President Maithripala Sirisena has publicly turned down an invitation to open the new “super prison” built at Angunakolapelessa, saying we should strive to create a society where prisons can be closed and more schools opened.
Speaking at a function held at the St. Mary’s College in Kegalle, President Sirisena said even though he had received an invitation to declare the facility open, he declined it because rather than opening a prison it was worth opening a school, which would provide education to children. “We should build a country which opens schools and closes prisons. We should also build a country where people are healthy, and the number of hospitals minimized,” he added.
This is indeed a bold and timely statement, coming at a time when organised crime has raised its ugly head, as seen in the carnage at Kalutara where five suspects and two prison officials were gunned down. As the President alludes, there is a distinct and direct link between education and good conduct.
Aruna Udayashantha alias ‘Ranale Samayan’, the underworld leader who was the main target of the Kalutara attackers was a social misfit who had stayed away from school after O/Ls and ended up in the company of like-minded outcasts. Samayan’s story is generally applicable to most criminals – a truncated education, bad company and a dive into crime that can also end in death. Samayan was only 37 when he was killed.
Education has a major role to play in moulding good citizens. The inculcation of moral values in children must begin at home. Parents must keep a close eye on their children and guide them on the correct path. Unlike in the days gone by, today’s children have access to the Internet and other new media which could sometimes have a corrupting influence on the growing mind.
Schools and places of worship are the next most important components in the fight against crime. School and religious school teachers should play a greater role in imparting moral values on the younger generation. Indeed, many experts say that distancing ourselves from places of worship has become a major cause for the moral decay seen in contemporary society. In earlier times, there was a tight bond between places of worship and the village, which is no longer the case now. In this context, the Government’s emphasis on religious education and the requirement of mandatory education for 13 school years are praiseworthy.
It is also vital to address one other shortcoming in our education system – thousands of students are left out at O/L and A/L stages without any recourse to higher education. Many students, as exemplified by the case of Samayan, take to the streets and a life of crime afterwards. This situation must be rectified without delay.
The availability of more educational and employment opportunities will veer children away from unsavoury activities. As an aside, it will also change the present “three wheeler culture” where children buy three wheelers just after their studies and enter an unproductive life. Incidentally, three wheelers are also used to commit many serious crimes.
There is also a clear nexus between drugs and crime. Peddling and using drugs itself is a crime, but those who are addicted to narcotics usually take to petty and even organised crime to fuel their addictive habit. The Government has taken many steps to stem the flow of illegal narcotics, but more needs to done. The eradication of the drug menace will go a long way towards creating a crime-free society. The alleviation of poverty is another pillar in the fight against crime, along with education for all.
The President raised a moot point when he suggested that prisons should be closed, because most countries now employ other means of “punishing” wrongdoers. Community service is one such method which is rarely used here. That gives the wrongdoer a sense of belonging to the wider society. Indeed, most of those who engage in a life of crime have a grudge against the society for “neglecting” them. Hence, their anti-social activities.
As the President said at the school event, good people in society must come forward to set the society on the correct path. Their silence could cost the society heavily. He recalled the statement of Martin Luther King: “The greatest tragedy of this period of social transition was not the strident clamour of the bad people, but the appalling silence of the good people”. He said intellectuals and great personalities should work more to suppress the strident clamour of bad people.
That is a major challenge that lies ahead of us. Religious dignitaries and intellectuals should come forward to set on the correct path a society that is now consumed by an all-out desire for “money at all costs”. The relentless pursuit of monetary and material gains at the expense of everything else, sometimes including life itself, is tearing apart the very fabric that binds our society together. Urgent action must be taken to stem this rot before it is too late.
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