“Enough, Already…”
By Emil van der Poorten -July 13, 2014
Emil van der Poorten
While the title of this column might seem strange for one with pretensions of representing opinions from rural Sri Lanka, I couldn’t think of a title more apt than the one I am using for the simple reason that the tired old North American expression speaks more than eloquently to our being sick and tired of the murder and mayhem that is being visited upon all in this country, save a ruling elite and their hangers-on, some with continuing pretensions to represent “civil society.”
While we haven’t been directly affected (yet!) by events such as those inAluthgama and Beruwala, the people I speak with around here, almost without exception village folk, have had their fill of the rampant violence in our country and believe that it is just a matter of time before this kind of lawlessness accelerates from its current levels in our own neighbourhoods. For those living in the rarefied atmosphere of Colombo 7 or intoxicated by the carbon monoxide of “performance cars” in night races we have a simple admonition: please don’t assume that those of us who traverse unpaved footpaths do so because we are stupid and without any sense of decency or intelligence!
The racist violence unleashed on the Muslim minorities of Aluthgama, Beruwala (and goodness knows where else by the time this piece sees print) are, unfortunately not without precedent in this self-styled land of the Triple Gem. Even more unfortunately, one may be justified in falling back on another old North American chestnut to predict the immediate future, that being “You ain’t seen nothing yet, buddy.”
Enough of the endless stream of contradictory statements from members of this government with the simple intention of covering every base and providing, among the plethora of lies and half truths, the one that best fits the need of the hour of a politically and morally bankrupt government.
Enough of such superficial communications as Twitter to “engage” the public and claim that some Twit (or several of them) shares the official opinion on some issue and that, therefore, a politically and morally bankrupt government is practicing “populist governance!”
Enough of a government controlling assault-weapon- armed troops only too ready to shoot people demanding clean water and resisting attempts to rob their Provident Fund savings, but refusing to deploy one of the largest armed forces in Asia in the protection of unarmed civilians whose only crime was belonging to the “wrong” community and the “wrong” religion. Read More
