Pleasant surprises, sinister events ‘boggle the mind’

At the first sitting of the 10th Parliament on 21 November -a star-studded event the public witnessed in Parliament, a wide array of academically qualified members entered the House. Quite in contrast to occasions when members of the House which at times, brought its standing to the level of St. John’s Fish Market. 
Among the many pleasant surprises we witnessed that day was the simplicity of the event. Leading the way was newly elected President Dissanayake himself. Unlike his predecessors, he did not await the arrival of security guards to open the door of his vehicle to step out. Rather he opened the door himself and stepped out.  
There was no long line of security vehicles lined up before him or behind him. Nor were ‘we the people’ -persons whose common mode of transport is public omnibuses- which carry passengers cramped like sardines in a tin can, angered by the sight of long rows of luxury vehicles which transported our ‘so-called servants’ to and fro.  

The day had its funny moments as well. We saw an MP from the Opposition seat himself in the place normally reserved for the Leader of the Opposition. He refused to leave when requested by staff members of parliament. The MP claimed custom had it, an MP could seat him/herself whereever he/she wanted to. 
And so it was, we witnessed the Leader of the Opposition sit at the corner of the front row because of the actions of the MP who by the way, is a new Member of Parliament. The MP concerned has a history of standing up to injustice even among members of his own chosen profession. 
Perhaps, if the MP is correct in his claim regarding seating in the House it may encourage MPs to arrive at Parliament in a timely manner in the future. 
Lankans also witnessed an unusual spectacle, where a political party in the Opposition cried foul over the acceptance of a particular Member of Parliament via its ‘National List’.  
November 21 also produced a number of other shocks. The Colombo Magistrate issued a warrant for the arrest of a former Member of Parliament, who was also a former Minister.  
But the warrant for the arrest of our ex Minister was completely overshadowed by the warrant for the arrest of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Minister of Defence Yoav Gallant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC). 
The ICC formally charged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Secretary Yoav Gallant with War Crimes and Crimes against Humanity in the Israeli genocide in Gaza. The ICC action is stunning, in that it has been issued in defiance of the United States which has opposed the move.  
During its ongoing military operation in Gaza Israel has cut off water, medical and food supplies to Palestine’s Gaza Strip. According to the World Health Organization (WHO) in December 2023 there have been 164 attacks against healthcare centres in Palestine’s Gaza Strip since 7 October 2023.   
The Palestinian Ministry of Health says more than 44,700 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks and thousands more are buried under rubble. Over 104,008 have been injured. According to the United Nations, 1.9 million people were displaced in Gaza as of October 2024 out of a population of 2.2 million people. 
The US President Joe Biden criticised the charges, describing them on Thursday night as “outrageous”! Something here seems queer. The self-same US is pressing charges of War Crimes against Sri Lanka at the United Nations for deaths caused during the war against the Lankan group -Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. Yet, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in its January 10, 2008 report said that the LTTE is one of the most dangerous and deadly extremist outfits in the world.