Editorial

And so, it’s official; the new “UK strain” of COVID-19 has also entered Sri Lanka, and in every likelihood through the Green Channel of the country’s international airports.

The Immunology and Molecular Medicine Department of the University of Sri Jayewardenepura has stated that this highly transmissible new variant had been detected in the capital city of Colombo, Avissawella, Vavuniya and Biyagama. Not surprisingly, there is no official word from the authorities other than to shrug their shoulders and say, “what to do”.

Call it what you will, the UK strain, the South African or Brazilian strain, it spreads faster than the one prevalent in the country at the moment. The UK continues in lockdown, so does Germany. The Australian state of Victoria has just gone into a new lockdown, its third since the pandemic hit, reacting fast to the contagious UK variant of the virus being discovered among some in a quarantine hotel after they opened the state’s capital, Melbourne for an international sporting event.

Sri Lanka has been somewhat fortunate that what existed till now was a variant of the virus that was less potent. Though fortunate in being an island with no porous land borders, the authorities have failed, with their eyes open, to prevent this new strain from entering. The northern seas have been vulnerable due to Indian fishermen interacting with locals, especially in the contraband smuggling business. Little is done on that front due to Indian pressure. But in its wisdom, the Government allowed its entry points to be opened to tourists from countries reeling under this deadly virus. That was under pressure from just one man riding roughshod over all and sundry.

Allegations, that the airports both at Katunayake and Mattala, have been subjected to avaricious private sector operators with links to the Government cashing in on the pandemic at the expense of public health are also not without substance.

Last week and in today’s issue, this newspaper carries reports that show how poor record-keeping and under-reporting of COVID-19 death statistics is taking place. The Government is either in denial or just does not want to admit what the GMOA and the PHIs are saying — that the virus is ‘community spread’ already. The second wave of the virus that began sometime in October shot the figures of positive cases and fatalities upwards by leaps and bounds.

The immunisation campaign in Sri Lanka is well behind some countries. And yet, relying on the vaccine to fight the spread of the virus is to entertain a false sense of security if the Government falls down on its responsibilities to prevent a third wave from happening, especially if new strains make even the existing vaccine less effective.

The WHO team that had just concluded a fact-finding mission to China to investigate the origins of COVID-19 has merely reported on hypothesis based on data fed to it that the virus originated from bats and jumped to humans via other animals. That was said at the very initial stages of the outbreak of this deadly virus that has overwhelmed the world. This is hardly new information and of little help in discovering how it all happened, and how another such pandemic could be avoided in the future.

This is the second similar virus to emerge from China in recent times after SARS. But for now, Sri Lanka’s main attention ought to be on how to prevent the new variant of COVID-19 spreading like wildfire throughout the country. What has happened so far is bad enough.

Pakistan: A friend in need is a friend indeed

 The on-off state visit of the Pakistan Prime Minister is firming up, at last, or so it seems. The cricket World Cup winning captain turned politician of a country that has been a steadfast friend of Lanka is now scheduled to arrive in less than 10 days.

During the protracted separatist insurgency in Sri Lanka, Pakistan’s former Presidents, Martial Law Administrators and Prime Ministers, without exception — whether it was under military rule or a democratic set-up, opened their armories liberally to release urgently required munitions and hardware for the Sri Lankan Armed Forces when few else (with the exception of China) came to this country’s assistance. They also opened the doors of their military academies and training facilities for Sri Lankan officers, including then Colonel Gotabaya Rajapaksa to hone their skills.

At international fora, Pakistan’s diplomats went the extra mile to defend a beleaguered Sri Lanka that had become the target first of India, and then of the West. They continue to do so even at this very moment of time when Western powers have reactivated their assault with heavy geopolitical undertones alleging human rights violations in Sri Lanka, among other indictments.

Pakistan probably reciprocated Sri Lanka’s support during the break-up of East Pakistan in 1971 and the creation of the new state of Bangladesh by caesarian section midwifed by India. Be it an act of gratitude, altruism or plainly to oppose Indian hegemony in South Asia, it helped prevent the dismemberment of this country.

It is heartening to find the Government has this time given due recognition to a visiting Head of Government from Pakistan by granting an address to Parliament. On a previous occasion, a scheduled address was scuttled under diplomatic pressure, an unworthy act towards a loyal friend.

Two outstanding factors, however, overshadow Sri Lanka-Pakistan relations. One is Sri Lanka’s policy towards burials of COVID victims. This has angered and upset local Muslims, and pushed some of them to join hands with their former tormentors who engaged in ‘ethnic cleansing’ in the East, to the great detriment of national security. It has made Pakistan’s task to win support for Sri Lanka with other Islamic nations at the United Nations even more difficult.

The Government’s continuing indecision and contradictory statements even in Parliament to dispense with that policy, will only make what is already a ‘bad brief’ on Sri Lanka even more difficult to argue. Pakistan has been more than polite exerting only diplomatic nudges for Sri Lanka to change its rigid, almost inexplicable policy. To quote Shakespeare one might say;

“Those friends one has, and their adoption tried;

Grapple them unto thy soul with hoops of steel”,

And roll out the red carpet to an “all weather” friend”.