Ceylon Today Editorial

Wimal beats the drums for Sunny Leone

Friday 06th November 2015

 
Our society always finds something new and delightful with every passing week. Be it the woman who wanted Sujee to give the phone to the child or the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna Leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake revealing the names behind the Avant Garde case, we have always found innovative means of occupying our minds with mediocre trivia. After all, the country that doesn't innovate does not develop either. However, if Kumaratunga Munidasa was alive today, we sincerely doubt he would have been proud of the things we have newly invented specially information wise.

At the forefront of creating (or rather reporting we are not sure which), is the National Freedom Front Leader and member of the Joint Opposition Wimal Weerawansa. He, recently, speaking at a media briefing revealed that there is an alleged attempt to bring mainstream actress turned former porn star Sunny Leone to promote casinos in Sri Lanka.

According to him, there are alleged moves to promote casinos in Colombo, though those who campaigned for the Yahapalanaya Government protested vehemently against the industry during the previous administration. He noted that those who had lambasted the previous government for promoting casinos were making an attempt to boost the industry and pointed out that Sunny Leone is expected to arrive in Colombo for this promotion.

For those who do not know (highly doubt that there are such individuals) Sunny Leone is an Indo-Canadian actress who started her mainstream career as an adult film star; in layman terms, porn. She has now retired from taking part and producing adult films and has moved to India where she is currently a major contributor to Bollywood, with her films breaking box office records.

As far as our research capabilities took us, we were not able to find any information that supported the fact that this former porn star had any experience in promoting casinos in India or anywhere else in the world. She has, however, been part of several activism campaigns such as that of the American Cancer Society and is an avid pet rescuer.

How did the Joint Opposition member Wimal Weerawansa come to know about her alleged visit to the country to promote casinos? And is there a true attempt to give resurgence to the previous government's plans to open casinos here in the country, with the blessing of the Sirisena-Wickremesinghe Yahapalanaya Government? These questions remain as elephants in the proverbial room.

We, as the general public, cannot predict the steps or the decisions that will be taken by the government. Especially, not based on this information, for the Joint Opposition, especially the man concerned is known for creating massive mountains out of mole hills and is notorious for his homespun tales for his own supporters. After all, Wimal Weerawansa is a soidisant comrade and a socialist who fights for capitalism and a rather loud orator of Anti-Americanism, who visited the Disneyland. It is surprising that this obviously the biggest con artist of our time still has his group of band-wagoners and supporters.

Even if she visits Sri Lanka, indirectly to support and promote casinos, this will not be the first time an Indian actress has visited the country in support of a cause. Likewise, this is not the first time there were those who protested and opposed their visits. When Indian super star Sharuk Khan visited Sri Lanka in 2004, a bomb was thrown at his concert. The previous administration was known for inviting Indian superstars, such as Salman Khan, who were invited to show support to certain political parties during election periods. Although, the said political party denied these claims saying that the actors visited the country for a different reason, the general public believes what they want to believe.

Wimal Weerawansa also commented that giving legal recognition to the sex workers of Sri Lanka will also have adverse repercussions on the Sri Lankan culture. The simple fact that there are already a Sex Worker's rights group is a clear sign of the obviousness behind their demands to the President.

Furthermore, this type of misinformation has infected our society for far too long. Misinformation and the flooding of information, is undoubtedly what the members of the Joint Opposition is good at. However, the general public is savvy enough to know the truth from the exaggerated truth making such misleading and misdirecting a mere farce of events.

Therefore, it is high time Wimal Weerawansa stopped making these ridiculous statements. Wimal Weerawansa who has never set foot in the premises of Sigiriya, which he revealed in 2008, is now very concerned of Sunny Leone's alleged arrival here in Colombo. He had continued to say that her alleged visit to the country to promote casinos will have a definitely adverse impact on the country's culture. He may not know about Sigiriya. He knows about Disneyland. And, surely he knows about Sunny Leone. Can he deny that?

Daily Mirror Editorial

Towards a just and law-abiding society

Friday 06th November 2015

 

As Sri Lanka prepares for a special National Law Week – special because the foundation of the silent people’s revolution this year was the restoration of the Rule of Law – we need to reflect on the vision and the goals symbolised in the Statue of Lady Justice.

Lady Justice is an allegorical personification of the moral power in the judicial process. The personification of justice balancing the scales dates back to the great era of ancient Egypt. Later, it was linked to the glorious Greek era with its legendary philosophers Aristotle, Plato and Socrates being widely remembered and quoted even today. Ancient Rome also adopted this imagery and our Roman-Dutch Law is linked to such hallowed traditions or principles.

During the past four decades and especially during the past four years of the previous regime, we saw a disastrous breakdown of the Rule of Law with the independence of the Judicial Service being undermined and Police stations being turned into virtual branch offices, if not torture houses, of the ruling party. The Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL), Sri Lanka’s premier body of lawyers, played a vibrant role in the campaign that led to the change of January 8. The BASL came to the forefront especially during what most people saw as the political impeachment of the then Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayake, who dared to challenge the government at that time. With her removal, we saw the politicisation of the Supreme Court also, with one VVIP reportedly boasting he could influence or change the judgment with a telephone call.

Thankfully, with the enactment of the 19th Amendment in April, the appointment of the Constitutional Council and the Independent Commissions in September, Sri Lanka has taken significant steps towards the restoration of the Rule of Law, the independence of the judicial and Police Services. In the afterglow of this, the BASL, along with the Justice Ministry and the Legal Aid Commission will be playing a pivotal and practical role in the National Law Week from November 23 to November 29.

At a news conference on Wednesday, BASL Chairman U. R. de Silva said the National Law Week – on the theme ‘Towards a Just and Law Abiding Society’ – would help the people, especially the impoverished and marginalised, to become aware of their legal rights and the right to justice.

We need to remember that, while the law is important, the dimension of Justice is much higher. In the broadest perspective, we know that the solution to poverty alleviation is not just charity, the trickle-down theory or the crumbs from the table – but justice, which means a structural change to bring about a more equitable distribution of wealth and resources. Thus, the people need to be educated on the vital difference between charity and justice. One historic instance might help clarify this. In July 1980, thousands of public servants who joined a strike were sacked. After a long political battle, an agreement was reached to pay compensation to the sacked workers. The widely-respected Bishop Lakshman Wickremesinghe summed up the deal by saying it was the day when justice ended and charity began.

The BASL Chairman said on Wednesday there had been several complaints by people who had been treated unlawfully by the Police, and most of these complaints came from low-income or impoverished people. This shows that during recent years, the law had become not just an ordinary ass but the ass of the rich and ruling elite, led by wealthy politicians and officials corrupted by the greed to become wealthier.

The BASL, reaching out to the impoverished people, has invited those who need special assistance in handling their legal matters to contact the association on its hotlines 011-3133864 and 011-3133862 before the Law Week begins. BASL President Geoffrey Alagaratnam said legal awareness programmes would be carried out in 55 different locations in several districts.

With the Parliamentary Opposition struggling in a web of confusion, the people and civic action groups are now being called upon to play the role of the watchdogs of democracy. We hope the practical dimensions of the National Law Week and other factors would lead to a time when we could say, with Romanian-born Holocaust survivor, Elie Wiesel that there may be times when we are powerless to prevent injustice, but there must never be a time when we fail to protest.