Front into power with a mandate unprecedented to usher in socialism - that loose term which meant taking the struggle of the masses into the very arena of the state to some and the gateway to personal advancement for others. When Mahinda Rajapakse picked up the threads from where his elders had left them he did not have to break new ground for his father DA and uncle DM had clearly identified themselves with the masses that had been held in bondage by the colonial rulers and their lackeys that helped to perpetuate a feudal system that gave little thought to the travails of the suffering people who toiled under harsh, drought stricken conditions in Hambantota district, to eke out a meagre living. 'Jana Goshas' may not have been the style of the soft spoken, mild mannered father DA who was content to be in the shadow of his leader SWRD who took that decisive step in 1951 to provide an alternative democratic government to the people but son Mahinda has set his sights on national leadership so he has to emerge from the shadows and arrive in the capital Colombo - from distant Medamulana to central Colombo via the Internet. It is not that Colombo holds any forbidding, awesome barriers for Mahinda. He spent the greater part of his school days and turbulent times at law college in the metropolis but where else could he launch his web site from with the world renowned scientist and pacesetter Arthur C. Clarke to download the home page for the first time? The all too familiar figure in shimmering white national dress and reddish brown shawl a few shades different from that which symbolised millet at the time Uncle DM sported it, the bushy moustache and broad grin are all indicative of the man eager to please,and ready for the rough times ahead. Products of the school that has churned out leaders in all walks of life may be a trifle piqued by the reference to a suburban missionary school that his sons attend but the image of a modest man who shuns pompous airs of some public school alumni is accentuated by the biographical sketch. With the political situation in a state of flux in a hitherto unknown situation with two power centres going at each other and Mahinda in a political configuration that advocates the abolition of the Executive Presidency he is no doubt grappling with the hard task of spelling out his own vision for the future still to appear on the web site but one can expect that this firebrand of yore has mellowed somewhat from those days of 'yatras' to introduce himself as a moderate. That, no doubt will set the tone for the future and his vision. Three decades and more in this power game of politics Mahinda has opened a window for discourse to test the waters as he takes the plunge into the deep. The plums are there for those who brave the hazards as others before him have known. So, Mahinda arrives via internet to vie for national leadership. |
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