1000 bad persons vs. 100 just men/women

“To save Sri Lanka only a tiny minority of just persons are required,” said Justice Mark Fernando in his keynote address at the last OPA annual sessions and he cited the following poem by Josiah Gilbert Holland to describe a just person;
“God, give us men! A time like this demands;

Strong minds, great hearts, true faith and ready hands;

Men whom the lust of office does not kill; Men whom the spoils of office cannot buy;

Men who possesses opinions and a will;

Men who have honour; men who will not lie;

Men who can stand before a demagogue and damn his treacherous flatteries without winking!

Tall men, sun-crowned, who live above the fog in public duty and in private thinking;

For while rabble, with thumb-worn creeds,their large professions and their little deeds, mingle in selfish strife,

Lo! Freedom weeps, Wrong rules the land and Justice Sleeps!”

As the OPA and other civil society groups pursue the initiative of gathering “just persons” under organized umbrellas, it is unfortunate that 1000’s of “bad persons” are at work and play, negating the small initiatives for “good” committed to by “good men and women” in Sri Lanka. It is most unfortunate that these 1000’s of “bad persons” are closely networked and aligned to the leadership VVIP’s and often act as their advisors and guides and/or are charged with the responsibility for governance with a concentration of a high level of executive authority. Some recent, random examples of such actions of “bad persons” are;
Economically

Unjust Actions
1. The identification as the villains responsible for the prevalent high interest rates, the “good persons’, who in their capacity as “Fund Managers and Administrators” of benevolent/welfare/thrift/trust funds (which funds had received grants from government), had invested such funds at optimum commercial market rates of interest, without investing in low yielding government bonds

2. The introduction of a new cost of living index with the aim of misleading the masses, and as consequence having to pay much higher level of cost of living allowances (since the new focus group covers the entire population with a higher per capita income than the low income segment forming the previous basket)

3. The questionable relatively high level of growth attributed to the construction sector in the fourth quarter 2007, during which period there was a severe shortage and a lower production volume of cement.
Commercially

Unjust Actions
1. The last minute demand to allocate seats on the national carrier to a VVIP and his entourage by discarding the seat allocations made against pre booked and paid for customer tickets. Cancelling in violation of agreement the visa entitlement of the CEO for failing to honour this request

2. The VIP Investments promoter, publicly on the national TV, attempting to sling mud at the management expertise of a world class airline owner/manager, citing comparative period airline profits without reference to the significant change in aviation fuel costs, the number of aircrafts owned freehold vs. leased

3. The transfer of foreign ministry officials key to successfully negotiating the continuation of GSP+

Public Relations Blunders
1.The Sri Lankan Airlines fiasco being featured in a BBC programme with resultant negative impact on national image and investments

2. The disparaging references made to the Japanese role during the World War II and its continuing foreign policy stand in relation to the north-east conflict and terrorism, by a party unofficially supporting the government during a meeting with the Japanese peace envoy.

3. Continuing unnecessary and unbecoming statements by Sri Lankan top officials dealing with the human rights violation allegations, peace and conflict resolution, aimed at high level officials of the UN, friendly and traditionally supportive nations of the west and International NGO’s

Human Rights Violations
1. The un-diplomatic treatment and abusive responses, negatively impacting high level UN officials and internationally recognized persons concerned about human rights violations

2. Indiscipline, inhuman and uncouth manner in which armed forces personnel sometimes engage in conflict afflicted areas. Rape, abductions and violence, all being serious violations of human rights take place without effective command supervision and accountability.

Unacceptable Conduct of Legislators
1.Behaviour of parliamentarians outside acceptable codes of conduct and ethics

2.Consistent unruly and violent behaviour and intimidation by a despicable legislator with protection and patronage of the VVIP leader and the underworld at the same time

Unprofessional Conduct of the top Officials
1.Publicly evident biased, unprofessional, unjust and ethically inexplicable conduct of the top brass of the police force

2.Unjust actions, wasteful/unproductive/corrupt national resource allocations and misrepresentation overlooked, supported or defended by VIP’s of Treasury and Central Bank

3.Recent actions placing in jeopardy aid, UAE work visa’s, tourism development, foreign investments