A Brief Colonial History Of Ceylon(SriLanka)
Sri Lanka: One Island Two Nations
A Brief Colonial History Of Ceylon(SriLanka)
Sri Lanka: One Island Two Nations
(Full Story)
Search This Blog
Back to 500BC.
==========================
Thiranjala Weerasinghe sj.- One Island Two Nations
?????????????????????????????????????????????????Sunday, May 7, 2017
Sex, sexism and Lakshman Kiriella
When
MP Geetha Kumarasinghe asked a question from Highways and Higher
Education minister Lakshman Kiriella in parliament yesterday (04), he
gave her a vulgar answer. She asked as to why the extension of the
southern highway from Matara to Beliatte was yet to be completed.
Minister Kiriella gave a lewd answer, saying the work was on its final
stage, and that if needed he could accompany her to inspect the work.
MPs who relish immorality welcomed his remark with laughter. It cannot
be surmised that parliament comprised babies who could not understand
the double-meaning of what Kiriella said. But, when a female MP was
ridiculed at the country’s most supreme institution merely because of
being a woman, there was no one to oppose it. That is how things work in
a Sri Lanka that boasts about its culture and civilization.
Geetha could be the member of the joint opposition or any other group,
but that is irrelevant here. Also, the court ruling against her
parliamentary seat because of her dual citizenship is irrelevant here.
The question here is the different treatment meted out based on one’s
gender. The elderly minister Kiriella might have seen Geetha
Kumarasinghe not as an MP, but as the sexy actress Geetha Kumarasinghe
of the past, her body only. Just like it is commonly seen in this
country, where it is boasted that Sri Lanka is the noblest country in
the world, a woman was seen by Kiriella as merely a toy. The respect she
deserves was irrelevant to him.
Sri Lanka has set records by searching for ‘sex’ in the internet, but
Sri Lankans do not know what sexism is. If Sri Lanka was a nation that
was aware of sexism, it would not have searched the internet for sex and
set records. When those in parliament do not see it as an offence to
inconvenience a person based on that person’s gender, what can be said
about the others in the country.
Also, the particular remark was made by an elderly politician who has
been in politics for a long time, a senior advocate, a cabinet minister
who is in charge of higher education and the chief government whip. What
is regretful here is that this particular person is not good-mannered.
In front of Geetha, he fell to the level of Mervyn Silva. It is a
different matter had Mervyn Silva made such a remark. The Rajapaksa
regime, bad-mannered in all fronts, had used Mervyn Silva to abuse its
opponents. People expelled that regime to see a change. But, when it
comes to sexism, all are the same.
But, this government is called ‘yahapaalana’ (good governance). From its
inception, it has been talking about equality, and so much had been
said about it along the lines of race, gender etc. But, the government
of president Maithripala Sirisena and prime minister Ranil
Wickremesinghe that speak so much about gender equality did not include a
single woman when many president’s counsels were appointed recently.
Knowingly or unknowingly to both, women are not treated equally, and we
do not know how the lewd mouths of Kiriellas could be kept shut. We
thank Prof. Maithri Wickremesinghe, the PM’s wife, for having expressed
disapproval over the absence of women in the new PC appointees.
Had this garrulous Kiriella been in the parliament of an European
country, the response he would have received would not be easy. He would
have to resign within 24 hours and a big compensation would have to be
paid to the aggrieved party. But, this is Sri Lanka, where everyone
takes that with a laugh.
Senior advocate Kiriella should learn to conduct himself in a manner
that safeguards the dignity of woman, as a father of daughters some
years younger than Geetha Kumarasinghe and as the husband of a beautiful
woman. What we have to tell the Kiriellas who engulf themselves in male
chauvinism, which is worse than racism, is that ‘shame on you.’