COPE, UNP AND “ALI BABAS”

It was rather distressing to hear of attempts made by the UNP members in the  Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE) to protect the main culprits involved in the recent BOND scam.

Disgusting, indeed, is the news that the UNP members in the committee were attempting to draft a new report to protect the corrupt officials while the majority of thee COPE members had agreed to accept the report headed by the Chairman, Sunil Handunetti. To make matters worse, the UNP members are alleged to have made attempts to force the Auditor General to change his report as well, which is even more disgusting.

From the foregoing it is obvious that there are moves to protect the main culprit of the Bond scam, ex-Governor of the Central Bank, Arjuna Mahendran and his son in law, who had made an unprecedented fortune in the Bond issue, purely for political reasons. 

It is rather funny that the UNP leaders who vigorously campaigned for elimination of corruption in the country which was rampant under the previous Rajapakse regime are themselves taking part in corrupt activities to safeguard their friends.  It appears that whilst the Rajapakse rule was doomed because of family rule, the current UNP rulers are asking for trouble if they try to safeguard their friends at high places.

The JVP should not even think of giving up the good work they have been doing so far to expose the corrupt elements in the previous regime as well as in the current administration.  Whatever the provocations, Sunil Handunetti should have stuck to his chair rather than walkout in the face of tantrums by the UNP members, which obviously was one of their tactics to change the course of the deliberations and the final report.

Everyone involved in these investigations should take a vow to punish the “Ali Babas” on both sides of the divide and never allow these corrupt elements to raise their heads again, since the country needs to be rid of such elements if it is to prosper. 

The two main political parties who ruled the country taking turns have now got together to usher in so called “Yahapalanaya” which already has become a joke in the country, prompting the famous JVP saying “Unuth Ekai, Munuth Ekai”. 

The JVP has a very significant role to play in the political field as a third force and it is fervently hoped that they will prove to be worthy of that onerous responsibility, rather than end up with another slogan “Unuth Ekai, Munuth Ekai, Arunuth Ekai”

THE SOUND OF NUISANCE

Appropos letters in Sunday Times “Making a noise: Vendors are comparatively innocent” by Irritated Citizen and “ Let the sound of peace and solace prevail” by Concerned Buddhist, Rajagiriya.

I am a real victim of blaring sounds through loud speakers from a Buddhist temple which is in front of our house on each and every holiday – Poya, Saturday and Sunday – thus denying me the opportunity to have a peaceful day after working hard on the week-days.  On a Poya day, we are forced to get up at 5 in the morning and then suffer the nuisance of blaring sound from the temple for almost the whole day upto about 9 – 10 pm.  The consequences of this noise is that we are unable to answer a phone call, watch TV, listen to music, read a newspaper and even take a small nap, which I consider to be cruelty to humanity.  It is very pathetic that the Buddhist monks who preach “Siyalu satywayo niduk wewa. Nirogi wewa” (Let all human beings be happy and healthy), openly breach their preaching by way of this noise pollution towards its neighbours whatever religion they may belong to.

One wonders if laws such as Public Nuisance Ordinance and environmental pollution do not apply to these temples  and whether there are any avenues for redress to the suffering public on account of these encroachments into their private lives, on the pretext of religious freedom.

Although, the BBS made a hue and cry about the Call for Prayers from mosques some time back, as a person who has lived in the Middle East for quite a considerable time, I can safely say that such calls in those countries and in this country do not amount to such disturbances as they are short lived at a time unlike the sounds blared through loud speakers by the Buddhist temples in the vicinity lasting a full day.  In actual fact most of what is blared through are CDs containing viridu, kavi Bana, patriotic songs etc. and not much of real Bana anyway. 

I wonder why can’t these temples be considerate enough to follow the practices of other religions such as Christianity, Hinduism etc. and confine their preachings to those attending their services inside the Temples rather than disturb the neighbourhood.

As Brig. Neville Fernando mentioned in his letter “Police deaf to blaring bus horns”; noise pollution is injurious to health and a three second exposure to loud noise could cause severe damage to the cochlear of the human ear. 

So, isn’t it time that some authority came down hard on these offending temples and save the public from becoming deaf – sooner than later.

PRESIDENT’S OUTBURST : IS IT THE END OF “YAHAPALANAYA”

Indeed, as your Editorial of 18.10.16 rightly says, the people deserve a clear cut explanation from the President with regard to his remarks concerning the CID, FCID, Bribery and other Independent Commissions.

The establishment of Independent commissions and a vigorous anti-corruption drive including strict actions against the corrupt elements of the previous government were in fact election pledges of the government where the President himself played a pivotal role.  Having now established the independent commissions, it is rather strange that the President himself is expressing doubts about the independent functioning of these commissions.

The matters have now come to a stage where the Director General of the Bribery Commission, who had done an excellent job of going after the culprits of the previous administration, has in frustration submitted her resignation and it is speculated that the other 3 members of the Commission too would follow suit.  This is exactly what the corrupt Joint Opposition were campaigning and praying for with even going to the extent of coconut-dashing.  Sadly, it looks like the President has himself given into these demands, having been on public record that no one is above the law and strict action should be taken against those corrupt elements.

The President’s outburst has in fact sent shock-waves across the entire anti-corruption mechanism with information coming in of some high ranking officials of the sector contemplating stepping down thus rendering the whole exercise of “catching the thieves” coming to a nought.  This indeed is a golden opportunity for the likes of Ali Baba and forty thieves to make a come- back and tell the people “we told you so”.

The entire scenario is summed up in a cartoon appearing in DM of 18.10.16 where Wimal Weerawansa is shown welcoming the President with a red “saatakaya” .

One sincerely hopes that the President, for whatever political reasons, does not turn the tide against the popular mandate given to him and the government to investigate and punish  the corrupt elements of the previous government as pledged by him. 

Anything lesser than that would sadly be the stepping stone for an end to the much talked-about “Yahapaalanaya”.

SOWING THE SEEDS OF RACISM

The Chief Minister of Northern Provincial Council, Wigneswaran, has done it again.  It appears that in spite of his educational achievements and the high judicial position he had held, he seems not to be learning any lessons from the past. 

It is obvious that his intentions are to capture the power of the TNA by deposing its leader – who interestingly brought Vigneswaran to the fore and promoted him to be the Chief Minister – in fact, a case of biting the fingers which fed him.  If that is his real intention, then there are other ways and means of doing so, rather than ignite the fires of racism and bring misery to his people who have just recovered from a thirty year old war, which was again due to the intransigence of another Megolomaniac called Prabhakaran.

It is downright stupidity to make public statements to the effect that Sinhalese and Muslims should not be relocated to where they originally belonged to in the North until they were banished from the area by the Tigers.  Just like the Tamils who had lived in the North for ages, these Sinhalese and Muslims too owned land and property and it is nothing but right to restore their status-quo.  If one takes that argument further, what will happen if another crazy Vigneswaran from the South comes up with the same theory that Tamils must leave the areas where they had lived for ages and go back to the North. Such stupidity and ignorance!  The Constitution guarantees every citizen to live in any part of the country and being an ex-Judge, it is rather strange that Vigneswaran seems to be unaware of that legal right. His other demands too are very childish indeed, such as the one not to erect Buddha  statues in the North whilst there are statues and religious places of other religions all over the South for his people to worship.

Another of his ridiculous demands is the re-merger of the Northern and Eastern provinces which again, if he has a good memory, he should have known that the two provinces were demerged on a court order and the people of this country would never allow a re-merger. 

With such a irresponsible and racist Chief Minister at the helm, even to think of granting Police and Land powers to the Council should not be a subject one should even deliberate because it smacks of real danger to the country.

If history has a knack for repeating itself, then the authorities should seriously consider removing the current Chief Minister from his position or even dissolve the Northern Provincial Council and hold fresh elections after declaring Vigneswaran persona non grata – just like the fate that befell one time Chief Minister Varadharaja Perumal who grew too big for his shoes and declared a unilateral independence to the North.

“Racism is man's gravest threat to man - the maximum of hatred for a minimum of reason”. Abraham Joshua Heschel

VIGNESWARAN’S OUTBURSTS

 

Northern Council Chief Minister Vigneswaran’s  outbursts have now come to a crescendo with the possibility for an explosion if not suppressed now.

One wonders how this normally sedate ex-judge of the supreme court has transformed himself to a reincarnation of the slain Tiger leader, Prabhakaran with ridiculous demands.  He started off shooting his missiles with a resolution passed in his council alleging genocide of Tamils by the Sri Lankan government and then followed it up with a call to the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister seeking her intervention in solving the “Tamil issue” in Sri Lanka, which was totally uncalled for as foreign relations should be handled between the two central governments.  Surely, being an ex-judge he should have known better.

Most of his pronouncements and actions have adequately demonstrated his sympathies towards the anarchic Tamil tigers who wreaked havoc in Sri Lanka and as a chief minister, one would have expected a much more dignified stance from him when it comes to such issues.

When the Sri Lankan government launched the Moragahakanda project recently  which is going to provide increased water supply to the Northern farmers, instead of appreciating the move, Vigneswaran is claiming ownership of such water as if he is a ruler of a separate country.

And now, he has demanded that Northern and Eastern provinces should be merged regardless of the feelings of the Muslims in the East.  Perhaps, he has conveniently forgotten that the two provinces were demerged as a result of a supreme court judgement and that no sensible person in this country would opt to change the status quo.  Vigneswaran would do well to accept the fact that there are more Tamils living in other parts of the country along with Sinhalese and Muslims and that there is no justification for a merger or a separately administrated state for the Tamils in North and East.

Undoubtedly, Vigneswaran seems to be hell bent on rousing the other communities to bring back the era of Tamil Tigers to destabilize the country in spite of the fact that the new Yahapalana government is determined to achieve communal harmony.

Therefore, it is high time that the government take a strong line against the outbursts of Vigneswaran before he becomes another Varadaraja Perumal who declared unilateral independence (UDI) when he was the Chief Minister briefly in the eighties.

 

IS PARLIAMENT A “KOLAM MADUWA”?

The Parliament of a free democratic country is expected to be comprised of elected members who are called Honourable MPs and who are charged with great responsibilities including lawmaking for the benefit of the public who vote for them.  It is also referred to as the House and August Assembly signifying the respectability and importance attached to it.

Therefore, it is really a shame to see these Honourable (?) MPs behaving in despicable manner whilst inside the House with some MPs trying to run away with the Mace and behaving like common thugs by assembling in the well of the house, despite exhortations from the Hon. Speaker not to desecrate the August assembly. This shameful practice was again evident a couple of days ago when an important Bill was being debated.  In this instance, the Hon. Speaker had to admonish the members not to do in the dining room what should be done in the toilet which is an indictment on the conduct unbecoming of these members who all belong to the so called Joint Opposition.

One recalls with much disdain the shameful behavior of some Ministers and MPs inside the House immediately after the election of the current President in January last year when these members used the premises as a disco hall and a bedroom with some ageing actresses acting out move song and dance sequences with equally ageing Ministers of the previous government in drunken stupor.  What a shameful act indeed. 

There have also been instances of some Ministers of the previous government engaged in fisticuffs with colleagues some of whom happened to be Buddhist monks, and also coming out with unprintable filthy words aimed at their opponents.  Many have been instances of school children  watching these antics of their legislators and needless to mention the opinions that these young minds would be forming about the so called elected leaders of the country.

One could say that the people deserve the representatives they elect but then there is another aspect to this since the voters are unfortunately forced to elect the candidates put forward by the political parties, in a case of opting for the lesser evil.  So, it is definitely upto the responsible major political parties to put forward candidates who are educated, civic conscious, with decent family backgrounds to come forward as elected MPs.

If that does not happen, the day is no far away we all start referring to the Parliament as a “Kolam Maduwa” or even a Den of Thieves.

Politicians and diapers should be changed frequently and all for the same reason. ~José Maria de Eça de Queiroz, translated from Portuguese

VEHICLES FOR SUITABLE PEOPLE

 The Yahapaalana government has brazenly sought Parliamentary approval to purchase super luxury  vehicles for  various cabinet and state ministers to the tune of Rs. 1.1 billion.  This act of the government, in the face of a disastrous situation in the country with thousands of people becoming homeless and without means of livelihood due to massive floods, explosions of army weapons store, etc. , is, to say the least, preposterous.

Adding insult to injury were the remarks made by government ministers during a media conference trying to justify the reasons as to why they need such super luxury vehicles, ostensibly to “serve the people” in a super fast manner by travelling the length and breadth of the country, which to say the least, is laughable.

This sort of extravagance is definitely not what the 62 million people who voted for a “change” expected, especially when one considers the accusations of waste and luxury living against the previous administration which were being repeatedly drummed into the ears of the voters prior to the elections. 

Also, when Minister Senaratne said that politicians in other countries draw five to ten times of salaries drawn by local politicians, he has conveniently  missed the point about the earnings of the ordinary folk in Sri Lanka which cannot be compared with any other country.  The undeniable fact is that without going in for rhetoric, these ministers should stop and think for a while whether the current economic situation of the country is conducive for such extravagant and wasteful expenditure just to maintain the “standards” of ministers.

It is hoped that even at this late stage, saner counsel will prevail and the President will put a halt to such unnecessary expenditure at least until the country recovers from its current crisis situation.

Another point which comes to mind on this subject are the remarks made by Minister John Ameratunge to some journalists that the government had to increase the duty and taxes on vehicle imports to ensure that only “suitable” people acquire vehicles.  So, are we now to assume that politicians are the only “suitable” people to have new vehicles and that too, at the expense of the poor public.

 

GREEDY POLITICIANS

 

IT was really hilarious if not disgusting to learn from the media recently of a statement made by ex-“Maharajano” Mahinda Rajapakse whilst he was in Japan that his ambition now is to become the next Prime Minister as he is debarred from contesting for the Presidency.  When questioned by a journalist  as to his age  of 71 years now, he is reported to have quipped that politicians never retire!  It is obvious that such politicians never give up not because of their desire to serve the people but to serve themselves and their kith and kin. What a shame indeed, what greedy fellows these politicians have become in this country.  After holding the highest position in the land for a decade with unbridled power and having amassed a lot of wealth for himself and his family, any other person would have retired gracefully keeping his status intact. But what Mahinda Rajapakse has done is an utter shame in becoming just an” honourable” MP for Kurunegala, which is akin to a graduate going and sitting for the fifth year scholarship examination!

If one is to closely analyse his statement that if it is proved that he robbed even one dollar,  he will cut his neck – a more appropriate reference would have been “Harakiri” as he made the statement in Japan -  it is apparent that he is not saying he robbed – instead he is saying that there is “no evidence”.  In other words, no tracks are left as all the corrupt transactions had been done with the help and connivance of competent accountants, manipulators, lawyers etc. with the strong backing of ex-judges like Sarath Silva and Mohan Peiris.  Therefore, he can make such statements as slashing his neck without any fear.  It was not so long ago that Mahinda Rajapakse earned the sympathy of the electorate saying that he was willing to sit on the electric chair for the sake of his people knowing very well that there was no such danger.

Obviously, there are no qualms for such a politician who openly robbed Tsunami funds by transferring foreign donations to a private account ostensibly for a “Helping Hambanthota” project, and the judge who saved his skin later on had to cry “mea culpa” for his “misjudgement”. 

What greed, what craving: “Thanhaya Jayathi Soko”

CATCH ME IF YOU CAN

Whatever said and done, one is inclined to marvel at the ingenuity and craftiness of the politicians who were ruling the roost in the previous administration under the Rajapakses, in transforming even any misery or disaster into a  bonanza.  One classic example which comes to mind is how the Tsunami donations ended up in a personal account of the highest in the land under the cover of a fictitious project called “Helping Hambanthota”

The other day, ex-Media Minister, Keheliya Rambukwella, was summoned by the FCID to probe how he claimed  a compensation amounting to Rs. 20 million from the President’s Fund for an accident which occurred whilst he was in Australia on a private visit to obtain treatment for his son.  It became all the more invigorating when one considers the fact that he somehow managed to obtain compensation for his injury from the hotel he stayed in Australia and not stopping at that, also got his local insurers too pay him compensation for the injury.  Ingenuity par excellence in turning a tragedy into a bonus!

What is more interesting is as to how he injured himself.  It is common knowledge in the country that this particular minister was attempting to jump from one balcony to another in an inebriated condition emulating the “Superman”.  Considering that he still managed to obtain compensation from the hotel makes one wonder if  guests of that particular hotel were covered against acrobatics as well.

Such incidents only goes to prove how callous the previous Rajapakse government was when it comes to country’s finances, dishing out millions and billions to all and sundry as long as they keep the Big Boss happy and allow him to make merry at public expense.

It is high time that such callousness is exposed and the guilty punished by forcing the exploiters to restore to the Treasury the ill-gotten money, if possible with interest, which after all belongs to the poor people of this country.

If the authorities fail to do that, then one cannot stop the perpetrators  from loudly singing “Catch me if you can”!