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| Sunday, 14 March 2004 |
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The jumbo joke of Wellassa Light Refractions by Lucien Rajakarunanayake Wellassa famous because of JVP killings - PM (The Island March 10, 2004) 'Why is the Prime Minister trying to re-write history?" asked Acharya Dakshinamarga of the Institute of Rightwing Studies (IRS), a think-tank helping the UNP to formulate its policies. "Why not re-write history, if we can write it in our favour?" asked Ravi Alikeliya, who boasted he had re-written the history of the CWE and also the trade patterns of rice imports and sales in this country. "But how can a Prime Minister who says he does not want to give false promises to the people about the future, get it so wrong about the past?" asked Alimankada Doratupala, who was writing a thesis on the benefits for Sri Lanka of over 500 years of colonial rule. "If Prime Minister Ranil was able to invite the Portuguese Prime Minister for celebrations to mark the arrival of the Portuguese to this country, which began colonial subjugation, what is the big problem about his trying to re-write history? His thinking must be that if such a new version of history is good for the UNP at the elections, then it must be good for the country, or rather those whose interests he looks after in the country," said Panditha Dakunukakula, also a member of the IRS. "But there are some events in history that defy attempts at re-writing. All it can show is that the Prime Minister is totally ignorant of the facts about Wellassa. He has exposed an entire flank of attack on the ignorance of history," said Acharya Dakshinamarga. "One can understand if he said the Alawwa Bridge or the Nelundeniya culvert came to be known by the people only because of the JVP. But this is gross ignorance of such a memorable event in our history. Whether we are rightwing or not, Wellassa is the story of our real struggle for freedom and Ranil does not even know that, in his obsession with the JVP." What is so special about Wellassa? Is it not a fact that the JVP was very active there in two insurrections and that a large number were killed by them?" asked Milinda Alivanguva, who had to be in any rightwing think-tank. "There you are; the identical thinking. Surely, any Sri Lankan, even a person not educated here, you must know that long before the JVP was born in the late 1960s, Wellassa was part of our proud national history and had already become part of our folklore of the heroic resistance to British colonialism," said Alimankada Doratupala. "In case you and the Prime Minister do not now it, Wellassa was where the great rebellion against the British took place in 1817-18, initially led by Butuve Ratey Raala, and later by Keppetipola Maha Dissawe. It was a revolt where the British suffered so many casualties they even had to retreat and call for reinforcements from Colombo. All that was long before the JVP. The soil of Wellassa was soaked with the blood of national heroes, long before the JVP was even dreamt of. What the Prime Minister has done is to transfer all that glorious memory of Wellassa to the JVP. Weerawansa must be jumping for joy", said Acharya Dakshinamarga. "Do you think its is possible the Prime Minister's knowledge of Wellassa and Moneragala is mainly concerned with how his uncle J. R. gave several thousand acres of paddy land in that area to a British company to grow sugar, denying thousands traditional residents of their birthright and making them wage slaves. That was done when Ranil was a podian in J. R.'s Cabinet," said Dakunukakula. "To say that Wellassa is remembered by the people because of the JVP, gives room for some very interesting interpretations of Wickremesinghe/Moragoda thought," said Joker Alihinava, who often provided light relief at meetings of the IRS. "Just imagine, what good old Moratu Tyronne will do if Ranil says that Puran Appu is only remembered because of the uprisings of the JVP?" "This is no matter for jokes, don't ever let Tyronne hear any such thing, he might call for the immediate selection of the next UN Secretary General," said Doratupala. "That is nothing. It is quite possible that unless controlled, like when he was promising bracelets and gold chains to the youth, Ranil might even say the Jaya Sri Maha Bodhi is only known to the people because of the attack there by the LTTE, when over a hundred devotees were killed," said Alihinava. "Who knows, if he can mistake the Wellassa uprising for JVP activity, he could well say that the Sri Dalada Maligawa is also remembered by the people because the LTTE attacked it," said Dakshinamarga. "I am really worried by this trend," he added. "Quite right, what's to stop him from saying that Sigiriya is known to our people only because of the hotel complex that is built in that area, and that it has no importance in our history, but for the activity of hoteliers and tourist guides?" asked Doratupala. "That's not all, with Aussies playing cricket at Galle these days, he may even say that Galle, the place that the late W. Dahanayake once described as a 'pale pink city, half as old as time', came to be known by our people only after it became a venue for Test cricket," said Gajaman Dakunugedera. "What if he says that Rangiri Dambulla came to be known by our people only because of the controversy about the building of the Kandalama Hotel in the catchment area of the Kandalama Tank?" asked Alihinava. "If we are to help the rightwing cause, we must stop this man in his tracks," said Dakshinamarga. "If he goes on like this, very soon there will be people saying that Embilipitiya and the hilly terrain of Suriyakanda were hardly known by our people, but for the killing of innocent students accused of being involved with the JVP, by a pro-UNP school principal who had a private grudge with some of those students. People will begin to recall digging those bodies out of Suriyakanda, and this is not the time to rekindle such memories." "That's not all what if people begin to ask if Biyagama got its name because of Batalanda, or whether Batalanda was also propelled to notoriety because of JVP activity or some other bloody activity that went on there with Green Cats involved?" asked Gajaman. "Who knows whether Ranil will next say that people began to discover the taste of salt only because of the salinity of the water they were compelled to drink these last few days," said Alihinava. "This is the problem when important people don't know the importance of having even a grain of the salt of truth and fact in what they say to the people,' said Dakshinamarga, shrugging his shoulders in discontent. |
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