THESE PEOPLE!

The wickedest place in hell they say is reserved for hypocrites. In these opinion spaces, we do not wish fire and brimstone anybody, let alone the self-important and the nauseatingly self-righteous. But Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga, and her loyally genuflecting serf Harim Peiris, are so hilariously hypocritical these days, that even the gatekeepers of hell would blush and turn them back, saying there is no place in their Kingdom that can house hypocrites as extreme and egregious as these.

Lakshman Hullugalle on Tuesday released the book Lakshman which details the Gestapo rule of Chandrika Kumaratunga and her handpicked PSD hit-men such as the late and unlamented Beddegana Sanjeeva. Kumaratunga pursued her perceived enemies such as Hullugalle with a zeal that bordered on the compulsive, and she did so with scant respect for the basics of common human decency, leave alone rule of law.

The state media was deployed seven hours straight, to vilify one man, because Kumaratunga wanted to hijack his investment and transfer it to one of her blue eyed boys. The PSD thugs corporation was unleashed in the meanwhile to complete the job begun by the state media.

That was Chandrika Kumaratunga's idea of the rule of law, and this had the good governance stamp of approval of Chandrika's general factotum, Harim Peiris.

Today, there are calls to bring to account these persons who interpreted rule of law in this unique way. The passage of time they say, does not blunt the pain of the victim. The offenders are alive, and if those that abused the powers of office are not held to account, what faith would people have for the rule of law that Chandrika Kumaratunga and her hurrah boy seems to be so concerned about these days?

If Harim Peiris and Chandrika Kumaratunge ever wondered why the masses have not taken up their cry about the absence of any mass market for the particular brand of propaganda they peddle these days about rule of law issues, it is not because the people are indifferent, or that they are careworn and preoccupied.

It's on the other hand, because when they hear these voices from the past, they double down and crack-up with laughter. These are people who neither respected the civil and political rights of the people, or their economic rights.

Chandrika Kumaratunga's record of real achievements that impacted on the economy during her tenure, are inversely proportional to the bombast of Harim Peiris, the man who blows out hot air from his oral orifice at 100 kilometers per hour, despite the slowness induced by his rather constipated gait.

In this way, these people are a perfect fit for the new rat pack of 'liberals' and NGO men in the global UN agency arena for instance. Such NGO-niks would attempt to enforce so called civil and political rights in member nations, when the people in the UN member countries they focus on, such as Sri Lanka for example, call for better lives -- not greater rights.

But economic rights are not on the agenda of UN organizations. The economy, and the people's desire for better lives was the last thing on the minds of the Kumaratunge administration also, which did nothing in terms of infrastructure development -- nothing for industry and growth.

It was of course all part of the Horagolla feudal mindset -- keep the people down and therefore subjugated, but hector them with patronizing tracts about 'rights' and 'freedoms' which were of course not granted either in the bargain, ask Lakshman Hullugalle's daughter about that.

In the parlance of the lobby room fan base of Harim and Chandrika, they 'sucked'. We shall not be so unkind to bandy about this same terminology - but certainty the Harim-Chandrika set were Spectacularly Unable (and they) Comprehensively Kept Everybody Down, and that's putting it respectably.

It is good that the more sordid side of their directionless and disastrous twelve years, is coming under the spotlight with exposes such as those of Lakshman Hulugalle's. Hullugalle is certain that his narrative is unassailable, one reason being that what he exposes are in the main, known facts, that are preserved on the court record. No amount of Harim brand hooey or hot air will be able to diffuse the stench emanating from the ex-HE's, and her ('ha ha ha') HA's sordid past.