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Letters to the Editor
13th June 1999 |
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Stop hounding and ridiculing the cricketersIt's sad but true. Our people have once again fallen prey to the politically motivated drive to hound and ridicule our cricketers for the World Cup debacle. Politics sadly has been the ruin of this otherwise wonderful country and recently has taken sports to the height of destruction. It started from the Susanthika scandal and has now entered cricket. In 1996, our cricketers were made deshamanyas and deshabandus. Today these deshamanyas and deshabandus are hounded. No cricketer would have wanted a title in front of his name. Even the great New Zealand bowler Richard Hadlee was bestowed a title after retiring from the game. These are typical political games our politicians play. Financial benefits, lands, cars, houses gifted as appreciation are today being scrutinised for taxes. Not only our cricketers now have to seriously get about gearing themselves up for the Aussies at home but also go around political circles if they are to be spared. The tax department has become the second hangman whose noose gets around those who are politically not favoured. The administrators have yet to take stock of where they went wrong and immediately take corrective action. Delegating key areas involving cricket to those eminent past cricketers, instilling discipline amongst themselves first and the cricketers and obtaining the services of a competent foreign coach are priority areas that should be looked into. In this respect we could consider ourselves lucky if Dav Whatmore can be reappointed for it is he who knows the players best and how to get the best from them. What have the political leaders who have been more than directly responsible for the ruin of sports in general and cricket in particular done to see what went wrong and how to proceed ahead. Why aren't they taking the initiative to appoint a body within the board consisting of eminent cricketing personalities such as Michael Tissera, Ranjith Fernando, Duleep Mendis, Sidath Wettimuny, Anura Tennakoon, Roy Dias, to get involved only in cricket related matters such as hiring of a foreign coach, selection, training, and all cricketing needs whilst the rest look into the administrative matters. We as the cricket loving public must not only see that our cricketers are protected from political wolves but also publicly protest against politicians of any sort directly or indirectly getting involved in cricket administration. If they do their job half as efficiently compared to what they are doing currently the country is sure to make great strides in every sphere. The immediate and lasting solution is to eliminate politics from cricket totally. The rest will fall into place as it did before our World Cup success and after. Let us rally round our crestfallen cricketers and see that they are not hounded by politicians. Michael Ranasinghe
It was spring, they saidThey said it was spring. Ninette Fernando
Cold treatment and cold roomsFebruary 13, was another day in 69 year old Abith Abbas' life. But it was not just another ordinary day. Little did Abbas, a widower living with his sister-in-law and helping in her shop at Armour Street, realise that on this fateful day he would be embarking on an arduous journey to the land of no return. Abbas suddenly went missing on that fateful February13. His sister-in-law spent the next two days frantically searching for him at hospitals and contacting police stations in the vicinity of Wattala where she lived. On February 16, she found him lying unconscious at Ragama Hospital, unattended. All that the hospital authorities knew of Abbas was that he had met with some kind of an accident and that someone had brought him to the hospital. They had no idea where the accident occurred or who the good samaritan was. He had been left in the same unconscious state he was brought in and the hospital authorities had not bothered to establish the patient's identity and inform his next-of-kin. A few days later he was transferred to the National Hospital in Colombo where he was kept for over a month. For reasons known best to the hospital and not anyone else, he was then transferred to the District Hospital in Kandana where he lived until April 13. On April 16, Abbas' sister received a telegram informing her of her brother-in-law's death. The telegram was dated April 13. Abbas' body was found in a decomposed state by his relatives when they came to the Kandana District Hospital to claim his body. It was lying on a table in a room, ignored by the indifferent employees and emanating a foul smell. It was then that Abbas' relatives discovered to their shock and grief that this hospital lacked a proper mortuary. It is indeed a shocking revelation that a district hospital in Colombo's suburbs lacks a cold room. While the world is awaiting the next millennium with bated breath and when communication is through electronic mail, a hospital within a 20 km radius of the capital city of Sri Lanka does not have a cold room. What kind of development is this country boasting about? Perhaps the Ministry of Health can provide an answer to Abbas' family and to the public of this country. Geetha W. Bibile
It was that 'brutality' that ended terrorI am sick of the constant harping by this government on President Premadasa's brutality in crushing the JVP. I am amazed by the shortness of the memory of those who lived during those terrible days when the JVP held sway. We appear to have forgotten the constant fear in which we lived. That was a time when institutions, public and private, were closed down on the strength of a threatening phone call; a time when the lights in homes had to be switched off and people had to live in darkness because of a demand from the JVP; a time when people were killed and decapitated for disobeying their instructions; and a time when those who were murdered were prevented from being given a proper funeral. I can remember the huge sigh of relief heard around the country when the security forces under Premadasa brought the situation under control by decisive and no doubt brutal action against the JVP rebels who had brought the country almost to its knees. I cannot recall tears being shed for the extra-judicial killing of Wijeweera and his cohorts. Those who were cowering under their beds in those days have now risen bravely to condemn Premadasa and the others who saved this country from anarchy for doing so by brutal, extra-judicial, methods. It is laughable to imagine that men of law would have saved us then. (They cannot even save us from thugs now). What is shameful is that there has been no outcry from those of us who were saved, against the unfairness of the condemnation that is presently taking place. And not merely unfairness, but imprudence. By harassing those who transgressed the law in the process of saving the country, the government is making it unlikely that similar necessary action would be taken by the security services in a dire emergency if it were to arise. It is the people of the country who would be the losers because the politicians would be able to flee the country in such a situation. Hawk Eye
These checks are neededI refer to the remarks made against the majority community -Sinhalese on 23.05.99 - The Sunday Times - titled Tamil discrimination by Mudliyar in the Hulftsdorp Hill column. What he sees as a special problem for Tamils is that Tamils are often stopped at check points all over the city which cause a lot of bother. But it is unfortunate to note that Mudliyar does not realise that the above fact is not a problem created by the majority Sinhalese or the government of the country, for the Tamils. It has become essential for the government security forces to check not only the Tamils but also all the citizens at check points to safeguard them from the possible bomb explosions, suicide attacks and the like which have taken thousands of lives of innocent people as well as the VIPS including presidents, ministers and chiefs of the armed forces. This inconvenience is caused to all citizens, but at check points special attention is paid to Tamils because some of them plant and explode bombs by various means at various places. Therefore it is natural that they are being subjected to questioning and inconvenience on these grounds which the government cannot avoid in the interest of the peaceful citizens of the country. Innocent Tamils too are made to suffer because of the atrocities of the LTTE. As very often shown by the advocates, namely Gunadasa Amarasekara, Nalin de Silva, S.L.Gunasekera and Champika Ranawaka in the media there is absolutely no truth in the saying that Tamils in Sri Lanka have special problems because they are Tamils. P. Subasinghe.
Culture - past and presentRecently Australian cricketer Shane Warne made some comments about our cricket captain, Arjuna Ranatunga. I'm sure the majority of our cricket fans would agree with Shane Warne. I think the way Arjuna responded to this remark was hitting below the belt. It was an insult to all the Australians. That's not our culture! Yes, our culture is a very rich culture and more than 2,500 years old. The Australian culture is very, very much less and may be a different one. But both these cultures are of the past. Let us look at the two cultures of the present. The Australians are more cultured than us now. They are a more disciplined and orderly nation. On the other hand what's our culture now? Let us see a little of our present culture. 1. The culture of the gun and bomb. Daily we hear of a bomb being thrown at some family or the other and people shot and killed. 2. The culture of the knife and sword. How many murders are committed daily? (The best example is the Hokandara incident). Whole families are being wiped out. 3. The present culture is such that it's not safe for our women to go on the roads, the beach or even in buses and trains. We all know that at the Wayamba elections an old woman in her seventies and in another place a young girl aged nineteen were made to walk on the road completely NUDE. 4. The rape culture. Daily we read of women being raped. In one instance a drunken son had raped his own mother! (We read this in the newspapers). Then, how many instances have we heard of the father raping the daughter, or the brother the sister, uncle the neice. (Example of this rape culture is the Rita John case). 5. Culture of Bribery and corruption. Can anything be done in our country without "santhosams" or bribes? 6. Culture of deception. How often are we being deceived by the politicians, especially during election times. 7. Culture of digging for "nidhan wasthu". Even the statues of the Buddha are dug into or broken for "Nidhan Wasthu". No sane man would ever think of doing this. But the greed for money is such (our present culture) that man can be a brute and do things like this. While we boast of our past wonderful culture let us be ashamed of our present culture and do our best to restore that old culture of ours. May sanity be restored in this "Dhamma Dveepa". Canon Gamini
Freedom of expression and money factorThe Media, quite understandably, safeguards its rights jealously. The basis is that comment should be free. Normally, rights end where legal provisions take over, however unpalatable they maybe. Yet, the media has the freedom to agitate against such provisions calling them draconian legislation. Criminal Defamation and Official Secrets are two cases in point. Muzzling of the media takes various forms by different sources. The private sector seems to have a firm grip on free reporting through advertising contracts. There is enough and more that could be exposed - the way some companies are managed or mis-managed and how some play ducks and drakes with shareholder funds. Yet, hardly anything comes out except perhaps, rosy pictures painted by those companies themselves. If the media is to be the country's watchdog, it should cover the entire gamut. The private sector should be accountable and the media should be alert. However, it is a well-known fact that some journalists are hamstrung by financial patronage given through advertisements. Some companies also wield the big stick to silence independent writers who are bold enough to analyse and comment. The Free Media Movement should take note of this dangerous trend where freedom of expression is at stake through money power. The private sector cannot exist without advertisements and media institutions should collectively resist such attempts. If the private sector is permitted to dominate and dictate, the question arises - Is the media going to be subservient? The concept of freedom of expression then becomes a hollow one and biased. It was not long ago that it was reported in a section of the press that there was a suggestion by a member of the private sector to the so- called "Peace Committee" that the private sector should boycott the state media - both print and electronic. More to the point that the media should boycott any company which thinks it is above fair criticism in the public or national interest. If the media is bold enough to fight the full power of the State, money power should have no place! Anti Hypocrite
Who wants this temple at Muthurajawela?I read with shock the full page story in 'The Sunday Times' of June 6, 1999, on the proposed six hundred million Vishnu Temple at Muthurajawela. The Government is to raise the funds from businessmen in Sri Lanka. This temple is to be built to counter the evil effects of a temple in India facing the direction of Sri Lanka. The Buddha did not advocate the worship of Hindu gods. The Buddha during His lifetime, did not allow even statues of Himself. The Buddha stated that the best way to honour Him was to follow His teachings. If this temple is built after filling Muthurajawela, the whole area may be flooded during monsoon rains. Lionel J. Seneviratne |
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