Letters to the Editor

Kola-kenda man's story exposes police nudity
On the six-laned Elvitigala Mawatha, somewhere near the Gas Station, a young man used to sell kola-kenda for about 45 minutes every morning. Among his customers were doctors, former ministers, retired Government Agents, retired police officers, corporation bosses and ordinary men and women.

He did not cause any obstruction to vehicular traffic or pedestrians. But suddenly last Thursday, the kola-kenda man went missing to the disappointment of his customers. Some of his ardent customers made inquiries and tracked down the man who was crying over the loss of his only income, on which depended his entire family.

Soon the good Samaritans found out that it was an aide of a powerful minister who had given the order, as he wanted to project the road as a model highway. It has to be said that whilst this poor kola-kenda man did not violate any law, the pavements around the Police Station in question are occupied by vendors, who obstruct pedestrians and vehicular traffic. Why is there this double standard on the part of the Police?
Over to you IGP and Minister.

A challenge to the PNB
At last the Police Narcotics Bureau (PNB) has arrested the number one drug lord in the country. The President should be congratulated for this as it took place after she took over the Interior Ministry.

Apparently, there is a genuine desire to combat the drug menace. Right? Wrong.
The PNB has a list of 33 A-grade drug traffickers. Some have not got into the 'should-be arrested' list. Otherwise how is it that they are not arrested? The pubic is somewhat confused regarding the PNB grading system. Does B grade (21 in the list) mean that these are amateurs who have to reach the A grade classification before they can be arrested? Press releases are meant to educate the public and not to confuse them.

The drug lord who was arrested enjoyed a comfortable life openly and had his residence in Colombo 7. Will the disclosure of the names of those drug dealers who have been identified jeopardize current investigations? The perception of the public is that such a disclosure will deprive them the freedom to live like a normal citizen. At least some punishment is better than nothing.

Why are they stupid?
The flood waters have reached the nostrils. But our stupid leaders are talking about the identity of political parties. Very soon there may be no country left for them to play politics with.

Why is Sri Lanka cursed to have leaders who cannot decide to get together and save the nation (if there is anything left to save)? At least now the two leaders must get together or give way to others who are patriotic.

Auctioning lands: Unfair move by CMC
The Colombo Municipal Council has taken an unfair step in seizing and auctioning properties of people who have not paid taxes and rates due to various reasons.
During the past several years, the economy was stagnant due to the North-East conflict. Roads were closed and many business places were compelled to be shut down. Land lords did not receive their rentals because the tenants claimed they had no business. Some properties remained vacant for many years, particularly in Kollupitiya and Fort but rates and taxes continued to be charged by the Council.

Many property owners were compelled to go into arrears but the Council began to send Demand and Seizure notices. Appeals to the Mayor fell on deaf ears. The Mayor refused to understand the people's difficulties and he instructed the seizure and auction of over 500 properties of ratepayers. The order comes in the wake of government moves to grant tax amnesties to people who have dodged income taxes and defaulted billions of rupees in other duties and rates.

The CMC in the past five decades or so has never resorted to such unfair practice of seizing properties of people who are unable to pay their rates due to the difficult situation that prevailed in the country in the past years. Will someone in authority redress this grievance?

International schools and burden of education
Parents try to admit their children to national schools but most of those who are rejected are forced to send their children to international schools. Attending an International school does not mean that the child's parents are rich. There may be some parents who can spend on their children lavishly but most of the others have a tough time trying to make ends meet. These schools have many activities such as concerts, Western band and Eastern band and parents have to spend as much as two thousand rupees on a costume, which is worn only once.

The same teacher who teaches them during school hours holds extra classes after school, some free and some levying high fees. What is not taught in school is taught in private classes. So the parents are forced to send their children to these classes. The free extra classes are cancelled at their own free will and the children who stay back have to loiter about the school premises, wasting their time and being exposed to danger till someone comes to pick them up. The bigger children could even get involved in unscrupulous activities.

More and more international schools, Montessori schools and private tutories crop up from every nook and corner. The more they charge the more the children go to these schools as parents think that good things are not cheap and that it is beneath their dignity to send their children to cheap places.

In some tuition classes, even a primary class child has to pay Rs. 500 a month for four classes of one hour each on any subject. There is intense competition among rich parents who want their children to be geniuses while the children are forced to undergo much mental strain.

Added to all these, children are given a lot of homework to do and most teachers do not explain the lessons in class, instead they ask the children to do their homework with the help of their parents. After a hard day's work the poor parents have to become teachers.

Parents are often summoned to schools, especially international schools, for parent-teachers get-togethers or meetings where the main topic is raising funds and donations to the school.

Such is the life of parents of school-going children and finally after a tedious run on behalf of their children the poor housewives and working mothers have no time to cook dinner, so they drop in at the eating houses and buy the 'take away' parcels for a scrap dinner.

Minorities, national rights and alien nation rights
The letter by Nihal Jayaweera (The Sunday Times, December 7) comes as no surprise as I feel he is yet another so-called Sri Lankan who does not understand what National Democracy means, hence multicultural society is mistaken to be multi-national.

What Lt. Cl. A.S. Amarasekera's article attempts to explain is the universal political concept which is in action in every indigenous national sovereign country except in Sri Lanka. This is not a fault or lacking in N. Jayaweera but the impact of two generations of negative psychological conditioning that the Sinhala nation was subjected to by the rulers since 1948.

While Mr. Jayaweera admits Lt. Col. Amarasekera's claim of Sinhala ownership to Sri Lanka as convincing and immediately afterwards he agrees with the Tamil claim too in a vacillating mode. The basic difficulty with Mr. Jayaweera is the lack of confidence in knowing the truth because of this identity and ownership syndrome inherited as a result of negative psychological conditioning perpetrated by the rulers as stated earlier.

Also, it is this absence of Sinhala awareness that enabled the Tamil element to conduct this invasive terror in trying to form a second Tamil country in addition to Tamil Nadu (Tamil country) in the Indian subcontinent. Surely, Mr. Jayaweera will not show this same indifference to defending his property, wealth, family and self but never forget, none of those will be safe if the country is not defended!

In agreeing with Mr. Jayaweera, let us leave history and focus on the present.
Almost every country in the world has a multi-cultural society within a single or mono-national democracy. This means the entitlement of national rights is upheld only by the indigenous sovereign nation of people of that country.

The non-indigenous minorities settled in these host countries no matter how long, are given only human rights and civil rights but not their alien national rights as well. Because they already have and protected their national rights and aspirations within the land of their national origin. It is in granting these alien nation rights of Tamil Nadu and umpteen Muslim countries that the Sinhala national country is experiencing a Tamil invasion to carve out a second Tamil country apart from Tamil Nadu (Tamil country).

It is due to this potential danger that no other country has granted alien national rights to minorities who have made their homes in host countries. Not only rights that minorities have in a host country but they also have the decency of duty to merge with the indigenous nation to become one national family.

As in every country, minorities can practise their languages and culture in private without threatening the host nation. But pro-Tamil leaders who have hijacked the Sinhala country have put us in the present plight. As said before, leave history, and look at the world map and we find a wonderful array of differing countries. Although we are all humans and this is one world - the world has naturally evolved in splendid diversity. It can be seen that the birth of most countries is due to the evolution of varied nations. It is natural justice that each of these nations stemming from a race should flourish and preserve in its native domain.

Even Mr. Jayaweera's trip to England has not exposed him to the truth of national democracy in action. The minority cultural events are practised in England privately, which means these are not included in the English national constitution like in Sri Lanka.

And, public holidays have not been granted to each and every minority event like in Sri Lanka. As a citizen of Britain, it can be said clearly that there are a lot of complaints against noise pollution by the natives as a result of these minority events.

No reason for the LTTE to gloat
The LTTE is reported to be gloating over the political crisis in the south. It has even commented that the peace facilitators should now concentrate in the south. It is sheer audacity.

It is true there are differences of opinion among political parties in the South while there is none in the North. Is it because the LTTE is a peaceful democratic party, which respects the views of others? None dares to disagree with the LTTE, which has silenced all those who challenged it. A majority of North-East Tamil mps, who understand the LTTE's gun culture, have become mere puppets of the LTTE while the TULF leader who defied this policy has been sidelined.

The bottomline is the southern politicians are democratic and respect the views of others in their search for consensus while the LTTE is a dictatorial ruthless breed.

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