Protest justified, but No to toddlers used as human shields - EDITORIAL

The people of Sri Lanka are going through extremely difficult times. They are hungry and rightfully they are protesting. This is especially true of those involved in the unregulated sectors of employment. Persons commonly referred to as - temporary workers - count over 500,000 in Colombo and its suburbs alone. These workers earn a pittance of between Rs. 1,000 to 1,500 - a day. They do not receive work daily and their monthly wages do not exceed Rs. 25,000. 

To put this in context, the cost of a loaf of bread has risen to Rs. 200. Rice - our staple food - is cheaper. But rice, like bread needs additional dishes to go with it. The cost of dhal - at one time the poor man’s favourite dish - is now beyond the reach of the poorer section of the population. Additionally, dhal and or any other vegetable needs to be cooked with coconut milk and the cost of a coconut ranges between Rs. 100 to Rs. 125.
In short, the cost of merely feeding a family of four (two parents and two children) exceeds Rs. 40,000 per month, and this sum does not include cost of education, clothes, medicines and many similar essentials.

UNICEF points out that seven out of ten Lankan families are cutting down their food intake to mitigate the crisis. The report adds that those having three meals a day, now have two, while those who consume two meals, now eat once in a day. The report goes on to say that Sri Lanka has the second-highest rate of acute malnutrition among children under five in South Asia. So it is no surprise that the Sri Lankans are once again beginning to take to the streets to protest their inability to keep body and soul together. 

Three or four days ago, we witnessed terrifying scenes at Galle Face Green where a number of persons gathered to protest against rising costs, as well as to decry government’s crackdown on the protestors who ousted the past president, past premier, while at the same time setting the houses of particular members of parliament ablaze, including that of President Ranil Wickremesinghe. 

Sadly, the ‘peaceful’ protestors came to Galle Face Green not only with placards bearing slogans, but armed with toddlers and babes-in-arms. The fact that the organizers request people joining in demonstrations to bring little children along with them, exposes the callousness and cold-blooded aim of these persons to put children in harm’s way. 

On October 9, we saw particular demonstrators rush to confront police personnel with toddlers held aloft almost begging the police personnel to harm these innocents. The scenes terrifyingly similar to those of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) forcing innocent civilians into positions of cannon-fodder. As in the case of the LTTE, the aim was obvious - to draw maximum adverse publicity and show the country in bad light.

A person could not be blamed if she/he were to suppose the aim was to create conditions where foreign countries would warn their citizens against visiting Lanka. Today, our aim should be, to get the country out of the current financial and economic morass and enable the struggling masses out of their poverty. To do this, the country’s economy needs to be restarted. 

Tourism has been one of our biggest foreign exchange earners and at the moment tourism is just beginning to take off. The protestors attempt to instigate an attack where children could be harmed during the course of confrontation, was clearly designed to create instability, sabotage the IMF bailout and sabotage the incipient tourism industry. 

It had nothing to do with serving food on the table of the poorer sections of our community. The scene of a particular demonstrator raising a screaming, terrified toddler as he rushes toward the police, is a case in point and sears the mind.

We need to remember situations of anarchy will not lessen malnutrition among our children. It will only further alienate and make the more deprived sections of our people miserable.
No one in his/her senses denies right of affected people to protest the unbearable burdens and other sufferings the government has imposed on them. But using innocent children as human shields is despicable.  Cold blooded attempts of putting children in harm’s way to achieve political goals stands condemned and needs be stopped immediately.