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| Sunday, 15 May 2005 |
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Drum beat of the exorcist Light Refractions by Lucien Rajakarunanayake "Denna dena na dena deno." It's time to drive the demons away, and the sound of this chant of the "kattadiya" or exorcist will be heard more frequently in the coming months.
The segregation in education on linguistic (and therefore ethnic) lines from the pre 1950s - following J. R. Jayewardene's proposal of 1943 for education in the mother tongue; the UNP's infamous Kelaniya Conference in 1955 when it changed the policy of swabasha to that of Sinhala Only as official language; the post 1956 Sinhala Only Act steered through parliament by SWRD Bandaranaike who led the MEP at the time and which was passed with the votes of the MEP and UNP; the rapid erosion in English language learning by the lower middle class and broader masses; the abrogation of both the Bandaranaike-Chelvanayakam Pact and the Dudley-Chelvanayakam Pact; and discrimination in access to university education on ethnic lines under the guise of so-called standardisation, are some strikes that show up on my immediate memory recall. The latest promise is that of a giant leap back into time, going to the age of voodoo and tribal medicine men in the hunger for political power, with the UNP's pledge to play exorcist to drive out the demons that have a hold on country and pose a major threat to green ambitions. No more the scalpel and the surgeon to remove any canker in our body politic or the healing oils of a good ayurvedic physician. It is nothing less than the "kattadiya" or "yakedura" with Ranil Wickremesinghe ready to be the "Maha Yakedura." So get ready all of you for the drumbeats of the jumbo "bali" and "thovil" events that will be put on in the coming months. The "yakeduras" who were not doing well economically in this modern age, can now look forward to a new lease of prosperity with the UNP seeking their services for the exorcism rituals they have in mind. A regular at the Green Elephant tells me that they are giving serious consideration to replacing public meetings, and the Moragoda type of TV-covered awareness building at the grass roots level, with regular "bali" and "thovil" rituals, where the Maha Yakedura, will do a great deal of chanting about what he will do as the next Executive Medicine Man in the country. We have already read how the UNP had tried to use two of the latest songs of Sunil and the Gypsies with a sound-alike voice of Sunil and words to suit the UNP's propaganda. As to songs and exorcism the UNP is just now at an advantage with the "Denna dena deno" song, by a popular male duo that can give quite a run to the traditional exorcists in their own ritual chanting and frenzied singing to drive away the demons. "Denna dena deno" will be the sound reverberating from the crowds that come for the green exorcist rituals to pave the way for political victory for the Maha Yakedura. The transformation of the UNP's slogans to win over the people is quite strange. It was not so long ago that Ranil Wickremesinghe attempted to give the impression that he was not hidebound by tradition, but was instead one who had a forward vision for our society. Young men in designer jeans and wearing gold bracelets, working in muddy paddy fields, best demonstrated this forward vision. The age of the loincloth was to be over, and so was betel chewing to give way to the modern chewing gum. Surprisingly, the UNP's own the very creative Irwin who is now the Maharagama organiser of the UNP was not consulted on these themes. It is a complete U-turn from that image to that of the "kattadiya" and "yakedura" as the people who can solve all the problems that the people face today. It is political devilry at its worst, which tries to fool the people with the sound of the "yak berey" the exorcist's drum, accompanying the "denna dena" chant of political exorcists, who have made a black ritual of politics. To do so at a time when what the country needs most is the light of knowledge and awareness of political reality amounts to treating the people with utter contempt, unbecoming of a party claiming to be one of good governance. It was not long ago that the UNP made a joke of the "street dramas" the last PA government staged in its attempt to make the people aware of the necessity of devolution of power, before the Draft Constitution of August 2000, which the then demons of the UNP burnt in the chamber of Parliament. However, we will soon be seeing rituals of exorcism at street junctions as a special attraction in the UNP's threat to bring the people to the streets if the next presidential election is not held by December this year. It will indeed be great fun and even a tourist attraction to see this devil dancing as it is commonly referred to, by the UNP with the party's leader and presidential candidate leading the devilish rituals. Who knows the next promise of the UNP, with all its belief in devilry may be that Halloween Day be celebrated in this country too, to appease the demons that may be threatening it. There is one problem though in trying to drive out demons. Many a "bali" ritual done for the purpose requires a sacrificial offering to the demon, as a parting gift for leaving the place. Very often this live sacrifice is a fowl. Who knows with the UNP's own record of live sacrifices to remain in power in the past, the Maha Yakedura could well be told by the demons he seeks to exorcise that they need something more than a mere fowl. Will the UNP then use the dogs that are kept in the Colombo Dog Pound as regular live sacrifice to the reigning demons, or will it even decide that the time is ripe for some human sacrifice too? In that case we will see the yakeduras in a frenzy of dance around a sacrificial human body, being barbequed on an old tyre. Which reminds me that those who have old tyres may soon find a new demand for them, with this new round of national exorcism that we are promised will cure all the ills of the country and its people? So let's all wait in great expectation for the politics of exorcism to have its day. Keep getting used to the rhythm of "Denna dena na dena dena denna deno." |
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Talk of stepping back in time, Sri Lanka is not lacking in such examples,
especially in its politics. 
