The sad plight of the ordinary man

“Law and order are conspicuous by their absence. The Rule of Law has broken down. Violence, abductions, murders and all types of crime are on the upsurge. Yet no Police action is taken except where ordered by interested politicos. You seem to have an ‘Upside Down’ idea of how the law should be enforced.”
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Dear Mr. President,

(March 16, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) I thought of writing to you as you seem to be blissfully unaware of how we, (the ordinary citizens) are suffering under your administration.

Someone should tell you that the cost of living has soared beyond the bearable stage. While you lavishly throw millions of our public money on maintaining your comic band of ministers, advise­rs, sycophants and other hangers-on and carry on an unending war, we are close to starvation.
Deprivation is the name of the game now. Butter or jam on a slice of bread for our children is now not possible. Milk in our tea is a th­ing of the past. Fish and beef are luxuries now, not daily fare as they used to be before you began your reign. The price of rice, flour, milk, vegetables, etc., are double or treble the prices before you commenced to ‘rule’ us.

The price of gas is terrible and ludicrous. The obviously pros­perous minister in charge is more interested in justifying the actions of the gas com­panies than acting to protect the suffering, heavily burdened consumer. Why do you condone the actions of such ministers?

Law and order are conspicuous by their absence. The Rule of Law has broken down. Violence, abductions, murders and all types of crime are on the upsurge. Yet no Police action is taken except where ordered by interested politicos. You seem to have an ‘Upside Down’ idea of how the law should be enforced.

Your near illiterate ‘Doctor’ would have got away scot-free after taking his underworld gang to a prominent public institution, and assaulting a high official., if it were not for the action of the members of the staff who chased him and his underlings away like whipped curs with their tails between their legs. Your reaction in this matter is beyond understanding. Instead of demanding his resignation or sacking the ‘unlearned Doctor’ you cloak him with your protection. The Police, catching the infection, or acting on instructions, seem bent on prose­cuting those who meted out justice to the law breaking ‘Doctor’ and his cohorts, instead of the other way around as the law sets out. So much so that members of the Rupavahini staff are being subject to harassment and are living in fear of bodily harm.

You have cowed down the Media into passive submission. Frequent assaults, threats, abductions, etc. seem to have put the fear of God into the media persons, even those who want to keep the public informed of what is going on.
The world is astounded and alarmed over these developments but you don’t seem to care a whit. Parliament and the Constitution are just inconveniences to be thrust aside or ignored.

So to whom then do we turn for succour? Ranil and the U.N.P. have become a joke, always promising action, in the future, but never delivering their promises. Sadly for the country, your rule of inverted benevolence has coincided with Ranil’s leadership, or lack of it, reducing the U.N.P. to impotence. The leaders of the J.V.P. issuing bombastic, bogus threats, are intent only on keeping you in power till they become entitled to pensions. They know only too well that an election would see their numbers cut down drastically.

The J.H.U., blood-thirsty as they are, are content with sufficient blood-letting in the North, caring very little about the suffering of the populace around them as they float around in their luxury vehicles.

The Chief Justice has taken on the role which the Leader of the Opp­osition should have been performing. His outspoken attacks on corruption and malpractices stand out like beacons in the darkness. He is playing a lone hand, which can, as recent events have shown, be dangerous, with so many armed groups moving around” unchecked in white vans.

We are, therefore, condemned to suffer more and more privations while your huge band of ministers, relatives and hangers-on go their merry way to prosperity and rotundity.

You have made the unending war your cover. We are supposed to tight­en our belts though we have already reached the limit in that direction.

We are willing to bear a reasonable burden so that the war can be successfully pursued. But here too, there is deceit. Your many “cons” and twisting of the truth, are concealing the true position. We only hear of the deaths of tens and scores of Tigers with only an occasional death of a serviceman or two.

The Prime Minister’s statement when the extension of the Emergency was debated is closer to the truth, and exposed the prevarication of those who issue these reports. He said that in 29 days in February 104 Police and other servicemen. and 80 civilians were killed. The result is perplexity and a willingness on the part of the populace, to believe all the rumours that float around, give no credence to the prevaricat­ions of these official spokespersons.

God save Sri Lanka!!
Anu


- Sri Lanka Guardian