That Scoundrel Krishantha Cooray

 

There’s a social media post doing the rounds about Krishantha Cooray. Posted by some individual named Sachin Rathwatte, it is indeed a class act in defamation, not least of all because of the author’s anonymity. The term ‘keyboard veeraya’ comes to mind.

Sachin (I assume it is a man) bases his account on ‘investigative social media platforms’ which he is aware of.

The opening statement (translated here, as are other claims; note: there’s a bit of transliteration to capture essence) is fair enough: ‘there are scoundrels who control governments who have never received a vote from innocent people of this country and who (no one) has ever heard of.’ The rest is of course a load of rubbish, but this intro is classic. It reminds one of the late JVP leader Rohana Wijeweera’s go-to speech-openings where he trots out a whole bunch of known facts such as the name and length of the longest river, the name and height of the tallest mountain, Sri Lanka being an island whose coordinates are such and such, etc., etc., the having established thus that he is not being dishonest, proceeds to utter absolute nonsensical analysis of all things under the sun.

Sachin is correct: ‘such scoundrels should be exposed before society.’  Then he jumps to Krishantha Cooray. There’s some speculation painted as fact (for which no evidence has been provided), for example that ‘he is THE closest friend of President Anura Kumara Dissanayake,’ that ‘[he] wields more power than the prime minister or the cabinet of ministers,’ and ‘[he] is the captain of the government’s business deals.’

Then he proceeds to ‘expose.’

Krishantha is a Cooray, correct. He has family in Payagala, but I know nothing of his alleged connections to what Sachin calls ‘The Panadura Coorays.’ He is by birth a Catholic. Correct. Not any more, says Sachin but fails to back up the claim. Krishantha keeps his faith private. In any case, that’s nobody’s business.

Sachin says, ‘like others who love the role of king-maker (e.g. Thusitha Haloluwa), Krishantha grew up under the watchful eyes of Mangala Samaraweera.’ Rubbish. Krishantha is a political activist who, apart from the time he was in the UNP’s Working Committee, has a record of working tirelessly for candidates or parties of his preference during elections. Like all such activists, he would want his candidate to win. If that is all it takes to deserve the king-maker title, he is but one of several millions. Anyway, Krishantha and Halloluwa are not names one can speak in the same breath. Let me leave it at that. Krishantha was a close friend of Mangala’s but he was no acolyte. If indeed he had a political guru it was Lalith Athulathmudali who was assassinated way back in 1993!  

So yes, he was Mangala’s buddy, which by the way is no crime. I’ve known Krishantha since 2005 and I know for a fact that he was no friend of Mangala or anyone associated with the SLFP or the coalitions that party led. When Krishantha was appointed as the founder CEO of Rivira Media Corporation, Mangala and Krishantha were in two different political camps. That friendship came later. Sachin and the ‘investigative’ social media outfits could have done better with background research.

Sachin claims that it was when he was in newspapers (‘while being with Mangala’ which is a falsehood), that Krishantha first met Harry Jayawardena and, ‘because he was fluent in English and had cultivated powers of persuasion (both correct),’ he had ‘joined Harry.’  

Sachin claims that Harry had got into hot water over some tax issue in the period 2001-2003 and that it was Krishantha who intervened on his behalf. This is toilet wash. Rivira relentlessly attacked Harry and Rivira was established only in 2005. The two became friends much later when Krishantha was forced to leave the country because of threats on his life. Sachin claims that Harry handed over the task of handling media to Krishantha who is supposed to have ensured that nothing adverse to Harry would be published in newspapers (which at the time was the most powerful and dangerous form of media) and that he was handsomely paid for the same. Again, speculation. No evidence.  Other claims are similarly unsubstantiated. Irresponsible one has to conclude but then again the likes of Sachin are clearly unmoved about ethics related to media. Or even general conduct.

During the Yahapalanaya years, Krishantha was indeed the Chairman of both Hilton Colombo and Lake House (or rather ANCL), Sachin is correct. Whether this was due to Krishantha’s friendship with Mangala, I do not know. Again, not illegal and neither was it inappropriate. Krishantha’s credentials in management are way above those of most who held such posts before him and since.

In all the years I have known Krishantha I have not once heard of a ‘friendship’ or a ‘strong friendship’ as Sachin puts it between him and Tiran Alles or Dhammika Perera. If Sachin feels that Krishantha is answerable to alleged wrongdoing perpetrated by either of them, first he has to establish wrongdoing and then prove that Krishantha was or is a part of it. Sachin has not.

He has, on the other hand, spoken about Anura Kumara Dissanayake, at least as far back as the 2010 Presidential Election when both of them supported Sarath Fonseka. I have no evidence that he leveraged that friendship for personal gain or to throw his weight around in ministerial or administrative circles, if Sachin does, he should show. Or shut up.

What do I know of Krishantha Cooray? Our friendship began in 2005 when he invited me to be the Editor of the English paper that Rivira planned to launch. I declined, saying I don’t have the experience or knowledge. I served as Deputy Editor for less than a year and quit in not quite happy circumstances, but we remained friends.

Our preferred political outcomes never coincided. We have had and still have ideological differences. We have argued vehemently and essentially agreed that disagreement need not get in the way of friendship.

In all that he has done, as far as I know, Krishantha has been inspired mainly to serve the people of Sri Lanka, whether or not one agrees with him ideologically or politically. Malice is the last word I would associate with him.  I have known him long enough to know that Krishantha Cooray’s humanity is unmatched. Sachin is obviously unaware of the countless ways in which he has helped people in all manner of distress, total strangers included. He has always been steadfast in his loyalty to his friends. He has been incredibly generous and kind, often sacrificing family-time just to be with a close friend in his greatest hour of need. I can’t think of anyone who has gone to the lengths Krishantha has to stand by his friends and despite his obvious rank ignorance, even Sachin would know how Krishantha put his own life at risk when Keith Noyahr was abducted and tortured.

Of course, logically, it is quite possible that there is a dark side to Krishantha that I am unaware of. If indeed such is the case then the likes of Sachin should come out with fact. And show their faces too, I might add.

Krishantha expresses his opinions and has the decency and integrity to put his name to what he writes. 

It is ironic how often he comes under attack when he has never hidden behind others or resorted to attacking people personally. Regardless, Sachin and his ilk would be challenged to come up with one instance when he, Krishantha, has engaged in character assassination, personal vendettas or dirty tactics.

 Sachin, obviously a fake-name, is different. Sachin and/or the people tossing around these unsubstantiated claims as though they are facts established beyond a shadow of doubt are clearly cowardly, ill-willed and, going by the language in the article and in the comments, uncivilised. What’s their problem? Jealousy? Ill-breeding? We don’t know. If they were to come out in the open and say these things, one might even forgive their uncultured behaviour. Maybe they lack the whatnots to do this. Hiding behind fake-profiles is usually the preferred modus operandi of people who are ignorant, malicious and cowardly. Scoundrel is a good descriptive for such people.

We live in a world of scoundrels. Krishantha is not one. The person who calls himself Sachin Rathwatte or the unholy collective that find the name a convenient shield? Well, he/they would have to work hard and long to shed that tag.