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
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Back to 500BC.
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Thiranjala Weerasinghe sj.- One Island Two Nations
?????????????????????????????????????????????????Tuesday, July 11, 2017
Over to you?
I thought I must write to you even though I know you are a very busy person, what with all this business of running the country and appointing new secretaries, ambassadors, governors and army commanders. Still, I wanted to write to you because of something you had said last week.
Pardon
me if I have got this wrong, but you were reported as having said that
anyone watching television would feel that there was no government in
the country. I don’t know how you came to this conclusion by watching
television, but we had the same thought – even without watching
television!
Please let me explain, Maithri. For instance, one would think that
something as simple as disposing of our garbage can be done efficiently.
Instead, everyone is saying that it is someone else’s job and no one is
taking responsibility for it. So, Colombo has gone from being a garden
city to a garbage city!
Some say the Chief Minister has been asked to supervise garbage
disposal. Others say Champika has been given the job. The courts have
intervened to prevent garbage being dumped in certain areas. The Green
Man is complaining that the court decision is not helping. No one seems
to be in charge!
Isn’t it the same with the dengue epidemic? You may say it is the fault
of the mosquito and not of the government but has the government done
enough? When Rajitha speaks, he has a solution to every problem but he
has no solution to what appears to be the worst dengue epidemic ever.
Another reason why there seems to be no government is because there is a
group which thinks they are the government – the GMOA. Dengue epidemic
or not, they will strike if they feel like it because they say their
strikes protect the next generation of ‘innocent patients’ from private
medical schools.
Those in the GMOA who believe they are the best brains in the country
because they got the highest ‘Z’ scores, apparently forgot there was a
dengue epidemic when they decided to stage a continuous strike. It was
the Archbishop, the good Cardinal, who reminded them – and the strike
was called off!
Maithri, isn’t it funny that after the GMOA had talks with you, Rajitha
says the talks were informal or a ‘hora’ discussion. A few days later,
despite the talks they had with you, they announce a strike, but after
talks with the Archbishop, it is called off. So, no wonder we feel that
there is no government!
The issue the GMOA is complaining about is private medical schools. Some
ministers in the government – like Rajitha, SB and Lucky – want them.
Others – like Champika, Dayasiri and Susil – don’t want them. Many
others are silent. And you wonder why we feel there is no government!
Maithri, until a few weeks ago, we had heard from Asgiriya only when a
cricket match was being played there. Suddenly, we got advice from there
saying that what Gnanasara hamuduruwo was saying had some truth in it,
even though they didn’t quite agree with the way he was saying it.
So,
are we to now believe that what he was saying – that certain
communities were second class people in this country and should be
treated differently – was right? Please correct me if I am wrong but
that is different from the Buddhism I know which says one is an outcast
or a noble not by birth but by deed.
Then, lo and behold, the hamuduruwo who had been in hiding, evading a
warrant for his arrest and who claimed that he feared for his life,
appeared before two courts on the same day and was granted bail by both
courts on the same day. And yet you wonder why we feel there is no
government!
As if that was not enough, a few days ago we were told that it had been
decided in Kandy that a new Constitution was not necessary and that it
had also been decided that certain laws which were before Parliament
needed to be withdrawn. And yet you wonder why we feel there is no
government!
Correct me if I am wrong, Maithri, but I thought some 6.2 million people
gave you a mandate to change the Constitution and abolish the
Presidency. So, are we to forget all that because we have now got
instructions from the hill country? I thought the Parliament was in
Kotte – and not in Kandy!I heard you made a quick trip to Kandy to try
and arrive at some agreement, Maithri. If you can’t do that, you and
your ministers might as well hand over the government to the decision
makers in Kandy, who I am sure, will know how to run the country,
dengue, garbage, Gnanasara hamuduruwo and all!
Yours truly,
Punchi Putha
PS: Maithri, you came to power promising to usher in ‘yahapaalanaya’. Now you say that we feel there is no government. I agree, because what we now have instead is ‘haya paalanaya’- you, the Green Man, your ministers, the GMOA, the courts and those in Kandy pulling in different directions!