Generations of Sri Lankan leaders have sought guidance from seers and astrologers, and now one has dared tell the ruling Rajapaksa family that their time in office is up.
As politicians find their homes besieged by large and resentful crowds, incensed over months of fuel shortages and lengthy blackouts, spiritual advisers have also found themselves under pressure. Images of soothsayers standing alongside top administration figures have been shared on social media by protesters calling on them to urge Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to stand down.
One of the most prominent among them has already broken ranks with the government. The long-time personal astrologer of Sri Lankan Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa — the president’s elder brother — this week said the economic crisis signaled the downfall of a clan that has dominated Sri Lanka’s affairs for much of the past two decades.
Photo: AFP
“This is the end of the entire Rajapaksa family,” Sumanadasa Abeygunawardena said.
The fortune-teller’s reputation took a hit in 2015 after he suggested Mahinda Rajapaksa call an early election that the leader lost — but his latest prediction is more emphatic.
“Even a grade two child knows today that the Rajapaksas are doomed,” he said.
Photo: AFP
Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Sri Lanka’s army chief are also known to have had a long association with a fortune-teller in the historic Buddhist center of Anuradhapura.
Local media have reported that the president makes regular pilgrimages to meet with Gnana Akka, and claimed she had a considerable role in shaping the government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
A group of protesters clashed with police this month as they attempted to storm a shrine belonging to the seer, who fled after officers tipped her off to the crowd’s impending arrival.
Gnana Akka’s influence also extended to several other top politicians, said newspaper columnist Kusal Perera, who quipped that the prophet’s powers had apparently not granted her advance warning of the protest.
“How can Gnana Akka protect the president when she is unable to protect herself?” he said.
Astrology is widely practiced in Sri Lanka, and people commonly consult seers before building new homes, entering into contracts or scheduling weddings. Political addresses to the nation and the inauguration of new parliament sessions are also usually held at auspicious times.
Former military commanders have even reported that timings of military actions in Sri Lanka’s long civil war were decided by astrologers, who were also consulted to coin codenames for operations.
The Rajapaksa brothers are only the latest in a long tradition of Sri Lankan leaders balancing otherworldly advice with that of technocrats and civil servants.
Former Sri Lankan president Ranasinghe Premadasa used a magic ritual to ward off his impending impeachment in 1991, according to a tell-all book by Vijaya Palliyaguruge, who at the time was the parliament’s sergeant-at-arms, the officer maintaining order.
A sorcerer was tasked with juicing limes and spreading the liquids on the seats of lawmakers to ensure their support of the leader.
Premadasa survived the attempt to topple him, but his reliance on the occult did not protect him from his assassination two years later in a suicide bomb attack by a member of the Tamil Tigers separatist movement.
The political elite’s consultation of shamans and seers is not a phenomenon unique to Sri Lanka. The diminutive mystic “ET” — a moniker apparently inspired by her resemblance to the eponymous Steven Spielberg character — advised members of Myanmar’s military, who were rumored to have relocated the country’s capital in 2005 based on astrological guidance.
Former US first lady Nancy Reagan was also known to consult an astrologer to plan her husband’s schedule while he served in the White House.
Even with Sri Lanka seething over mismanagement of the economic crisis and allegations of graft, human rights advocate and former newspaper editor Victor Ivan said the government was unlikely to abandon its faith in supernatural guidance.
“The leaders know that they have done a lot of wrong,” he said. “Shamans and sorcerers provide them a way of redemption — that is why these people are held in such veneration by our politicians.”
FEROCIOUS FISH-EATER Scientists have found a new species of dinosaur from the Cretaceous Period, a ‘hell heron’ that stalked the rivers, deep in the Saharan desert At a remote Sahara desert site in Niger, scientists have unearthed fossils of a new species of Spinosaurus, among the biggest of the meat-eating dinosaurs, notable for its large blade-shaped head crest and jaws bearing interlocking teeth for snaring fish. It prowled a forested inland environment and strode into rivers to catch sizable fish like a modern-day wading bird — a “hell heron,” as one of the researchers put it, considering it was about 12 meters long and weighed 5-7 tons. The dinosaur presented a striking profile on the Cretaceous Period landscape of Africa some 95 million years ago as it hunted
Heavy rain and strong winds yesterday disrupted flights, trains and ferries, forcing the closure of roads across large parts of New Zealand’s North Island, while snapping power links to tens of thousands. Domestic media reported a few flights had resumed operating by afternoon from the airport in Wellington, the capital, although cancelations were still widespread after airport authorities said most morning flights were disrupted. Air New Zealand said it hoped to resume services when conditions ease later yesterday, after it paused operations at Wellington, Napier and Palmerston North airports. Online images showed flooded semi-rural neighborhoods, inundated homes, trees fallen on vehicles and collapsed
‘COST OF DEFECTION’: Duterte’s announcement could be an effort to keep allies in line with the promise of a return to power amid political uncertainty, an analyst said Philippine Vice President Sara Duterte yesterday announced she would run for president of the Southeast Asian nation of 116 million in 2028. Duterte, who is embroiled in a bitter feud with Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr, was impeached last year only to see the country’s Supreme Court throw the case out over procedural issues. Her announcement comes just days before her father, former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte, begins a pretrial hearing at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in the Netherlands over crimes against humanity allegedly committed as part of a brutal crackdown on drugs. “I offer my life, my strength and my future
NOT YET THERE: While the show was impressive, it failed to demonstrate their ability to move in unstructured environments, such as a factory floor, an expert said Dancing humanoid robots on Monday took center stage during the annual China Media Group’s Spring Festival Gala, China’s most-watched official television broadcast. They lunged and backflipped (landing on their knees), they spun around and jumped. Not one fell over. The display was impressive, but if robots can now dance and perform martial arts, what else can they do? Experts have mixed opinions, with some saying the robots had limitations and that the display should be viewed through a lens of state propaganda. Developed by several Chinese robotics firms, the robots performed a range of intricate stunts, including martial arts, comedy sketches and choreographed
RSS