700 illegal abortions a day

By Faraza Farook

Unplanned pregnancies and lack of family planning have increased the number of illegal abortions to 700 a day, according to statistics which also show that 10 per cent of maternal deaths are due to causes related to abortions. 

Lack of family planning after the first few babies and wanting to postpone pregnancies are reasons for mothers to opt for unsafe abortions.

"We find that people are very casual about terminating their first pregnancy," a VOG said. Often, people little realize the complications that could result by opting for illegal abortions or unsafe termination of a pregnancy, he warned.

Abortions being illegal in Sri Lanka are performed secretly by poorly qualified and untrained personnel often under unhygienic conditions which are likely to result in one being sub fertile or with damages to the fallopian tube or with infections. 

Castle Street Hospital for Women's director Dr. Wimal Karandagoda said despite a low maternal mortality ratio which was 60 per 100,000 live births, many maternal deaths could be avoided if families realized the importance of family planning and used modern contraceptive methods that were widely and freely available in all hospitals in the country. He said most mothers who went for abortions were between 35-45 years.

Another common problem confronted today is the issue of sub fertility. In females, fertility drops from the age of 25 and from 35 onwards there is a drastic drop.

Statistics reveal the mean age at marriage for females has shown a steady rise from 20.7 years in 1946 to over 25 now. Late marriages have become a common practice due to personal engagements such as employment, education etc. The increase in the age of marriage has been one of the major contributory factors for the fertility decline.

Dr. Karandagoda said the fertile age for women was between 15-49 years. However, the best period for pregnancy and child bearing was between 20-35 years. Late marriages were often the cause for delay in fertility or being sub fertile.

He said many deliveries today were by mothers above the age of 30. This had increased the risk of complications during pregnancy and childbirth.

"The mothers have to be looked after carefully," Dr. Karandagoda said adding that mothers above 30 years of age were prone to pregnancy induced hypertension, diabetes and heart diseases. A recent study showed that was only second to haemorrhage as a major cause of maternal deaths in Sri Lanka. 

He said while improved services in antenatal care was essential, the need for people to identify the importance of good family planning practices were vital in further reducing the maternal morbidity and mortality rates in Sri Lanka.

Workers fight for interim allowance

By Nilika de Silva 

At a protest meeting held on Thursday opposite the Fort Railway Station the ATU demanded the payment of a Rs. 6,500 interim allowance until the salaries commission report was implemented.

The long-awaited report would be handed over to the President on September 30, Salaries Commission chairman Tissa Devendra said.

The ten-member commission appointed by the President on July 20 last year was expected to submit its report by June 30 this year. 

The commission looked into the salary structure of more than 800,000 public sector employees.

The ATU said in 1987 the monthly expenditure on food for a family of five was Rs. 2,532. In 1992 it went up to Rs. 3,738.60 and in 1997 the monthly expenditure was Rs. 4571.50. In 2000 an average worker needed Rs. 6734.50 to maintain of family of five. It said such a family would require Rs. 10,881.40 a month today.

Organizer removed: party feathers ruffled 

With the UNP's decision to remove Katugampola UNP organizer and former parliamentarian A. H. M. Alavi, Muslims supporters gathered outside several mosques in the electorate on Friday to protest against what they saw as a rejection of a minority representative. 

UNP sources said the decision to remove Mr. Alavi was announced to the former MP by the UNP leader at his Cambridge Terrace office on July 30. They said he was the electoral organizer since 1994 for the Kurunegala district.

Mr. Alavi told the Sunday Times no reasons were given for his removal except that he had repeatedly lost the seat and it was difficult for a Muslim parliamentarian to serve a Sinhala-dominated electorate. However, he said, he had no intention to leave the party he had served for so long. Several UNP Pradeshiya Sabha members organized small protests in front of mosques after the Friday Jumma prayers urging the UNP leadership to reconsider the decision. 

A PS member said it was most unfair to deny minority representation and to remove a member who had served the party during the difficult days of a massive election defeat in 1994. 

Meanwhile, former UNP legislator Segu Issadeen has joined the National Unity Alliance and is likely to be offered the post of general secretary, political sources said.

Mr. Issadeen, originally the SLMC vice president, later crossed over to the UNP and entered parliament as a nominated MP. 

The Sunday Times learns that Rauf Hakeem's entry into the opposition fold and a pronounced desire to field at least one SLMC candidate for Beruwala has begun to cause more ripples upsetting the UNP organizer Imtiaz Bakeer Markar. Mr. Markar had reportedly made representations to the party leader that two Muslim candidates for Beruwala would be a futile exercise and offered not to contest at the next elections.

Criminal trespass, intimidation and unlawful entry to the Athas home

Witness describes the night of horror

By Laila Nasry

The trial was taken up before the Colombo High Court judge Sarath Ambepitiya on Monday and Tuesday.

"As I rounded the temple bend I saw two people standing outside the gate to Iqbal Athas's home. When I inquired as to why they were there they said "Iqbal Athasta kiyala Sunday Times paththaraye lipiyak palakaranna" ( get an article published in The Sunday Times through Iqbal Athas), said Marrimuttu Subra-manium. 

The accused in this case are two Air Force officers Squadron Leader H. M. Rukman Herath, a former Air Force Commander's bodyguard and Squadron Leader D. S. P. Kannangara the officer in charge of the Special Air Borne Force (SABF).

Mr. Subramaniam recalling the events on the night of February 12, 1998 said he had left the house to go to the pharmacy.

On his return he had seen two intruders at the gate. Having inquired the reason for their presence he had then asked whether they were known to Mr. Athas to which they had said no, refusing to divulge their names. 

One of the intruders had said they were from the CID and when he still showed reluctance to permit their entry, he had been briefly shown a red coloured identity card. 

One of the intruders had then pulled out a pistol and shoved him in the direction of the closed gate. At which point he was compelled to knock and gain entry. 

Devi, another domestic aide having inquired whether it was Mr. Subramaniam had opened the gate. The intruders then pushed him inside and entered the Athas home, he said. Then they had been joined by three other intruders. The witness said he did not see from where the three other intruders came. 

Having entered the kitchen the intruders asked Devi to produce her identity card and asked him "ko badu?" He said as he did not understand what they meant he had asked them what they were referring to. Then they asked him "Ko genu?"

The witness said then he realised that what they meant by "badu" was women. Then he told them that there were no women.

Asked what happened thereafter he said the intruders wanted to know where Mr. Athas was. When he hesitated, he said, they had assaulted him. 

Mr. Subramaniam said the intruders had pointed a pistol in Devi's direction and asked her to lead the way upstairs. Two intruders went with her and he was pushed to follow with two other intruders by his side.

He said the intruders loaded a pistol outside Mr. Athas's room and forced opened the door. The two intruders went into the room and he stood outside the door. He said he also saw one of the intruders pointing a pistol at Mr. Athas's head.

The witness also described how Mr. Athas pleaded not to do anything to his daughter when he saw two intruders going towards her room.

Mr. Subramaniam said the intruder who pointed a pistol at his head ordered another to lock up the little girl and Kanaga, the domestic aide, who was with her in the next room. However, he said Mr. Athas's daughter had come running and clung on to her father.

The witness said the intruders ordered Mr. Athas to go downstairs alone but all of them followed him. Then they had been joined by another intruder who had not accompanied them upstairs. He described the person as one sporting a beard. He said the intruder had asked him for Mr. Athas' s name and where he worked. Then they said they had made a mistake and had come to the wrong place. They also said their vehicle had come for them to leave.

The witness said the intruders got into a light blue van which had it lights switched off and headed towards the High Level Road. He said he climbed the gate and watched while they sped away.

Asked whether the house was illuminated during the entire incident the witness said there was light in Mr. Athas's room, the staircase and downstairs. He also admitted making statements to the Mirihana police and the CID. 

Under cross examination by Anil Silva, counsel for the 2nd accused, the witness said he was aware that the intruders' questions about "badu" was in reference to women. 

The witness said nobody else had come to Mr. Athas's home looking for women. He also said there was a mud-slinging campaign against Mr. Athas.

Mr. Subramaniam said around midnight on the same day Mr. Athas's friends had alerted him about a similar van in the neighbourhood. He said he had taken down the number of the vehicle and given it to Mr. Athas. 

Referring to the identification parade held at the Gangodawila Magistrate's Court the witness said he had not been able to recognise the intruders.

On the previous trial day Ms. Anoma Athas, wife of Iqbal Athas, replying a question posed by Srinath Perera, counsel for the 1st accused, said the CID had informed her husband about the identification parade and he had asked her to get ready for it.

She also said she was unaware of his name. But he had come to their house to accompany them to the identification parade. They left by a vehicle hired by her husband. 

Ms. Athas denied the defence counsel's suggestion that they had received legal advice prior to the identification parade.

The case was put off for September 26. Senior State Counsel P. P. Surasena and M. Navavi appeared for the prosecution. Srinath Perera PC and Anil Silva with Ganesh Dharmawardene appeared for the 1st and 2nd accused. Daya Perera PC with T. G. Gunesekera and G. G. Ponnambalam watched the interests of Iqbal and Anoma Athas. 

Govt, editors to draft charter on war reporting

This decision was taken on Wednesday at a meeting chaired by Defence Secretary Chandrananda de Silva and attended by a delegation of the Editors Guild, Media Ministry Secretary Janadasa Peiris, Information Director Ariya Rubesinghe, Additional Defence Secretary W.A.S. Perera and Military Spokesman Sarath Karunaratne.

The main aim of the charter is to define areas of national interest, military concerns and the public's right to information.

This will take into consideration military-media relations in theatres of conflict in other parts of the world, particularly in the backdrop of revolutionary changes in communications technology.

These changes have made media censorship an obsolete practice which is no longer enforceable, states a news release by The Guild. 

A three-member committee was appointed at this meeting at the Defence Ministry to draw up this charter. The committee which comprises the Director-General (Media) Presidential Secretariat, the Military spokesman and the President of The Guild is to base the charter on the set of guidelines on military-media relations already made available to the Government and the Military by The Guild.

The committee report on the charter is to be made available in the next two weeks. In July last year, ten members of The Editors Guild challenged the imposition of a censorship on military related news under Emergency Regulations in the Supreme Court.

The Guild members argued that the operation of the censorship did not serve the national interest and was only suppressing the publication of military failures, fraudulent arms procurements and news which were generally an embarrassment to the Government.

The Supreme Court advised the Government to formulate some guidelines with the Editors Guild in reporting the northern insurgency. 

The government in June withdrew the censorship.

Clearing the position on uncleared areas

"We have only relaxed restrictions on the media so they may visit areas under Security Forces control," he told The Sunday Times. 

He was commenting on reports in sections of the media that restriction on visits to uncontrolled areas had been lifted and later reimposed. These reports claimed that interviews or visits to military installations would require permission from the Ministry of Defence. 

"The practice of granting interviews with military officials or permission to visit military establishments after Defence Ministry approval is nothing new. It has existed at all times and will continue to prevail," he said. 

Brigadier Karunaratne's assertion confirmed The Sunday Times report of July 22 that there was no change in restrictions placed on media visits to uncontrolled areas.

Monks in protest rally

By Shelani de Silva

The protest organised by the Jathika Sangha Sabha, the National Joint Committee and the Maubima Surekimey Viaparaya, would be a peaceful one and therefore not a violation of the Referendum Act, NJC Secretary Piyasena Dissanayake said.

More News/Comment

Return to News/Comment Contents