We are all fools! Let us hope not for too long

Whilst the country has been enraptured in Mahinda Rajapakse mania, where we just accept as deserving every new project building or even stadium named after the man there has been one lone voice which has been shouted out of existence for all manner of ills. It is no other than of Ranil Wickremasinghe, the villain, who everyone it seems loves to hate, and even those who admire him refuse to take the podium for fear of being hounded out.

Now everything that Ranil has said patiently for years has come true. He said it then and he says it now, that Mahinda a charlatan, under the disguise of patriotism, has been anything but, and like the proverbial pied piper is leading all the followers to ruin and destruction, because we have been completely blinded to the fraud that is being perpetrated at such a high level and with such high stakes, that no one dare even rationalize the extent of the fraud, by simply using the expletive, “Can’t be!”.

Ranil to his credit has not gone down to the level of just trying to defend himself from accusations. He has merely kept on to the message, to be careful, wary and not to trust what is being said, as the reality is very different from the make believe that in fact has now been proved to be the big con! He has merely pointed out the impossibility using all rational reasoning on all the claims that have been made by this administration especially with regard to the positives in the economy and who should claim credit for them.

If one goes back 40 years to the dark days of the 1970s when both Mahinda and Ranil were drinking in the same clubs and keeping the same company, when there were queues for every conceivable thing, only the lucky few who could indulge in some fun as they were the privileged, Ranil got to know Mahinda well. What was most apparent was his need then as much as it has become overbearing now, the craving to be accepted by all and acceptable to the right society. In short he was a snob, who wanted a status higher than that which he was born into.

Not to look down on people just because of their particular position, but even in the Rajapakse clan they were the lower order, as Nirupama Rajapakse’s grandfather was the real Rajapakse that people knew and not lowly DA. Just like that, Mahinda had a chip on his shoulder for not being of more noble birth, something Ranil had no reason to pretend or fear. In this same vein, where they rented Carlton from a relative, the Wickremasuriyas, and NOT own it even today, it is claimed as some sort of family seat. They may actually be living rent free as the owners are reluctant to demand a rent from the first family. Just come clean.