‘Mayday, Mayday’ in this sinking ship

May 3, 2019, 9:05 pm 

May Day this year was only one of memories; and delightful memories indeed. Those long walks through the streets of Colombo, with the redshirted leadership of NM, Colvin, Leslie and Bernard, with slogans of revolution, the fight against capitalism and colonial power, the combating against corruption and the unity of workers and peasants, from those in the plantations and factories, teachers, clerks, and farmers – and the singing of "Saadukin Pelanavun – Dan Ithin Nagityav" were parades of joy with great expectations.

The parades were smaller and shorter as the years passed by and the left parties began to merge with the larger parties in the politics of governance, and away from the revolution of workers and peasants. We came to a time when the colour of May Day was a choice between Green and Blue, and Indian singers gave more delight to the masses on Galle Face Green than the slogans of politicians.

What we saw this year was a May Day of disaster; one of tragedy and mourning. The requiem of the church, replaced the slogans of hope and expectation. The prayers for peace supplanted the thoughts of revenge. A shroud of national unity sought to hide the widening divisions.

This became a May Day of the recognition of reality; a day of deep exposure of the corrupt, crooked and debased society, waving a false flag of democracy and humanity.

We are now in the travail of a corrupt society, with no promise of the birth of honesty and decency in the near future. Through seventy years of freedom we have moved away from the goals of honesty and good governance, to targets of the crooked and corrupt, the dishonest and immoral. Those blasts at the churches on Easter Sunday brought us a tearful reminder of how far we have regressed from the reaches of civilization.

What do we do with politicians, whether party leaders or hangers on, who believe politics is the art of deceit and not the art of government? How do we come to terms with those in governance, and others seeking such goals, whose purpose is the gaining of power and/for profit, and never the service of the people and society?

How is it that the Security Services who are now making rapid and well-focused arrests in the post-Easter disaster, were unable to move so effectively in the post-Buddha statue and shrine attacks at Mawanella? How were any of the suspects or accused in the Wanathawilluva findings of crime released? What was the insufficient evidence against them? Shouldn’t the people know this, or is it only for the related politicians?

This is not against Muslim education, but how is it that a single centre of Islamic education with huge funds from West Asia was able to exist with no registration even as a seat of higher education, which it claimed to provide? Was it allowed with the same thinking that gave scholarships to the students at SAITM? From what we have seen in recent days it is the most luxurious seat of learning (if it is really so) in this country. Luxury is good for the students, but what were they taught and by whom? Sharia Law is a system of jurisprudence accepted by many countries, and certainly a subject our students should also know. But, who taught it, how and with what goals? How can the Governor of a Province of this county, hold such an important position in an improperly registered or declared institution of education, in the same province, with such funding from abroad? And how much did the former Governor know about all this? These certainly need answers.

The Muslim students of this country certainly need good and wide education. But, does all the rapidly approved Madrassas give good and proper education, and who sets the syllabus and supervises the teaching?

Those in government should not try to evade these issues with excuses of ignorance or the game of political silence.

This is as important as knowing whether the King of the Spice Trade, whose sons were involved in the Easter terror, obtained his spice mint from the crooked handling of our pepper exports by the Minister of such trade? It looks like the crooked earnings from pepper added deadly spice to the bombers of Easter Sunday.

Are we to really take seriously the Muslim Affairs Minister’s explanation that the swords found in some mosques and elsewhere (no comment on the daggers found) could have been to cut the grass and greenery at the mosque compounds? Are we going to a new era of sword fighting with greenery?

These are some aspects of the crooked and deceitful exposure we have seen in recent days. They are continuance of the huge corruption that has thrived under a government elected to fight and rid this country of corruption. The ever expanding ignorance of Maithripala Sirisena and the evasive sub-knowledge of Ranil Wickremesinghe make the package of crooked governance the country is faced with.

Together with all the other corruption we have seen in the past four years, combined with the Constitutional Coup of Sirisena and Central Bank bamboozling of Ranil Wickremesinghe, we are now threatened with a massive explosion of the corrupt.

It is the time to make a ‘mayday, mayday’ distress signal about the sinking ship of Sri Lankan society.