MAHINDA-AUGUSTUS CHINTHANAYA

Read the weekly political evaluation by “Nagasena” on the Iridha Divayina and you will realize that the country is running smoothly. Then, you step out of your house and from Monday through Saturday, you realize – with a certain bitterness – that the person who baptized ”Nagasena” had got it spot on: cos, he, like a giant “naaga” is sending us a humongous “naya” every Sunday through his page. 

Truth is, the Divayina, alongwith its key weekly political evaluation is, in black and white, doing the weekly shopping for the stunted Mahindha Chinthanaya. Apparently, President Mahinda can be seen going around the country — specially to peripheral rural areas (and he is the one person who can go into these regions cos he uses the heli. Had he tried the public roads, for instance, one doubts whether he could have gotten far) — talking to the folks, worshipping ancient bo-trees, paying surprise visits to funeral houses, fondling little kiddies and all that jazz. Nagasena is quick to note how half a dozen farmers in village X tells the President that he’s doing a superlative job with the country and that the people won’t mind a bit of mud-grubbing, if it meant for the long-term betterment of a war-free Sri Lanka.

A week later, similar sentiments can be heard as the President visits a different location. And, in some instances, praise comes home, too, as in the case of the Maradankadawela Yakadaya: who came to the President’s House and parted with praise and a powerful charm for protection.

In that sense, Mahinda Rajapaksha is a fortunate leader.

But, the kind of manipulation that takes place here is not new to Political History and similar gammon (blacker, or less black) had been played by rulers more / less cunning at different points of time. Augustus Caesar is one famous instance — in order to divert public attention owed to the heavy losses at war abroad, Augustus, in instances,  gave away free doles of corn to citizens, to show that “things were under control”. Indeed, present Sri Lanka is not in that priviliged position to give away corn / rice for free – but, was it available, perhaps, the State could have done something with it, in the line of  propaganda.

President Mahinda’s temple-going, child-fondling, farmer-seeking etc is a “corn dole”: it is a means of telling the world that the President was among the folks and was being appreciated by them for his work and ideology. Of course, this is a “myth” propogated by the State itself, and transmitted through political agents such as the said Nagasena and the Divayina.

While the “State myth” implies that things are all going smooth and that the people are all happy, a humble sign in the canteen of a state educational institute seems to speak for the contrary. Here, the sign simply says that there will not be any milk tea available, due to the hikes in the prices of milk powder.

While the government ideology responded to the hike in the prices of essential goods with a prepostorous rationale (for instance, the response to the inflation of milk powder prices was to say that our ancestors never drank milk as a habit), it nontheless disabled the provision of milk tea at subsidized prices.

Perhaps, for Augustus Caesar things held together in a decadant, morally corrupt Rome. But, in a Sri Lanka that is worse, one better be aware of these government-sponsored carrots…and not simply swollow them like infected donkies.