Sunday Times 2
Dealing with the miscreants
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One of the things I have learned from my Indian friends is that peculiar dialect known as ‘Indian English’ – or more colloquially in Hindi-speaking India, simply as ‘Ind-E’.
From phrases like ‘to airdash’ (to take an airplane flight to get somewhere in a hurry), ‘to prepone’ (to bring forward, as in the opposite of ‘to postpone’) and ‘to scrute’ (to examine carefully or scrutinise) as well as delightfully descriptive colloquialisms such as ‘he looks like a stadium’ (to describe someone who has a large bald spot fringed by hair) or ‘she is eating my brain’ (referring to someone who is talking incessantly), Ind-E words are classic.
But one of the best Ind-E words I have come across is this word Miscreant. Found as far back as in the time of Shakespeare, the word originally meant a villain or a rascal – but today, as you would realise if you look at the headlines in any Indian newspaper, the word is used to describe all types of people who have broken the law. Headlines like ‘Miscreants set ATM on fire’, ‘Miscreant killed in encounter with police’ and ‘Journalist attacked by miscreants’ – all these examples show how the word is in common usage in India to refer to any person who has done something wrong or unlawful.
As the New Year dawned this week I was musing about how there are so many miscreants in this world but how so few of them are actually brought to justice.
In our own country, we all know about the various folk who go into politics who then, after being elected to political office, utilise their time to behave like miscreants – but are never actually tried in the courts or punished. Sometimes, because they are useful vote catchers or providers of needed party funds for their political leaders, these leaders turn a blind eye to their wrongdoings. At other times, cases are brought against them (usually when they have lost office and end up in the opposition) — but these cases drag on for so long that when the inevitable cycle of elections comes round once more, the alleged miscreants are once more elected into government and the cases against them dropped – leaving them free to behave like miscreants once more.
Since the recent presidential election, we have seen not one but TWO former ministers arrested and brought before the courts – where it is hoped they will have the opportunity to defend themselves against the accusations against them, and if found guilty, dealt with appropriately. Ministers and members of parliament, after all, are citizens of this country just like old Citizen Silva and should not be allowed to consider themselves above the law.
But should the prosecution of alleged miscreants be limited to those who have lost their ministerial office? Should not the law apply to those who are in government as well?
We citizens can all see that some members of parliament who were “under investigation” a few months ago are now holding high office in the new regime. Those who behaved like miscreants and goondas (another lovely Ind-E word) under the watchful eyes of parliament’s CCTV cameras, who were actually seen to be attacking police officers, damaging microphones and other equipment and throwing chairs about, are now entrusted with governing our nation.
Two months ago the electorate overwhelmingly voted Gotabaya Rajapaksa into office as our president because they valued their security and safety over empty promises of Yahapalanaya.
Our new president has a reputation as a disciplined man – a reputation garnered during his many years as a military officer and amply demonstrated during his efficient time as Secretary of Defence. With the dawn of this New Year we wish him well, and hope that he will succeed in instilling a sense of discipline into our people and public servants — as well as his ministers.
And of course, we trust that he will deal effectively with the miscreants — on both sides of politics.