This document provides a psychological and sociological analysis of the Grease Yaka phenomenon in Sri Lanka. It considers several possible explanations for the origin and spread of the event, including: 1) an isolated incident of an individual with paraphilic psychopathology that was blown out of proportion by media attention, triggering copycat behaviors in others with similar conditions; 2) political orchestration by groups hoping to gain from social unrest; and 3) actions by frustrated individuals or remaining separatist groups seeking to undermine reconciliation efforts. The document emphasizes the importance of preventing further social chaos over speculating about causes.

1. Grease Yaka – Psychology & Politics
With the presence of the recent social unrest over the absurd Grease Yaka phenomenon, one cannot help but look upon
this event with one’s own critical perspective. One’s own critical perspective is colored by his or her own beliefs,
vocation and life experience. But this is an attempt to critically analyze the psychological and sociological perspective of
this scenario,as objectively as possible, and hopefully provide a less biased perspective, casually but critically considering
the possibilities and interpretations.
In my attempt to understand the possible events and processes that triggered development of this phenomenon to its
current epidemic proportions, I hope to critically approach both the origin and its chaotic spread.
The phenomenon at hand is a peculiar set of affairs, involving individuals bathing themselves in grease, innovatively
hiding their identities and harassing women in the later hours. Such abnormal behaviors, if they are motivated primarily
by sexual desires, could be classified as a form of paraphilia, a diagnosis applied to individuals who experience sexual
arousal or gratification towards objects, situations or individuals that are not a part of a normative stimulation. Grease
may be a fetish, It could also be a “creative thief” with a strategy to hide identity or evade capture effectively.
In considering the origin of this menace, one possibility is thatthis is a sudden, unexpected but circumstantial spread of a
naturally-occurring, isolated event of a single individual with a paraphiliac psychopathology. A certain percentage of any
population shows suchabnormal or deviated sexual desires. Such pathological fantasies could be a result of an
underlying biological pathology, a maladaptive cognitive process, a repressed childhood instinct or an unresolved
unconscious conflict. Though a psychopathological condition is more likely, we could never rule out the possibility that
this could be an act of a sexually frustrated individual who is not necessarily mentally ill, but simply deviant.
The possibility I mentioned above would be the standard explanation, in terms of a psychiatric point of view, but what
needs to be explained is the social psychological perspective of the factors that blew this single isolated event out of
proportion to the degree that the entire country developed an irrational fear of a Grease Yaka within a few days.
In my point of view, it is the undue media attention given to an isolated event that catalyzed this event to a chaotic level.
Media has the right, and one may argue the duty, to report such events. It would be prejudistic to believe that the
attempt of all media was sinister. However, the reason we had Grease Yakas emerging all over the island could directly
be attributed to the undue attention and prominence given by the media.
The publicity given to this event would have triggered suppressed desires of individuals with a similar pathological
mindset. We should understand that the disgust, fear and embarrassment that the majority feels, reading such an
article, is not shared by individuals who have paraphiliac fantasies. In their already pathological mind set, reading such
articles would make them imagine themselves in the position of the perpetrator, enjoying the pleasure they would have
gained. Thus, fantasizing upon the news reports could fuel illicit impulses; to the level they could overcome external
prohibitions. This might result in a significant number of individuals exhibiting similar behaviors at the same time.This is
why media should have a policy of caution in reporting fringe news events about bizarre antisocial behavior.
If anyone wonders whether it is possible for so many such individuals to exist on the island, the answer is yes. Though a
proper study is not done anywhere in the world on the prevalence of paraphilliac behaviours, available evidence suggest
that these conditions may prevail in any population. But the dramatic and uncontrollable expression of behaviours
could be precipitated by certain social conditions. Lower socio economic classes in this country have limited ways of
discharging their sexual desires. In a society which is highlyconservative in terms of sexuality, the only way such desires
could be achieved would be through a legal marriage. The opportunities which other socioeconomic classes may enjoy,
such as casual relationships, are prohibited and looked down upon, due to cultural or religious reasons.

2. Symbolic satisfaction of such desires is also blocked, due to the prohibition of adults -only movies or pornography. Such
laws in reality affect the lower socio economic classes more, as the others may still have ways of getting their hands on
such materials. The pros and cons of banning pornography is a different debate, and law is more or less based on
cultural norms rather than facts or scientific evidence. As a psychologist, I believe that closing all avenues through which
an individual may discharge such impulses can lead to certain individuals resorting to antisocial behaviors. Here I do not
wish to justify such behaviors, but only wish to explain the nature of things.
It is also important to understand the reasons why media may get into a situation of giving prominence to such news.
Sinister agendas are a possibility, but the most likely reason is that media lacks “news”. Sri Lankan media depended
uponwar for more than 30 years. They always had a headline that carried war casualties, bomb reports or conspiracies.
Now the war is over and the media do not have such emotively-provoking news items. I’m sure there were many such
Grease Yaka level incidents during the time of war, but the media did not pay attention, and no reason to, either. Thus
such stories die without causing social chaos. One could say that they should publish developmentnews, such as that in
the North and East. But the ugly truth is that not many would buy a paper to read such news. One may assign this to the
animalistic nature of human, asserted by some schools of psychology.
Therefore the most likely and less controversial explanation one could gives is that this whole menace is a result of
some media’s out-of-proportion publicity of an isolated, naturally-occurring event that triggered copycat behaviors in
individuals with similar paraphillias, facilitated by certain unfortunate social conditions.
Another possibility, which is gaining popularity through rumors and tabloid media, is that this whole phenomenon is
orchestrated by a group who expects political advantages through its outcome. Such conspiracy theories may
necessarily attribute this phenomenon to either government or antigovernment factions. Though it is not my expertise
as a psychologist to analyze the political motives or political outcomes of such conspiracies, I cannot help critically
analyze such rumors as the outcome of the society believing such rumors would harm society and most importantly the
prevailing peace that I love and admire most as a citizen.
I would like to first analyze if this could be orchestrated by the government. The individuals who propose this possibility
base their conspiracy theory on a suggestion that the government planned to use the chaos resulting from this
phenomena to justify extending the emergency regulations that have come under severe criticisms by certain political
elements.Rationally analyzing, one would clearly see that the government could gain no justification to extend the
emergency through this scenario. The government would be in need to justify, if it wishes to do so, only to the
international community. Locally, the government is not in a desperate situation to justify the extension of emergency
to any local political element as they have maintained emergency regulations for the last several years, despite criticism
from the same elements. Thus the government attempting to convince local elements, all of a sudden, with such a
strategic, orchestrated phenomenon does not make sense.
If anyone argues that government thought of presenting a mythic Grease Yaka fear as the justification of such a law to
the international community, it would not only sound irrational but also hilarious. A government that has so far
managed more critical and grave diplomatic disputes, using better strategies, resorting tosuch petty back-firing
strategies to justify emergency regulations seems very unlikely.
Another possibility is that this was orchestrated by an antigovernment faction, within or outside the island. This type of
argument would suggest that by creating chaos and civil unrest within the community, such elements may attempt to
turn the public against the government. Another motive could be creating a false story that the government is using
military means to suppress civilians and international intervention is required to protect the rights of civilians.
If any party is interested in orchestrating such an operation,the current social climate would seem ideal to execute such
an ill-willed agenda. Sri Lanka is in a time of social transition. After suffering more than three decades of war, at the end

3. of the conflict the entire population had their hopes high for a better future, in terms of social and economic prosperity.
But the truth is that such achievements cannot happen overnight. Considering thirty years of bloody war, two years, in
fact, is overnight.
In situations where the public hope has elevated and then suddenly collapsed, it creates a sense of frustration among
the public, whether fair to the government or not. This relative deprivation, as it is called in social psychology, would
trigger social unrest and a frustrated public who would attribute any slightly unfavorable event to inadequacy
orincompetence of the government, independent of the truth. This kind of a situation could be used to pump ideas into
people, to believe that the government is incapable of protecting civilians, and later generalizing to a greater
extent to say that the government is incapable of anything. Thus anyone with a sinister motive of using such an
unfortunate social climate could think of achieving their political agenda by taking an isolated event and blowingit out of
proportion. If such an operation were in action or not is not within my power of investigation, thus should be handled by
the relevant authorities.
Another possibility is that this could be an attempt by certain sociopaths who are not necessarily government or anti-
government, but with some connection to either party. The same way the general public had elevated hopes, it is a
possibility that there were certain individuals or groups of individuals who expected to benefit from the drastic political
and socio-economic changes following the end of the conflict. The truth is that not everyone is able to achieve their
goals. Some might have backed the wrong horse, thus ended up disappointed. Such disappointment would usually get
transformed into jealousy and then hatred towards the ones who have achieved their goals politically or economically.
These sociopaths would not be much different, in terms of their behaviour or attitudes, from a psychopath who would
engage in antisocial behaviors to create chaos and unrest within the community, whether they benefit or not. Their
simple desire would be to sabotage and to see things in chaos.
A possibility that should be taken seriously and investigated is that this scenario could be an attempt by the remaining
members of groups with separatist ideology. In a situation where individuals who were physically able to fight for a
separate land, using gross acts of terrorism, have perished, individuals who were not physically able or prepared, but
with fervent separatist ideas, may use such phenomena as a strategy to promote their ideology or even to regroup
themselves. This kind of a situation could be used to reassure their followers that they still challenge the authorities of
law. These “Wanna-be LTTE “ factions may use events to create doubt in their communities, to show that the
government is not able to or not bothered to protect the civilians.Such beliefs could be used to promote the idea that
they should have a security program of their own. This is a situation where youth in the community could be recruited to
thug gangs and roaming in the night could be justified. This might appeal to the self- esteem of youngsters as
“protectors of the community”, and such mentalities could be later manipulated into a budding terrorist outfit.
There were few incidents where tense situations occurred between these groups and the police. One unfortunate
incident lead to the death of a police officer, due to assault by a mob. The risk is that this would seriously harm the
reconciliation process in the North and East. The mind set of civilians and individuals in the armed forces is not yet
completely normalized, and is in the process of happening. Thus any doubt or dispute, occurring at a time of healing,
would push us backwards many months or even years. In certain areas, the military was called in to control the
situation. Military patrolling the streets and executing law and order would be an ideal situation for individuals with
sinister strategies to further worsen the situation. This could be used as a storyline in local, as well as international,
media to show that the country is still not stabilized, and military interventions are still in action. Some could even paint
a negative picture demonstrating that minorities are still suppressed by military means.
The outcome of such stories would definitely harm the slowly improving image of the country. This will directly affect
the country politically, as well as economically. It’s good to see tourism is booming again, but this type of event would
have a direct effect on it. We should not forget that this type of news, released to the world, would be to the

4. disadvantage of a country, accused or war crimes. Many in the international community, who have no clue to the truth,
may put one and two together and believe that such accusations are correct.
Above, I have listed a set of possibilities and a few possible negative outcomes of this phenomenon. These possibilities
may or may not be the real cause. What needs to be emphasized is that this could be a result of various possibilities,
occurring alone or in interaction. Therefore, what is important for citizens at the moment is to not allow the society to
go into chaos that would lead to a collapse of the freedom & peace we have achieved, sacrificing so much. Thus, rather
than clinging to a possibility that may satisfy our political beliefs, everyone should try to prevent the negative outcomes
of this scenario and leave the job of identifying culprits and bringing them to justice to authorities.
If society does not act responsibly,and gets carried away with their obsession to find out what actually happened, by the
time they find out the truth we may no longer have the freedom or peace to discuss it.