Women As Protectors Of ‘Family Culture’: The Play Of President & The Former President
By Anushka Kahandagama –January 17, 2018
The recent discourse about allowing and not allowing women to buy and sell alcohol in Sri Lanka provoked many discourses of power and gender equality in the country. The government announced in the last Wednesday that, it was amending the law which prevented women from buying and selling alcohol, agreeing that it discriminated against women and allowed women to buy alcohol after about four decades. After this decision, Movement for Consumer Rights Protection accused the Minister of Finance of encouraging of consuming the alcohol and urged the President to intervene in the matter. The Buddhist Sangha stated that the allowing of women to buy alcohol would destroy the Sri Lankan ‘family culture’. Against this background, President had ordered the government to withdraw its notification announcing the lifting of the ban. The irony is Movement for Consumer Rights Protection is violating the right of women (as consumers) to buy whatever they like as men. If the movement thinks that, allowing women to purchase alcohol is encouraging the nation to consume more liquor, the movement is out of their senses.
Apart from Buddhist Sangha being interfering with the alcohol issue, it is shocking to see Movement for Consumer Rights Protection is interfering with the problem in the same manner as Buddhist monks. The Movement for Consumer Rights Protection has become the violator of rights of the women consumers, and has become the gatekeepers of a ‘pure nation.’ It is important to see how this whole discourse of alcohol consumption of women has become a problem with ‘Nationalist’ importance during the election period. As according to Mahinda Rajapaksa, allowing women to participate in buying and selling alcohol is an act of degrading the women by the State, as women are respected as ‘mothers. If women are respected as ‘mothers,’ the State should allow women to partake in the rights which men are partaking. Most ironically, Mahinda Rajapaksa istalking about ‘respect of women,’ while an officer of his party asks for sexual bribes from a contest of the upcoming election, who wanted to contest under the MR’s party. It is clear how MR’s party is protecting and respecting women within their newly formed political party.
