Harimisms: (Mis)Reading Election Results
Malinda Seneviratne
It is not hard to understand dismay at defeat. It is also natural for the defeated to blame everyone else but themselves. And so, when Harin Fernando, UNP MP, takes pot shots at the voters of the Wayamba and Central Provinces, eyebrows don’t get raised. It is after all the utterings of a political neophyte which could result in the party faring even worse in these provinces next time around. No harm to Harin, for he will contest from Badulla.
It is also understandable when vicarious satisfaction is sought, in this instance by cheering the TNA’s victory in the Northern Province. ‘Someone taught the Government a lesson!’ is easy to say and if that’s all the consolation the UNP can get and if that is consolation enough so be it.
It is not just the Harins of the UNP that are trying to tag themselves to the TNA in order to drag themselves out of political despondency. Just the other day, someone posted an interesting comment on Facebook:
‘My respect for the Jaffna Tamils has increased since reading the memoirs of various Missionary Wives of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions. The Jaffna people had to put up with the people who wrote this stuff. It is so dead boring, filled with ruminations of the goodness of god and the wonders of the universe.’ This drew the following comment: ‘My respect for the Jaffna Tamils increased after the PC elections’.
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At least 16 people were on board at the time of the incident, and 11 were rescued by the residents of the area soon after the incident, Silawathura Police said.
Four dead, child missing in boat tragedy
By Binoy Suriyaarachchi-
Four people died and a five-year-old child went missing, after an overloaded boat they were travelling in capsized in the sea off Palugasturai, Mannar, yesterday morning.
At least 16 people were on board at the time of the incident, and 11 were rescued by the residents of the area soon after the incident, Silawathura Police said.
The bodies of the deceased were recovered in the late afternoon, following a joint operation carried out by the Sri Lanka Navy and the Silawathura Police.
According to the police, the group from Colombo was on a journey to the Wilpattu National Park, and the tragedy had occurred while they went on a boat safari in Palugasturai.
Investigations are still underway to recover the child's body. The bodies of the deceased have been taken to the Mannar District Hospital.
The post-mortem examinations of the deceased will be conducted today.
The post-mortem examinations of the deceased will be conducted today.
