Behind Closed Doors

Floating top brass, getting selfie shy and astro-addiction

by Rasputin Asylum returned top brass

It made headlines when a certain Army bigwig, who was instrumental in arresting former Army Commander Sarath Fonseka just weeks after the Presidential election in 2010, was appointed to a diplomatic posting at a Sri Lankan mission in a South-East Asian country.

The Army bigwig thought he would live happily ever after as the Rajapaksa regime seemed invincible at that point.

Much to his surprise, the Rajapaksas collapsed after the Presidential election early this year and adding to his misery, former Army Commander Sarath Fonseka played a key role in the election campaign of the Opposition.

Fearing possible consequences, the Army bigwig sought political asylum from the country where he was based. His application seeking asylum was turned down by the foreign government plunging him into a serious crisis.

Soon after the appointment of the new Foreign Minister, the Army bigwig was recalled to Sri Lanka and he was assigned to Army headquarters.

But, he was not posted to any specific division at the Army headquarters and now he has been reduced to a ‘floating Major General’ who has no proper role.

At the same time, Sarath Fonseka, whom he dragged to the prison cell a few years ago, has now been promoted to the rank of Field Marshal, enjoying all the perks and privileges as the highest ranking officer in the military service of the country.

“Karma has a way of biting your posterior,” another senior military officer whispered in his ears when they bumped into each other at the Army headquarters last week.

Selfie shy

Former President Rajapaksa blushed when saw the selfies he took with a group of young ladies at a recent wedding reception going viral on social media last week.

After all, being at the centre of the ladies’ attention did not tally with his temple-going habits of late.At a wedding at Waters Edge last week, a group of young ladies walked towards Rajapaksa to take a selfie with the former President.

Knowing how the previous selfie went viral on Facebook and Twitter, Rajapaksa shied away this time, without taking a selfie with the ladies.

At this point, Prasanna Ranatunga, a die-hard Rajapaksa supporter, volunteered to take a photograph of the former President and the three young ladies. Although that picture too was posted on Facebook, it did not draw much attention as the ‘selfie with MR’.

Badulla Blues

It has now been revealed that a certain bigwig of the blue party in Badulla has held a secret discussion with his party rebels to see whether he too has an opportunity in the rebel camp.

“See malli, politics is very unpredictable. You never know what will happen tomorrow. So, it’s good to be on the safe side,” the opposition bigwig had told some young rebels of his party last week.

This remark came when the bigwig realised that the dissolution of Parliament was imminent and the President was not inclined to postpone Parliamentary elections.

He gave an indication to the rebels that he was willing to join hands with them if they managed to get the SLFP majority onto their side.

However, at the same time, the bigwig pretends in public that he is a staunch supporter of President Sirisena who is now the leader of the party. Therefore, it is not very easy to assess where his true allegiance lies!

Old habits die hard!

The former President’s supporters had organised a ‘Jaya piritha’ at Sunethradevi Pirivena, Pepiliyana, to invoke blessings on war heroes.

Previously, it was organised by the Ministry of Defence and this year it was done in their personal capacity by a group of close associates of the former President.However, reports reaching Rasputin said that the real intention behind organising the ‘Jaya piritha’ is to drive away ‘evil spirits’ according to the advice of astrologers. They had stated that the former President was undergoing a tough phase where astrology was concerned and a grand-scale ‘pirith ceremony’ should be held to invoke blessings on him.

It is now quite evident that Rajapaksa is yet to learn a lesson from his defeat at the last Presidential election. Astrology cost him two happy years in office and still the former President is going behind ‘astro-nuts’.