Beggars exposed!

It is very well known that not all beggars indulge in begging because of need, some being professionals, indulging in this activity simply because it is a lucrative trade! I remember reading, quite a while ago, about a beggar in Colombo who was a true professional. During the day, he had full make-up including chronic leg ulcers to secure bigger handouts and, at the end of the day, driving off in his Mercedes in the evening. I was reminded of this episode when I learned about the declarations of assets by our Rathu Sahodarayas. Quite a few of them, now holding portfolios, seem to have been actors extraordinaire deserving of Oscars for the roles they played as beggars!

Most of them, including the President, have never done a proper job in life, being involved in full-time party or trade union activities, and have claimed that they were maintained by the party and depended on the generosity of their friends and supporters.

YouTube is buzzing with videos comparing their declarations of assets with their previous claims of penury. Before grabbing power, at least partly through deception, they described in flowery language how supporters gave them rice, coconuts, bananas, or anything available locally which they accepted with gratitude and the promise of a better future. It transpires that one who had a banana plantation too brought home gifted bananas!  One of them even claimed that he was wearing torn underwear. That was the dedication to service or what was pretended to be!

Minister Wasantha Samarasinghe, who claimed that he had to sell vadai on the trains in Anuradhapura to make ends meet, turns out to be the richest. He claims that his riches are due to hard work as a private tutor and the owner of a private tuition centre. He also claims that he made good investments. He has been a beneficiary of the capitalist system which he and his party, the JVP, roundly condemned! His colleagues’ contention that he is no ordinary fellow but hails from a wealthy landowning family does not sit well with the story of selling vadai on trains.

Perhaps, his rich parents forced him to do so to understand the dignity of labour! He is yet to explain how he got cryptocurrency except that it was because he has a clever son. It is very well known that cryptocurrency transactions are not transparent and all credit to him for making this disclosure though no one can be sure of the accuracy. Another reason for concern is whether it is legal as there are some reports that the Central Bank deems otherwise.

Industries Minister Handunnetti demonstrated supreme evasiveness when questioned on this issue on the Derana 360 programme. Though they promised transparency before the election, he refused to answer pointed questions from the interviewer! He said he did not wish to answer any questions as it was not the appropriate forum! When he was confronted about the value of the 44 perches of land he had declared as an asset, though he pretended to be the epitome of penury with his confession of having to wear torn underwear, his response was that anyone who thought he had done anything wrong should make a formal complaint.

Of course, all complaints would be fairly and expeditiously dealt with by the CID headed by Shani Abeysekera, well versed in the art of fixing cases by his own admission in Ranjan Ramanayake leaked tapes, brought back from retirement for supporting the NPP!

The NPP deserves credit for declaring their assets whereas some in the opposition are yet to do so. However, some including the Pivithuru Hela Urumaya leader Udaya Gammanpila opine that they did so without realising that there was an amendment to the law. Though the original legislation mandated that the declaration should be left with the authorities in a sealed envelope, for future reference but not for public knowledge, a subsequent amendment mandated public disclosure. Considering the embarrassment this episode has caused to the NPP, this explanation seems sound.

It seems the majority of NPP MPs are endowed socialists, who have benefited from the systems in place for the last eight decades which they castigated as sterile! It looks very likely that they are hypocrites who made penury an excuse to gain power.

Perhaps, this is not surprising considering what has transpired of late confirming that there was systematic misleading. In fact, ‘the power-behind-the-throne’ Comrade Tilvin Silva has admitted that some promises were made knowing well that they could not be executed but would be able to be explained by the lack of a majority to implement. This backfired because the voters gave them a massive mandate which they never anticipated!

Udaya Gammanpila, who has become a thorn in their flesh, revealed an important training document of the JVP which was used to train the cadres on how to manipulate the truth. The methods employed are false representation, Selective distortion, Exaggeration, Context manipulation, Decontextualisation, Omission and Linguistic manipulation, They look as if they were taken off direct from a manual of the CIA and wonder whether the Viceroy provided it.

Exploring how each of these was used very effectively to gain power would be an interesting exercise. In fact, they seem to be continuing to do the same to continue in power too. Even that may be excused as long as there is a guarantee that the voters will be able to deliver their verdict on a future date but alarm bells are already ringing that the direction of travel is towards one-party rule.

If the government attempts to deny the voters that right, it may well be the Gen Z that will rise against them, as happened in Bangladesh and Nepal. That indeed would be a supreme irony!

By Dr Upul Wijayawardhana

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