Letters to the Editor

Blame politics for corruption in police, judiciary
President Chandrika Kumaratunga's bold statement that there is corruption in the police and the judiciary is a damning indictment on the guardians of law and order. The UNP has been quick to pounce on the President's statement as an indictment of her own failure as Minister of Defence during the past ten years, forgetting the fact that it too held the Ministry of Interior from 2002 to 2004. The President must be hailed for admitting the state's inability to ensure that its own institutions are free of corruption.

The current situation is no doubt the result of the gradual politicization of state institutions in post-independent Sri Lanka. The past few decades have seen an acceleration of this process and as a result we have politicians who storm into police stations to free their henchmen arrested for various offences (some even occupying the OIC's chair in a cheap display of power), politicians who try to tamper with evidence against themselves and their supporters and politicians who assault police officers doing their duty.

Irrespective of who or which party is in power, has any government got the courage to rise against its own members engaged in fraud and thuggery? No. Both major parties, when in power, have, instead, gone to lengths to protect such members from the natural course of justice and preferred to turn a blind eye when instances of sheer unscrupulousness were highlighted.

At the same time, successive police chiefs have failed to take tangible action against corrupt officers, thus indirectly encouraging corruption. The President's admission is a step in the right direction towards eradicating corruption in the very institutions that have a moral and ethical right to uphold honesty and integrity in all their actions. Turning the searchlight inwards is one thing; acting upon one's convictions, however, is a different thing.

To begin with, politicization of the two institutions in question must stop. Despite the IGP's assurance that no one is above the law, all we have seen so far is that only the general public is within the long arm of the law and that favoured individuals including politicians are certainly above it.

Hopefully, the President will set an example in making sure that every citizen, irrespective of status, is within the reach of the law. The public, no doubt, will give her its fullest support in this arduous exercise, perhaps one of the biggest challenges of the political history of this country.

Shedding more light on Galle Road traffic
It seems a happy augury that the Marine Drive that runs parallel to Galle Road is being extended in the direction of Galle Face. Traffic congestion from Wellawatte to Bambalapitiya has already been eased to a certain extent.

It is observed that to approach Wellawatte from the south, with the least possible obstruction, motorists take devious routes between Mt. Lavinia and Wellawatte. Often those roads are very narrow and as motorists get used to them there are bound to be bottle-necks.

It might, therefore, be worth exploring which of those side routes leading to Galle Road at whatever point should be improved, if not widened. No doubt, the Attidiya route from Ratmalana is catering for much traffic, and vehicles use it as an alternative to Galle Road, thus avoiding the stretch between Maliban junction and Dehiwela junction, during peak hours. Perhaps the authorities will give some thought to this proposition.

Wake up as Sri Lankans
The art of losing gracefully seems to have left our shores when the British departed for good. Our teachers' daily exhortations to play the game regardless of victory or defeat have become unpopular axioms. Even schoolchildren show signs of belligerence in sport and would even cheat to win. The old belief that sport unifies players and teaches good gamesmanship is as old and outdated as the Ark.

In the midst of the bitterly fought American elections came a gracious gesture which political leaders all over the world would do well to emulate. It is true that the battle for the White House was between two well-born and well-connected gentlemen but their behaviour during times of electioneering was reminiscent of the vituperative hustling that takes place in Sri Lanka.

In Sri Lanka, too, we have two equally well-born and well-connected leaders of opposing parties but there is always an unpleasant backlash once results are announced. Although this post-poll backlash has been minimized in recent years, the period after elections is generally an uncomfortable time for the public until things settle down. The mudslinging that goes on unabated is undignified and does no one any good.

It was positively riveting to read what John Kerry wrote to George W. Bush in conceding defeat. He said, "I wish things had turned out differently but in an American election there are no losers, because whether or not our candidates are successful, the next morning we all wake up as Americans.”

Surely this is something all Sri Lankans must realise. After the shouting and vicious fighting are over we all wake up as Sri Lankans the day elections are over and that feeling of unity must carry us through until the next elections are due.

Widen the road to this famous temple
Dewram Vehera at Depanama, Pannipitiya is a well known temple. On Poya days, thousands of devotees in vehicles and on foot visit this temple.

The road leading to this temple is less than fifteen feet in width and specially on Poya days people face untold difficulties when vehicles move on this road. People have to jump into the ditch to make room for the moving vehicles. As the road is narrow it takes a long time to reach the temple in the traffic jam.

The widening of this road is a long-felt need. I appeal to the Prime Minister who is also the Minister of Highways to assist us in widening this road which is less than a kilometre from the Pannipitiya-Depanama junction.

Legal liquor more harmful than illegal liquor
Many articles have appeared in the private print media criticizing the decision taken by the government recently to ban the sale of liquor in supermarkets. First of all, I must inquire as to how and why banning liquor in supermarkets has become such a big issue when there are much more important things in society.

The reason this issue has been given undue publicity is that those who criticize this timely decision are more concerned about losing profits than caring for public welfare. Restricting of liquor sales points is an effective method which the world has accepted to reduce national consumption. Illegal alcohol consumption, however, cannot be decreased by increasing the availability of legal alcohol products. The articles had expressed the opinion that an illegal business can be controlled by increasing the availability of the legal product. This is a false concept which the industry propagates (world research has proved it).

There were suggestions to disallow sales points near places of worship and schools. That does not mean that banning liquor at supermarkets should be delayed or given less importance than stopping sales points near places of religious worship and schools. Taking the most appropriate and effective solution as early as possible is the most practical method than arguing about things which the government has still not dealt with.

The belief that illicit liquor is more harmful than the legal product is a myth. The world has accepted that there is more damage done to society through legal liquor than the harm done by the illegal product. But these articles highlight only one side. The damage caused through legal alcohol consumption to society, a family, an individual, depriving children of education etc. is not revealed.

None of these articles has mentioned that supermarkets are the places where liquor is stored in the most attractive manner and that children often visit supermarkets with or without parents. Also when those who visit supermarkets spot the liquor available there they get attracted to it. The world accepts and confirms that such methods themselves induce and condition children from childhood to use liquor at a later date.

What the government gains as revenue through tax on alcohol is not a big amount as compared with the expenditure that it has to incur on treating alcohol victims. Moreover the majority of shares in the alcohol industry in Sri Lanka are owned by foreign entrepreneurs.

Police, bus mafia and wheels of injustice
I have been reading news items about the police trying to frame false charges against the public. I faced a similar incident a few weeks ago when driving towards Colombo on the Kandy-Colombo road amidst crawling traffic.

Near a town close to Colombo, a Colombo-bound passenger bus (Ashok Leyland Viking) started overtaking the traffic by driving along the lane meant for vehicles coming from the opposite direction. This took place at a stretch where overtaking is banned. The driver was flashing his lights and tooting the horn continuously. All the vehicles proceeding towards Kandy had to pull off the road to avoid colliding with the bus. (This is a normal occurrence on all the roads).

When this bus neared my car, a large container lorry was coming towards the bus and the bus tried to creep in front of my car but I kept my car moving and the bus could not creep in.

The angry conductor kicked my car and the driver took the bus so close to my car that it knocked my right side mirror, damaging it. When this happened I put my shutter down and shouted at the driver of the bus. Then the bus driver got into a rage and started ramming my car damaging both doors on the right side. The public saw this and started challenging the bus driver. The driver threatened to run over them. This really provoked the public and finally the driver was pulled out from the bus and assaulted by the public.

A traffic policeman came to the scene and it was quite evident that the bus driver and the conductor were well known to this policeman. (The policeman called the driver Kalu Aiya). The markings were not done on the road and the policeman ordered me to go to the police station and got into the bus to go to the station.

When I went to the police station the bus was already there but the driver was not to be seen. He was inside the main section of the police station for about 15 minutes while I was waiting for him in the traffic section. Then the bus driver appeared in new clothes, carrying his old shirt in his hands after tearing it himself. He had the cheek to accuse me of assaulting him.

I identified myself as a Consultant Surgeon in a government hospital and tried to explain to the police what really happened. This fell on deaf ears and the police threatened to take me into custody saying that I had assaulted the driver!

The bus driver had purposely damaged my car after breaking all road rules, threatened to run over the public and caused me severe mental torture. Now in the police station I became the culprit and the bus driver became the victim! I tried to explain the matter to an officer who was also there but none of them was willing to listen to what I was saying.

I had to phone a high-up in the police to escape the harassment. If I did not have any contacts I would have ended up in the police cell. People go to the police to seek justice. Police officers are also public servants paid by the public to safeguard the interests of the public. Some police officers have forgotten what their duties are. Most of the buses and three-wheelers have some kind of connection with police officers (who either own these vehicles or give some sort of protection).

If the authority that is there to protect the public from crime acts in this manner where can we go to seek justice? This is the very reason why the public takes the law into its hands when there is an accident and as such there is no law and order in the country.

It is high time that action is taken against corrupt police officers and the police department is made a respectable institution in whom the public will have faith. We the general public hope the new IGP will take effective measures to bring the police force to an acceptable standard.

'Letters to the Editor' should be brief and to the point.
Address them to:
'Letters to the Editor,
The Sunday Times,
P.O.Box 1136, Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Or e-mail to
editor@sundaytimes.wnl.lk or
features@sundaytimes.wnl.lk
Please note that letters cannot be acknowledged or returned.