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Changing of parties

Members of Parliament are elected by voters to represent them in Parliament, assuming that they will work for the benefit of the people of this country.

However, it is disappointing to note that parliamentarians change parties through which they were elected to Parliament, even without informing party leaders.

It is clear that they take this selfish, unethical and undemocratic decision to gain personal benefit, ignoring how and why they were elected to Parliament.

What a sad situation for those who elected them to Parliament.

Since this is a gross violation of the right of voters, prompt action should be initiated to end this injustice immediately.

In my opinion, President Maithripala Sirisena should take the initiative to prevent changing of political parties by introducing a new Act, with the assistance of party leaders.

Rohitha Fernando Malabe

Via e-mail

The pavement hawker menace!

The Colombo Municipal Council was dilly-dallying for many years to clear the stinking mounds of garbage from the precincts of the Sacred Bo Tree, and the shopping centres of Pettah to prevent the menace of pavement hawkers who obstruct the free flow of thousands of pedestrians who commute through these streets daily to and from the work places, railway station and bus stand.

It was a losing battle of wits for the Municipal Council, until former Defence Secretary, Gotabaya Rajapaksa took the initiative to evict pavement hawkers,while accommodating them in specific areas and turned the area into a spectacular city site.

Unfortunately, instead of maintaining the well intentional efforts, Colombo Mayor, Mohmmed. Muzammil adopted a lop-sided politically motivated ‘Election Gundu’. A ruse, to appease pavement hawkers who consist of predominately Muslim voters in and around the city, to strengthen his voter base, in view of he forthcoming parliamentary election, under the pretext of accommodating pavement trading only during the Ramazan festive season, restricting it to a few streets in the city.

The irony, and what is most conspicuous is, if the Mayor was so conscious of accommodating periodical festive seasonal shoppers, as to why he did not have the presence of mind to use the same yardstick for the Sinhala/Hindu, and Christmas festivals, when a much larger number converge in the city to get a bargain.

The pavement hawkers’ contention is that they do not have sufficient business in the spaces provided by the authorities, as the sites are situated interior and exposed to only a few customers, and therefore there was poor business. Hence, the reason to get back to the pavement where the people are, is a shrewd convenient pretext, as they are hand-in-glove with criminal elements engaged in nefarious illegal business practises in the nature of illicit liquor sales, pickpocketing, narcotic trafficking, providing safe havens to ‘city nightingales’- all under the guise of pavement hawking.

Mr. Muzammil’s contention of limited periods and areas will never be a reality, since Christmas is round the corner when the Sinhala pavement vendors, will no doubt, clamour to be permitted to continue through the Christmas season as well as the Ramazan Festivals. By the time the Christmas season ends, it will be followed by the Sinhala and Hindu festivals.

They would quite justifiably claim to remain through this festival too. Ultimately, the consequences are that the pavement hawkers will automatically come to stay.

As the medieval colloquial Sinhala proverb goes – ‘Angilla Daganda Dunnoth Oluwath Daganna Balanawa’. It will then be a gigantic task for the Mayor to get the pavement vendors to return to their original spaces provided by the authorities.Wither Yahapalanaya Mr. Muzammil!

K. Sugathadasa,
Wattala.

Ethno-religious chauvinism

Reading Padma Edirisinghe’s article on Henry Pedris -Multimillionaire’s son, martyr of Lanka’s freedom movement which appeared in the Sunday Observer of 19 -7.2015 on pg 37, I was puzzled as to how a brutal pogrom against a religious minority can be described as a rebellion against colonial rule.

The cruel riots of 1915 were directed against the Muslims of Ceylon and the Police records reveal the full nature of the atrocities and destruction inflicted by the hate and envy- filled mobs.

The failure to recognize the true nature of the savage anti muslim riots of 1915 greatly contributed to the brutal anti Tamil riots of the post independence era.

Another bizzare distortion is the description of Captain Henry Pedris as an anti colonial patriot. Henry Pedris was a privileged member of the Ceylonese colonial elite who was so loyal to the British Empire that when World War 1 broke out, he joined the Colombo Town Guard, an act that involved taking an oath of allegiance to the British Monarch (H.M. George V) and a pledge to obey the orders of (the mainly) British Officers under whose command he served.

Sadly, Captain Henry Pedris not only failed to follow the orders of his superior officers but he also allowed his ethno-religious chauvinism and anti-muslim prejudices to get the better of him in a manner that led him to order the men under his command to open fire on a group of Mulsim men trying to defend themselves and their properties from the rampaging mob-an action that led to deaths (that included a police constable) and many injuries.

For these acts of mutiny he was court martialled and executed by means of a firing squad as required by military law.

It’s obvious that young Henry Pedris, despite his fine education and privileged background fell prey to the harsh hate and envy- filled majoritarian anti minority and xenophobic propaganda being spewed out by the pseudo nationalists of the era.

The writings and research of respected historians such as Dr. Kumari Jayawardene and Dr. Michael Roberts give ample testimony to this.

Sikander L. Cassim
Colombo 3