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The
beast in the brat pack Sri Lanka’s problems with youth unrest are well known. This country has seen the advent of rebellious youth taking to arms -- as in the insurgency of 1971 and 1987-89 by the southern youth, and since 1972 by the northern youth - some of whom are not youth anymore and are now even conscripting children to their cause. Those
insurgencies were largely socio-political uprisings by sections
who felt marginalised by the existing socio-political structure
steeped in an ingrained Hindu-Sinhalese caste hierarchy in which
they found no place in the sun. The
old Royalist referred to how during times of school revelry like
the big match season, students taken into the police station for
breaking some traffic rule were permitted one telephone call to
their parents to let them know where they were and ask if they could
come and fetch them. Just last week, the nation was treated to the disgusting spectacle of the newly re-appointed Deputy Minister of Labour venting his ire in typical billingsgate (but of the local Mariakade version) on the media for questioning the conduct of his son at a local discotheque. While his paternal instincts can perhaps be admired, when considering the offence the boy is alleged to have committed, that of preventing Police Narcotics officers from discharging their duties, he was not setting anyone any examples by his outburst.The Deputy Minister himself is on record saying that he has among his circle of friends, people who deal in narcotics (The Sunday Times of May1). The whole issue of narcotics in nightclubs and discos (which was an open secret) came into the spotlight after the gruesome killing of a young fashion-designer student who had been out ‘clubbing’ with friends. It seemed some good was coming out of that terrible crime when the police who had hitherto turned a Nelsonian eye to the drug issue in nightclubs, stepped up their campaign to root out the menace especially in the Colombo city, although the problem of narcotics is not limited to the capital any longer, its tentacles having spread to all corners of the island, including the north and east and indeed to all sections of society. This whole issue reflects poorly on a Government -- any Government -- that is on the one hand trying its best to correct the mess education is in right now, but on the other hand permits the evils of narcotics to permeate into the younger generation -- not just by sheer inaction -- but by giving a carte blanche to such politicians to do as they please. During Ranil Wickremesinghe’s time as Prime Minister, he too seemed inept at tackling this problem because of the wafer-thin majority he had in Parliament. Now the situation is no better. To go to dances and show-off - not alone -- but with their father's bodyguards in tow -- beat up guys, harass girls and shoot in the air, can this behaviour be in any way excused? Is it that in Sri Lankan society values no longer count? That so long as you are some presumed big-wig, you can stamp on all norms of civilized behaviour and get off scot-free? There is no question that however rebellious, youth are influenced by how their elders act. If we only pay lip service to maintaining law and order, can we be surprised when they take the law into their own hands? Tackling these issues and taking a firm stand against wrongdoing cannot only be left to the political leaders who are cramped by parliamentary majorities, and the need to have everyone possible fall at their feet, though one would indeed wish they had the courage to take a stand. The
Attorney General’s Department, the Police and the Courts must
exercise their legitimate powers in controlling these excesses to
a large extent. It is not only that they are entrusted with ensuring
that the Rule of Law is upheld, but also that the future generation
is protected under their care. |
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