In the aftermath of the Mullaitivu triumph, the rewind button set to Shakespeare could draw attention to a collage of the Bard's relevant insights.

Henry VI ( in Part Three) reflected on the nature and vagaries of war, "Now sways it this way, like a mighty sea/ Forced by the tide to combat with the wind;/ Now sways it that way, like the self-same sea/ Forced to retire by the fury of the wind./ Sometimes the flood prevails, and then the wind;/ Now one the better, then another best;/ Both tugging to be victors, breast to breast,/ Yet, neither conqueror or conquered;/ So is the equal poise of this fell war."

President Rajapakse, on his election, was deeply disturbed about the carnage and destruction of a civil war that he inherited. So was Shakespeare's Henry IV (in Part One.) "So shaken as we are, so wan with care,/ Find we a time for frighted peace to pant/ And breathe short-winded accents of new broils/ To be commenced in strands far remote?/ No more, the thirsty entrance of this soil/ Shall daub her lips with her own children's blood./ No more, shall trenching war channel her fields,/ Nor bruise her flowers with armed tanks/ Of hostile paces. Those opposed eyes,/ Which, like the meteors of a troubled heaven,/ All of one nature, of one substance bred,/ Did lately, meeting in the intestine shock/ And furious close of civil butchery, /Shall now, in mutual and well-beseeming ranks,/ March all one way and be no more opposed/ Against acquaintance, kindred and allies./ The edge of war, like an ill- sheathed knife,/ No more shall cut his master."

To do so, the President needed to find a Commander whose job description was, "a soldier,/ Full of strange oaths and bearded like the pard,/ Jealous in honour, sudden and quick in quarrel,/ Seeking the bubble reputation/ Even in the cannon's mouth." (As You Like It) He found one, after delving deep into the ranks, a commander unburdened with principles, ruthless and savage in gaining his military objectives. This Commander achieved the military objectives set for him by his Commander-in- Chief with a final closure in Mullaitivu.

Coriolanus

Shakespeare's Coriolanus, returning home from a similar victory over the Volscians, met a situation where "All tongues speak of him and the enraptured sights/ Are spectacles to see him: your prattling nurse/ Into a rapture, lets her baby cry/ While she chats him: the kitchen maid pins/ Her richest brocade about her straining neck/ Clambering the walls to see him; balconies, windows/ Are smothered up, all space fill'd and ridges mann'd / With variable complexions, all agreeing/ In earnestness, to see him." (Coriolanus.)

On the Mullaitivu military hero's return, following his successful campaign, kiributh was distributed generously, sweets shared with abandon, varied fragrances wafted in the air and a carnival atmosphere prevailed. The cruelty of war visited on the hapless Mullaitivu civilian population, "where each new morn,/ New widows howl, new orphans cry, new sorrows/ Strike in the face," (Macbeth) was forgotten in the euphoria.

The Mullaitivu military campaign was like that conducted by another war hero- General Sherman- on the secessionist South of the United States seeking its own Eelam, or, that conducted by another war general- Julius Caesar- who unleashed his Centurions on the Gauls. Both these generals however, while killing the insurgent leaders, never touched their families- wives, children, even ten year olds.

Julius Caesar

Julius Caesar, candid about his atrocities in his book Gallic Wars, had no occasion to crow- to wild applause- about his family decimation initiatives. Shakespeare, in Macbeth, relates a similar massacre of the family of an insurgent leader, "your castle was surprised, your wife, children, pretty ones,/ And servants, all that could be found- slaughtered./ To relate the manner of these murdered deer,/ would add to the death."

There were two occasions of the triumphant doing away the entire family of their defeated opponents. One was when the communists, after the October Revolution of 1917, shot the entire Czarist Romanov family including babies, the other, was when coupists did away with the entire family and extended family of the Father of Bangladesh- Mujib Rahman. (One escaped as she was abroad. She is now the Prime Minister of that country.)

The moral of the story is that- in these days of deconstructed relativistic moralities, where decencies are derided- at least one member of the ruling family should be ever abroad, to continue its legitimate mandate, if anything untoward were to happen. In the Mullaitivu scenario, the insurgent leader's wife, a daughter- a medical doctor, a son- a qualified aero engineer and a ten year old son- waving the white flag of surrender- were shot dead. Compassion (karuna) was sorely amiss.

Henry V

In history, before encounters like Mullaitivu take place, there would have been inspiring calls to battle; these are soul-stirring and stiffen the blood. One was Henry V's speech at Agincourt. "If we are marked to die, we are enough/ To do our country loss; and, if to live,/ The fewer men, the greater share of that honour./ He that hath no stomach to fight,/ Let him depart. His visa will be given,/ And money for travel put into his purse;/ We shall not die in that man's company,/ That fears his fellowship to die with us./ He that outlives this day and comes safe home,/ Will stand on tip toe when this day is named,/ And rouse him at the call of his name./He that shall live this day and see old age/ Will, yearly on this vigil, feast his neighbours,/ Strip his sleeves and show his scars/ And say "these wounds I had on this day."/ He will remember with advantage,/ What feats he did that day. Then, our names/ Will be in their flowing cups, freshly remembered,/ We few, we happy few, we a band of brothers./ For, he today that sheds his blood for me,/ Shall be my brother./ And gentlemen now abed, shall think themselves accursed that they were not here,/ And hold their manhoods cheap/ Whilst any here speaks that they fought with us this day."

War heroes, once their military job description is met, withdraw into civilian anonymity, disdaining crossing the Rubicon for political office, though regretting loss of military perks, like getting their bulls eye with the yolk dead centre, failing which, an assault on the Batman was in order, not roaring examples of Right Action (samma-kammanta). In civvy street, the finiteness of time hits them and their status of being reduced to a two of clubs, is deeply resented. They also have to forego the many Droits de Commandeur.

Eisenhower

Some examples of those who successfully adjusted to civvy life and pursued second careers in Right Livelihood (samma-ajiva) are MacArther, Zhukov, Patton. Montgomery. Two exceptions of generals who later crossed the Rubicon were Eisenhower and de Gaulle. But neither of them ventured into immediate political life- capitalising on their recently war-gained public acclamation- by challenging their former Commander's-in Chief.

Eisenhower did not contest Truman at the next election (1948) as Truman had been his C-in-C: Truman had selected Eisenhower to be the supreme commander, overlooking a number of Eisenhower's seniors. Eisenhower contested the following election (1952) which Truman did not wish to contest it. (Today's equivalent would be to contest in 2016, which, his much older C-in-C would be unable, because of term limits).

Gratitude is an endearing human quality. Without it, as Shakespeare said in Julius Caesar "judgement would flee to brutish hearts." In the case of de Gaulle, he waited fifteen patient years before stepping into political life- to wide popular acclaim- then overturning the existing Constitution ( Fourth Republic) and creating a new one ( Fifth Republic), the model for the Sri Lankan Constitution. 2016 could also have been such an occasion for the triumphant military hero of Mullaitivu. But impatience and lack of political judgement cursed it otherwise

To take on one's benefactor, one's boss and one, who is much older, is not Right Effort (samma-vayama). It is offensive to all values of the East. It is like contesting one's father because of a petty family squabble. A fresh reading of the Sigalovadaya would be instructive.

Rubicon

The one who literally crossed the Rubicon was Julius Caesar. After having beaten the Gauls, he wished to overturn the Roman Republic, through a coup d'etat. It was thwarted by his close friends, who "did not love him less but loved Rome more." (Julius Caesar). A successful effort by a military leader was Napoleon, who, noting the chaos to which the French Revolution had descended, captured State power with a "wiff of grapeshot." (Such a coup is termed Bonapartism.)

A charge of a short-cut to power was laid against the Mullaitivu hero, an allegation hotly denied by him. Coriolanus, despised the democratic route to power through People's approval " to brag unto them, 'thus I did and thus!'/ Show them unaching scars which I should hide,/ As if I had receiv'd them for hire/ Of their breath only." Those who were in power, having read principles of Bonapartism closely, and loving the Sri Lankan Republic, took pre-emptive steps when a coup attempt was divined. India placed her Southern Command on high alert, thereby warning any potential Bonapartists of dire consequences. Following on these steps, close associates of the putative Bonapartists were sidelined or defanged.

It would have been an act of supreme irresponsibility, if these decisions had not been taken, whether the cause for it was valid or no, for, this positive decision safeguarded the lively democracy which is Sri Lanka. The 1962 coup attempt was a touch-and-go affaire. If it had succeeded, Sri Lanka would have anticipated Pinochet of Chile, facing and suffering the consequences to her democracy.

Shakespeare's Julius Caesar spells out the series of events which would have taken place had a coup been successful. Though Julius Caesar could not carry through his Bonapartist intentions, as he was assassinated before implementing his plans, his nephew- Augustus- succeeded in the venture of boulversing the Roman Republic. There is a chilly scene in Julius Caesar where the triumvirate, who organised the success, sits round a table to casually decide who should be on the hit-list to be`liquidated. (It reminds one of the manner Stalin, also round a table and a cocktail, ticked off those who were to be purged). Being friends with the triumvirate did not assure survival.

Macbeth

(In Shakespeare's Macbeth, Banquo- Macbeth's best friend- was the first to be dispatched, by Macbeth, after he achieved his illegitimate ambition. In the dark world of conspirators, no one is sure who is on whose side.) A number of opponents were placed on the hit-list by Augustus' triumvirate including a hundred Senators- Roman Parliamentarians- among them being Cicero, whose works on the law and rhetoric are avidly studied even today. Professional and academic excellence nor reputation are any safeguard in the decimation that follows a coup propelled by ambition.

Shakespeare gives considerable thought to the nature of ambition, best dealt in his play Macbeth, one of the four great tragedies of his. Ambition is when determination gets out of hand, unhindered by morality. The ends justify the meanness. Ambition, once operationalised, expands- like an expanding universe- creating its own limits and- like a Black Hole- consumes everything within its event horizon. Macbeth is a brave man not naturally inclined to commit evil deeds but desperately wants power and succession. His ambition is roused by the predictions of witches, as could be in Sri Lanka by horoscope and anjanam readers, devil dancers, Indian God-Men and other sundry mumbo-jumboists.

Macbeth himself admits that " I have no spur/ To prick the sides of my intent, but only/ Vaulting ambition, which o'erleaps itself/ And falls on th' other." He starts by murdering his Commander-in-Chief, who had befriended him with love, affection and bestowed generous titles on him. On being crowned as Head, after this successful coup, Macbeth goes on a murder spree to safeguard his position. He is eventually deposed and killed. Sic transit gloria mundi- so passes away earthly glory. "As falls the dew on quenchless sands/ Blood only serves to wash ambition's hands." wrote Lord Byron.

In the Sri Lankan situation there was a triumvirate- the happy band of brothers Henry IV refers to- responsible for the war effort. The President took over financial and diplomatic responsibilities, building an unlikely coalition of allies- India with Pakistan, US with Iran, Israel with Palestine. His brother, took over policy making responsibilities. The Mullaitivu military hero, selected from below seniority, was given the military implementation responsibility and was accountable for all acts of omission, commission and abuse in operations

Mullaitivu

Each had a role and each played it synergistically, though the Mullaitivu military hero was out of depth in other areas, almost totally in the political arena. On one occasion, when the President was delicately wooing Indian support, the Mullaitivu military hero blurted out in public that "Indian politicians are all jokers." Right Speech (samma-vaca) was not his most marketable commodity. The Presidency is not an institution for learning-on-the-job.

War is not for the faint-hearted: death, injury and property destruction are part of it. There is also a concept of a just war. Many earlier commanders were conscious of their responsibility to minimise deaths and injury- by just acts for a just war- but in the case of the Mullaitivu military hero, the primary objective was to achieve the goal, irrespective of the toll both on his troops and the civilian population. Reservations have been expressed whether sufficient care and attention were given to minimising human death and suffering. The Jury is out.

When the true history of this period is written, those who celebrated the Mullaitivu occasion with brio may have reservations, as happened in the aftermath of 1983. The hero of that occasion, if remembered at all, is with contempt. The 1983 consequences are felt even today, as the unjust aspects of the Mullaitivu episodes would, for years to come.

As usual Shakespeare has the last word. These events and actions are universal, not specific to Sri Lanka or Sri Lankan personalities. They have happened in other countries and to other power elites. They happen today and will continue to happen. As Shakespeare asked in Julius Caesar "How many ages hence/ Shall, this our lofty scene, be acted over/ In States unborn and accents unknown?"

(Jolly Somasundram (macsoma@gmail.com) is a writer, whose novel Macbeth Daggers was shortlisted for the Grataien Award.)