‘Nugegoda Rising’ – A Revanchist Rock Concert
By Sarath de Alwis -February 21, 2015
Sarath De Alwis
Forty days after the dismantling of the family politburo Mahinda Rajapaksahas demonstrated that his orgburo is well oiled and running.
With absolute fascination this writer watched a microcosm of Sinhala society hailing the event as a turning point.
‘I am beaten but not defeated. I shall not decline the outstretched hands of affection of my compatriots. What the country was experiencing was not a defeat but the consequences of a conspiracy.’
The trenchant proclamation by the former President confirms that he has an enormous war chest. He has the machinery in place to manage dozens and more such risings. The drone cameras captured the images of spirited youth, both male and female with well coiffured hair styles dressed in Paradise road attire waving posters of the Mustachioed Macho Patriot Supremo.
His expressed consent to return and the simultaneous call for mobilization was a mercurial synthesis of a thesis and an antithesis. The master of ceremonies at the Nugegoda concert was at pains to repeat over and over that the wildly cheering crowds were genuine concerned citizens who represented the 58 lakhs or 58 % of the Sinhala majority.
It was an efficiently executed logistical enterprise that sent out a significant political message to the reformers relaxing in graceless and graceful indolence.
Dr. Dayan Jayatilleka in his new discipline of Spin Science outperformed Marlon Brando’s Mark Antony. In a subsequent commentary he accurately and appropriately quoted the lyrics of Bruce Springsteen ‘Come on up for the rising, lay your hands in mine’ in conveying the spirit and purpose of the Nugegoda Rock Concert.
