Some terrible things continue to happen unabated in this Paradise island-nation, one of them being the annual animal sacrifice at the Sri Badrakali Kovil at Munneswaram in Chilaw.
This week more than 400 goats and hundreds of chicken were put to the sword in a gory event that seemingly had the backing of the police and local politicians, as is the case year in and year out. This is an annual ritual that began in pre-Buddhist India and continues to this date not only in parts of India (some states have outlawed it) and Nepal ((Buddha's birthplace), but also in Sri Lanka (the Dhammadvipa - or the land of the Dhamma).
Much blood has flowed since this sadistic exercise began 'to appease the gods'. It is now no longer a religious issue though people in authority and religious organisations are afraid to intervene on the grounds that it would hurt 'religious sensibilities'.
Yet worldwide, there is a growing trend towards the protection of animals — both land and sea, from the whales to the foxes, as an ever increasing number of humanists take up cudgels with those who harm these creatures who can't speak for themselves or defend their own rights against man's inhumanity. In Spain, a sustained movement to ban the most unfair sport of all — bull-fighting — has borne fruit with at least one province, Catalonia, clamping down on the so-called 'sport'. In Sri Lanka, the horrific mass slaughter of these animals this week was not without opposition. The police took umbrage under the 'breach of the peace' provisions of the law and banned the demonstration by the protestors, while ignoring the breach to the provisions of (The Prevention of) 'Cruelty to Animals' law and the Butchers Ordinance and not intervening to prevent the murder of the innocents.
Not that surprisingly, this ancient ritual now has a commercial aspect to it and those indulging in the blood-letting are not necessarily those who have anything to do with the religion in whose name these acts are committed.
This is not to say that the slaughter of animals for human consumption is not taking place elsewhere in the country or that it ought to be banned. On the other hand, there is a global shift towards non-meat-eating also for health and dietary factors. Here in this country, the conditions of abattoirs need to be improved, modernized and better supervised, but the pros and cons of the issue notwithstanding, the scenes witnessed at Munneswaram were just simply bizarre and cruel.
Unfortunately, ordinary laws like those to prevent Cruelty to Animals stand mute while on the other hand, the apex law, no less — the Constitution of this country, and the sudden rush to change it in the coming days brings the entire legislative process of the country into sharp focus.
It was only a few months or so back that the Government indicated a change of attitude towards rushing in new legislation. It was almost too good to be true.
In a sense, is it ironic that laws like the Cruelty to Animals and so many others are observed in the breach when the Constitution itself is brazenly flouted. Take for example, the 17th Amendment to the Constitution, something the President has flatly refused to accept and implement even though Parliament, in which he was then a member, saw its passage to law unanimously, back in 2001. The entire principle of checks and balances so effectively implemented in modern successful democracies around the world is very shortly going to be thrown out - baby and bathwater.
The new doctrine is going to be to hell with building institutions that will be the pillars of a democratic society and instead, one based on personalities and political patronage. Similarly, the Executive Presidency will remain - and flourish. The Government has done a sudden about turn and moved into top gear to hurry through with the changes, assured as they are of the votes of 150 MPs that constitute the required two-thirds majority. Whether they will be put to the people at a referendum is a matter for the Supreme Court to determine.
True, these issues have been popping up on-and-off for quite some time. Yet, they are certainly not issues that have been properly drafted, debated and deliberated on. For one thing, nobody still knows what exactly is in store through these amendments to the Constitution. They are still being cooked. The participants of the meal - the MPs have been asked to wait to be served whatever has been cooked, and not to go anywhere till September 12.
The Attorney General's Department and the Legal Draftsman are burning the midnight oil, so to say, drafting the amendments. Suddenly, the Opposition with whom the Government was discussing the amendments has been dumped and a section of the Opposition has decamped to support the Government without even knowing what these amendments are. Such are our legislators. The people are entirely in the dark, but that seems to be the least concern of the Government. In influential quarters they say that the majority of the people simply don't care about these amendments - that their sole interest is their basic needs and requirements involving their day-to-day lives.
But that is a flawed argument as the Constitution of a country is an issue that is of vital concern to each and every one of its citizens. It's the basic law of the country -- the fountain from which all other laws flow. Are not the proposed amendments -- the continuation of the Executive Presidency; the abolition of the Independent Commissions for the Police, Elections, Bribery and Corruption etc., of paramount concern for the general well-being of the country and its people?
These amendments are reportedly being rushed through as Urgent Bills. It may be still premature to analyse the provisions, the pros and cons of the proposed legislation because they are still being hatched in secrecy and incubated in darkness. But the people are surely entitled to ask what the urgency is - and why this indecent haste. Didn't the opponents of the 1978 Constitution of President Junius Richard Jayewardene complain that he rushed through with that piece of legislation and the country repented at leisure? Why then, do we persist in continuing with such bad habits? Aren't there lessons to be learnt from history? |
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