Mr President we are hungry

we do not want more but we want essential food to live

| by Pearl Thevanaygam

(June 13, 2012, London, Sri Lanka Guardian) Sri Lanka's population is but 20+ million strong and its natural resources can very comfortably feed it. It has no large stretches of drought-hit terrain as in India or Africa. It is abound with fruits, vegetables and pulses. All in all the island should be the epitome of self-sufficiency.

Yet a woman attempted suicide recently by jumping into the river with her two children all because she could not afford to feed them according to a news item on The Island newspaper. This is the second such incident reported in the media within a span of a few weeks. Contrast this with another piece of news that Sri Lankan Airlines suffered a staggering Rs 24 billion loss largely due to VIP politicians' charter flights. The earlier story is about a negligible component in the society's fabric and the latter is about sustaining the country's economy.

Economy as I understood is all about how country provides for its populace and economic indicators are all about per capita income, consumption such as, food, fuel and shelter.. Nowhere did I read that there is a downturn in economy because of luxuries enjoyed by a privileged few. Tell a lie Banana Republics excluded and we are living a democracy and we are nowhere near as corrupt as Africa.

Cleisthenes in ancient Greece established what is generally held as the first democracy in 507 BCE. However Athenian citizens were all-male, born from parents who were born in Athens, and excluded women, slaves and males under 20 years of age. And we in this Serendib isle still have not deviated from this ancient rule of governance.

Even in the US, UK and Europe where there is a hue and cry that failing banks are sustained by the state there are welfare measures in place for the poor. Nobody goes hungry in the UK and begging is forbidden by law because the State looks after its people. The rising cost of living has spurned food banks run by charities which provide emergency food supplies for those in need.

I remember some years ago during a bleak winter's day while working for a firm of immigration solicitors I telephoned the department which looks after failed asylum seekers to provide emergency funds for food for such family and it despatched an official immediately to the house to deliver cash. The clock is ticking fast for the masses to revolt aka the fruit vendor who set himself ablaze in Tunisia thus sparking last year's Middle-East people's uprising.

Why has not any politician come out with a definite and guaranteed policy of welfare benefits for the country's unemployed, single mothers, aged and the infirm? We are talking about 13th amendment and its pluses; over-hauling of the judiciary and police force. Give us our daily bread and rice we will let Buddhists and Muslims build their temples and mosques anywhere they want. We will not ask for secession or a Tamil Eelam.

But is it too much to ask for three square meals a day for every citizen in this country? Could not the politicians sacrifice their sojourns abroad to speak on poverty, economy and its abysmal human rights record with the donor agencies to give the country's poor and the needy some welfare measures so that mothers do not jump in the rivers all because they cannot feed their offspring.

I'll vote for any politician who will promise and keep up that promise so that no Sri Lankan goes to bed on an empty stomach.

The writer is Asia Pacific Journalism Fellow at UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism, California and a print journalist for 22 years. She can be reached at pearltheva@hotmail.com)