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to the Editor |
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Peace at the
cost of the silent majority Events after
the signing of the ceasefire agreement suggest a "no-war-no-peace"
situation. The silent majority looks on with trepidation, while
the NGOs, the west and the spin-doctors of the UNF government are
maintaining that peace should prevail at any cost, even at the cost
of paving the way for the establishment of Eelam at a future date.
It is with this motive that unnecessary powers for the periphery
are being suggested for implementation to weaken the centre, to
the chagrin of the silent majority of Tamils, Sinhalese and Muslims.
In the last
couple of weeks, a new light has appeared from senior members of
the UNF government, initiated by former speaker M.H. Mohamed. He
has said that for Muslims to demand a Muslim unit in the east would
cause problems to the 70 percent of Muslims living outside the Eastern
Province and requested that a Muslim minister be included in the
peace negotiations. Mr. Mohamed's demand is justifiable, because
an overwhelming majority of Muslim votes were cast for the UNP at
the last general election. There are also
moves to create public opinion for the delinking of the north and
the east. The latest reports reveal that Minister Rauff Hakeem has
complained that the establishment of police stations by the LTTE
in the east violates the ceasefire agreement and Muslims in the
east continue to be harassed by Tiger cadres. It should be
remembered that the UNP government in 1987 did not want the merger
of the two provinces. The merger was a result of the Indo-Sri Lanka
Agreement and a referendum was to be held within a year to decide
whether it should continue. President J.R. Jayewardene said publicly
that he would canvass against the merger at the referendum. President
R. Premadasa, too, expressed his opposition to the merger. The UNP was
against the merger. It is the same with the SLFP, the MEP and the
JVP. Even some Tamil parties do not favour a merger. The Muslims
have been against the merger and their demand for a separate unit
is conditional. They do not want a separate zone, if the north and
the east are not merged. One cannot
understand why the present government is taking the merger for granted
and bending backwards to please the LTTE. It is clear that the western
powers are partisan to the Tamil Tigers and are imposing peace on
the majority Sinhalese. Red
tape at Citizenship Division On November
5, I came to Colombo from Matara with the cash and deposited the
money in the account of the Controller of Immigration and Emigration
at the Bambalapitiya branch of the Bank of Ceylon. Then I walked
to the Citizenship Division a few yards away and produced the copy
of the paying- in slip certified and signed by the bank official.
The Assistant
Secretary curtly refused to accept it as I had not seen her prior
to payment. When I pleaded with her to cross check with the bank,
she informed me that she was not there to do so. Even after
I pleaded with her to go through the letter sent by her office,
a receipt acknowledging payment was not issued to me. In desperation
I presented my grievance to the Controller, Mervyn Wijesekera himself.
Having listened to me and gone through the photocopy of the paying-
in slip which I produced, he promptly ordered the Assistant Secretary
to accept payment and issue me with the official acknowledgment. I write this
in appreciation of the cordiality displayed by this top bureaucrat
in my moment of distress. Officers such
as the Assistant Secretary should remember that those who seek dual
citizenship bring in the much sought after foreign exchange to swell
government coffers. Raisin bun,
raisin' funds I sliced one
to butter but could not spot any raisins in it at all. I thereupon
dissected the bun with meticulous care and discovered one small
raisin embedded majestically in the middle of the bun - just one
- no more, no less. It sparkled
with the brilliance of the Kohinoor in the British crown! A similar
careful examination of the other two buns revealed the same result
- one raisin in solitary splendour in each. One could not
help but wonder what loving, tender care the master-baker would
have taken in carefully positioning this jewel of a raisin right
in the centre of the bun with such perfect precision! There is of
course, no law prescribing the minimum number of raisins that should
go into a 'raisin bun' - it could be one or 20 or more. I am not, therefore,
thinking of raisin' a hornet's nest by raisin' this issue, but I
do believe that marketing such 'raisin buns' is only a subtle way
of raisin' funds! CoL problem
not a priority But what is
the reality? The prices of rice, vegetables, fruits, fish, meat,
milk powder, sugar, dhal and garlic have skyrocketed. Even big onions
- though millions of tons are thrown away for want of marketing
facilities - are now beyond the reach of the average man. Electricity
bills have doubled while water and phone bills have trebled. Medical bills
too are unbearable. Where are we
heading? Where are we being led by this government and its highly
paid officials? This government's
only interest seems to be to criticise the President and bring about
legislation to curb her powers rather than diverting its energies
and time to tackling the CoL. They say peace
will be established and everything will be rosy thereafter. Zheng He, the
Three-Jewelled Eunuch and Sri Lanka I have for
some time been interested in Chinese Grand Admiral Zheng He, whose
voyages form the subject of the book and thought I would write to
fill in some details which may be of interest to Sri Lankan readers.
Zheng He (otherwise
known as Cheng Ho, Ching Ho or Ma San-Pao) visited Sri Lanka on
possibly three occasions between 1405 and 1415. On his first visit
he had requested the Tooth Relic for the Chinese Emperor but was
refused and barely escaped from an attempt to waylay him. He returned
in 1408 and led an invasion as far as Kandy and captured King Vira
Wijaya Bahu VI and several of his court and held them hostage in
China for five years before returning them. (It is interesting that
while King Vira Wijaya Bahu survived five years as a hostage in
China, he was murdered in his capital on the night of his return
by his Sri Lankan Chief Minister!) Following his
1408 visit, Zheng He left a tablet inscribed in Persian (some say
Arabic) and Tamil respectively praising Buddhism, Islam and Hinduism.
This was found in 1911 near Cripps Road in Galle. Interestingly,
Zheng He, who had been castrated as a 10-year-old boy to serve in
the court and was known variously as "the Three-Jewel Eunuch"
and "the Eunuch of the Three Treasures" is suggested in
the book as having circumnavigated the world in 1421 (i.e. before
Portuguese Ferdinand Magellan), reached America before Christopher
Columbus and Australia before Captain Cook. (It is said that his
first fleet included 317 vessels and 28,000 men and that his flagship
"Treasure Ship" was four hundred feet long compared to
Columbus's "St. Maria" which measured eighty five feet.)
He died in
1435 and being a Muslim, the top of his tomb near Nanjing bears
the words "Allah is great". Further information regarding
Zheng He's travels may be found in Richard Hall's "Empires
of the Monsoon" and Hulugalle's "Ceylon of the Early Travellers".
Appoint
diplomats with trade background Our diplomats
in their own way maintained friendly relations with the host countries.
Trade was not of much concern and it was left to business leaders
and trade chambers. Today, diplomatic missions have a greater role
to play. The people who lead them must have experience in the world
of commerce and trade. The general
thinking is that if trade and economic development are improved,
political relationships will automatically fall into place. Therefore,
those who have business and commercial experience should be given
preference in these appointments. Example
from Puwakpitiya youth As we inched
our way towards the Puwakpitiya railway station, we saw several
people, some with umbrellas, some without, running hither and thither
in the rain, speaking to their leader and to the drivers. They were
asking where each driver was going and giving short but clear directions
on alternative routes as floods were affecting Puwakpitiya. No outstretched
hand for "something", only quick instructions, a salute
and the words, "Devi pihitai". Service with a smile. Such
a refreshing change when normally those duty bound to serve go scampering
for material gain and more perks. A big thank you to the Puwakpitiya
youth. May these youth
be an example to the nation. Clemency not
amnesty The rebels
have committed heinous crimes, surpassing any war crime. Hence, with
an end in sight to the law of the jungle, the law of the land must
prevail. The rebels should plead for clemency and not for an amnesty. The
bank and the bangle blunder Though the
bank authorities verbally and by letter insisted that the registered
notice had been sent, inquiries at the Panadura and Moratuwa Post
Offices revealed that no such letter was sent. I had been given
false postal registration numbers by the bank authorities. The bank now
says that according to their regulations nothing can be done as
I have acknowledged receipt of the two reminders sent by ordinary
mail. Obviously,
the pawned bangles have been auctioned by the bank without informing
me. Who is responsible
for this? Can the bank auction pledged articles without informing
the customer? How many people
would have been victimised in this manner? Over to you
General Manager. '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. Or e-mail to steditor@wijeya.lk or stfeat@wijeya.lk Please note that letters cannot be acknowledged or returned. |
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Copyright © 2001 Wijeya Newspapers
Ltd. All rights reserved. |
and
pastries. A few days ago I bought three 'raisin buns' (as they are
called) from this outlet. 
