4th October 1998

• Is this how we tackle a national crisis?
• A song fitting for our times
• Is Internet only for the rich?
• Confusion over that cholesterol!
• Talking about those 'little' Lankans
• A brilliant overall performance
• All about Sharia law and media hysteria

Is this how we tackle a national crisis?

The ever increasing rate of elephants killed in the country has today shot up to nearly 30 killings within the last two months alone. For a country that is supposed to value elephants as part of its proud national heritage this destruction of elephants should be considered a national crisis.

Yet the authorities remain silent and the killings continue unabated. Elephants all over the country are being boldly gunned down. Who is gunning down the elephants? From where have they got the guns? What is the Director of Wildlife Conservation doing in this crisis to protect elephants? Has the minister for the subject of wildlife conservation called for a situation report followed by strong action? Has there been a single member of Parliament who has shown enough concern and courage to raise the issue of this shameful killing of elephants in Parliament?

Possession of firearms by an increasing number of persons living in areas bordering the forest cover of elephants has become the prime reason for the recent gunning down of elephants.

In several villages Homeguards have been given guns to protect people. They have been frequently found shooting elephants and other fauna.

Then there are the guns of the police and also in some areas the armed forces that are sometimes turned on wild elephants as revealed from bullets found on the bodies of animals that have been shot.

What is the government and the Hon. Minister in particular doing about this state of lawlessness that has set in, in areas bordering forests, where people aim at elephants the guns meant for the protection of communities? As in most wildlife issues, on this issue too the minister remains silent. He has not even publicly condemned these dastardly shootings.

The worst is the deliberate malingering by the successive Directors regarding the recruitment of a sufficient number of Veterinary Surgeons to serve the Department. For nearly four years the DWLC had only one Veterinary Surgeon to handle the casualties on the field and just about 6 months ago two more have been recruited.

Delay, inaction and silence are the ways in which Wildlife Conservation is carried out by the DWLC, no matter how critical the issues may be. Such a policy, as we have tried to show, is not aimed at protecting and conserving elephants and wildlife.

Sagarica Rajakarunanayake,
Sathva Mithra.

A song fitting for our times

During the 1960's the USA got unnecessarily involved in the Vietnam War. The then US Government led by its President Lyndon Johnson might not have thought far when taking such a momentous decision to back-up the corrupt South Vietnamese regime. Nevertheless, as the war dragged on, the American people, especially the young, realised the futility of the Government's jingoism and the fiasco it had (probably) unwittingly got mired in. Hence, they unequivocally commenced voicing and exhibiting their protest in various forms at the Government's refusal to understand the reason for the unjustifiable violence and mayhem it was creating in Vietnam coupled with the loss of America's young men in the forces who were fighting an unending war that had reached a stalemate.

It is at this time that American folk singer and composer Bob Dylan came up with "Blowing in the Wind" a song that had tremendous impact and became immensely popular not merely for the beauty of its rendition but since its theme embodied a moral and social background, that is the refusal to comprehend the cause for unjust and physical violence perpetrated on the North Vietnamese people. There is plenty of hidden meaning in the lyrics utilised.

It is an accepted fact the song in no small way climaxed the downfall of President Johnson.

The chorus of the song runs thus:

The answer my friend is blowing in the wind,

The answer is blowing in the wind.

This conveys the meaning that people fail to realise the issues so evidently highlighted viz: war, violence, false pretence and injustice.

I trust this song is fitting for the times we live in and would recommend it to concerned people everywhere. Appropriately it has been included as a poem in the Literature Syllabus for the GCE(O/L).

George Jayawardena
Ragama.

Is Internet only for the rich?

Internet or Antharjalaya has now become a household word with a programme on the internet telecast over Rupavahini every month. Given the free Internet and E-mail connections offered by the vendors, Personal Computers have found their way to many an ordinary home. However the ordinary internet users are unable to surf the internet in view of the twin bills they have to foot every month. Besides paying the charges to the Internet Service Provider they have to pay the Telecom as well. The latter charges not only for getting connected to the Internet Service Provider but also for the duration of surfing the internet. These high rates are beyond the means of ordinary internet users, especially to those who reside in the outstations. As a result they have to either curtail or totally give up surfing the internet.

This year has been declared Information Technology 1998, but it appears internet will be only for the rich. Hope the Government would adopt some measures for the benefit of ordinary home computer users to surf the internet at least for the purpose of their children's education.

M.Nazim
Badulla.

Confusion over that cholesterol!

Today the use of coconut milk and oil in daily cooking had been widely debated for both good and bad in the medical forums and that has led the ordinary person in this country being more and more confused since learned doctors/professors in this esteemed field express different views of opinion on this matter.

However, our common sense is good enough to understand that there cannot be two sides obviously and the ill effects should be medically proven. Hence time has come to protect the innocent citizens from this ''Cholesterol Free'' business campaign launched by the traders, who are mainly the importers of a wide variety of vegetable oils, if in-take of coconut oil/milk proves to be harmless.

In a recent newspaper article , a doctor at the Medical Research Institute confuses the public more by giving very ''safe'' answers on both positives and the negatives impact, even though the key message indicates that coconut is harmless. Many thousands of people in this country have to minimize in-take of coconut milk/oil and go for imported vegetable oil with additional spending.

Therefore, I invite our esteemed professors to come out and voice their views on the following:

a) If coconut milk/oil consumption is bad for health, has this been proved or just a mere medical assumption?

b) If this is a medical assumption, then clear reasoning for that assumption which should be beyond any doubt and also why that cannot be extended to be proved by medical research/tests.

c) If the positive or the negative has been proved, educate the public more on their findings with facts.

d) If the consumption is proved to be harmless, then the possible reasons for these rumours? Could it be the rumours spread by the importers of this vegetable oil? etc., and launch wide publicity on this to protect innocent poor citizens falling into the trap of these commodity traders.

Mahinda Perera,
Nugegoda.

More Letters to the Editor * Talking about those 'little' Lankans * A brilliant overall performance * All about Sharia law and media hysteria

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