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| Monday, 20 October 2003 |
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Letters | |
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Please forward your letters to [email protected] in plain text format within the e-mail message, since as a policy we do not open any attachments.
The relief expressed in the title of this paper is at the restoration of the franchise to the 168141 plantation workers who had been denied this most elementary of civic rights for 55 years. The shameful saga of stateless persons from whom taxes both direct and indirect were levied by the state is at long last over. It is a great tribute to the parliamentarians of today that the vote in Parliament was unanimous - 172 to nil. Thus the curtain is brought down on the first major policy of the newly independent government of Ceylon (as it then was) by its complete and total failure. Since the majority of people now living were not alive when that policy was inaugurated it necessary to recount it briefly for the record. In November 1948, a bare nine months after the dawn of independence, legislation was introduced in Parliament to define citizenship in the new state. It required proof of the birth of one's grandparents in Ceylon. Not a single person of Sinhala or indigenous Tamil ethnic groups was put to this test - it was applied exclusively to Tamil plantation workers. It was a level of proof they were unable to furnish and that led to their being deprived of citizenship and being categorised as "stateless" persons. Another law a few months later deprived stateless persons of the vote - a right which Tamil plantation workers had enjoyed under British colonial rule. The newly independent state saw it as fit and proper to treat these people more harshly than the British colonial rulers. Worse was to follow. Another law early in 1949 decided that these stateless people who did not acquire Indian citizenship should be forcibly deported to India despite the vigorous protests of the Indian government. The phrase "ethnic cleansing" was not current at that time yet it was nothing less than an early essay in that viciously racist practice. The Indian government's intervention led to many years of negotiations but the policy was persisted in. Any pretence at civilized governance was abandoned and a brutal hegemonistic power play was indulged in. The affected population resisted stubbornly and threw up a leadership that worked astutely to right so great a wrong. The Sri Lankan government was forced into several concessions and after 55 years of fruitless endeavour it has now called it a day and reversed itself. The whole miserable saga shows clearly that democratically elected governments are capable of viciously racist and oppressive policies and also of presenting such policies to a supine electorate as virtuous and benign. That a newly independent government should sieze upon such gross wrongdoing so early in its life must redound to its lasting shame, a shame that must be shared by all those who let it go on for so long without raising a single dissentient voice. Not a single Sinhala voice, including this writer's, was raised in opposition to such a disastrous and immoral policy. Its ignominious end comes not a day too soon and must be welcomed with relief. ADRIAN WIJEMANNE, UK. The letter by M. C. Piyasiri, President, Blind Citizen's Front (D.N. of 9.10.03) is an eye opener for people who could not see the value of peace. The people who are advocating war is better than peace is not the people of the North and the East, but it is the blood thirsty Marxists oriented parties like the JVP and communal extremists like the Sihala Urumaya. If one is not blind (Blind, although cannot see, but have the heart for others sufferings) could observe that in every TV interviews, how those people from the North and the East are longing for peace for they have undergone the horror of war. Those parliamentarians instigating religious and communal hatreds into the minds of the ordinary people have no interest in the well-being of this country, what they want is bloodshed, communal disharmony and mayhem. They do not want peace, but war - it is a mental state, where one wants to see and experience raw flesh and blood, agony and anguish and such person enjoys in such situation. The Government at this point should realize that the extremist elements are working overtime to disrupt the peace process and somehow or other wants to come into power. It is time that the Government should put a stop to it. The Government should also note the disturbance created by the JVP sponsored unrest in the universities recently. Enough is enough and take a leaf from the last PA government as to how they curbed trade union activities and censored news reports with success. MAYA, Colombo Our athletes who go for international meets have recently developed a habit of avoiding participating in their respective events at the last moment or even giving up halfway. It appears that they use this tactic when they realize that they are unable to win a place. Authorities should take stern action not only against these athletes but also against their coaches and team management who seem to be conniving with the athletes. Not only this, they are under the impression that they are a special set of people in this country and the degrading manner that an athlete and her coach/husband acted after a road accident recently is a good example to this. Their sponsors should think twice about continuing their sponsorship if their behaviour is like this on and off the track. DESHAPRIYA RAJAPAKSHA, Colombo 6. Religious conversions and human rights My attention has been drawn to the many news items and readers' letters that have appeared in your newspaper and in other periodicals on this subject. Perhaps, my thoughts will shed some light on this important subject. Every person is free to follow the religion of his choice is a fundamental human right and is accepted by all nations and all civil societies, being enshrined in the United Nations charter. Denying this basic human right to others necessarily implies that others have the right to deny that freedom to you. People of all religions - Buddhist, Hindu, Moslem, Catholic and Christian - and of all philosophies, agree that this freedom must be an essential feature of any society that claims to be just. In fact the doctrines of all these religions affirm this right of worship. Therefore if people of one religion deny this freedom to other religions, they violate their own religious precepts of tolerance in addition to violating fundamental human rights. Could this be happening in Sri Lanka? Every reasoning person will hope not. Just as important is the right every religion has of proclamation its teachings. Every religion is evangelistic in the sense of wanting to proclaim its beliefs and offer people of other religions the choice to accept its doctrines. This is called proselytising. It is also called evangelism and is a legitimate activity. It is this evangelistic zeal that prompted King Ashoka of India to send Venerable Mihindu Maha Thera to Lanka in the reign of King Devanampiyatissa. That this missionary journey was successful is proven by the conversion of almost the whole of Lanka at the time to Buddhism. Similarly, the Catholic Church formed special teams, amongst them the Jesuits, to evangelise the Asian nations. The Catholic religion's presence in Sri Lanka can be directly attributed to these efforts. Is it the same missionary zeal that has sent teams from Sri Lanka to western nations in Europe and the Americas to convert people, mainly Christian, in those countries to Buddhism? It is in the same spirit that the Western Christian churches have sent missionaries to the East and to Sri Lanka in particular. Islam has not been wanting in this respect also. If anyone denies this right to others, he denies his own religion the right to proclaim and evangelise. The Buddhist and the Moslem will have to withdraw his missionaries from Europe and Western countries. The Catholics and the Protestants too will have to withdraw from their respective mission fields in Asia. Is this what those who oppose conversion want and are willing to do to stop their own evangelism? The answer is quite obviously NO. Thus let us all show an attitude of tolerance to other religions and not interfere with their religious activities. BANDULA JAYAMANNE Time is most opportune now to impose a temporary moratorium on import of motor cars into the country for an appropriate duration. Our city roads are now bursting at the seams during the peak hours. The situation is getting worse day by day with the heavy influx of motor vehicles, both reconditioned and brand new. The logical and the ideal solution to the problem, of course, would be to widen our city roads or build skyways, flyovers etc. But our country's available resources do not permit us to implement these logical and ideal solutions. In these circumstances, we have to go for the next best answer, ie. to suspend importation of motor cars until the country is in a position to improve the city's road network to accommodate more vehicles. This suggestion is very likely to arouse protests from the protagonists of the concept of free trade or the "Laissez Faire" doctrine. This economic doctrine was found to be unacceptable during the early years of its introduction in Europe. Therefore, it has to be adapted to suit the needs of the situation. Any sane person would agree that a country with depleted foreign resources and a heavy burden of internal and international debts like ours should be able to manage with the present level of vehicle population. The government should consider this suggestion, a failure to do so would definitely result in an enormous waste of time and fuel of the city commuters. P. PREMADASA, Maharagama Glancing through the Daily News on October 10 - World Mental Health Day and the commencement of Sri Lanka Mental Health Week, October 10-16, I was surprised and a little disappointed that no mention had been made of this important humanitarian event. The one page Sahanaya supplement published on October 11, compensated adequately and eloquently for this shortcoming. The mental health theme for this year "Emotional and Behaviourial Disorders of Children and Adolescents" is particularly applicable to the situation in Sri Lanka right now. The reactions of the younger generation to social uncertainties, violence, and disruptive changes in the former traditionally secure, well balanced extended family system is alarming, to say the least. The very high rate of suicide among teenagers and young adults, acts of rebellion and violence continue with very little signs of abeyance. Another danger signal is the sharp rise in mental disorders, that, as the Sahanaya supplement pointed out is subject to neglect and ill treatment, mainly due to widespread social stigma and ignorance. Changing these negative attitudes towards mental ill health in adults is well nigh impossible. Mental Health Education aimed at the younger generation can, if handled with a sense of urgency, provide a viable solution. First steps have been taken in this direction, but much more is required by way of support from macro level (national) to micro (individual) level. Most important of all is ACTION resulting from what is right now a meandering Mental Health Five Year Plan and the lingering enactment of the Mental Health Act. MALINI BALASINGAM, Uswetakeiyawa |
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