As the Covid-19 pandemic continues to rage on in Sri Lanka, adding to the global body count, there does not seem to be any immediate sign of flattening the curve, with the scramble to secure vaccines now bordering on desperation. That said, Sri Lankans will have no choice but to buckle up and get ready for the long haul to overcome the deadly virus, which is now spreading through the community like wildfire.
The long arm of the law has finally realised that there are thousands of people out there who will not co-operate with even the simplest of health guidelines that could be remotely inconvenient to them, even if it were to become a matter of life or death. This frustration is what probably drove the cops to literally take the law into their own hands and resort to physically carrying away people for the offence of not wearing a mask into waiting buses in various parts of the country.
Interestingly enough, it is the opposite extremes of society that inevitably flout the mask rule, simply because they do not care or cannot afford one at the lower end of the scale while those in the upper echelons simply wish to make a statement by not wearing a mask in the cosy confines of luxury hotels and restaurants. It is usually those in the middleclass that obey the rules and invariably find themselves at the receiving end.
If only the cops currently running around the country carrying away people, did their job three weeks ago in the cool climes of Nuwara Eliya where thousands gathered for the New Year festivities, much of the spread in that region could have been averted. Despite the doom and gloom, the silver lining in the gathering storm is the inherent ability of the pandemic to heal wounds between different ethnic groups even as the political vultures set their eyes on destroying such rapprochement if only for their political survival.
A case in point was the disclosure of alleged discrimination in the provision of healthcare facilities in the North and East of the country despite the crying need for it in the face of the pandemic. An Opposition lawmaker representing a minority community in the East lamented in Parliament last week the unwillingness of health authorities to provide computerised tomography scanners, also known as CT scanners, to hospitals in the North and East over the years, which is vital for identifying acute cases. Instead of taking note of the matter, at least in the interest of saving lives in the current context, the response from government benches was to label the MP a terrorist.
If there is any merit in the lawmaker’s claim, it exemplifies the systemic issues that have made reconciliation more difficult than it actually should be. To the uninitiated, the pandemic is an opportunity to bring people together in fighting a common cause. If looked at positively, it can, and will, bring communities together, and the Government closer to the people, be it in Colombo, Matara, Batticaloa, or Kilinochchi. The last time such an opportunity presented itself was during the 2004 tsunami. While the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in usual fashion used the calamity to its advantage, the Government at the time simply could not see the bigger picture. Today, there is no LTTE, yet nothing seems to have changed. It is the absence of enlightened thinking that sadly is to blame for the failure to bring about genuine reconciliation even a decade after the guns went silent. The age-old adage that in unity lies strength, even in the matter of fighting off a pandemic, seems lost on the 225 honourable members representing the people in the country’s legislature.
An example of what unity of purpose can do, can be found in the manner in which countries like Vietnam, Taiwan, and New Zealand, among many others, have handled this global pandemic. All of these three countries combined have had less than 10,000 cases and a combined fatality count of less than 100 as at date. They have become textbook models for the rest of the world on how to keep the devil at the door.
Be that as it may, by the looks of it, the pandemic will not be the only problem that the Government will have to contend with in the coming days. Similar to its pandemic strategy, two months ago, in March, the Government waited until the last moment to canvass and drum up support to defeat the Resolution against Sri Lanka at the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in Geneva. The result being the adoption of a mandate for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights “to collect, consolidate, analyse, and preserve information and evidence and to develop possible strategies for future accountability processes for alleged violation of human rights or serious violation of international humanitarian law in Sri Lanka”. Unseen and unheard, that process is underway.
The Resolution further mandated the Office of the High Commissioner “to enhance its monitoring and reporting on the situation of human rights in Sri Lanka, including on progress in reconciliation and accountability, and to present an oral update to the Human Rights Council at its 48th Session, and a written update at its 49th Session”. The 48th Session, which requires an oral update on progress made, takes place in September this year, which is approximately four months from now, while the more comprehensive written update, which is required to be presented at the 49th Session, is approximately just nine months away.
In the interim, since the conclusion of the session last March, there has been a steep rise in alleged violations similar to the spiralling Covid curve. These incidents vary from the high-profile arrests and incarceration of Opposition voices to that of consumer rights activists to an individual who on the spur of the moment orchestrated a vehicle honking protest.
At the last UNHRC session it was the Organisation of Islamic Co-operation (OIC) that saved face for the Government from what seemed a hopeless situation. Now, with the introduction of the controversial regulation termed “de-radicalisation of individuals from holding violent extremist religious ideology”, under the draconian Prevention of Terrorism Act, paving the way for the creation of “reintegration centres” to arbitrarily detain any individual, the support of Organisation of Islamic Co-operation (OIC) countries also seems to be hanging in the balance.
Issuing a statement in this regard, the rights body of the OIC, known as the Independent Permanent Human Rights Commission, has expressed its “deep concerns” regarding the new regulations which allow the state to arbitrarily detain Muslims. It goes on to state: “These tragic developments are further compounded by reports of a newly imposed burqa ban, under the pretext of counterterrorism measures, which violates minorities’ right to freedom of religion guaranteed in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR),” while adding that the Covid pandemic has “exacerbated the prevailing marginalisation and discrimination suffered by the Muslim community”.
The controversial arrest of MP Rishad Bathiudeen and the Government’s insistence on preventing him from attending Parliament despite the Attorney General going on public record that there is no legal impediment for the MP to attend Parliament, is bound to add further headaches when the UNHRC convenes in four months’ time.
Therefore, it is important that the powers that be do not miss the wood for the trees in their twin campaign of combatting Covid as well as maintaining the crucial support base at the UNHRC, the loss of which could be as politically injurious as the pandemic itself. It should also not squander the opportunity to rally the people irrespective of party, ethnic, and religious lines to collectively fight this pandemic which in the current context is more of a moral obligation.
A moral obligation
09 May 2021
A moral obligation
09 May 2021
As the Covid-19 pandemic continues to rage on in Sri Lanka, adding to the global body count, there does not seem to be any immediate sign of flattening the curve, with the scramble to secure vaccines now bordering on desperation. That said, Sri Lankans will have no choice but to buckle up and get ready for the long haul to overcome the deadly virus, which is now spreading through the community like wildfire.
The long arm of the law has finally realised that there are thousands of people out there who will not co-operate with even the simplest of health guidelines that could be remotely inconvenient to them, even if it were to become a matter of life or death. This frustration is what probably drove the cops to literally take the law into their own hands and resort to physically carrying away people for the offence of not wearing a mask into waiting buses in various parts of the country.
Interestingly enough, it is the opposite extremes of society that inevitably flout the mask rule, simply because they do not care or cannot afford one at the lower end of the scale while those in the upper echelons simply wish to make a statement by not wearing a mask in the cosy confines of luxury hotels and restaurants. It is usually those in the middleclass that obey the rules and invariably find themselves at the receiving end.
If only the cops currently running around the country carrying away people, did their job three weeks ago in the cool climes of Nuwara Eliya where thousands gathered for the New Year festivities, much of the spread in that region could have been averted. Despite the doom and gloom, the silver lining in the gathering storm is the inherent ability of the pandemic to heal wounds between different ethnic groups even as the political vultures set their eyes on destroying such rapprochement if only for their political survival.
A case in point was the disclosure of alleged discrimination in the provision of healthcare facilities in the North and East of the country despite the crying need for it in the face of the pandemic. An Opposition lawmaker representing a minority community in the East lamented in Parliament last week the unwillingness of health authorities to provide computerised tomography scanners, also known as CT scanners, to hospitals in the North and East over the years, which is vital for identifying acute cases. Instead of taking note of the matter, at least in the interest of saving lives in the current context, the response from government benches was to label the MP a terrorist.
If there is any merit in the lawmaker’s claim, it exemplifies the systemic issues that have made reconciliation more difficult than it actually should be. To the uninitiated, the pandemic is an opportunity to bring people together in fighting a common cause. If looked at positively, it can, and will, bring communities together, and the Government closer to the people, be it in Colombo, Matara, Batticaloa, or Kilinochchi. The last time such an opportunity presented itself was during the 2004 tsunami. While the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in usual fashion used the calamity to its advantage, the Government at the time simply could not see the bigger picture. Today, there is no LTTE, yet nothing seems to have changed. It is the absence of enlightened thinking that sadly is to blame for the failure to bring about genuine reconciliation even a decade after the guns went silent. The age-old adage that in unity lies strength, even in the matter of fighting off a pandemic, seems lost on the 225 honourable members representing the people in the country’s legislature.
An example of what unity of purpose can do, can be found in the manner in which countries like Vietnam, Taiwan, and New Zealand, among many others, have handled this global pandemic. All of these three countries combined have had less than 10,000 cases and a combined fatality count of less than 100 as at date. They have become textbook models for the rest of the world on how to keep the devil at the door.
Be that as it may, by the looks of it, the pandemic will not be the only problem that the Government will have to contend with in the coming days. Similar to its pandemic strategy, two months ago, in March, the Government waited until the last moment to canvass and drum up support to defeat the Resolution against Sri Lanka at the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in Geneva. The result being the adoption of a mandate for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights “to collect, consolidate, analyse, and preserve information and evidence and to develop possible strategies for future accountability processes for alleged violation of human rights or serious violation of international humanitarian law in Sri Lanka”. Unseen and unheard, that process is underway.
The Resolution further mandated the Office of the High Commissioner “to enhance its monitoring and reporting on the situation of human rights in Sri Lanka, including on progress in reconciliation and accountability, and to present an oral update to the Human Rights Council at its 48th Session, and a written update at its 49th Session”. The 48th Session, which requires an oral update on progress made, takes place in September this year, which is approximately four months from now, while the more comprehensive written update, which is required to be presented at the 49th Session, is approximately just nine months away.
In the interim, since the conclusion of the session last March, there has been a steep rise in alleged violations similar to the spiralling Covid curve. These incidents vary from the high-profile arrests and incarceration of Opposition voices to that of consumer rights activists to an individual who on the spur of the moment orchestrated a vehicle honking protest.
At the last UNHRC session it was the Organisation of Islamic Co-operation (OIC) that saved face for the Government from what seemed a hopeless situation. Now, with the introduction of the controversial regulation termed “de-radicalisation of individuals from holding violent extremist religious ideology”, under the draconian Prevention of Terrorism Act, paving the way for the creation of “reintegration centres” to arbitrarily detain any individual, the support of Organisation of Islamic Co-operation (OIC) countries also seems to be hanging in the balance.
Issuing a statement in this regard, the rights body of the OIC, known as the Independent Permanent Human Rights Commission, has expressed its “deep concerns” regarding the new regulations which allow the state to arbitrarily detain Muslims. It goes on to state: “These tragic developments are further compounded by reports of a newly imposed burqa ban, under the pretext of counterterrorism measures, which violates minorities’ right to freedom of religion guaranteed in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR),” while adding that the Covid pandemic has “exacerbated the prevailing marginalisation and discrimination suffered by the Muslim community”.
The controversial arrest of MP Rishad Bathiudeen and the Government’s insistence on preventing him from attending Parliament despite the Attorney General going on public record that there is no legal impediment for the MP to attend Parliament, is bound to add further headaches when the UNHRC convenes in four months’ time.
Therefore, it is important that the powers that be do not miss the wood for the trees in their twin campaign of combatting Covid as well as maintaining the crucial support base at the UNHRC, the loss of which could be as politically injurious as the pandemic itself. It should also not squander the opportunity to rally the people irrespective of party, ethnic, and religious lines to collectively fight this pandemic which in the current context is more of a moral obligation.
Kapruka
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Discover Kapruka, the leading online shopping platform in Sri Lanka, where you can conveniently send Gifts and Flowers to your loved ones for any event. Explore a wide range of popular Shopping Categories on Kapruka, including Toys, Groceries, Electronics, Birthday Cakes, Fruits, Chocolates, Automobile, Mother and Baby Products, Clothing, and Fashion. Additionally, Kapruka offers unique online services like Money Remittance, Astrology, Medicine Delivery, and access to over 700 Top Brands. Also If you’re interested in selling with Kapruka, Partner Central by Kapruka is the best solution to start with. Moreover, through Kapruka Global Shop, you can also enjoy the convenience of purchasing products from renowned platforms like Amazon and eBay and have them delivered to Sri Lanka.Send love straight to their heart this Valentine's with our thoughtful gifts!