TO BE OR NOT TO BE-THAT IS THE QUESTION!
Posted on September 23rd, 2012

By Darmitha

It is very easy to be in the news when oneƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s father is a controversial public figure and spares no pains to show the public what obedient children he has fathered!

Politics certainly took a summersault twist during the ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-post ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢78 JRJ Dharmishta Government which duped the citizens of this country into believing that Sri Lanka will be ever prosperous with his amended Constitution and open economic policies which gave unlimited access of all imported goods whether or not they were needed by this country. It also gave legality for parliamentarians to have their own personal security which we all know later helped to foster the underworld mafia of thugs of the likes of Sotti Upalis and Gonawale Sunils who became more powerful than Police OICs,thus undermining the authority of law enforcement authorities!

Having said that,we need to come back to the political culture of this country. As children 30-40 years ago, we were taught that religion and politics were very personal and individual to the person concerned-that we the citizens of this country had the authority to elect a political representative from any political party at the elections. This pattern changed drastically with JRJƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s government and amended Constitution where he introduced preferential voting within parties, representational minority votes and encouraged cross-overs in parliament etc. Until this time we were made to understand that a politician became a parliamentarian because we the citizens had elected him to be that and he was our humble servant and role model in society. Once elected into parliament, he/sheƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  was expected to serve all constituents of the electorate devoid of party affiliations. It was an understood logic that if a politician did not perform his duties properly, he definitely had no chance of returning at the next forthcoming elections. Those were the days when this country had decent and gentlemanly politics!

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ The above culture changed into thuggery and mayhem and ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-not brains but brawnsƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ became all important ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…”the Prado, Montero culture and security coverage not only for the active politician but for their spouses and offsprings all became the order of the day! The result being that today we see (mostly) sons of politicians of the likes of the infamous Maalaka-son of Minister Mervyn Silva who thinks it is his God given right to manhandle,beat up or even murder anyone who dares to cross his path and more so, that he is above the law! It must be emphasized that this is certainly not his first encounter with indiscipline?Under normal circumstances, only the suspect is permitted to comment but in MaalakaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s case, his Minister father( no doubt the father loves hi son very much- so do most other parents) makes all the publicity comments proclaiming that his son did not attack an ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-Army Officer.ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ A parent must always remember, that children follow in the footprints of their parents! There is however no doubt what so ever, that under duress given the fact that this minister is noted for his high-handed tactics, this Army Officer has made conflicting statements to the law enforcement authorities-little wonder? Which human being would not love his own life, job or family?

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ What is a dangerous sign in this whole episode is that the leader of the GOSL under whom this minister is a Cabinet Member nor any other senior Minister seems to have any disciplinary control of this fake clansman of our famous King Dutugemunu ?! A government without discipline, humility, decorum or self-repect can or will never be in a position to control mayhem in this society. Strict disciplinary action must be taken against any and every offspring of a politician who misbehaves in society and the law enforcement authorities must be given total control and independence to act and perform their duties without fear or favour, if Sri Lanka hopes to be considered ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-The Wonder of AsiaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚-let us not insult or belittle these words.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Pardon me for asking this humble question-ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…- would any of you reading this wish to live in a country or even a small district with more Maalakas and or fathers of the likes of Mervyn Silvas?ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚-whither Sri Lanka?-we need to be utterly ashamed at the efforts being made to insult Army Officers or Police and whitewash downright indiscipline in the open press! Discipline here and now is a must if this GOSL hopes to win the trust and confidence of her own people let alone the international community. Ours is a country that has been famous for wholesome and hospitable actions, not thuggery – letƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s try to keep it that way if we want a healthy, wholesome society for future generations to come of which we all can be proud of -thank you.

4 Responses to “TO BE OR NOT TO BE-THAT IS THE QUESTION!”

  1. Lorenzo Says:

    The army officer is also at fault for obstructing justice. Police officers who did their job look like fools. This is disgraceful.

  2. David Appuhami Says:

    For the last 45 years, I have been visiting Sri Lanka almost every year. Now with this horror stories, I am now very reluctant to travel to Sri Lanka. Security power given to politicians are too excessive and law abiding citizens can get severely abused by these gangs. So, Plan your holidays somewhere else.

  3. Sunil Vijayapala Says:

    How can the President of Sri Lanka fight the corrupt and the thugs, as that is his support base? If he takes action to eliminate the corrupt and the thugs he will lose his power and cost his Presidency. He is DEPENDANT on them and that’s why he is silent on the corruption issue. Supporting Mahinda blindly by people in Sri Lanka and expats, will send the wrong signal to this man.

  4. Marco Says:

    Minister Mervyn Silva’s son Malaka has made a request to leave the country for higher education purposes, to fulfill his aspiration of one day becoming Sri Lanka’s Education Minister. President’s Council Hemantha Warnakulasooriya appearing on behalf of Malaka Silva informed court that his client was expecting to enter an American University. Accordingly, Colombo Fort Magistrate has permitted Malaka to be away from October 5 to November 7 but he was ordered to appear in court on November 26.

    Is that not wonderful for a young aspiring individual to fulfill his dreams? Highly commendable i would say.

    Meanwhile, the COI finds the Major guilty. (that was quick?)
    The army said yesterday that the Court of Inquiry appointed to investigate the assault on the army intelligence officer by a group of people allegedly led by a son of a prominent politician had been concluded, and the intelligence officer (a major) was found to be guilty of an offence as he was not on official duty at the time of the attack.

    We all live happily ever after….

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