Broad daylight robbery of a project that was never theirs

A casual passerby on the road could not hold back his sheer exasperation, questioning whether the man at the helm had completely lost his senses. When pressed for an explanation, the stranger let loose a torrent of frustration, insisting that open fraud was taking place in plain sight and that the leadership clearly views the public as utterly gullible fools.

His outrage stemmed wholly from the previous evening's broadcast, pointing out the shameless fabrications, blatant conceit, and stage-managed inquiries orchestrated on state television. That heated encounter was the exact catalyst that prompted a viewing of the broadcast in question.

Fabricating ownership from the living room window

The frustrated citizen was correct. The core spectacle revolved around an audacious attempt to hijack credit for the Thilamalé Bridge and rebrand it as a personal triumph. Even though the whole venture was launched under the preceding administration, the narrative was spun to convince citizens that it was solely his. Grand tales were told about observing construction milestones right from a residential window, accompanied by dramatic rhetoric about workers driving pillars into the sea and heavy cranes swinging into action.

The performance went further, boasting of top-level talks with the Indian Prime Minister, the establishment of a joint bilateral task force to speed up progress, and claims of tireless dedication from the very first day in office. With sweeping eloquence, the audience was told that this initiative received supreme focus, matching the round-the-clock vigilance supposedly given to the country's earlier crossing. To an oblivious foreign spectator unaware of local realities, such smooth salesmanship might seem peerless. He delivered the whole routine with a knowing grin and shameless composure.

Unearthing uncomfortable truths and exiled witnesses

While ignoring such absurdity was the initial intention, the line of tolerance has been thoroughly crossed. Silence on the Thilamalé crossing would be far wiser, because digging into this topic will only turn up buried mess, and traditional wisdom warns against blabbering until total exposure is achieved.

There is no need to rehash the original timeline of the construction here. Anyone genuinely curious about how the work advanced back then should simply summon the individual currently stationed in Japan and demand the facts. That official could still provide a crystal-clear account, and despite shifting his tune to match his current perks, the old video records remain indelible.

The plain reality under the sun is that everybody already knows this project had zero connection to the current leadership.

From diplomatic snubs to desperate reversals

The insistence on having fast-tracked the crossing through personal engagement with the Indian Prime Minister is nothing short of comical. Memory seems to have vanished regarding the early presidential voyage to China, the green lights collected during that honeymoon phase, and the subsequent barrage of insults aimed at New Delhi from every conceivable angle.

The loud defiance regarding regional bullies, the dismissive rhetoric about backyards, and treatment of India that was lower than common sea catch have apparently slipped the official mind.

Maintaining an aloof, arrogant posture and refusing to even look toward the Indian leadership at that juncture makes current claims of early diplomacy completely farcical. By the time circumstances forced a desperate retreat into that very same Indian embrace, everyone was already fully aware of the bridge's true stage of completion.

Missing lanes of past glory

The justification used to assert total personal command over the venture, claiming non-stop, day-and-night monitoring modeled after the previous bridge, is equally laughable. The public remembers precisely how that earlier crossing was overseen. Two entire lanes featured in the original blueprints vanished into thin air upon final delivery.

Every traveler who navigates that route continues to suffer daily gridlock and inconvenience from those missing lanes, despite public funds paying for them in full. Boasting about an obsessive focus at home and in the office under such circumstances only invites pure public disdain. Dropping this narrative is strongly advised, if only to avoid whatever explosive reaction might come from Yameen upon hearing such tall tales.

The inevitable reckoning of daylight deceit

No matter how many spins are placed on the narrative, reality remains stubbornly unchanged from start to finish.

Darkness cannot be rebranded as daylight, and merely broadcasting words does not guarantee people will swallow them.

Perpetrating such blatant falsehoods under the open sun will only ensure the army of detractors keeps multiplying.