      |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Morning Spice by Ginger Stringent laws to nab errant drivers The other day Ginger got into a bus. It had hardly gone a few yards when it hit a man and dragged him quite a few yards before the driver brought it to a halt and that too, after the passengers yelled out to him to stop. This I must say, it had a terrific pick up because it had reached such a speed within a few yards that made it difficult for the driver to bring it to a dead halt. Ginger was at the back of the bus and did not see the actual impact. Shortly after that there was a news flash on TV that a bus had run into a vehicle belonging to a minister killing two of his a bodyguards. This sort of accident will go on despite action being taken. Prosecution after the accident will not help very much. They would be few and far between and dug to technical flaws and suppressed evidence. Many of these drivers get off more than a little lightly. On the other hand, if a special unit is set up after penalties are enhanced to carry on a sustained campaign to nab those flouting the road rules there is a possibility that these speed fiends would lessen in number. Rightly or wrongly the traffic department is under a cloud and so the task should be entrusted to some one else in the force. The police may have its hands full at the moment but human life is precious at all times and it is a little ironic that a minister’s vehicle had to be hit by a State owned bus. Will that jolt the cabinet into action. No angels! Four Arab youths had hijacked a Israeli bus. Israeli commandos stormed the bus and shot two of the youths. Later when there was much speculation as to what happened to the other two. The authorities said they died of gun shot wounds but the returning officer said he smashed their skulls with a rock and was proud of what he did. Deadly passive
smoking The latest revelation is more than a little alarming. The research has led to the conclusion that smoking is directly linked to cancer. It is not so much the association with tobacco that scares but the figures. The chance of a child dying from sudden infant-death syndrome can increase by 800%. |
|
It was with some degree of amazement that I read K. Godage's piece on Sri Lanka's foreign relations with India in your edition of June 21, 1998. As a student of international affairs I consider Mr. Godage's analysis good in parts but bad on the whole. It may be better to institutionalise relations with India rather than leave it to personality politics. Of course that's easier said than done considering the swings of personalities at the helm in India and Sri Lanka since the late 1970s. But for Mr. Godage to open his article with the words ''It does appear that our India policy is in shambles,'' is going off the top. And coupled with his stinging personal remarks at the Foreign Minister, Mr. Godage reveals a tinge of bitterness whatever it could be. For instance, Mr. Godage mocks at the Foreign Minister being the first to ''Pay Pooja'' (That's not the kind of language expected from a ex-foreign service officer) to the new Prime Minister of India. Does he not remember that in August 1996, a few days after Prime Minister Kumaratunga had been sworn in, Prime Minister Narasimha Rao of India sent his Principal Secretary to Colombo to greet the new Prime Minister of Sri Lanka and wish her well. Was this India paying pooja to Sri Lanka? On the other hand we know how Sri Lanka's relations deteriorated in the 1970s and 1980s by our Foreign Minister not going to India often enough. By going to New Delhi, Mr. Kadirgamar seems to have neutralised the likes of George Fer-nandez and Ms. Jaya-lalitha. He has got firm assurances from Prime Minister Vajpayee that India will not help the LTTE. Domestic political compulsion may force the BJP to take a different course in the future. And we must be equal to the task, but why blame Mr. Kadir-gamar in advance. The way Mr. Godage goes at our High Commissioner in New Delhi for not keeping the Foreign Office informed of the pro-LTTE alliance in India bring out two factors. One is obviously Mr. Godage is only making an allegation unsure of his facts, and secondly it sounds as if he probably would have been the best man in New Delhi. Even if Mr. Kadir-gamar made a mess of India's nuclear explosions through his public statements or the way they were reported surely we haven't seen any fall-out from either India, Pakistan or China as of today. Mr. Kadirgamar may have tripped himself and fallen but he had quickly gotten up and is running with the ball again. He's managed to get Vajpayee and Nawaz Shariff for the SAARC Summit in Colombo next month. So it seems surely they can't be angry with us! Sonia
Wanigatunga, |
|
Much has been said about deserters from the armed services and amnesties granted them on return to duty. The response has been poor and 10,000 deserters are still out. Has a study been made to ascertain as to why persons who enlist in the armed forces to combat the LTTE of their own free will, decide to desert. Could it be that (a) They desert after training having been sent for this purpose by some unknown organisation so as to be of service to such organisation at a future date or (b) are their welfare requirements, leave after combat duty, transport home after leave, being afforded to them without any shortcomings or (c) in there any other reason yet to be ascertained by a detail study of the situation. Public opinion is that Pada Yatras held islandwide depicting adverse conduct by the armed services and police, reports of presidential commissions condemning actions by the armed services and the police, persecutions of service personnel and police on account of presidential commission reports and other complaints on account of action taken by them during the JVP uprising and the LTTE, have completely demoralised the youth from joining the armed services and the police. I must state here, being a victim of JVP actions in 1989, that if not for the action taken by the armed services and police my family and I would not be in the land of the living. This is also applicable to millions of peaceful and law abiding citizens, many of whom were victims of despicable murder by the JVP. Where were these persons who are now shouting about atrocities by the armed services and the police when those supposed atrocities occurred? Why did they not shout then. Why do they not shout about the inhuman assassinations of innocent citizens, police and service personnel? Where were righteous persons when these JVP attrocities occurred and why did they not then and even now, condemn these inhuman and atrocious murders. Have any commissions been appointed to date to investigate these unwarranted and inhuman killings by the JVP? It appears that since there is now no threat to life and property on account of the actions taken by the armed services and police that these righteous persons have now come forward to condemn and ridicule the same persons to whom they should be grateful to for their lives. Something will have to be done soon, or else, we may be compelled to withdraw and abandon several important military actions. Conscription is one aspect but can anyone guarantee that there will be no great desertions from those conscripted against their will when those who join voluntarily desert? C. E.
Pereira |
|
The present Jayasikuru operation, we were told, was to secure the road from Vavuniya to Kilinochchi for movement of troops and goods to the Jaffna Peninsula. This nearly 70 mile stretch of road runs through the Wanni jungle and we learn that our troops are now in the vicinity of Mankulam. Casualties so far have been heavy and to continue this military operation and to ensure the security of the road after recapture, more and more government troops will be necessary. If it was only a land route to the Jaffna Peninsula that was envisaged another alternative route could be suggested. That is a route from Mannar via Pooneryn to Elephant Pass. It will skirt the coast with the sea to its left and the scrub jungle to its right all the way to pooneryn. This broad sea front will help naval reconnaissance and land troops could provide security from land attacks and ambushes. Even cleaning the scrub jungle for about a km inland by any means will further enhance security. What would be needed will be the re-establishment of the Pooneryn Army camp and stationing of mobile army units at suitable points on the route. The loss to human life and use of sophisticated and expensive weaponry could be minimised. I am no military expert but common sense prompts me to pen these few lines for all what they are worth. Dr.
P. H. D. H. de Silva |
|
The teachings of the Enlightened one include acts of piety, saving innocent animals from slaughter, giving alms to the poor and needy and donating blood to hospitals for the sick and injured. The glory of Buddhism is that no blood of innocent dumb animals is spilt and no animal flesh is sacrificed. It is a religion of total compassion to all living beings. I appeal to all Buddhists to desist from eating meat and fish and to follow a vegetarian diet. I appeal to all Buddhists to save an innocent animal from slaughter by sending your contributions to DJ. Cecil Godamunne, Humanitarian Society, Kandy, who will also rehome the animal. Do share in the joy and merit of saving an innocent animal's life. "Should a person perform a meritorious action, he should do it again. and again. He should find pleasure, therein blissful is the accumulation of merit" - The Dammapada Dr. Eileen
Petiyagoda |
| Keeping promises The Development Lottery is crying out from house tops and nauseum that it is keeping its promises as if the other government sponsored lotteries are not doing so. What is the meaning of this absurd slogan? The lotteries are collecting Rs. 10 each even from the poorest of the poor, giving everybody the gambling spirit, and making a handful of people fabulously rich. For this reason alone they stand condemned. Be that as it may, I hope that in future the Development Lottery will drop its ridiculous notion that it is the only lottery that keeps its promises! GP |
| Strikes: is it a necessary evil in a
democracy? The democratic dissent or trade union action, commonly called 'strike' is a powerful weapon. It is being used on an employer as a work stoppage or other obstructive refusal to act normally by a united body of workers with a view to achieving their well (ill?) - founded requests as of right. At times, it works like a command on demands. Yet, some hasten to label the so-called strike weapon as a double-edged sword that cuts both ways, since the employees' concerted refusal to work till some of their grievances are remedied could, sometimes, lead to the closure of a well-established business undertaking. On the contrary, when the employees' reasonable requests fall on deaf ears of the employer, they are left with no alternative, but to take refuge under this 'democratic dissent!' When a work stoppage is unauthorised by the trade union officials, it is termed as a 'wild-cat strike'. The prolonged refusal of all food by a prisoner etc. as a form of protest or a means to ensure release from prison or improvement of the prevailing conditions etc. is called 'hunger-strike'. Work-to-rule or tendering of sick-notes in mass scale by the employees is more or less the amber light to signal the red light of 'trade union action' (strike) is on the way! One of the earliest known strikes in the twentieth century is 'The Boston Police Strike of 1919' when Calvin Coolidge, the thirtieth President of the US observed that "There is no right to strike against the public safety by anybody, anywhere, any time!" It is heartening to note that there are no TU's as such among the forces as well as the police, to launch strikes, probably they strictly adhere to the principle 'comply and complain'! The TU jargon In the TU parlours, the following terms relating to strikes are being used constantly. Scab or Blackleg: A TU member who continues to work during a strike or returns to work before a strike has ended or a worker who accepts employment or replaces a union worker during a strike. Picket: Person(s) stationed by a TU to watch and dissuade those who go to work during a strike. Strike-breaker: One hired to replace a striking worker. Troubleshooter: A tactful mediator in an industrial dispute, strike etc. Strikes launched by GCSU Over the last five decades or so, the General Clerical Service Union (GCSU) has launched several strikes to win their fair share of demands from the governments in power. Among them, the one launched in the late ÔForties is considered as a landmark in the Trade Union Movement of the then Ceylon when one Mr. Kandasamy, an active member of the GCSU was laid to rest, in a scuffle with the police. Henceforth, the Martyr Kandasamy is being remembered by the Union, in observing two minutes' silence, as a mark of respect to a fallen hero, at its AGM, year after year! It was in August 1953, the whole island was plunged in darkness, during a general strike in the form of hartal, many a Marxist leader of the country being at the helm of it. Although the so-called hartal lasted nearly 48 hours, the government was cut to its size, so to speak. According to Concise Oxford Dictionary, hartal is a Hindi term, probably derived from Sanskrit (viz. hatta = shop + talaka = lock) which has its roots to the closing of shops and offices as a mark of protest or sorrow esp. in India. As a rule, a meaningful strike could be successfully launched by a TU, if and only if, their TU action would be severely felt by the government or the employer as such, on the first day itself. For example, if and when the medical hands initiate trade union action, the first to be affected are the ailing and the sick. It is therefore, the magnitude of threat to the human life what matters most here! Likewise, let us take the Harbour Workers' Union. If and when they launch a strike, the country's ailing economy deteriorates. The SL bound cargo vessels, including oil-tankers are bound to skip the Colombo Harbour for want of berth. The demurrage payable to various shipping companies will mount up. Exports will take a long rest. Ghosts will haunt the warehouses. Consequently the internal trade begins to totter. In both the cases, the Government is under obligation to intervene in the dispute expeditiously lest the masses rise up against the rulers. On the other hand, when a TU like the Rajaye Lipikaru Sangamaya launches a strike, even for a few weeks on end, the State may not feel its impact, although the strike is taking its toll. For instance, in 1958, the GCSU initiated an islandwide strike for 13 days. The enigmatic socialist PM, Mr. S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike summoned the GCSU leaders to his office and requested them to induce their rank and file to get back to their desks immediately, so that their grievances or demands could then be gone into. The so-called TU leaders swallowed the diplomatic PM's sugar-coated pill! Standing on the balcony of the Cabinet Office, the ever-smiling Secretary of the GCSU, Reggie Godawela, flanked by the fair-faced President Mr. Vandebona, waved his white handkerchief at the strikers, assembled in their numbers at the Gordon Gardens (just opposite of the Cabinet office). The rank and file, enamoured of their secretary's inimitable broad smile while waving his hanky made them believe - without a shadow of doubt, that the discussions were fruitful, returned to their work-places in a triumphant mood, chanting 'Jayawewa' and 'Long live the GCSU', amidst lighting strings of Chinese crackers! Lo and behold. The following day was the D(ooms) Day for the strikers who learnt that their pay-packets were to be poorer by a thirteen day's pay-cut! Yet, there was a speculation that some of the demands were receiving the PM's personal attention. However, his tragic death put paid to the striker's demands, reminding them of the saws - "Hopes are dupes and Diplomats are diplomats in every inch!" It would be interesting to note that the very TU leaders had to bow out in next to no time, as they were about to be mauled mercilessly. It would thus appear, in the case of public sector, any trade union action to bring forth it's desired result, such TU should invariably come under the very important category of 'Exigencies of the Service-to-be-felt' class. This proposition has an equal bearing upon the private sector as well. Farmer, fisherman, mason, scavenger, coconut-plucker
and labourer In the sweat of worker's brow, the business moghuls
rule When the PA sun shines, strikers try to make hay Going by the State media, many a strike is a sabotage S. I. Aleckman, |
|
