Youth, victims of manipulative politicos

Most of our politicians  have only one aim in common - to amass wealth for them and their generations to come, except a few who have a genuine desire to serve the people honestly. In fact, they have been using uneducated, jobless youths from the  shanty areas for their own advantage at elections and for too long a time it has been a custom to exploit them to be partakers of the political gimmicks staged on May Day, or in preparation for election of a new government, once in every five years

Even though Courts can grant bail for minor offences under the existing legal regulations, Felonies such as murder and rape are defined as non-bailable offences by Law and therefore, the commission of these crimes are liable to be punished by death, or in certain cases by life imprisonment. Homicide in particular, is considered a breach of kindness towards a fellow human being or more appropriately a fatal attack against brotherly love, and in that sense grant of bail for murder suspects is not possible. It is a norm for Courts to order criminal suspects bailed out on cash bond or surety bond to be kept under surveillance of law enforcement authorities with their passports impounded to ensure that they do not flee the country to circumvent further legal proceedings. In light of this, two questions come up here. One is why could we not prevent criminal suspects fleeing the country  to dodge punishment for the crimes they committed, and the other is what caused our younger generation to degenerate into illegal activities.

Presidential pardon and notorious criminals

As revealed by the overt misuse of Executive Presidency and the protective arm of political immunity, we find those who committed various crimes in this country are still out in the open, unscathed. The governance of a democratic country should in no way turn undemocratic and contravene the core principles encapsulated in the Constitution so as to give a hint to the outside world that extra judicial killings are an inherent feature of the rule of anarchists but, can be overlooked. Strategies were  shifted to the sluggish economy of the country and the mechanism to repay the loans obtained from the IMF Extended Loan Facility  before the stipulated period expires.

On many occasions they have reiterated their position on the abolition of the Executive Presidency which was the bane of all of our past Presidents. The issue denied justice to the aggrieved parties while being used as a ploy to lure voters.

The SJB has been more transparent and eloquent about its hopes of developing the country by its own action plan while the NPP for their part has proposed to transform Sri Lanka into a rich nation and life beautiful for the people. The whole country is waiting to see if these promises will materialize ever or, vanish into thin air.Anyhow, since they have reiterated on many occasions  an intention to prune the unlimited powers of Executive Presidency or to do away with it, they cannot bypass the rising public demand that all those who ruined the countrys economy by misusing their authority and the criminals basking in the warmth in the political immunity, should  be brought before the Law. Therefore, any course of action pursued by the Head of State should not be viewed as political vendetta but as justice delivered to the innocent lives lost, as none of the candidates would want to get rid of this cursed Executive Presidency unless all the 225 Parliamentarians unite or a referendum is held to effect this change.

Sri Lanka, by its typical standards, has earned  notoriety for being a country protecting criminal suspects who enjoy political immunity with decisions of the legal profession coming under constant threats. Too often, persons charged with extra judicial killings, abductions etc.  are being released on a Presidential pardon, not in good faith but with ulterior motives, and this is taken as part and parcel of local politics  without any concern for  the victims.

Convicted murderers were saved from the gallows due to their association with and loyalty to political bosses.  The allegation that some judges were under constant pressure to order these acquittals were randomly attributed to political heavyweights at the helm. An integral part of this drama, according to reports, is the allegation that relates to politicians safeguarding underworld criminals with whom they have connections, is not refuted by the politicians.
It becomes important to weigh the impact of these lapses on all sides and the bad image it created at home and abroad. 

Yukthiya Operations

Even as the so called  ‘Yukthiya’ operation, rolled out people had strong doubts about its overall success due to some obvious reasons. The then governments resolve to finally take on the underworld criminals underscored a decisive move to tackle the challenge posed but, it appeared to be merely eye wash to wipe off the superficial dirt, leaving the hidden roots untouched. This came true with the peaceful situation in the country turning upside down after the gunning down of “Club Wasantha” purportedly by close associates of Kanjipani Imran an alleged underworld gang leader. Followed by this ghastly murder was a sudden rumpus as the Supreme Court, in a turnaround ruling on July 21 barred Deshabandu Tennakoon from performing his duties as IGP for his lapses including failure  to avert the Easter Sunday attacks. These failures bear witness to an excessively mismanaged administration of a high handed Executive President who did not heed to the warnings from people of all walks of life well before the controversial appointment was made.

Opportunistic Politicians

Most of our politicians have only one aim in common - to amass wealth for them and their generations to come, except a few who have a genuine desire to serve the people honestly. In fact, they have been using uneducated, jobless youths from the  shanty areas for their own advantage at elections and for too long a time it has been a custom to exploit them to be partakers of the political gimmicks staged on May Day, or in preparation for election of a new government, once in every five years. These poor guys, but not any family  members or relatives of the politicians, are hired to paste posters on street walls depicting vivid pictures of their respective candidates with intriguing wordings and accompany them in canvassing votes from house to house. But, after victory , if any,  they tend to forget the promises given on campaign platforms, leaving the gullible voters and their genuflecting servants in the lurch. These people who were subjected to this kind of self-centred and stereotyped cheating for decades came to senses at last giving vent to their pent up fury that burst into civil wars, destruction of public property and assassination of national leaders. 

Prejudice

The other aspect of opportunistic politics is the prejudice of the ruling party in serving the people, notably on the voter base. The areas known as strongholds of a political party are placed on top of the priorities list when that party comes to power while the others are left to rot . This is nothing but sheer revenge on the voting public and even today we are able to see many undeveloped lanes, by lanes and streets with families living under tents and temporary wooden structures in the Colombo District and suburbs that are symbolic of this step motherly treatment. Furthermore, these people are never allowed by their political masters for reasons best known to them, “to think outside the box “ so poverty, lack of basic amenities and squalid living conditions are perpetuated.

Writing further on the same lines, there is another segment - the plantation workers who toil from the wee hours of the day under dew and biting cold, exposing themselves to many latent dangers in the course of their century- old vocation of plucking tea leaves for a pittance. Labeled as “Indian origin labourers” they are taken for a ride by their own representative trade unions and successive governments but, their sufferings in sustaining the countrys economy thus far have gone unrecognised. However, as time went on, a new challenging force emerged from their offspring and eventually they broke free. This led to some attaining good prospects by higher education and perseverance while the rest left for different parts of the world hoping for a better life. Those who did not have set goals in life due to laziness and a lack of education and financial strength even after this transition, stood unmoved, only to be left to their own destiny. Apart from these two groups, those who wanted to live like the socially elite groups leading a flamboyant life, characterised by pomp and luxury that eluded them hitherto chose diverse income sources, endeding up in drug-related crimes as they had no other option to make quick money.

On September 21 the country elected a new President. His predecessor was making frantic efforts to make a comeback on a new mandate from the people to steer the country forward with his IMF aided economic resuscitating programme as he brought some hope to a dark era. He was riding on this credit and reluctant to let any other candidate reap the fruits of it in the long run. On the other hand, the two main contenders  also vying for the Presidency by their own strategies, and manipulating the voters the maximum they can, expressed optimism. 

What the country needs for the next five years is a dedicated leader who is committed to lessen the current economic burdens of the people. But, if they go back to the old tactics of familiar dirty politics, including vote rigging and manhandling supporters of the winning party, the consequences of such a reprisal may plunge the country into another large scale agitation. These are my thoughts.