A Bit Embarrassed, To Say The Least! By Emil van der Poorten -August 11, 2013  Emil van der Poorten The horrendous butchering of Nihal Perera, the manager of Noori Estate in Deraniyagala, has even left the major apologists of the current regime at a loss for words with which to distance those who look after their well-being from the direct results of a reign of terror without precedent.  Anyone simply trying to fulfill the obligations of management of resources honestly and without recourse to take-the-law-into-our-own-hands conduct with the aid of thugs and murderers is, obviously, at great risk of paying the ultimate price. This killing has even shaken up the English-speaking middle class of Sri Lanka which has been only too willing to forgive the disappearance of the rule of law because their exercise paths have been paved and they are able to indulge their weight-reduction needs in greater comfort.  However, given the fact that future performance can be most accurately predicted by viewing previous history the killers will walk free after a “respectable” period of time has elapsed and with or without a show trial.  After all one has the example of the other high profile murder of Khuram Shaikh and the gang-rape of his Russian girl friend who was packed off home direct from what used to be the Apollo Hospital, without the investigative procedures usual in such circumstances and whose offer to waive anonymity traditional in such circumstances and return to give a deposition to the Sri Lankan authorities has not been accepted up to date. As someone who once Chaired a district in the Planters Association of Ceylon (PA) and was, as well, a member of the Ceylon Planters’ Society (CPS) at a time that I was engaged in that profession, I think I am able to bring some perspective to something like Nihal Perera’s murder despite the passage of time (and the efforts of government apologists to shut me up!)                        Read More