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| Sunday, 3 February 2002 |
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Letters |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
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The adage in Sinhala 'Howlay Kendath Epa' prove the truth. The co-ownership of lands has created problems in a land owning society. Land as property immovable cannot be treated in a commercialised scale unless it goes under the seal of courts. The society presently undergoing various changes. For example, the owner of land cannot parcel out a piece as a dowery to his daughter, or to build a house, to situate is the problem. Whichever way you try to turn problems arise. Problems flare up rancour among families and neighbours. Conciliation at board level a 99% failure. You are simply driven from pillar to post. The last resort is to seek the help of the long arm of law. People who are unable to meet the cost of litigation have to go after Shylocks. Today's scenario is that mattered white-haired men and women from very far off interior places hopping up with walking-sticks are seen stagnating at court premises seeking solace to burning problem. How long? Ten, twelve years. There are instances where the plaintiffs passing off while the cases are still pending in courts. When one speaks about laws delay one means fundamentally the laws relating to ownership in the far-flung provinces. The High Court or Appeal Court delay is completely ignored in this instance. The question of a criminal case hearing going up to even 20 years is a matter which nobody cares. A new line of business in land, land sales and brokers have come to commercialise. After all, the courts will not give lands to litigants. It can only give right to title, for which he has to bear all expenses over a period of 10 or 13 years whence the lawyers can collect thumping sums. Some lawyers after accepting the proxy play hide and seek and enrich themselves by being absent on actual dates of hearing. The judge is left in a awful state. If the law permits such hoodwinking to the public, what honesty and integrity could be expected out of a man of the learned profession? That too a penalty imposed on the litigants! The number of jurisdiction areas should be increased thereby works can be still more de-centralised. The courts must be asked to work double sessions and on all holidays. But of course the judges shall be additionally remunerated. The public will not care as to under what shelter the case is heard. Palatial buildings are a drain on govt. coffers. Some of the surveyors play tricks on uneducated people when they carry out appointments of commissionership on lands. As land value is very favourable in some places roads are being encroached upon. The re-establishment of such legal institution as the course of requests in respect of money matters and family courts form wife-husband-child affairs is badly needed. The practice of calling a mass audience on a single day is meaningless. Cases of similar nature shall have to be culled together to a single day hearing, rather than hearing a miscellany of cases on a single day hearing, lawyers get accustomed to a sort of specialisation in some divisions of law. There is a great dissatisfaction among the litigants towards the legal system of the present day mainly due to prolonging the period of litigation. Today our people are made to suffer under laws. When everyman has a right to be heard in justice is not justice delayed a denial of this right. The Ministry must set up a planning unit. Then only some answers can be elicited to worthwhile questions. Ravindra Abeypala, There is a young dog lying maimed on the pavement opposite the Isipathana Temple for the last three weeks. I think a vehicle robbed him of his hind leg. He cannot find his food and he needs treatment. I myself have four strays in my house so that I cannot accommodate another because my dogs attack any newcomer including cats. Can we look at this dog and be kind to him? Can someone mercifully come to his aid? He needs medical care and food. E. RANAWEERA, Birth of Jesus Christ - a reply An opinion has been expressed by a reader, A. Abdul Aziz of Negombo that Christians should "ponder and follow the correct Biblical evidence on the exact date of birth of Jesus Christ." In his critique on the age-long tradition of celebrating Christmas Day on December 25, Aziz cites two Biblical quotes and one Quaranic quote to augment his arguments. (S/O - Opinion Page, January 06, 2002). But that apart, Aziz first quotes the Bible to substantiate his claim that Jesus was born on a September summer night, - the third of the four seasons during the reign of Augustus Caesar, Roman Emperor and King Herod of Judea. "... and God spoke to Mary, mother of Jesus: Shake thee the trunk of the palm tree, fresh dates shall fall on thyself." Aziz thereby implies that, since fresh dates grow during the summer season, and since Jesus had already been born, the Christian adherents had incorrectly read the Bible on the exact date of His birth. Pastor Robille Blom of the Calvary Church, Moratuwa, who is a Biblical scholar in his own right asserts that he had read every line of the Bible and even in between lines during his many years in his religious ministry, but never chanced upon such a quote: Giving him the benefit of the doubt, he says. "Even a man of Goliath's brawn could not have shaken a trunk which penetrates that deep into the soil; imagine a lean, emaciated 'mother' who had recently given birth to an infant, daring to even touch that palm tree trunk." As an afterthought, Aziz cites the identical quote as it appears in the Quran. Only that he has discreetly interpolated the judicious word 'ripe': "fresh ripe dates will fall on thyself." To which Paster Blom responds: Given the considerable time gap between the writing of the Bible and the Quran, many moons and summers would have passed by. Man passes from fresh youth to the inevitable ripe age of senility. So the fresh dates likewise, may have bided time to ripen, until it was time to fall unshaken." Aziz' second Bible quote is a play on words. "There were shepherds... abiding in the field; watching their flock by night." He interprets "abide" to mean "wandering";... barebodied, shepherds fanned by the cool breeze of the soothing summer night. Since we believe that Christians are children of God, we relied on Macmillan's Dictionary for Children to get at the real meaning of "abide." It says "Put up with" or "dare/endure," derived from German "deaern/endauren." Daring or enduring the cool, soothing breeze of a silent summer night... or daring the lumps of icy snow and enduring the stinging bites of the bitter winter wind which hurts most in December? I have experienced two summers and two winters throughout the Middle East on pilgrimage and on official media assignments for the Chicago Sun Times and for the New York post-no secret to my media colleagues. And I have seen the 20th century shepherd clad in summer's soft and light clothing wandering in the fields as well as those in swaddling clothes "abiding" (enduring) the thick of December's winter... in their fields, with the woolly white trunk of Date palms, shorn of their foliage and fruit, standing sentinel on nights no different from the night that the baby Infant Jesus was wrapped with swaddling clothes to endure (abide) the vengeance of that distant December's winter in a cradle within a cave. Why December 25? What is Christmas? History has it that when the original Bible was compiled the then languages were Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek. From AD01, the subjects of the Roman Empire were forcibly subjected to anti-Christian rituals observed by the heretical heathens from one season to another, ending with the "Pagan Festival towards the middle of the fourth season. From one pagan generation to another, the word of mouth message came down that of carpenter's son called Jesus who had been born in Bethlehem on a December winter night, had condemned Paganism as an unorthodox doctrine which paid obeisance to the sun and the moon, which were spiritual God's creation. The Pagan Festival was singularly marked for limitless wining, gormandizing and bestial woman...g, against which Jesus preached. Hence the Festival which the multitude (masse in German/Dutch) of Christ's early followers (Christ's masse) ("Christ" is the German name for Christian) celebrated on December 25, became Christmas - the Day of the Nativity (birth) of God's Son of Righteousness. Pagan emperors of Greater Rome, took revenge from anti-Pagan Jesus by renaming it as "the Day of the Divinity of the Sun of Righteousness (Birthday of the Sun). By then the Roman Calendar (Kalenderie) had taken shape. Sunday for the Sun (Sonne), Monday (Moon-per Mond), Friday (Fri-Day of rest) for Moslems etc. What began as the Day of Paganistic revenge against Jesus Christ continued unabated for well over three centuries, until in AD 340, Christian by word and deed, Constantine became King (or Emperor) of the Roman Empire, banned the staging of the December 25th Pagan Festival for all time and, in consultation with the "fathers of the Church," decreed that the "Day of the Divinity of God's Son of Righteousness, he restored as of December 25 that year. That is the recorded history of Christmas. Playing with and playing on the 'Word' is an apparent Aziz addiction. In the Pickwick Papers, Humpty Dumpty abides his antagonists thus: "When I utter a word, I mean what I say; anyone in doubt - say what you mean." anton G. , Freedom fighters or terrorists? The All Ceylon Muslim League views with alarm and consternation the Indian Prime Minister's claim that Pakistan is a terrorist nation. We do not think Mr. Vajpayee ever understood what terrorism is or what freedom fight is. It would appear in his vocabulary that Mahatma Ghandi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Yasser Arafat, George Washington, or Nelson Mandela were the biggest terrorists of the 19th and 20th Centuries. It is our duty to place the true facts before the Indian Nation and the whole world. Hon. Vajpayee must first of all accept the truth that India is responsible for training terrorist outfits for LTTE organization in Sri Lanka. When India and Pakistan took over power from the Imperialists Great Britain, thanks to Mahathma Ghandi, Jawaharlal Nehru and Mohammed Ali Jinnah, Mighty India had all the advantage of having at its disposal a well trained imperialist Army, while Pakistan was left with hardly an Army. So when states ruled by Muslim Maharajahs opted to join Pakistan, Indian Army was poised and ready to march into those States as the majority of the people were Hindus. Jammu and Kashmir consisted of 95% Muslims but ruled by a Hindu Maharajah. He opted to join the Indian Union, without any consultation with the People of Jammu and Kashmir. Indian Army marched and occupied parts of Jammu and Kashmir against the protest of the people. Pakistan Army in retaliation entered Jammu and Kashmir from their border and occupied the other part. It was the people of Jammu and Kashmir, who rebelled against the unilateral decision of the Maharajah. On the question of Jammu and Kashmir, the British Imperialists were the perpetrators of Terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir. Let us go back over half a Century to discover the truth. In 1947 Lord Mountbatten, representing the King and the Government of the United Kingdom, on behalf of his Government and as Governor General of India gave this assurance to the People of Jammu and Kashmir. "That the State of Jammu and Kashmir must be settled by a reference to the people of Jammu and Kashmir." May I refer to what the First Citizen of Independent India Jawaharlal Nehru, then Prime Minister of India had to say. He sent a telegram on the 31st of October 1947, to the Prime Minister of Pakistan Liaqat Ali Khan: "We shall withdraw our troops from Jammu and Kashmir, as soon as peace and order is restored, is not merely a pledge to your government but also to the people of Jammu and Kashmir and to the World." A. L. M. HASHIM PC , Municipal dispensary -Campbell Avenue I am a long standing resident of Kuppiyawatte and have been regularly getting medical attention and medication from Colombo Municipal Council Dispensary at Siri Dhamma Mawatha (Campbell Avenue). This dispensary has been very popular among the middle and lover income people living in the area because the doctors who have been posted they have always been kind and helpful. The drugs and medicine which are also given free if bought outside are very expensive. The Dispensary premises which was an old house has now been demolished and a new constructed Municipal Dispensary has now come up in the same place to not only serve the residence of Kuppiyawatte but many others living in Dematagoda and Maradana. I wish to commend the Mayor Mr. Omar Kamil who was elected as a member since 1979 from Kuppiyawatte for having constructed this dispensary in such a short time of 10 months. I learnt from the Chief Dispensary Medical Officer Dr. Mrs. N. Wickremesinghe that this unit could have not only an OPD section but also a clinic for Eye and Dental Care and it is due to be opened in mid January. My good wishes to all those people who worked towards this laudable cause for the benefit of the people. N. NIHAL, The Rambukkana train tragedy which happened on Jan. 13, was the last among railway accidents that took place during the recent past, causing great damage to life and property. In the old days it was the public opinion that railway was the safest mode of transport for passengers to travel without any impending danger. Mechanical defects are inevitable, but accidents can be avoided not only by being vigilant but also by being careful of the speed as the best precaution, while on the run. It is for this reason that senior experienced drivers are chosen to drive passenger trains, specially night trains, who are supposed to share their responsibility with the passengers. After a train mishap, interdicting the driver, until the inquiry is over, is only a routine matter under the disciplinary code. But what about the damage done and the deaths involved? The Rambukkana train tragedy has killed 15 passengers and seriously wounding more than 150, not to mention of those casualties who escaped death and serious injury. Apart from the negligence of drivers, the Railway Department must bear the blame for all train mishaps, because improper maintenance, neglect of duty, bad supervision, lack of responsibility, lethargy and many other reasons, jointly and severally, may cause train accidents. No expertise knowledge is required to make this comment. In the good old days, there were Carriage Examiners to look into the railworthiness of the rolling stock and Foreman Plate Layers to check the track for faults. I do not know whether they still exist, and, if so, the bogies are checked before coupling to trains, and the railway line is checked for its fitness to carry speeding trains. If the engines are serviced regularly, any defect in the braking system can be found out and attended to before they are coupled to haul bogies. Safety first is the best policy. A. R., |
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