|
|
 |
 |
| Sunday, 27 April 2003 |
 |
|
 |
Letters |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
|
Please forward your letters to [email protected] in plain text format within the e-mail message, since as a policy we do not open any attachments.
The way our Prime Minister seems to be working reminds us of the story of the proverbial rabbit and the tortoise. "Slow and steady does it" seem to be his policy. What seems to be admirable in him is the way to maintain his calm and posture in spite of all the needling by the others. It was reflected amply in the interview he gave on TV recently. He was very careful never to criticise, run down or even blame the President in any way. What came through admirably in this interview was the fact that he has the utmost respect for the will of the people i.e. the selection of the President as the Head of the State, which is over the post of Prime Minister. He made it very clear that due respect should be given for the post if not for the person. One could but feel a sense of admiration for this leader's goodness, which has clearly set a new trend in our political arena. Not long ago, the political field of Sri Lanka was putrid to say the least, with only thugs, murderers and arms dealers ruling the day with no self respect to citizen. Thus nobody was interested in getting involved in politics. Today, thanks to the decency brought into politics by the Prime
Minister, the political domain has become respectable. Many are impatient,
and many more are worried by the cost of living yet but to be fair by this
gentleman, let's give him a hand and hearing. I think it is my duty to thank Dr. Sivakumar, the Consultant Paediatric Cardiologist at Apollo hospital. Recently, my daughter who is 11 years of age was found to have an abnormal heart condition, by a doctor at a medical examination. I showed her to two cardiologists and their opinion was that she had no major problem but a small surgery had to be done. Meanwhile, I consulted Dr. Sivakumar. It was my first instance of visiting Apollo and meeting Dr. Sivakumar. He informed me that the defect (my daughter's) could be corrected without surgery. Dr. Sivakumar corrected the defect of my daughter using the latest medical technology. I would like to make the general public aware about the good and efficient services of doctors such as Dr. Sivakumar, Dr. Prasad and many such specialists at Apollo Hospital because there are patients from remote areas who have to pay high prices for unwanted surgeries. If a hospital of this nature was not set up in Sri Lanka patients would have had to travel to India or some other country to undergo complicated surgeries. Therefore my personal view is that the Apollo Hospital and the doctors there, are assets to our country. In 1977 the late President J. R. Jayewardene, suspended the death penalty, perhaps in pursuance of his concept of building a "Dharmista Samajaya", a righteous society. But the death penalty was not expunged altogether from the Statute Book, which evidently implies that the suspension could be lifted and the death penalty reintroduced if and when necessity arose. Necessity did arise, when violence and crimes increased by leaps and bounds as a consequence of the suspension of capital punishment. Accordingly, somewhere in 1995 private member's bill seeking to reintroduce death penalty was unanimously passed by the Parliament. Nevertheless, contemporary Justice Minister Professor G. L. Peiris was reported to have issued a statement to the effect that death penalty would be carried out only at the discretion of the Justice Minister adding that he did not believe in the death penalty. Eventually the bill was laid in limbo and status quo maintained to the detriment of law and order and the rule of law. As the inevitable outcome of the situation exacerbated and horrendous crimes of murder, rape, contract murders and various other crimes assumed unprecedented proportions, so much so that law and order and the rule of law are now being undermined and criminality, violence and terror reigned supreme, whilst our country acclaimed "Dharmadweepa" is on the verge of being metamorphosed into a "Adharmadweepa". It is in this milieu that Interior Minister, John Amaratunga hastened to re-implement the death penalty, which is hailed as a prudent and timely action by each and every law-abiding and peace loving citizen. But a cross section of the people have expressed divergent views against the move. Whatever be the puerile, frivolous and baseless arguments the dissenters have trotted out, imposition of capital punishment to commensurate with the capital offence committed by the convict as provided for in the statute book is essentially part and parcel of the administration of justice, which in no way deny or infringe the right to live. It will in fact safeguard the right to life of every citizen including the worst criminal himself. On the face of the present situation in the country, I am of the opinion that the re-implementation of the death penalty alone is not adequate enough to achieve the envisaged objective. The newly established Independent National Police Commission should become operational forthwith and the Police Force need be given a shot in the arm so as to enhance its morale and efficiency. Since the power of appointments, transfers, disciplinary matters and
dismissals of Police officers is vested with this Commission, no longer
they need to curry favour with the politicians or be under obligation to
them. On the other hand, Police officers should be made immune against any
outside influence or pressure, whether political or otherwise. Re-introduction of the death penalty is a crying need in Sri Lanka. If clemency is recommended along with the verdict or at an appeal this may be considered appropriately. The death penalty needs to be enforced otherwise. The death penalty is accepted to be a deterrent. It drives one to think before taking another's life. Deadly crimes planned well ahead and efficiently executed demonstrate that life sentences are no threats to reprehensible criminals. Views and ideas of Human Rights Organizations based abroad, indicate unawareness of gangster killings, rapes followed by repulsive murders contract extermination and drug trafficking that accompany homicides, that awful crimes have grown rampant in a one time relatively calm country. Monstrous deeds like kidnapping the young to be sent to the middle-east and forced into slavery and camel riding satisfy only the lust of the unscrupulous money seekers. The death penalty alone can stifle horrendous crimes which merit no other penalty. I am not intolerant of other views. Idealists no doubt shout down the re-imposition of the death penalty. These like the Amnesty International remain from the repulsive reality in current Sri Lanka. Ordinary people who comprise the core and mass of this country use the public transport, especially sordid private buses. They recognise how disgraceful is the total lack of discipline and the prevalence of utter disregard and disrespect for human life. Most of these Human Rights Organisations are insulated from the actual depressing and miserable state of law and order in our island. The majority of citizens may yearn for peace and harmony and condemn violence and premeditated heinous crime. They expect the Government to protect their children and their hard-earned property from various menacing murderers and homicidal maniacs. It is indeed time the death penalty be re-introduced. There should not be any delay. Now is the worst of times. The Prime Minister, the Interior Affairs Minister and the Government will receive the gratitude of almost all, particularly of the poor honest, for this timely and firm action to stem horrible crimes. All will certainly give positive support in encouraging the creation of
a crime-reduced environment. In the letter supporting death penalty(Mar.16.)Mr.Thambyrajah refers to Thirukural, an ancient literary masterpiece of Hindu Philosophy. But it will not be very difficult to quote from other literary and religious writings from Hindu Tradition in opposing the issue of death penalty. However, the crux of the matter in the debate about death penalty is not the notion of a deterrence nor the administration of justice but whether or not it is an acceptable form of punishment within a human society. Mr.Thambyrajah argues that ,I quote: " for the safety of the innocent people and the law-abiding citizens of our country, there is justification to restore death penalty". What is ignored in this line of argument is the fact that in many jurisdictions the judicial process is so imperfect and discriminatory that many innocent people have been wrongly convicted and executed in the name of justice and protection of the "innocent law abiding citizens" of the country. Just look at the administration of justice in United States of America, The statistics show: 1) It convicts one of the highest number of citizens to death penalty. 2) It convicts (discriminatorily) the minority Blacks to death penalty three times as many as the White majority population. 3) It has wrongly convicted and executed many innocent citizens in spite of a justice system that is supposed to be the best in the world. 4) What is most striking is the fact that U.S. is ranked first in the number of murders committed than any other country in the world. Hence it proves that capital punishment is no deterrent to murder rates in a country. I would recommend to those interested in restoring the death penalty in Sri Lanka to read the Amnesty Report of 2002 titled: United States of America: Arbitrary, Discriminatory and Cruel: An aide-memoire to 25 years of judicial killing. Given the above factors it is the wrong thing to re-introduce Capital
punishment in Sri Lanka. There are today, including Sri Lanka, 109
countries that are abolitionist in law or practice. Let us hope that
common sense (and not political opportunism) will prevail and Sri Lanka
will continue to be counted as one among the many progressive countries
opposing the death penalty. Doing otherwise would be a step backwards and
a blow to the great religious values held by the Buddhists, Hindus and the
Christians of Sri Lanka. There is general dissatisfaction among the retired military personnel with regard to the amnesty to be granted to Army deserters. However, we have to consider the practical aspect. Soldiers desert the army probably due to fear of death and it is doubtful whether they would offer the required service to the country even if given the opportunity to re-join the Army. They are compelled to resort to illegal actions as the public is forbidden to offer employment to such deserters. It is better to discharge such persons, provided they return the arms in their possession, so that they could lead a normal life. These type of amnesties are inevitable in a democratic country. For eg. consider a case where an accused agrees to become a crown witness. Even if its proved that he was the culprit, no action can be taken against him as he has been accepted a crown witness. I wish to quote in this instance the famous "Sathasivam murder case" in the 1950s where Mr. Sathasivam was charged with the alleged murder of his wife. The servant was accepted as a crown witness and even though Dr. Colvin R. de Silva proved that the servant was the murderer, action couldn't be taken against the servant as he was a crown witness. Therefore, I appeal to the public to accept these anomalies. I was admitted to the eye ward of the Nawalapitiya Base Hospital on March 14, for a cataract operation and I wish to express my feelings of contentment and gratitude for the excellent service I received under the care of the doctors and the nursing staff of this hospital. A public hospital is a place where patients from all strata of society come for treatment, looking after them and attending to their every need is a very difficult task unlike in a well paid private hospital. The majority of patients in a government hospital come from poor and illiterate society and therefore most of them are indisciplined, Under such circumstances when the patients receive satisfactory service, such service has to be recognized and appreciated. So it is with sincerity that I wish to say that the doctors of this hospital have performed their duties with much dedication, kindness and generosity. The nursing staff too were very active and prompt in paying attention to the needs of their patients. Apart from prompt service, they too were polite and kind towards them. In this period of severe poverty and deprivation, consolation received from the hospital staff through kindness and attention contributes to the rapid recovery of the ailing patients. So it is with true sincerity that I wish to state that I obtained
excellent service from the members of the staff of this hospital. Consumption of meat - a response This refers to an article written by Tuan Riza Rassool, in the Sunday Observer of May 9 on meat eating. It is a gospel truth that a Muslim never supports vegetarianism, because meat is a relished food of all Muslims throughout the world, except pork. The religious rift between Hindustanis and Pakistanis, which arose after the partition of India, was, for the obvious reason, that the Hindus worshipped the cow whereas the Muslims slaughtered the animal for food. Mahatma Gandhi (a Hindu) and Mohammed Ali Jinnah (a Muslim), were at loggerheads over the meat question which they were never able to settle amicably. Mr. Rassool is at liberty even to eat a whole carcass, but he should not be critical about vegetarianism which does not inflict pain on animals. Each man's taste differs and no compulsion is needed. He has taken up the sordid question over excreta of animals which have a foul smell. Excreta is waste and there can be nothing queer about it. Does he know that in India as well as in Sri Lanka excreta (cow-dung) is used to smear the floor of uncemented homes to make them clean and tidy? It is a pity that Mr. Rassool has gone to the extreme of proving his wickedness to the killing of satient animals for food, and satisfy his appetite to devour flesh into his own flesh. We must not forget that Mahatma Gandhi, a complete vegetarian, lived for 79 years in a healthy state until he was assassinated in 1948. If not, he would have lived longer. This great man had a frail and puny body and was a fast walker for his old age. Mohammed Ali Jinnah lived only for 72 years, who relished eating meat as animal protein. The milk of human kindness is based on mercy for animals. Just go near an abattoir, and see to yourself, how these animals look at you for mercy, without a drop of water to drink or food to eat, undergoing the greatest ordeal until the knife separates the body in twain, bleeding profusely with thick blood flowing down the drain, which the animals have carefully stored. Dr. J.H. Kellogg, American surgeon and founder of the Battle Creek Sanatorium, says "There is nothing necessary or desirable for human nutrition to be found in meat, because it is the product of vegetable matter which the animals feed for their growth. A dead cow lying in a pasture is recognised as a carrion. The same sort of carcass dressed and hung up in a butcher's stall passes as food. Careful microscopic examination may show little or no difference between the fence-corner carcass and the butcher-shop carcass. Both are swarming with colon germs and redolent with putrefaction". Now, what has Mr. Rassool to say about it? The Essene Gospel of Peace mentions that Jesus Christ is supposed to have said "The flesh of slain beasts in one's body will become his own tomb. For, I tell you truly, he who kills, kills himself and who so eats the flesh of slain beasts eats the body of death." So, Mr. Rassool, the simple logic is that killing is painful, and
whether it be man or beast, there is no difference in pain. The only way
to live as a human being is to let others live in peace. The argument put
forward by Mr. Rassool is that eating meat is a right of man. Of course,
being a Muslim he has to abide by his own feelings and convictions. Early childhood care and education Early childhood is the first five or six years of the child. It is also known as the formative years. The child in this age group is generally known as the "Young Child." The child forms the foundation of the world's future. It is a vital material of immeasurable value. Research in child psychology has stressed that early childhood is a crucial period for laying the foundation for a vibrant and a healthy future for the child. It is during this period that mental, physical and emotional systems of the child develops, more than any other time in its later life. Psychologists have made it very clear that when early childhood is neglected, discouraged or restricted due to unawareness or negligence of parents and care-givers, the consequences can be disastrous. This can be the main reason for more and more young people getting involved in anti-social activities today. We should bear in mind that the character of a nation develops from the children who come from its homes and schools. I have been in the field of Early Childhood Care and Education since October 1986. My observations are that during the past several years, there is a rapid decline in the physical and mental growth of most young children today. This is mainly due to bad parenting. I find that most parents today indulge in the comfortable belief that parenthood in itself provides all the wisdom necessary for bringing up of children. If this is true, the greater number of individual and social problems of today will not arise. Under the present family setup parenting is something to be learnt. Therefore parent education is very necessary for most parents irrespective of their social and economic standards. Not only bad parenting, a poorly run pre-school education center or a day-care centre can affect or retard a young child's growth and development. Today montessories, pre-schools and day-care centers are found all over the country and are rapidly increasing annually. A large number of pre-school teacher training institutions produce quite a good number of teachers almost every six or twelve months. There are no guidelines for these pre-schools, montessories, day-care centers and training centers. The responsibility of a pre-school teacher is more than a primary school teacher. A primary school teacher has to undergo a two-year training; theory and practice in a Teacher Training College. A children's centre should be a multi purpose centre where attention is focused not only on the child, but also on the family. You can imagine the standard and duration of the training a pre-school teacher should have. It is very unfortunate that there is no National Policy on Early Childhood Care and Education so far in Sri Lanka. I wish to bring to your notice that in January 1985, the Secretary, Ministry of Plan implementation, announced the appointment of a National Committee of Inquiry on the Young Child, to the President. They submitted their report on August 31. An experimental programme incorporating the recommendations of the committee was implemented in 1986. Save the Children Fund (UK) sponsored this programme. I am personally aware of the success of this programme because during this programme and during this period I was one of the Project Officers in the Early Childhood Development section of SCF (UK). If the policymakers are really interested, the members of this Committee can be summoned and given the responsibility to continue the work. I have forwarded all these facts to the authorities concerned but they have not at least acknowledged my letters. According to the recommendations of the 1985 National Committee, ECCE could be handled by a National Board for the Development and Welfare of Young Children. This Board includes representatives of other Ministries, non-governmental organisations and specialists on the subject, to formulate national policies and guidelines for the implementation of the programmes and to ensure minimum standards. Therefore, it is best that those interested can get-together to discuss
further on this matter in detail and make a collective representation to
the authorities concerned. A few months ago there was a news item on Rupavahini and other channels about the emergence of the first Buddhist republic in Europe from and out of the states previously included in the USSR. Obviously it must have been the autonomous regions of USSR formerly known as Kalmykia, Tulu and Ulan Ude to the north of Mongolia. According to the news telecast Buddhism is the state religion of this new republic. However our efforts to trace the name of this republic were not
successful. We wanted to trace the name of this republic and names and
addresses of heads of states and Buddhist hierarchy there. Will any reader
or a news agency who is conversant with this subject enlighten us in this
regard please. I am a recipient of monthly electricity bills for sums between Rs. 300-500 for the last two decades. Our's is an old house situated in a village 8 miles away from Kandy city limits. Consumption of power is below average and the bills are at low rates than modern residents in the Metropolitant areas. But due to our surprise we received a bill of Rs. 2000 for the month of January 2003 and thereafter Rs. 1,500 on the following month just after an installation of a new electricity metre by the Nugawela CEB in the Central Province. As this is an unbearable issue we immediately brought this to the notice of the Area Engineer CEB followed with a registered post letter and also with a contact telephone number which incurred us an additional expense. Anyway in order to get a speedy remedial measure, the Area Engineer too authenticated the fact that he too found some defective meters had been installed and thereby this may perhaps exceed the normal running rate than usual speed and velocity.We also noticed that some instances where the meter works fast than usual even when we keep the lights switched off. It is a sad state of affair to note here that we were asked to settle the bills as well as to make an additional payment of Rs. 700 if we need to get this meter tested by the CEB to clear any discrepancies by the authorities at the CEB Katugastota. Authorities please attend to this and provide us a better service. Necessity has no law. A young, innocent girl was in captivity, tied to a dog chain in the flats. She was undergoing untold suffering, misery and agony. For how long she was suffering from this miserable state nobody knows. However, this girl had the presence of mind to scribble her agony on a piece of paper and throw it outside. Fortunately, it touched a good Samaritan. From there onwards the floodgates for the duty-conscious neighbours opened to ventilate their wrath and wreak vengeance on the relevant authority. The Grandpass Police action was condemned in the eyes of the Sri Lankan public for gross neglect of duty. Shame, on these notorious Police officers who are after filthy lucre. They knew the whole story and the king-pin and the "queen-pin" behind it, but chose deliberately to keep it a secret from the inquisitive public. You cannot fool all the people all the time. The Grandpass police have lost their credibility among the general public. The ugly incident proves beyond any shadow of doubt that the officers were in collusion with the wretched woman to carry on nefarious activities. In fact, it is common knowledge that most of the police are hand-in-glove with the underworld, drug peddlers, gangsters and criminals. No wonder, rapes, robberies and murders are escalating day by day. It was reported in the media that there were girls' uniforms, birth certificates, syringes and bloodstained clothes inside that flat . A woman had identified one uniform as that of her daughter who had gone missing on June 8 last year. She is a young mother of four children, three girls and one boy. She is Sithy Fareeda of Wellampitiya and was in a desperate plight. She revealed that she had lost her second daughter, aged 12 years, nine months ago on a Saturday when she went to the dance class and never returned. She related when she went to the Grandpass Police to make a formal complaint, the officers there took it with a pinch of salt. They turned her back, advising her to wait for another day. When she went for the second time, they treated her with callous indifference, telling her she may be in one of her relations places. Nevertheless, they took down the complaint. Subsequently, she visited the police station three times to know the whereabouts of her daughter. The policemen had said the girl must be living somewhere and requested her to give the address to search the girl! How sarcastic was the police ? Later, she has received a letter (written by somebody else) signed by her daughter. This uniform and loss of this girl pose an interesting question. Is she living or dead ? What about the other uniforms ? Are these innocents alive or not ? This is a heinous crime involving big-wigs and other influential persons in connivance with the Police. The Grandpass police, and also the Kotahena police, needs a thorough probe to clean its Augean Stables. An immediate inquiry to expose this sordid state of affairs and bring the culprits to book whoever they may be. This stinking state of affairs should be nipped in the bud, otherwise,
our children may find it difficult to walk on the road. They are the
lifeblood of the nation and should not be allowed to become the fodder for
organ transplants or any other immoral activities. |
|
News | Business | Features
| Editorial | Security Produced by Lake House |
