Of those rape victims

Monday 5th July, 2021

A former public official has, in a letter published on the opposite page today, highlighted what China is allegedly doing to some African nations. He has asked Sri Lanka to beware of such schemes. There are many others who are on the same page as the retired administrator, but the Sri Lankan rulers have chosen to ignore their warnings. Several other powerful states are furthering their geo-strategic interests at the expense of this country.

The aforesaid warning reminds us of the plight of an underage Sri Lankan girl who has been forced into prostitution. There have been numerous media reports, during the past few days, about the poor girl, and the suspects being arrested for abusing her; her own mother, too, has been taken into custody for having sold her into sex slavery.

The police have acted commendably well in this instance, and deserve praise. They must not stop their operations until everyone responsible for harming the girl is brought to justice. There must be many more savages who harmed her. One hopes that maximum possible punishment will be meted out to the sickos to deter others of their ilk from abusing girls and women. The fate of the hapless girl, in our book, is similar to what has befallen Sri Lanka, in some respects.

Among those arrested for violating the unfortunate girl is a ruling party local government member. The SLPP has suspended his party membership and declared that it will conduct a disciplinary inquiry against him. If only it had handpicked decent men and women to contest elections. One does not take the ruling party’s pledge seriously, for there are lawbreakers of all sorts in its ranks. Strangely, nobody has ever been held accountable for forcing Sri Lanka into prostitution, as it were.

All those who have governed Sri Lanka during the past several decades have sold her into what may be called the politico-economic version of sex slavery. Any foreign power that waves wads of greenbacks can abuse her, and the shameless local procurers in the garb of political leaders enrich themselves just like the person who got paid to allow savages to abuse the aforesaid poor girl.

The rape of Sri Lanka, and its leaders’ role in facilitating the offence, all these decades, have left the country’s youth frustrated and disconsolate. Hundreds of thousands of educated, talented, skilled youth have already migrated to other countries. Many others are planning to do so, we are told. At this rate, only the progeny of worthless politicians will stay back, and the country will be theirs.

There was apparently a glimmer of hope for the frustrated Sri Lankan youth following the 2019 regime change. They painted the town red. One may recall their wall-painting spree, which was a cathartic outpouring of hope. Many wayside walls were adorned with colourful paintings. But what these youth cherished so much turned out to be another false dawn.

Political dregs responsible for various rackets crawled out of the woodwork under the new administration, and the country was back to square one. The plunder of public assets resumed. So did the rape of forests and other invaluable ecosystems. A fraud reportedly worse than the Treasury bond scams was committed; the state coffers suffered a massive loss to the tune of billions of rupees when the government fraudulently abolished duty on sugar imports for the benefit of one of its cronies, who have all the luck and are free to put any crooked deal through. The Covid-19 pandemic is ripping through the country because most of those tasked with controlling it are square pegs in round holes. Capable, outspoken scientists, doctors and public officials have been sidelined and gagged to prevent the truth about the pandemic situation being revealed to the public.

Meanwhile, some of the politicians who facilitated the rape of the country, during the previous government, are currently in the incumbent administration; others are in the Opposition, taking moral high ground, proffering unsolicited advice to those in power, and striving for a comeback to make up for lost time. They may succeed in their endeavour.

One sees hardly any difference between the woman arrested and remanded for selling her daughter into prostitution, and the self-proclaimed leaders who have facilitated the rape of the country.

Does a country burdened with such ‘leaders’ need enemies?