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A reign of terror
"Government won’t disarm paramilitary
groups," ran a headline in The Sunday
Leader of June 8. It was said that this
statement was made by a high government
official who is tipped to be the secretary
to the Ministry of Human Rights.
That means the TMVP and other groups are
legally allowed to have armed cadres
alongside government security forces, the
STF and the police, and continue to maintain
their camps. This situation it seems, is to
be allowed to prevail till the LTTE is wiped
out. This is in spite of the assurances that
the government gave the country and the
outside world, that the LTTE has been driven
out of the Eastern Province.
Prior to the elections a general fear
psychosis was created all over the province
and the local newspapers vividly described
how the election was won.
Now there is considerable unrest and fear
among the Muslims in the province so much so
that one Muslim group declared that their
members will be driven not by choice but by
urgency to take up arms to defend
themselves.
No one knows what really is happening in
the north. The latest we read was of the
brutal murder of a Sirasa journalist who had
been hacked to death.
The south of the country is no better.
Well and truly the fundamental rights of the
citizens are being violated one by one —
abductions, disappearances, murders,
thuggery and harassment are the order of the
day. Goon squads allegedly under government
politicians are on the rampage — more
recently in Puttalam, Arachchikattuwa,
Chilaw and even in Colombo showering the
protesters with stones, clubs and even used
engine oil.
The police — the so-called guardians of
the law are reduced to mere spectators or
are conspicuous by their absence at the
scenes of such human rights violations and
crime. Some even abet and threaten
protesters as in the case of MP Chandrani
Bandara here in Colombo. To cap it all, this
police officer was offered a bouquet by a
person no less than the first citizen of the
province for his accomplishment. Such is the
government support for thuggery and
hooliganism.
Not a single culprit has been brought
before court so far on any of the numerous
abductions, disappearances, thuggery and
harassment.
A reign of terror has now been ushered in
leading step by step to a dictatorship —
Mugabe style.
Sri Lanka is today not the ‘Pearl of the
Orient’ but a ‘Country of Thugs, by Thugs
for Thugs.’
Ashamed
Rajagiriya
Most unjust department
The Justice Department must be the most
unjust department out of the whole system in
Sri Lanka.
My maid has been having a case on her
property for over 10 years. She hardly earns
Rs.7000 a month and this whole amount goes
into the pockets of the lawyers. Her case
gets postponed for very trivial reasons and
there seems to be no end to the number of
times she has to appear for the case.
Whether the case is taken up or not, she
has to dole out money to the lawyers. This
sounds like a doctor charging money for
surgery even if it is postponed because the
anesthetist is on leave or the medicine is
not available!
I do not understand the system of how the
cases are called; but on a few occasions
when I had to attend the courts it looked as
if 75 percent of cases are just called up
and postponed.
Just to listen to this postponement, the
clients have to forego all their other
engagements and be present at the courts,
often with no sitting arrangements, no
drinks or food, sometime for hours! And the
poor client gets charged for every
appearance of the lawyer — sometimes
for more than one! How unfair!
It also is a waste of the time of the
honored judges and the lawyers.
To my simple mind, it seems that it would
be much better to get the staff of the court
to check whether all persons concerned are
present and whether all documents concerned
are available before it comes up before the
judge.
If not, the case should be postponed at
that level without bringing it up to the
judge. And if someone absconds more than on
three occasions to surcharge them so that
the case does not get postponed forever!
This way the judge will be able to attend
to fewer cases but thoroughly. It is absurd
that often cases run for years and years!
There must be a time limit for the cases to
be heard and finished. Surely everyone knows
that justice delayed is justice denied.
Shouldn’t this department on which the very
basis of society – justice – depends, find
an alternative?
Dr. Mareena Thaha Reffai
Dehiwela
Thoughts about counter-insurgency
It is heart-wrenching when every few days
I come to know that yet another bomb
explosion tears apart my beloved motherland.
The innocent public are the victims, in the
North, East, West, South, Centre and
variations in between. Tragically, people
are forced to ‘get used to it’ while little
else changes.
I feel that there is insufficient honest
public discussion at significant levels
about what drives this "war" among different
sections of the same society. Is it the
frustration that civic aspirations are
unrealised? Is it the force behind two or
more powerful institutions which struggle
for supremacy, dictated to by the egos of
their leaders? Is it tit for tat operations?
Is it the result of festering hatred over
perceived motives of the other side, fuelled
by ignorance of facts?
We must not only ask ourselves such
questions, but seriously consider what we
offer our children as inheritance for them
to live a normal life, receive a wholesome
education, a decent income, bring up a
family, the joyous experience of inhaling
soothing fragrances of our land, and take in
romantic landscapes that are like no other
(this is true!), visit a place of spiritual
sustenance in peace.
Instead, if the only smells they know are
of stale sweat, cordite and blood, witness
only landscapes of fear of the unknown under
a harsh sun or eerie darkness, then we would
have failed miserably.
War can never replace love. Power must
not be allowed to corrupt. The people at
large should not be held at ransom for the
whims of a few. Knowledge must win over
ignorance. Sanity must prevail over madness.
Lasantha Pethiyagoda
Australia
Disaster waiting to happen
The claymore which destroyed the
Katubedda bus was placed in a marsh land.
Explosives can be hidden anywhere. The
stretch of boutiques which start in front of
the Fort Railway Station and runs beyond the
Bo Tree, is alarming. With their makeshift
stalls, empty cardboard boxes, polythene
sheets and debris, the place is ideal for
terrorists. Considering the crowds that
gather here the destruction will be lethal.
Hope the CMC acts before it is too late.
Chandima Pallage, Makola
The West is learning from us
It was revealed a few weeks ago that more
than 100 MPs including some ministers in the
UK parliament are employing their relatives
on the public payroll. It appears that
they must have taken a leaf from our
parliamentarians since most of ours are
doing so without any conscience.
We can judge how good their contribution
has been on the basis of the speeches made
on the floor of the house which are not even
fit for school children!
This has been highlighted during an
investigation on the heavy expenditure
incurred by them in the UK while our
parliamentarians go to town without any
limits or bounds.
Over here, no one dares to ask about
these ‘little’ things. They do not pay
any taxes since they are privileged while
the taxpayer has to grin and bear the brunt
of it all. Also, their income is
referred to as an allowance and not a
salary. It may be because they cannot earn a
salary for not doing anything.
It is about time we re-introduce taxing
of all government employees since their
salaries are very much higher when compared
with the private sector employees specially
those in higher positions. Some of
those positions are created for the benefit
of those close to the government as a thank
you gift for services rendered. We too
can do with an Anti-Sleaze Committee at
least for the namesake!
Bystander
Colombo
Do companies really help foster good values?
I would like to share an experience,
which brings to light the role played by
certain business entities in shaping the
values of society.
I was a subscriber to one off the mobile
telephone companies and used the mobile
connection for nearly seven years from 2001.
However the connection was registered under
a different name, which I realised only
after seeing the first bill. I used this
connection without a problem. However in
2006 there was an error in my bill and as I
could not rectify the problem by speaking to
a customer care officer even after sending
the subscriber copy of the payment twice by
fax, I wrote a letter to the credit care
manager stating the problem and also
mentioning that this connection is used by
me although it is registered under a
different name. She was very attentive and
rectified my credit limit, which I willingly
accepted by paying a sum as deposit.
Everything went on well until I wanted to
terminate the connection. When I spoke to
the present credit care manager, he said
that since it is not registered under my
name I would not receive the deposit I made.
When I sought his advice he asked me to keep
using the connection, which is obviously not
the solution.
I personally made a visit to the company
taking the trouble of carrying all the bills
from 2001 and also copies of the
correspondence I had with the previous
credit care manager. They said there was a
problem and asked me from whom I purchased
the connection. I gave them the name and
telephone number of the person from whom I
bought the connection and they spoke to him
in my presence.
They asked me to request them in writing
and to sign certain forms regarding
refunding the deposit to me. I cooperated
and they said they would let me know. This
took place in March 2008.
However up to now I have not received my
deposit or any proper explanation from the
company. I thought of expressing myself
through the press as the whole affair raises
a few interesting questions. Should I just
stay without paying my bills when I want to
terminate the connection? This however would
have been an uncivilised act and cannot be
accepted in good society.
On the contrary by acting in an ethical
manner and paying the bill in full, what did
I get? The many people whom I spoke to asked
me this same question. What values and
behaviour are really encouraged by
entrepreneurs? At a time when companies
practise Corporate Social Responsibility for
the benefit of society, is this particular
mobile service provider acting in a socially
responsible way to foster good values in
society?
As long as money is coming to the company
nothing seems to matter, and things get
sorted out pretty fast. But when money is
going out to the customer — in this case a
refund of the deposit for the credit limit —
everything seems to matter.
Dissatisfied Customer
Who’s the boss?
President Rajapakse recently said in his
exaggerated, pompous manner, that there is
no threat to journalists from the government
in Sri Lanka.
This is in complete variance with the
recent action of one of his aggressive
siblings, who arbitrarily summoned two of
the media men, most prominent in opposing
state sponsored oppression of the media, and
proceeded to berate them soundly extending
the threat of unnamed action against them,
not by himself of course, but by those who
support him.
This raises a very pertinent question.
Who is the actual boss of the Rajapakse
company? While MR struts around as the
figurehead, actual control is by his two
siblings Gotabaya and Basil. They hold the
reins firmly in their hands, leading the
official ‘boss’ by the nose. So, the
question must be asked: Is the country being
run to the ground by these American
citizens?
What have Weerawansa, Somawansa and the
blood-thirsty JHU got to say about American
control and manipulation?
God save Sri Lanka!
Anu
Attidiya
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Appreciation |
Ian Mervyn Dias Jayasinha |
The death of Ian Mervyn Dias Jayasinha
was undoubtedly an irreparable loss to his
close friends and loved ones. I had a nice
friendship with him for over three decades.
He as a journalist and as a creative
writer, showed a distinctive flare for
writing, who as a visionary single-handedly
spread his noble message of bringing all the
people together, as one family, eschewing
narrow and parochial distinctions.
Our deep-rooted friendship was nurtured,
as both of us found common ground as ardent
lovers of classical literature, in which
pleasing and rather seductive embrace, we
were always mildly intoxicated, ensuring the
satiation of our senses, with an elixir of
happiness.
Ian who was educated at S. Thomas’
College and worked over 25 years at Lake
House as a journalist. He also had the good
fortune of living in the USA for sometime
and appeared twice on Florida TV, reading
Dylan Thomas and his poems.
Looking back, touching a surfeit of fond
memories, without being overtly nostalgic,
is rather difficult or even impossible. Ian
was indeed a cheerful and jovial personality
who would have been the cynosure of all eyes
in any social gathering, enlivening it with
his banter and echoing and re-echoing
laughter, vibrating its spell to no end.
He being an epitome of fun and frolic
lived a full life, spreading in his own way,
the gospel of universal love.
Ian, as a poet was a lover of humanity,
though to the circle of his intimate
friends, he showed a streak of
unconventionality, extolling a nature
friendly, bohemian lifestyle.
To me he will always remain as an
inspiration, who was always very generous in
approaching my writing, especially my
poetry, without which, I must now get used
to carry on, knowing his spirit will always
be with me bestowing me guidance, thus
ushering me to a higher pedestal.
I, who was the recipient of your love and
enviable attention, take this opportunity to
thank you a lot for the friendship I had
with you. I will now miss your bubbling
laughter, specially when the music was
reaching its crescendo, and also for being
the host, who never got tired of serving us
savoury food, which as a whole, made each
step of our life lighter and bearable.
Ranjan Amarasinghe |
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