Monday Jul 21, 2008
Celebrated actress Anarkali Akarsha who was to marry young politician Duminda Silva in December says that if this is how politicians in our country conduct themselves, she would rather be a free ordinary citizen than the wife of a gun-wielding politician.

Alleging that Duminda Silva abducted her using machine gun wielding masked goons who were holding guns to her head and body and forcing  a pistol end down her mother's throat, Anarkali asks if this can happen to her, what is the plight of the common man on the streets who strives to fight with the political high and mighty in this country.

In an interview with The Sunday Leader, Akarsha speaks of her life with a young politician, his dreams and fantasies, and her nightmares.

Q: Why is your love story with Duminda Silva of public interest? Isn't the break up a personal matter?

A: My love story may be a personal matter, but the life of a politician is not personal. They lead public lives. They have come to their positions because of the public. A politician ought to be transparent. But not Duminda Silva. He has many skeletons in his cupboard. With him, what you see is not what you get. Therefore the public have a right to know the man behind the face and it is a matter of public interest.

I am glad that I ran away because if I had married him it would have been a disaster. He wanted to show everyone that everything was perfect, but it was not. He used to brag that he had taken several leading film stars to bed and then 'dumped them.' He made me promise that if we ever break up, I must tell everyone that Duminda Silva dropped me.

But that is not the case. I dropped him because he is a psychopath. Wikipedia describes a psychopath as a person who commits violent crimes but yet does not learn from past mistakes, that definition is for him and such a person should not be allowed to hold public office. That is why I decided to go public.

He used to be all smiles outside, but when behind closed doors, he used to flare up. There have been instances when he used to throw me on the ground and slap me and bang my head on the floor. One day he tried to push me off the flat to the ground.

One day I ordered a cup of tea. But the tea was not made to my liking so I called the steward again and asked him to bring me another cup. After he came the second time, Duminda Silva was livid, he asked me whether I was sleeping with the steward. He got violent making life unbearable for me. I ordered the tea because I was suffering from flu. This is the kind of concern Duminda Silva showed me.

The public have a right to know what kind of politicians are in store for them in the future so that they can make a sound choice. The public thinks that these are the people who will build the country. How can Duminda Silva develop the country when his own personality needs development?

He could not accept the fact that I had left him; and leaving him was not easy. He had his bodyguards around me. They would follow me wherever I went. When I went for the filming of  Anarkali Live to Derana, his goons would come with me in the van. I was not allowed to talk to crew members, I had to have my lunch inside the van. If I went to the toilet, the bodyguards used to stand outside. If I took long, they would knock on the door and ask me whether I am still inside.

When I was at home, there is this man who cooks and cleans for Duminda Silva called Neil. Neil is from Mulleriyawa and he is on medication. He used to come into the room to see what I was doing. I was not allowed to close the door of the room.

The public ought to know that Duminda Silva is not the pleasant face that they see on posters. He is suspicious and he really does not know what he is talking about. Given his violent nature which I have personally experienced, I feel that he should not be around women and children. He used to hit me and in the next instance he used to tell me that so many women come to his office and these women are members of the public, and that he respects women!

Q: You had a love affair with him. You lived with him. Then why did you decide to leave him?  If he was so bad, why didn't you leave him earlier without complaining after all this happened?

A: If you love someone, you must make that person feel happy, feel secure and feel free. Today, I am living in fear. I had to 'uninvite' 300 people for my 21st birthday party which was on July 12. I had printed the invitations and I was ready to celebrate; but I have only been crying for as long as I can remember. 

 I had a love affair with him because I was charmed by him.  Yes, I admit I was in love with him and he was very nice to me initially. But later on, I became a possession, to be shown off to people.

I had thought of leaving him several times, but he had political power and manpower. I was a prisoner. It was like being locked up in a prison cell. I could not go anywhere. Even if I went shopping he would come with me. If I went somewhere alone I had to make a video call and show him where I was and what I was doing.

I wanted to leave, but I was in it - like in a web. He never let me speak to my friends. Never let my mother visit me. If ever I spoke to my mother it had to be on a speaker phone.

 He used to take me to Ampara and keep me in the vehicle. He never used to let me get off. If he asked me to come to Ampara or any other  place, I had to go. Duminda Silva never took 'no' for an answer.

When I go with him, the crowds were attracted to me and not to him. Men, women and children used to crowd around me. He was jealous and never let me get off the vehicle.

One day they crowded around the vehicle and I had to get off. Duminda Silva took the photographs that were taken at that time, cut me off from the picture and super imposed himself in the picture. So when the final photograph came, the crowd was around him and not around me. This is just like the doctored unsavory photographs showing me with various people that are now being sent via internet.

At first he was pleasant, but it was later that the real monster came out of the man. He never used to let me speak in Sinhalese. He never let me listen to songs of H.R. Jothipala who is one of my favourite singers.

Sometimes when we meet people he used to tell me 'Speak to that man, but don't speak to the other.' This became very awkward for me. When two people come home, how could one talk to one of them and not talk to the other?  But I did. Sometimes he used to tell me 'You can smile with that man, but just a little bit..' Dath tika okkama pennala hinaha wenna epa (Don't bear all your teeth and smile).

He used to get into different moods. But in many of those moods, though he never let me speak in Sinhalese he used obscene Sinhala words.

One day three Muslim boys called him Aiya and he got the devil into him, because he said he was a provincial councillor and no one can call him aiya and that they ought to call him Manthrithuma.

Q: But isn't he quite a Prince Charming? Isn't he a young, popular politician? Are you not attempting to destroy his political career?

A: That is what you think and that is what I too thought. If Duminda Silva goes to a meeting, before he goes on stage, he gets his goons to tell the announcers that he be called 'Wedima Manapa Gath Sapu Mal Kumaraya' (Prince Sapu Mal who got the greatest number of preference votes) and cheer as he enters the stage.

To add to that, he used to think he was Sapu Mal Kumaraya and called himself Sapu Mal Kumaraya. But in real life he was a Kalu Kumaraya. He also liked to be called Deshamanya Duminda Silva.

For him politics was walking around in a nice suit and being surrounded by his bodyguards and goons.

I really have my doubts about how he is going to be a great politician because he does not know what he is talking about. He has no vision - he says that his vision is 'to make the rich people poor and the poor people rich.' What on earth is that vision?

I studied in an international school from playgroup and found that he made daft statements. He would state the obvious in his speeches as 'this is the most crucial campaign because it will help you in the betterment of your lives,' but he could never say how.

He used to ask his brother what to say in his speeches and sometimes he used to ask me for my opinion, but I did not want to give him my views because they are my views and not his.

He is a Catholic, but for politics sake his sole interest was in helping the temples. One must help temples, but one must help the churches too. But not Duminda Silva. He used to help temples so that he can become popular.

I don't know about his popularity. But I do know that he used to bring all kinds of people home. One day when I questioned him about the 'questionable' characters that he keeps company with , he told me 'as a politician you have to keep company with the rich, the poor and the murderers too.'

I used to be so scared of the scary characters that he brought home. I was frightened that people like this might be carrying illegal stuff, maybe they will leave them in the apartment and that I may get arrested.

I really don't know how he can be popular. He used to say things about everybody. He was popular only in his own mind. He used to say "ooo mokedda, mama thamai manthri (who is he, I am the member).

He used to say that he is going to be the next president. He used to say that all the time.

Q. If he had an ambition to become the next president, what was his vision for the country. What was his chinthanaya?

A: Duminda Silva firmly believes that he is going to be the next president of this country. He used to tell me that those in the UNP and in the government are unfit to be president. He also says that both the UNP and the SLFP needed him because the public supported him more than they supported anyone else. He strongly believes that if he had his own political party, he would win. He used to say that if he contested there will be no competition with anyone be he in the UNP or SLFP - that he would win hands down.

And what after winning? Duminda Silva had his Chinthanaya for the country - the only item on his Chinthanaya was to legalise prostitution. He used to always tell me that he strongly wished to legalise prostitution.

If Duminda Silva became the president, we will all have to flee the country, leaving only the prostitutes behind. I say this with conviction because I have lived with him.

Q. Is this a mud slinging campaign? Are you driven by any political party? Is this a political onslaught?

A: This is not political. Why should I sling mud at him as I am also a member of the SLFP. And I was a member of the party before him. I am saying this because Duminda Silva is making public statements that I am politically slinging mud at him.

This is a warning to the general public.

Q. But he must have some leadership qualities, some winning ways to have won public support?

A: If Duminda Silva became the president of this country there will be nightclubs everywhere and guns everywhere.

He doesn't drink in public, but when he drinks at home he is so violent. How can such a person be a leader?

He thinks he is the best leader and is jealous of everyone. He was always very jealous of Ranjan Ramanayake and used to say that he (Duminda Silva) had a better body than Ranjan Ramanayake and that he (Duminda Silva) was more handsome than Ranjan Ramanayake.

To be a leader and to make laws one ought to abide by the laws. He never used to stop at a red light.  Duminda Silva and his goons and their back up vehicles always sped on the wrong side of the road.  One day he was stopped by police officers and he told them that he was Duminda Silva and that he was going to see President Mahinda Rajapakse, but he was not going to see the President, he was going to the gymnasium.

He used the President's name and Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapakse's name everywhere. If only they knew how he used their names to get things done!

If you meet him, he will be so nice to you. But get to know him and you will really know the real Duminda Silva.

Q: What are your future plans?

A: I plan to start a women's organisation and educate women based on my personal experience. There are many battered, bruised and traumatised women in this country, I will help them.

I am living in fear today. Duminda Silva seems to be getting away with everything because he is a politician. He has the guns, the men and the vehicles.

Q. Duminda Silva has said that you have taken a million rupees and that your mother asked him for 10 million to buy a house. Is that true?

A: We never needed to ask Duminda Silva for money. We lived in Rosmead Place and Ward Place. I went to CIS - an international school. We have everything.

On the contrary it is Duminda Silva who asks me for money. One day he asked me for Rs. 1 million and I did not give it to him. He did not speak to me for several days.

He says he has given me jewellery, but I have given him jewellery too. But I have never gone around telling people that I have given jewellery to Duminda Silva. I have never asked for that jewellery back. When one is in love, one gives gifts. Duminda Silva told me at the police station in early July that if I make an entry he will say that I robbed his money.

Our women go to the Middle East. They mop, clean, cook and look after children. Some of their employers hit them, burn them and rape them. Every injustice is heaped upon them, and when they run away, the employee makes an entry in the police station that the maid stole their money and ran away.

We do not need Duminda Silva's money, we are very comfortable on our own.

Duminda denies

When The Sunday Leader contacted Duminda Silva to get his side of the story, he said that he denies all the allegations made by Anarkali Akarsha.

Source: Sunday Leader
Author: Ranee Mohamed