23rd, February 1997

By Shelani de Silva

The controversial Ahungalla zoo has been closed and two lion keepers taken into custody, after the death of a poor child from Polgahawela, who was attacked by a lion while he posed for a picture with it.

The 14-year-old Damith Anuruddha, who sold ekles to collect Rs. 100 for the zoo trip with his classmate, bled to death in hospital after the angry lion, the star pet of the zoo clutched the boy's neck with its paws. The annual school trip for 140 children from Polgahawela on Thursday turned out to be a nightmare.

For many children who come from poor families, this trip to Galle had been something to look forward to and they had done everything possible to collect the money.

On Thursday, the group had left Polgahawela around. 5.30 a.m. their first stop was the Ahungalla zoo. Having stopped on the way they reached the zoo around 1.00 p.m. The children had been put into groups. Damith and his best friend Randil were in one group and visited the lion's cage to take a picture.

They first took a picture of the lion with its two helpers.

What happened after that was related by a shocked Randil.

"I took my picture and was going to the other side, when the worker asked me whether I would like to pose with the lion, I said I was scared because it was so big. But they said that thousands of people have posed and they led me to the animal. Although I sat beside it when I looked at it's face it looked so scary. I was asked to rest my hand on the head. Through fear I kept it above the head. Just as I was leaving, Damith was at the door, and the workers asked him also to pose. I volunteered to take the picture. Damith too was scared but later went and sat beside the lion.

"Then I saw the worker taking a stick. The moment he raised his hand the lion lifted itself, put it's claws on Damith's neck and face. The lion clung on to him. Damith was dragged a few feet. He was released only when the worker hit the animal about four times. Randil said, still apparently unable to believe that his friend was dead.

Damith, bleeding profusely, was taken to the Balapitiya hospital. Amidst commotion all the workers and visitors had rushed out except for Randil. He was still in the cage. There were three lions and when Randil tried to escape the animals now growling tried to grab him.

"First it was the lion who attacked Damith. It was coming towards me and blocking my path. By then the other two lions also got worked up. I panicked and tried to run, when one lion clutched my trouser. But it missed and I scrambled up a pole. For my luck, a colleague of mine saw me and alerted the workers," Randil recalled. Meanwhile Damith had died in hospital. Damith, a student of Poramandala MV was the fourth in his family. His father had died when he was a little child and the mother Asaline Nona struggled to bring up her four sons. Though having no income Asaline somehow made ends meet and was determined to educate the boys as they were intelligent and good in sports.

Asaline Nona who was informed of the tragedy late on Thursday rushed to Ahungalla not knowing that Damith had already passed away without even being able to say good bye to her.

Damith's teacher Sarath Chandranayake who accompanied the children on their trip said that 10 minutes after they entered the zoo he heard screams, "I thought the children were making fun at a monkey. I ran to the spot and saw people carrying a bleeding Damith," he said.

Ahungalla Police Inspector Yasarathne Weerathunge said that immediately after the incident the zoo was closed and the two workers in charge of the lion were taken into custody. He said police were on alert for any angry reaction by villagers.

People of the area have opposed the setting up of this zoo where it is alleged that animals are drugged to perform cheap stunts for visitors. Wildlife officials and enthusiasts have insisted that the animals are being treated cruelly and that the zoo does not conform to basic principles of animal protection.

The man in the centre of the controversy, zoo owner M. Mohammed said he wished he had died instead of the child. He said he would meet all funeral expenses and provide some compensation for the child's family while taking steps to ensure that such a tragedy did not occur again.

The owner said this particular lion was a lovable animal that had been petted by thousands of visitors and he could not imagine how such a thing had happened. However, as a precautionary measure, no visitors in future would be allowed to pet adult animals.

The Wildlife and Nature Protection Society charged yesterday that the Minister concerned should take responsibility for the tragic death of the innocent child in the Ahungalle zoo.

The Society's President Ranjan Fernando in a hard hitting statement said:

"We express our sympathies to the parents of the boy who lost his life in the jaws of the lion at the Ahungalla Park.

"From the very inception of this zoo in 1994 this Society, along with several others objected to granting of a permit for its continued conduct. These objections were well founded and substantial.

"The then Director, Department. of Wildlife Conservation, C.P. Attanayake, refused to grant a permit on the basis of statutory violations of the Fauna and Flora Protection Ordinance and the violation of conditions on which a permit had been granted earlier.

"In 1995 the Fauna and Flora Advisory Committee, which the Minister found necessary to reconstitute subsequently, also objected to the principle of granting the permit to M. Mohammed for conducting the zoo/park.

"However, while all such saner counsel prevailed Minister Ratnasiri Wickramanayake over-ruled his Departmental Director and exercised his discretionary prerogative to grant the permit to Mr. Mohammed.

"While the loss of this youthful life, which was cut-short by this tragedy remains irremediable, the Minister has to hold himself responsible for the death of this boy."

The Sinhala Arakshaka Sanvidanaya (SAS) has called for the reintroduction of the ÔDonoughmore system' of Government where all parties work together for national integration.

In a statement issued through its President, former Health and Agriculture Minister Gamani Jayasuriya, the SAS says the current Westminster system promotes confrontational politics. The full text of the statement:

"People of Sri Lanka undoubtedly bemoan the untimely death of Hon. Nalanda Ellawala. All of you are aware of similar events in the recent past. Whenever such occurrences took place religious as well as lay leaders commence their rhetoric and also issue press releases highlighting the disastrous consequences that befall on the country and the nation. Political leaders also warn their membership to desist violence.

Newspaper editors write time and again editorials emphasising the necessity to curb violence in order to protect and preserve democracy. We too endorse such newspaper editorials. From all these it is now patently clear that this type of mayhem is the direct result of party politics. In party politics supporters are encouraged to assist parliamentary candidates to win their elections. As a result the victorious party is under obligation to grant favours to their supporters. England's Westminster type of Government was foisted on us at the time of our regaining independence. It is now clear that such a system is unsuitable for our country. Westminster system promotes confrontational politics. There are two groups in this system namely: Government and the opposition. Proposals of the Government group, however advantageous they may be, are, as a rule opposed by the opposition. Likewise any proposals or amendments suggested by the opposition, however, useful they may be, are rejected by the Government.

Before we regained independence we had in this country the "Donoughmore system" of Government which was devoid of party politics. The country was governed through a committee system with a minister as its head. Under this system members of the committee were able to express their views freely and exercise their votes according to their conscience. That system enabled them to work peacefully in the absence of party politics.

Besides, it became possible to solve important national problems through the united efforts of all communities. We may recall that our independence was obtained by uniting all ethnic groups in the country. This would not have been possible if the party system had prevailed. Free education system was also introduced during this period.

Hon. G.L. Peiris, you are from Panadura. Your name is Gamini. It is time that you abandon the package in the same way party leaders Dudley Senanayaka and also Bandaranaike both of whom abrogated their pacts with Chelvanayagam in deference to public opinion. If this is done your name too will be recorded in the Mahawansa as the saviour of this country. Let us reflect for a moment on the famous Panadura debate between Buddhist clergy lead by Ven. Hikkaduwe Sri Sumangala and Migettuwatte Gunananda on one side and the Christian clergy on the other side. The victory achieved at this debate helped to restore the noble doctrine of Buddhism which by that time was at its lowest ebb.

Even to-day Buddhists are proud of this triumph. We learnt from the newspaper reports that you were not averse to the Donoughmore system of Government.

This system should not be limited to Local Government bodies but should be incorporated into the system of Government of the country. It is therefore essential for Sinhala people to unite for the realization of these objectives".

Lanka Marine Services, a subsidiary of the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation has suspended the services of the barge ÔMT. Juno' from supplying fuel to vessels in the outer harbour with effect from February 19 , following allegations and protests.

Shipping agencies have warned the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation that the CPC Act had been allegedly violated by a Singaporean company which had put into operation the barge to supply fuel to vessels in outer harbour.

The vessel, named ÔMT Juno', has been selling Integrated Oil (IFO) and Marine Gas Oil (MGO) which is illegal and thereby causing considerable loss by way of foreign exchange to the CPC and employment to local bunker brokers.

The following are extracts from the speech delivered by Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar at the Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall (BMICH) on 20th February, 1997, at the launch of a book titled "International Terrorism" by Dr. A. Rohan Perera, Legal Advisor, Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Over many years Sri Lanka has waged a lonely struggle against a separatist movement fired by a fanatical dogma, armed with a deadly arsenal of weapons, supported by funds generated abroad and dedicated to the ruthless pursuit of terror as a principal means of achieving its ultimate objective. Thousands of lives have been lost, both of combatants and innocent bystanders; public and private properties worth countless millions have been destroyed; a generation of young men and women, many of them only children, have been sacrificed at the altar of senseless war; women have been used as frontline soldiers, a phenomenon hitherto unimaginable in an Asian culture; suicide has been glorified and has become a weapon of destruction unparalleled in the annals of warfare. These simple statements, these events that have occurred in our country, barely begin to tell the full tale of human suffering, of misery, of death and destruction and grief that has been inflicted on this country and its peoples.

A problem that could have been identified many decades ago by those who had eyes to see it was allowed by the leaders of our country to go unrecognized, to fester, to become a running sore, to grow into a cancer that has all but destroyed the foundations of our society. How true, how sad that problems capable of sensible and timely solution when foolishly ignored, put aside, relegated to inferior positions in the order of priorities escalate irresistibly and rapidly into tragedies of monumental proportions which then lie beyond redress. It is nothing short of a miracle that the democratic framework of our society which has been violently shaken by these horrible events has somehow stood the strains imposed on it. Economic opportunities which, if they had been allowed to develop unimpeded by the constraints of war would have brought prosperity to our people, have been lost, while other countries have forged ahead taking on the flood favourable international trade and commercial developments and the explosion of technology and information.

While international instruments provide the broad framework for cooperation at inter-State level, it is incumbent on States to translate these obligations into concrete practical measures at the national level. There must be a special focus on areas which require measures of domestic implementation, particularly in meeting the challenge posed by new forms and manifestations of this phenomenon. It is heartening to note that in some countries the legal process is already underway. I have been informed that in the United Kingdom, for instance, the law of conspiracy is to be amended so as to facilitate the prosecution of those who conspire in the United Kingdom to commit terrorist crimes abroad. This is not an offence under their existing law. The change will indeed, be a welcome development.

Dr. Rohan Perera's book has been released at a particularly significant juncture in the global debate on international terrorism. The book provides a comprehensive overview of regional and international action taken against terrorism. While its main focus is on the legal aspects of the struggle against terrorism, the book gives an insight into the political factors that have complicated the search for a firm, decisive consensus against this global menace.

He draws important parallels between terrorism and other international crimes such as gun-running and drug trafficking. His involvement in the drafting of the SAARC Convention against terrorism, a landmark regional exercise, as well as his long experience in the Sixth Committee of the United Nations General Assembly has given him a clear, practical understanding of the complexities of the problem as well as the areas of agreement which can and are being developed. His book is in many ways a pioneering work, certainly the only book by a Sri Lankan author which provides a sharp analytical study of how differing perceptions on terrorism can be approached and synthesised through multilateral negotiations to build an international consensus against terrorism.

His book is not an abstract legal tome. Dr. Perera, as Legal Advisor in my Ministry, is deeply involved in efforts to seek common ground on which to build a truly international legal regime to combat terrorism and, therefore, his book is enriched with many insights into the practical workings of international diplomacy. The book will not only interest lawyers and diplomats but also members of the general public who are concerned with, and indeed directly affected by, the horrible effects of terrorism on democratic societies.

Dr. Perera wrote his doctoral dissertation while working full time in the Ministry. His official duties did not suffer in the slightest as a result of his labours on his book. That fact alone speaks volumes for Dr. Perera's self-discipline, skillful management of time and devotion to the best traditions of the public service. Dr. Perera belongs to a rare, some would say vanishing, breed of Sri Lankan officials - the able, hardworking, principled, modest, uncomplaining public servant who places, always, the country's interests above his own. His modesty can be carried to extremes. He did not inform, until long after the event, and then only casually, that he had been awarded a doctorate in Philosophy. He is indeed an exemplary public servant. If we had many more like him, fortunately my Ministry has some of them, our future would be assured. We would stand tall.