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An abortion of justice in Sri Lanka
Friday, 1 February 2008 - 11:48 AM SL Time
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So, the witch-hunt against the Rupavahini workers who had the pluck to stand up to some political vermin who set upon them at their workplace continues at full throttle.
A not-so-surreptitious attempt, we learn, is being made to victimise those who took part in that famous protest against Minister Mervyn Silva, who entered the Rupavahini Corporation with goons, one of whom assaulted News Director T. M. G. Chandrasekera. What is unfolding there at present is nothing but a glaring travesty of justice which is not only offensive but also shocking to say the least. Threats against the Rupavahini staff are on the increase. On Tuesday, a gang of armed men held the mother of one of the Rupavahini workers and warned her of dire consequences unless her son fell in line. A Rupavahini producer is already in hospital, following an attack by an unidentified gang.
The real-life drama is reminiscent of the legendary judgments of King Kekille, we have referred to in these columns earlier. One could always depend on that bovine king to hang the wrong person and let the guilty party off the hook. One day, he was furious to find a newly built wall round the palace warped. He sent for the mason, who made a clean breast of the fact that he had been distracted by a buxom woman who would go past him several times a day while the construction was on. The king in high dudgeon summoned the woman and asked why he shouldn t have her hanged for the crime of distracting the royal mason. She stammered out that she had had to go past the palace to see a goldsmith as he had not delivered her jewellery on time. The fault was his and not hers, she pleaded. The king, true to form, sent for the goldsmith and had him hanged at once.
The present-day political potentates of all hues are, no doubt, of Kekille s lineage. Else, how can a man like Mervyn be a minister in the first place? He came almost last on the UPFA list at the last general election in the Colombo district with a little over 2,000 votes.
Former President Chandrika Kumaratunga retrieved him from the dustbin of politics, making a mockery of the popular will, and appointed him to Parliament via the National List. (What an affront to other National List MPs like Lakshman Kadirgamar!) That was the reward Mervyn got for prostrating before her and licking her slippers, having character assassinated her while he was in the UNP. Later, knowing which side of his bread was buttered, he cleverly switched allegiance to President Mahinda Rajapaksa and is going places today.
Nothing could be more disastrous than the loyalty of a nincompoop. We are reminded of a king who had a faithful monkey. The king was fast asleep one day when the monkey saw a mosquito sitting on his neck and feasting on royal blood. Furious and wanting to impress his master, it took out the king s sword and struck the mosquito with all its might. The king didn t survive to express gratitude! That is the problem with having mad monkeys as friends however faithful they may be.
The government is bragging that the capture of Prabhakaran is only a matter of time. But, ironically, it cannot say boo to a goose when it comes to a tinpot warrior running riot and bringing his political masters into disrepute. How would the government have reacted if an Opposition politician had entered the Rupavahini Corporation and assaulted a worker? He would have been promptly arrested and remanded indefinitely.
Disciplinary inquiries against Rupavahini workers hark back to a court case reported from down under a few years ago. A burglar entered a house while its occupants were away and was about to open a safe when he got the shock of his life. A massive dog appeared from nowhere and mauled him. The attack was so savage that he had to spend a few days in hospital. Having recovered, the thief sued the house owner for keeping a ferocious dog inside. He won and had to be compensated! Our cardboard Dutugemunu appears to be emulating that burglar. He, too, has bounced back after a brief stay in hospital. It is quite possible that he and his kudu gang will succeed in avenging humiliation they suffered at Rupavahini and having some of the aggrieved workers sacked. In such an eventuality, the government will forfeit its democratic credentials.
Recently, we saw some Opposition politicians at a meeting to discuss threats Rupavahini staff were facing. There was a great deal of tub-thumping as well as a pledge to protect media freedom. The practice in this country is that when one party sacks a member, he joins the rival camp, which gives him a red carpet welcome. Thus, the scum of the earth survive in politics. Will the Opposition make a pledge that it won t accommodate Mervyn, if he gets sacked by any chance?
What we are witnessing at Rupavahini is not a sign of a miscarriage of justice in the offing but a portent of justice being aborted. Surprisingly, we don t see those champions of press freedom at the Fort Railway Station or the Lipton Circus staging protests against the witch-hunt at issue. On the day of the incident, they were there in their numbers performing for the TV cameras.
Where are you boys? Come out and fight!
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gchula99
Joined: Oct 2006
Posts: 252
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 2 Feb 2008 08:59:59 GMT Report for Abuse
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I support Mervin and MR and stand by of them.
If UNP regain power I soft my color and support UNP.
Everybody does it,so why not you and me?
Living coward is better than dead hero! |
Sintamus
Senior Member
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 2204
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 2 Feb 2008 10:55:54 GMT Report for Abuse
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How would the government have reacted if an Opposition politician had entered the Rupavahini Corporation and assaulted a worker?
Yes that is a 20-million $ question.
Before doing propaganda on the wishful arrest of LTTE leader the government must arrest the killers of
17 aid workers
10 Muslim workers
5 youths in Trinco beach
4 Tamil MPs
Mr Kadirkamar
journalists Sampath de Silva, Sivaram, Nadesan, Nimalrajan etc
and the minister who assaulted Rupavahini Director. |
magha
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Posts: 4804
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 2 Feb 2008 22:01:58 GMT Report for Abuse
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Living coward is better than dead hero!
Makes sense, but I would like him to be politically dead. |
magha
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2 Feb 2008 22:15:34 GMT Report for Abuse
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Before doing propaganda on the wishful arrest of LTTE leader the government must arrest the killers of
17 aid workers
10 Muslim workers
5 youths in Trinco beach
4 Tamil MPs
Mr Kadirkamar
journalists Sampath de Silva, Sivaram, Nadesan, Nimalrajan etc
and the minister who assaulted Rupavahini Director.
Arrest of LTTE leader would give answers to all above and beyond ,starting from Alfred Duraippa assassination .
He won't be arrested as he had already buried him self in his own tomb and it is a matter of cutting off air to the bunker.
We Will be eventually left only with speculation who killed whom.
Nothing will bring them back. Enough blood shed had happened for three decades. Why only we ask about the killing of those individuals who are well known but there are more unknown among Tamils and Singhalese who could have been more important to their loved once than the political connected list of dead people ? |
justman
Joined: Mar 2006
Posts: 1029
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7 Feb 2008 02:45:00 GMT Report for Abuse
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| We simply can't condone thuggery and lawlessness in the land,even if it comes from any party.I hear that some wants the judiciary to be gagged or made useless.This a dangerous step as this takes th safety net from the people.Mr has not shown that he is willing to deal with the law ad order issue created by that thug Mervin. |
Vishnu
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7 Feb 2008 03:35:34 GMT Report for Abuse
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We Will be eventually left only with speculation who killed whom.
That's a good point. Some may even say Praba killed him self as a part of the plan,(those NGO pundits in Colombo will coin a term like 'strategic withdrawal from life') and only he himself should take credit for it. |
Gaja
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Posts: 5149
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7 Feb 2008 04:37:27 GMT Report for Abuse
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Where there are no common values, who is to judge whom? Ultimately the quality of our life is determined by the inner justice system within us. The rest is to show others for material purposes.
Gaja Lakshmi Paramasivam - Australian Tamil |
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