by R. Cholan; originally published December 19, 2003
Good Cop… Bad Cop…
The drama being played in Sri Lanka reminds me of a tactic employed by Police Departments all over the world, during interrogation of crime suspects.
Usually, at these interrogations, there are two Policemen present. One acts ‘kindly’ towards the suspect and the other acts ‘harshly’.
Mind you, both cops are on the same side. Both want to breakdown the suspect, and wear him (or her) down, and (hopefully) extract a confession.
The two policemen, however, act differently during the interrogation, as a ‘Play-Act’. A ‘Psy-Op-Strategy’, so to speak.
As a ‘Police-Strategy’ it usually works.
As a Political-Strategy, I think, it stinks.
Unfortunately for the Sinhala parties, they have played this ‘GAME’ far too long.
Now the whole world knows that it is just a ‘GAME’, being played out to wear-down the Tamils.
In the old-days the game worked really-well in Sri Lanka because the players, and the scenery, changed frequently.
At the beginning Sir John Kotelawala (an accomplice when D.S. Senanayake violated the hill-country Tamils) tried to become the ‘Good-Cop’ with his ‘Kokuvil-Speech’, but was outmaneuvered by the elder (S.W.R.D.) Bandaranaike – the ‘Bad-Cop’.
Three years later, when the Elder Bandaranaike tried to become the ‘Good-Cop’ (1957), J.R. Jayewardene came along to act as the ‘Bad-Cop’.
Remember the ‘Kandy-March’!
Then came the son (Dudley) Senanayake – the ‘Good-Cop’, coupled with the widow (Sirimavo) Bandaranaike who played the ‘Bad-Cop’ role.
Then they stopped playing this game for a while – during the regimes of the (widow) Bandaranaike, J.R Jayewardene, and R. Premadasa.
Perceived power, and the haughtiness that goes with it, lessened the need for such games. But, this was also the period when Sri Lanka came under increasing international censure.
Therefore, it was time to play the game again.
In 1995, the daughter (Chandrika) Bandaranaike became the ‘Good-Cop’, and the Ranil Wickremesinghe (Jayewardene’s nephew) became the ‘Bad-Cop’.
The problem, this time around, is that they have run out of players.
The same two actors are playing the game now, and [shamelessly] reversing roles, in full-view of the world.
Daughter Chandrika tried to act the ‘Good Cop’ with a scrawny-little proposal in 1996, and the nephew Wickremesinghe played his required-nasty role as the ‘Bad-Cop’.
Different reasons, but with the same effect.
Now Wickremesinghe wants to be the ‘Good-Cop’ and Chandrika wouldn’t let him.
What a shame, it’s not working!
It is time the Mahanayakes, the real ‘puppeteers’ who pull the strings in this game in Sri Lanka (a divinely ordained role, as they claim,) brought in some new players.
There would then be, at least, a veneer of legitimacy to this ‘game’ being played.
I am sure the Mahanayakes will act in the not so distant future. They are, after all, the ‘divinely-ordained-guardians’ of the pure ‘Sinhala-Buddhist Sri Lanka’. They have been silent recently, but it won’t be for long.
Wait and see.
There are so many willing Sinhala politicians waiting in the wings to take the Mahanayakes’ orders.
R. Cholan