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| Sunday, 19 October 2003 |
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Police action Sel lipi by Gotabhaya Swasthi Shree! Thus says his sacred Majesty, the gracious Great King, glorious Chakravarthi, King of the Kings of Maya, Pihiti and Ruhuna, Mahoora of the Vanniala-aeththo and ruler of all lands from Yapapatuna to Sampanthota: It has come to the attention of the Maha Wasala that, in the village of Rathgama, the murakaara hewayas have arrested a 16-year-old boy, suspected of having stolen some jewellery. However, it is alleged that they have not merely arrested the lad, but that they have also blindfolded him and forced water through his nose, thrown chillie powder at him and beaten him in a suspended position. He has had to be treated by physicians for his injuries. It appears that this action by these murakaara hewayas is not a single, isolated instance. For the last few months, there has been a steady flow of reports of people who have died, either in the mura kuti themselves or in close proximity to murakaara hewayas. On one occasion, a person who had just won half a koti of kahapanas had suffered heart failure in the presence of murakaara hewayas in a mura kuti in the Raigam Korale. Many had pointed a finger at the chief of all murakaara hewayas, saying that no action was being taken to prevent these deaths and injuries in the mura kuti. The finger-pointing was aggravated when the same chief was found to have attended a celebration in the home of an allegedly celebrated purveyor of maayaa-inducing substances. The chief denied knowing that this person was such a merchant, but to no avail, as many felt that, if he was not aware of such things, he was not fit to be the adhipathi of all murakaara hewayas. Meanwhile, it has come to the notice of the Maha Vasala that the murakaara hewayas will soon, in addition to their Raajakaariya of enforcing the law, be providing aid to those who have been bitten by venomous serpents. The services of a physician of Polambegoda, skilled in the treatment of snakebite, have been acquired to train these enforcers of the law in the correct actions to be taken to save the lives of those who have been attacked by snakes. The first session of training has taken place at the murakaara hewayas school at Kalu Tota. This laudable action is, it is reported, done at the behest of the chief of all murakaara hewayas. So it is apparent that the chief, who has subsequently moved from his office, was setting in position a course of action which would solve the problem of deaths in the custody of the murakaara hewayas It is obvious that these deaths have taken place because of insufficient medical knowledge on the part of the officers of the law. Several of the dead people were found to have bruise-marks on their bodies, which were caused by the medically ignorant enforcers of the law applying cardiac massage in the wrong places. The boy at Rathgama had undergone a similar type of wrong medical treatment and was lucky to have survived. It is thus clear that the training of murakaara hewayas in the treatment of snake bite is a very laudable step in the correct direction. The ex-adhipathi of murakaara hewayas should be rewarded suitably for this initiative. For, no more will there be cases of snake bite victims having chillie thrown at them, or having cardiac massage applied in an upside-down position, or having the venom expelled from their bodies by the forcing of water through their nostrils. Swasthi Shree! This rock edict is made on this day of Ravi of the month of Wap of the Year of the Saka Era 1930. |
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