This feline opened her newspaper on Thursday 17 November morning and was pelted with hail stones of horror. If you disbelieve her just continue reading. You will then understand it was a vicious shower of evil stories that stunned her genteel sensibilities. Truth to tell anyone, even rougher hide skinned persons would be shocked since it shows the state of this land of ours. The list starts with the most horrendous to Menika, if not to others.
More than 100 women sold in Maldives: That entails the despicable crime of trafficking in women and the flesh trade; living flesh this cat hastens to add. This feline who has worked in NGOs to safeguard women and girl children and attempting to lighten the travails of migrant unskilled female labour to West Asia particularly, was stunned to hear of trafficking taking place. The article said the Sri Lanka Foreign Employment Bureau had busted a trafficking network that sent women to the Maldives where they were sold to brothels. Women are trafficked within the island, where wily middlemen lure village girls to Colombo and major cities by promising them good jobs. They greedily believe the ‘uncle’ or ‘aiya’, only to find themselves slaves in prostitution. It is a crime against humanity only less evil perhaps than rape. And to think its happening in this day and age.
Forging documents: indictment against MP Range Bandara. Tch! Tch! For filthy lucre the soul is sold. Range Bandara and another person forged documents to sell a repaired and reassembled Range Rover as a new car. Not only do the MPs sell their licences for millions but they are up to other nasty vehicle tricks too.
Thowheed Janith’s General Secretary remanded: Abdul Razik was arrested because he berated the Bodu Bala Sena General Secretary - Galagodaaththe Gnanasara in filth. I really don’t fault him for that but definitely is he faulted for causing a likely conflict between Muslims and Sinhalese. I saw YouTubes sent me by someone of him spouting utter filth but the more shocking was one of a monk dressed in a yellow robe using equally foul language to berate the Muslims. This is direly dangerous. Arrest both or all involved since we cannot afford a confrontation inflaming to another racial flare-up.
Government to sell properties purchased in the US and Brazil - Rs 1 point something billion and 1.43 million. The news item said these purchases were made by the Central Bank during the governorship of Nivaard Cabraal. The money would be manna in the government kitty when we seem to have hit rock bottom. Extravaganzas were galore at that time, with the then Prez MR and Governor Cabraal and others spending like fury. Remember the bid for hosting the Commonwealth Games? That was a huge big scam cum scandal. No fault finding talk about it then, not now either.
Thirteen AAVA members remanded in Jaffna:
This cat seems to feel that no one is really sure about AAVA. Is it a terrorist group, a shoot off the LTTE or is it an obstreperous gang of motor bike riders trying to be smart, and just that with no political intentions? Of course they need to be arrested if they disturb the peace and more so in Jaffna though of course the police particularly have to tread very carefully over there.
People said boys will be boys when the Boys were making their presence felt unpleasantly. The rude shock came with the assassination of the Mayor of Jaffna by Prabhakaran himself. Then people all over sat up. Too late. The damage was done and the boys grown up to be ferocious Tigers with Tigresses joining them, happy to be bound with suicide kits.
SI killed and two cops injured: Now that is a very tragic event and a happening that saddens all of Sri Lanka. The two injured are also not out of danger, one being in intensive care. This is intolerable since they were killed while trying to apprehend some thugs. This will scare others so that all the rotten murderers and drug dealers making merry in this land of ours would appropriate carte blanche for themselves; the police being justifiably cautious and reluctant to risk life and limb in apprehending wrongdoers.
Going through the list above, what does one come up with? Crime and wrong of every sort; forecasts of trouble. And all these made public on just one single day – just an ordinary day.
There’s crime against women and the girl child; serious malpractice to earn illicit money; potential racial conflict; stealing from the government to invest unwisely, maybe unlawfully with who knows what commissions going to personal pockets; tiny tip of likely terrorism and the sad end to persons who did their duty.
This cat hopes Thursday 17th news was just coincidental and not the norm in this country now democratic and striving hard, but hoping harder, for law and order to be restored.
- Menika