by Gamini Weerakoon
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| A Sri Lankan cricket fan autographs a replica of a leather cricket ball ahead of the Cricket World Cup in Colombo February 13, 2011. The ICC Cricket World Cup starts on February 17 and is jointly hosted by Bangladesh, India and Sri Lanka. - REUTERS PHOTO |
‘I came here to bark’, had been the forlorn reply. Though economic conditions in Tunisia were much more prosperous than those of its neighbour, the tight security imposed by Ben Ali had permitted no dissent in his country.
Freedom to bark
On Independence Day this year UNP demonstrators walking on Maradana Road, towards the Welikada Prison appear to have had the same desire as the Tunisian dog. They wanted to bark, shout out against the imprisonment of the former presidential candidate and former army commander, Sarath Fonseka. According to MP Harsha de Silva they were being escorted by some policemen. Suddenly all hell broke loose and they were at the receiving end of a vicious attack by a gang of unidentified thugs.
The escorting policemen had apparently disappeared and UNP demonstrators had to run for their lives into what ever place they could hide in. This is indeed a sad commentary for Independence Day — the Day of Freedom (Nidahas Davasa as said in Sinhala).
Of course it brought outright condemnation by all concerned. Who could justify such an attack and not condemn it? The police pledged immediate action — as they usually do when government critics or anti- government demonstrators are attacked and has not yet arrested any of the thugs. Going by past performances we cannot expect any positive outcome.
The Founder Editor of the Sunday Leader, Lasantha Wickrematunge was murdered in cold blood in broad daylight on the highway and even after more than two years, only a minor suspect and Lasantha’s mobile telephone is in police custody. Reporters Sans Frontieres in an international appeal to writers to boycott the Galle Literary Festival claimed that ‘14 journalists have been killed since 2006, three have disappeared and more than 30 have fled the country’.
Inspiration from Egypt
UNP Deputy Leader Karu Jayasuriya attempted to draw a comparison between the uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt to the protest by UNPers on Independence Day but this outraged some columnists in the pro Rajapaksa press. Whether this comparison was justified or not, the foul attack on UNPers by unidentified thugs certainly bore resemblances to the foul attacks on innocent demonstrators in Cairo’s Tahrir Square by criminals let loose by Hosni Mubarak who rode into the square on camels and donkeys, flaying demonstrators.
Neither the government nor its agencies like the police have been able to identify who the attackers of the UNP demonstrators were. This is an inexplicable lapse on the part of the police and other government agencies that have been able to identify, arrest and successfully prosecute those committing alleged offences against the government or its leaders. A few days earlier the offices of LankaeNews had been attacked once again by ‘unidentified persons’ and last month marked the first anniversary of the disappearance of another journalist of LankaeNews, Prageeth Ekneligoda about which the police are still clueless. There are many other instances where journalists have become the punching bags of ‘unknown assailants’ that are too well known to be repeated.
Impotence of power
The Rajapaksa government, with the extended powers of the executive presidency and the two-third majority in parliament has been sitting quite complacently like the cat that swallowed the canary.
But two years on after their two electoral victories, events in local government bodies and even Pradeshiya Sabhas do not give cause for complacency. The inevitable karmic law which is almost the same thing as what scientists call the Second Law of Thermodynamics, ‘Every stable system tends to destabilise itself over a period of time’ seems to be working. The magical statistics spelled out by the Central Bank Governor Nivard Cabraal seems to be dissolved by the weather gods. The damage estimated to have been caused by rains — Rs 50 billion – cannot be written off as a minor aberration which the Central Bank does quite often.
The plight of journalists and now opposition politicians and activists are added black marks on the government’s human rights record. It is not merely an academic exercise by human rights observers and activists but the painting of a very grim picture of this paradise which many of us still believe it to be. Ban Ki Moon is persisting with his ‘war crimes’ inquiries and the Tamil diaspora, ‘Diasporava’ as Sinhala TV commentators call it now, are throwing buckets of mud at Sri Lanka while the government is spending millions of not billions of dollars trying to varnish the image through foreign public relations companies. The latest move of the London ‘Diasporava’ is a call for a referendum to be held like in Sudan where voting was 99 per cent for a separate state of southern Sudan!
Food and hunger
The food prices are going through the roof, not only food that is imported but our own kos, polos, del and gotukola. The gallant army is now deployed in the cultivation and distribution of vegetables but is not having a visible impact. Perhaps the army high command should streamline the efforts by organising special brigades like the ‘Vambotu’, ‘Gotukola’ and ‘Bandakka’ brigades for more efficient production! Meanwhile the Navy is engaged in conducting tours on Whale Watching and the Air Force though not out of volition has even helped to deliver a baby in the air while rescuing a woman marooned in the floods. All these are very admirable acts but if the armed forces move into civilian jobs, what would civilians like vegetable cultivators and stall holders do?
To priority: playing pandu?
Meanwhile, what should be the top national priority? Freedom to express ourselves; bring political goons and criminals to book; bring justice to aggrieved families who have lost their loved ones; rescue poor villagers who have lost everything except the clothes they are wearing; put cultivators back on their feet or play pandu?
An emerging top priority appears to be winning the World Cup, the matches of which are to be played here, in India and Bangladesh. Those advocating cricket as their top priority will have fanatical thousands if not millions behind them. National TV is already bracing up for the occasion with cheer leaders and dancing girls.
Soon it will soon be: Ara Sanga Ara….. Lanuwa Udin Ara……, Lanuwa Yatin Ara….. and an occasional: Ado Umpire, Hooo…..
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