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| Sunday, 27 June 2004 |
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Light Refractions by Lucien Rajakarunanayake I was trying with considerable difficulty to unravel what was described as the naked truth about Ranil Wickremesinghe and his role in the transport of Karuna to Colombo, as described in print last Thursday, under the shocking headline that screamed "Ranil Stands Naked". There were many things that shocked the journalistic sensitivities in me in that news item, apart from a UNP MP and apparently some sections of the armed forces too giving a helping hand to the tiger renegade in his escape to Colombo. Weaving through all the concealing verbiage in the story as it was written, possibly for some good reason unknown to me, it began to strike me that betrayal is nothing new to the UNP, after Millennium City and what happened to the Army's Long Range Reconnaissance Unit. It was just then, at what must have been the dawn of some realization, that I was suddenly disturbed by a most unusual question from Kukusu Pancha, my ever curious nephew who had been silent for too long a time. "Didn't Uncle Jackson Heartbreak go to India for bypass surgery? "Why yes. His bypass was done at the Apollo in India. That was before the Apollo descended here to the great satisfaction of our richer masses. What made you suddenly think of Jackson's bypass? "I just remembered" he said, indicating something more. I was about to weave my way through that naked truth again, when Kukusu Pancha posed another question? "Didn't Uncle Prasad Papuvapaththu also go for bypass surgery to India? "Yes, that was a double bypass. I recall his wife being more thrilled with the Apollo in India, than the fact that her husband's surgery was a success". I was curious about his line of questioning and looked to see if he was playing with his train set. He was not. He was poring over his Junior Diary, and ticking off events on the record. Heaven knows what's in it. It's quite a cause for worry at my age. I had just got back to solving the Karuna puzzle, when his voice came loud and clear again. "Mama, didn't Uncle Tilak Hadagesma also get a bypass done?" "Yes, that was a triple bypass, but it was done in Colombo and not at the Apollo either. He is still quite fit, but his family does not mention it much as they are ashamed about not getting it done at the Apollo." I thought it was my turn to ask a question. "Now tell me Pancha, what are you making all these inquiries for. Do you have to write something about bypass surgery for your homework? I would think it a most inappropriate topic to be asked at your age". "What about uncle Sarath Heartburn. Didn't he also go for bypass surgery? My notebook has it recorded." "Yes, that was a quadruple bypass, done at the Apollo Colombo. Don't you remember his wife calling everyone to say that he was at the Apollo, and about the pass system to visit patients there? She even rented a small annex near the Apollo to give the restricted visiting passes to all who came to visit the patient, after her broadcast of his surgery." "Anyway, that must have finished your questions about bypass surgery," I said, hoping I could get on with unravelling the mystery of Karuna in Colombo. "What I am trying to understand is why this man Ranil is complaining that Chandrika is trying to bypass Parliament to bring a new Constitution, and she keeps saying that she will not bypass Parliament, if so many people undergo bypass surgery. Can you tell me what a bypass is?" I knew I had no escape. "Well, the simplest explanation is that a bypass is a main road passing round a town or its centre. However in most bypass surgery, it is establishing an alternative passage for the circulation of blood through the heart. It is often a secondary channel or pipe used in emergencies, when the main path for flow of blood is blocked." "So what has that got to do with Parliament and a new Constitution?" "It's like this Kukusu Pancha; Parliament is the main instrument to carry out what is in the Constitution, which is like both the heart and brain of a society and its people. A constitution may say it can only be changed by Parliament, but if there are in-built arterial blocks in parliament to change the Constitution for the progress of the people, that is when it becomes necessary to even resort to bypass surgery to have a new constitution. It's meant for the progress of the people and the State." "You mean there are such blocks in our Parliament?" "Yes the biggest is the two-thirds block. This is the need for a two-thirds vote in Parliament to change even a comma in the constitution. This block will remain as long as the electoral system block is there. When any country goes on with such blocks for too long, then there is the threat of terminal danger or a fatal heart attack for society. That is when a political bypass becomes necessary. When it comes to politics, like on roads one can even do an overpass or an underpass, or like in rugby do a good scissor-pass. It all needs good planning. "Then why can't these blocks be removed by Parliament itself. Surely, if that is done there will be no need for anyone to bypass it." "You are absolutely right Pancha. But our Parliament is fast becoming terminally ill itself. It is unable to think of solutions for its own problems. People there are more bothered about a fracas in Parliament, only because yellow too has come into the ring, without thinking of the bigger things that need doing". "But surely why can't Ranil and Chandrika have a little chat over this, like they did about the tigers, and come to some understanding, even if it is to be bypass surgery. It seems so simple to me." "That's how it seems to me too. But, the problem is bigger than we think, Pancha. It's not so easy when Ranil wants Parliament not to remove its arterial blocks for the next three years. That's when he believes he will be elected President." "So you think we will have to go along with a terminally ill Parliament for three more years?" "Not unless the people decide to carry out bypass surgery on their own. It may be bloody. But when is surgery not even a little bloody?" "Mama, is it true that after his recent divorce uncle Chula Heartache is also due to undergo bypass surgery at the Colombo Apollo?" "I don't know about that, how do you know?" "His former wife telephoned Amma and told her all about it, and Amma began her usual round of Reuter calls." |
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