Bushwhacked Manhattan and Devananda getting fresh air in New York

Bandula JAYASEKARA in New York

PROTECTION: On Tuesday Manhattan was bushwhacked. Or let's say some sections of Manhattan were Bushwhacked. Guess it happens every year whenever President George Bush comes to New York to attend the United Nations General Assembly or to visit New York.

Traffic comes to a standstill; roads are blocked with heavy vehicles of the New York Police Department (NYPD). New York police does not take any chances and we saw how they filled trucks with sand and blocked the roads.

Guess they think very far, expecting some hulk like characters to come and topple the trucks. Heard many people on the streets cursing President Bush and the UN office for being housed in New York.

A TV reporter attached to New York 1: "Traffic blocks, roads closed for UN Summit for World Peace. Nice UN building".

He advised New Yorkers not to travel by cars. It was chaos for the New Yorkers, but organized chaos for the NYPD guys and gals.

You could see that they were doing a good job as instructed to protect their leader and also to protect other world leaders including the Iranian President and Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.

Think I saw more Secret Service Agents than the UN officials and the Special Dogs. One limousine driver in front of the UN Millennium Plaza who became friendly with a Secret Service Agent asked him if he had painted the dogs because he was walking up and down several times with different dogs. Yes, the limo drivers too were having a good time.

There was no sound of music but the sound of sirens and sounds of alarms though there were no security threats in Manhattan.

Only person who was threatened was the poor Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinwatra who was threatened and ousted in his own country. He was safe in New York. So, was Minister Douglas Devananda. He was safe too in New York.

I walked along the streets of Manhattan with Douglas and a friend of his. Though I was worried for Douglas who survived eleven assassination attempts, he was feeling alright to walk along the streets of New York and to have Indian food, a real hot Madras chicken curry.

Like President Mahinda Rajapaksa and Speaker W.J.M Lokubandara, Douglas also remains the same wherever he goes, in his white shirt, sarong and of course his beard.

We also went to the New York Buddhist Vihara together and Douglas Devananda, didn't want air-condition in the car. He wanted the windows kept open. "Finally, I am getting some fresh air" he said.

I was happy to see the man who stays in rooms with no windows getting some fresh air. It was also heartening to see a Sri Lankan Tamil Douglas Devananda and a Sri Lankan Muslim A.H.M Azwer sitting and listening to bana at the New York Buddhist Vihara along with President Mahinda Rajapaksa and First Lady Shiranthi Rajapaksa.

It was the first visit by a Sri Lankan President to the New York Buddhist Vihara. There was another President who had visited the temple earlier. But, he was an American. His name is Bill. Bill Clinton.

There was also a reception hosted by Ambassador Prasad Kariyawasam in honour of the President.

There is no flattery here but Sri Lankans who came to attend the reception from several cities in the US were appreciative of the way the President mingled with them.

With their cameras out many Sri Lankan children reached out to their leader. He embraced them with warmth. It was a simple affair with the staff of the mission serving food and making it a homely affair.

Many Sri Lankans came up to Minister Douglas Devananda and told him that they considered him a hero. They were Tamils, Muslims and Sinhalese. Yes, any democratic Tamil who is standing up to the LTTE is a hero.

Today, I have spared the UN chaps in Colombo because I read in' The Island' about their meeting to face the media and the Government. It is time they invite Angelina Jolie back to Sri Lanka.

There is more to write, more to say. But!!! , Shhhhhhhhh the US Secret Service may be watching over my computer. They may be already angry with me for writing about the painted Special Dogs.