They, the people felt the pain – the pain of losing to the war their sons and daughters, sisters and brothers, nieces and nephews, children of their friends and children of their neighbours. Whole communities lived in pain or on the edge of pain for thirty long years, ‘etherised’ upon the canvas of life stretching into the depth of years, unraveling without the reckoning of events in time. 

Mahinda Rajapakse engineered the end of the war and ensured for them the ‘cessation’ of pain by ushering in peace.  To stop the pain was not a choice they had.  Boys and girls in search of jobs joined the armed services; parents and siblings let go of them to challenge death because they and others were compelled to draw their sustenance from the salary these young men and women remit; the extremity of the their pathetic situation was such that children stood on relay line as it were to be recruited when one perished in the war, the diseased to be replaced by the next and often the next one too if such an eventuality arose. 

There were yet others who joined the forces out of a call of patriotism, of idealism.  The raison d’ etre made no difference.  Those who were left behind in the persistent shadow of death lived their lives fearing the call of the messenger who came unannounced to pronounce their near and dear dead or missing in action.  These are the people who lived through the pain of the overstretched years of war.  When the end came they culled the gratuitous message to the man who ensured its end.  From the depths of their pain they made certain the President remains, remain for yet another term.  The votes they cast for Mahinda Rajapakse were their expression of gratitude to their chosen leader.  With the cross they carried in their hearts they marked the cross on the voter’s list against Mahinda Rajapakse’s name and symbol.  They prevailed.

There were others who felt the pain, the pain caused by fear.  They are the simple folks who had to walk to their destination; who had to take the bus, or the train; who used their scooter or the motorbike or the cycle; they were outside the charmed circle that had access to private vehicles or those who could commandeer vehicles with escorts.  Each time they stepped out they did so with fear in their heart because they were never sure if they were taking a one way trip or if they would indeed return home.  The suicide bomber or a covertly placed bomb could make victim or victims of one or many.  The daily routine of these people was a loaded one, too heavy indeed to accept.  By ending the war the source of the ever present fear and the pain was removed.  Their choice was therefore MR, the architect of peace; none other.

This was not all.  The large majority had to juggle with their finances to keep abreast of the ever increasing cost of living.  However painful the exercise was, they did not agitate for relief.  In their rustic wisdom, unschooled as they are in the discipline of economics, they exercised patience.  They were aware of the constraints of a government at war.  Their patience paid out.  War is over and soon relief must follow.  The pain of their life must receive attention.

Finally, the painful experience of the years between 1987 –1989, remain a vivid memory.  No further lesson in regimentation and authoritarianism was necessary to the electors.  The pain of having a dear one shot in their presence or their lives cramped on orders transmitted by dropping a small curled piece of paper in an innocuous place was carried out with meticulous attention to detail.  The people who have gone through the pain and anxiety of the distressed years had no second thoughts on their choice for President. It had to be a civilian, they have pronounced without ambiguity.   Their decision was not cerebral; it was simply based on emotion.  Not for them, at this moment, the luxury of dissecting the faultlines in governance.  It was left to the intelligentsia in the capital to engage in such sophistries.  Not yet anyway.  It will obviously come and must come very soon.  But the immediate task was to make a choice for president. 

They chose a commoner once again because they were sure their aspirations will be understood and identified by such a person.  The plea will have to be made to see that some sycophants do not transform this acceptable commoner into a royal symbol or to attach various feudal traditions.  Let’s join together to keep the President a commoner who will give relief to those who have long suffered deprivations, through economic growth and development, to cover all aspects of the individual’s life.  Indeed, in unison the country must build healthy democratic ideals and heal the wounds of this plural society to march towards the 21st century for growth and prosperity, peace and equanimity, fairness and justice.

This must for example be “through the development of professionalism within government, protections for the independence of science; checks on government performance through empirical social research and independent, professional journalism; and a strong role for the courts as guardians of constitutionally protected freedoms.” All things must change; the pain the people endured, the pain we all feel must be eased.

Picture courtesy of www.dailynews.lk