The Island Editorial

Uncle Sam’s coulrophobia

26 September 2016

 

These are bad times for the US. It has managed to protect its nerve centres from terrorist strikes, but it has had to contend with micro terror attacks like pressure cooker bombs, shooting and stabbing incidents.

As if its gnawing fear of terrorist attacks and the unfortunate Hobson's choice awaiting it at the next presidential polls with the prospect of having to elect one of the two hopelessly bad candidates in the fray were not enough the US is now troubled by clowns, of all people. It is reported that many persons dressed as clowns have been sighted in different states of the US.

A wave of clown reports is said to have emanated from at least six states, giving the creeps to the ordinary public, especially parents and their little ones. These clowns are believed to lurk in lonely places to lure children. (American sugary drink and fast food manufacturers also use clowns to lure children by way of gimmicks, don’t they?) It was reported at the time of writing that the Kentucky police had arrested a youth roaming in a wooded area for being dressed as a clown.

The knee jerk reaction of the US law enforcement authorities to the reports of supposedly creepy clown sightings which have gone viral on the Internet has been to ban people from moving about in clown costumes. Anyone who defies this ban is liable to be arrested, the police have warned. We thought the US, which elected two members of a particular Texas family to rule the nation thereby allowing them to have their fingers on the nuclear button had no abnormal fear of clowns or coulrophobia.

The clown phobia in the US reminds us of the seldom seen but much feared local 'grease yaka' (or ‘devil daubed with grease’), which used to grab headlines and send a chill down many a spine a few years ago. There were reports in some parts of the country that people would remain indoors after nightfall not wanting encounters with the grease yaka. Some women swore blind, so to speak, that they had seen that devil, but there was no evidence to substantiate their claims. Unfortunately, two strangers were beaten to death in the hill country as they were suspected to be grease devils. Strangely, Sri Lankans feared an unseen yaka after electing far worse devils to represent them in the national legislature etc .

We have also had our share of evil-minded jokers like the one in Batman comics. They were a protected species under the previous government. A joker with a violent disposition from Kelaniya used to wreak havoc wherever he went with impunity. He controlled the nether world of crime and narcotics and was responsible for many a land grab. He rose above the law by playing the role of the court jester and licking his political bosses’ sandals and boots. There was another joker who also had a method in his madness. Hailing from Galle, he was also a pet of the then ruling clan. Both these jokers have now joined the incumbent government championing good governance!

Sadly, the US which used to be a role model for the rest of the world where freedom of choice and action were concerned is resorting to bans at the drop of a hat. It should learn from us how to suffer clowns gladly without going on a witch-hunt against them. We pay through the nose to maintain about 5,000 clowns at the national, provincial and local government levels; some of them meet on the ‘Lake Isle’ in Kotte, eat, fight and disperse. They may not be clad in clowns’ costumes as such, but their kapati suit is funny enough and they act like clowns during debates cloyingly. Anything they touch becomes a joke. The so-called national budget they passed for the current year is a case in point.