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| Thursday, 20 March 2003 |
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Letters | |
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Please forward your letters to editor@dailynews.lk in plain text format within the e-mail message, since as a policy we do not open any attachments.
Why death penalty should be implemented There is a great deal of discussion today about implementation of death sentence which was not implemented for nearly two decades on the instruction of the Late President J. R. Jayewardene which practice was continued by Late President R. Premadasa and by the incumbent President Chandrika Kumaratunga. Much has been said in the English media against the death sentence, basically by those who live in Colombo, and those who depend on the funds remitted by the NGOs in Europe not knowing the difficulties faced by the common man and the friends and relatives of those who are facing trial for murder. Absence of death sentence led to a wave of crimes in the country, never seen in the history. Gruesome murder, contract killings, rape and murder, child abuse, mass murder became the order of the day. The country, which was engulfed by a fearsome ethnic war, was flooded with dangerous weapons. Soldiers who went from the South to the North brought home all sort of modern weapons, which had a good market. All over the country hundreds and hundreds of MPs, Ministers and so called “People’s Representatives” etc. received sophisticated weapons for their protection, which sometimes was used to eliminate their enemies. As the strength of the Army increased, the number of army deserters also increased. It is estimated that there are about 60,000 army deserters lurching around today, committing murder, rape, abduction, ransom, killings and great many robberies. This situation was aggravated by the uprising in the South, led by extremist political groups, which brought about a state of lawlessness to the country. This terrible situation brought an era of anarchy from which we have still to recover fully. Politicians armed with latest firearms, harbouring army deserters, resorted to killing their opponents both political and personal. Many individuals also hired assassins (once again army deserters and thugs) to eliminate their rivals, as our legal system failed to deliver goods. Elections were full of violence. Underworld gangs openly killed each other in broad daylight. The police could not do very much as their priority was to give protection to the President, MPs, etc. The result of all this was that the hell was let loose in our society. Except in a very few areas such as Colombo, 99% of the country became totally unsafe for the ordinary citizens. At one time, hundreds of dead bodies were found burnt by the way side, whilst the North and East was burning under bomb attacks. Murder of a person became very simple. No one was scared to kill, as there was no capital punishment. Army deserters, thugs, underworld gangs and some service personnel on holiday committed (and continue to commit even now) the most heinous crimes. Before we talk about the human rights of a murderer, we must think about the human rights of the victim and his dependents. In any case, the death sentence is given by the High Court, after a proper inquiry during which time the offender can defend himself through clever lawyers and appeal to the Appeal Court and subsequently to the Supreme Court and in fact, finally appeal to the President for pardon. Hence, there is no room for any mistake and our legal system which is more than fair as far as the offenders are concerned. Those who write against the death penalty do not respect the public opinion. It is only a minority, very few who perhaps depend on funds received from NGOs from the Western countries that oppose the death sentence. Or else the agents of those who are now facing murder charges. These individuals must explain to the donor agencies that situation in our country is very different from that of Europe, that there is no law and order in this country, we are still recovering from two decades of war, there are 60,000 army deserters and various underworld gangs operating here; that a village girl has to travel miles and miles to the school and she is not safe as there are wolves lurching about to rape her and kill her. If a daughter of a person who is against the death sentence is raped and killed, the music will be different. “If a fool knows his folly, he may thereby become wise. But that fool, who thinks he is wise, is indeed called a fool”. I suggest that the death sentence should be carried out without delay as you and I have nothing to worry. Murder, rape and drug trafficking should be declared punishable by death sentence. If NGOs make a big noise, please go for a referendum. Gamini Ratnayake It’s more than five months since the Central Bank took its so called “timely” action to close down Pramuka Bank. So what of its 15,000 depositors? They are left high and dry sans their hard earned money.Two depositors have committed suicide unable to bear the loss. The rest have not only lost their money but also their future and some who have to get medical treatment cannot do so lacking the financial resources. Pramuka Bank was licensed by Central Bank and was one among the list of banks authorised by the latter to accept deposits from the public. When things go wrong for the regulator, it cannot push the blame onto the innocent depositors and cover up it’s lapses by mere liquidation. The Depositors Association is in the process of highlighting the negligence and lapses on the part of Central Bank in court. I hope that even at this late stage the President or Government leaders would step in and safeguard the depositors of this country before the public doubts the professional capability of the institution which is supposed to safeguard their money in the banks. L. S. GUNASEKARA, The newspapers recently reported that 10 treasure hunters (2 of them in robes) had gone to the Tissawa Raja Maha Viharaya with necessary tools and equipment to treasure hunt, but the timely intervention of the Police had thwarted such action and the entire group had been remanded. This is only just another instance of vandals going on the rampage destroying valuable archaeological sites. I know this historically important Tissawa Raja Maha Viharaya at Katupotha in the Kurunegala District and also its Chief Priest Ven. M. Siddhatta Thera who is also the Chief Sanga Nayaka Thera of the North Western Province. In fact one of these vandals had visited the temple a few days prior to this incident and had a discussion with the Chief Priest on the historically important nature of this temple. However, this Chief Priest or anyone else for that matter, is helpless in a situation where vandals come under cover of darkness to destroy archaeological sites and rob priceless items. Left to themselves, these institutions cannot look after themselves. Cannot the Department of Archaeology help such institutions with a plan to safeguard at least what is left and still not vandalized? After all it is the bounden duty of the State to look after the nation’s historically important sites and preserve them for prosperity. M.G. GUNETILEKE, Liquidation of finance companies It will be appreciated by the general public if the Director of the Department of Supervision of Non-Bank Financial Institutions in the Central Bank of Sri Lanka enlightens the general public by notices at least once in every three months in newspapers of the progress of the proceedings in respect of the finance companies now under liquidation so that those depositors can assess by themselves whether they will receive any benefit during their lifetime. ALBERT P. WICKRAMASINGHA, The Water Supply Board has warned residents that due to the prevailing drought, residents of Colombo and the Greater Colombo area may face a daily water-cut. While it is the duty of the Water Board to take suitable steps to ensure that there is a regular if not an uninterrupted supply of water they should also ensure that pipe borne drinking water is not wasted or used for industrial purposes. Everyone could see how at construction sites in and around the city of Colombo taps are kept open 24 hours a day and the water even flows onto the roads. The owners of these construction sites have damaged the water meters and pay only a nominal payment whereas if they were to pay the actual amount it would amount to thousands of rupees. In other neighbouring countries in the event of a water crisis, washing of cars and supply of water for commercial purposes are temporarily suspended and only in the next stage is a water cut for residents imposed. The appropriate measure would be to reduce water pleasure rather than impose a water-cut. Let us hope the Water Board will, as a first step suspend the supply of water to construction sites and request them to find their own sources of supply. TILAK FERNANDO, About five years ago the powers that were and the municipality began to build an underground passage at the end of Havelock Road in Colombo 5. Two deep trenches have been built on either side of that road with steps leading presumably to what now looks like the under-world! For years rain water has collected in both giving a breeding ground for mosquitoes - malaria, filaria, dengue etc. Every now and then municipal inspectors visit our premises which we keep clean with much difficulty in these servantless times. But these two water-logged trenches are ignored. No work is done to complete the underground passage and the neighbourhood is suffering due to the mosquito menace. If the municipality has no funds to complete this project why not completely close it down and free us of this mosquito menace. FREDA JAYATILAKA, A thief who has so far snatched more than 10 gold necklaces is roaming and haunting in and around the tunnel. He targets especially ladies during the day time and afternoons, when there is less people moving around the tunnel. I appeal to the DIG of Kandy Police area division to catch this thief as soon as possible. DR. D. G. KARUNARATNE There are indications that development banks are actively seeking avenues of reducing development lending and are clamouring to start commercial banking activities.By doing so, they will only lose focus and end up messing both banking disciplines. That would be a sad end to the 2 main development lending organizations - DFCC and NDB, both proud creations of previous UNP regimes. It is still not late. Central Bank should not leave room for accusations that they presided over the demise of development banks at a time when they are needed most to handle development lending, particularly in the North and East. LESLIE KURUPPU, |
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