There is no argument this picture is beautiful. Why hesitate to say beautiful things are beautiful. The beauty in this photo may inevitably present in these lives as well. Rohitha Rajapaksa is the youngest son of Mahinda Rajapaksa, who has twice been President of this country and has held a large number of ministerial posts since he was the Minister of Labour. Therefore, it does not make sense to ask if you have a job to live happily ever after. I have a different story here.
Now we all question the parents of the girl who was killed at Rishad’s house why their daughter was sold into slavery. There is some justice in that. Not at all. But none of us ask why we could not create a society where parents could not sell their children in the plantation sector. We are not asking Jeevan Thondaman why we could not develop a socio-economic model that could eradicate the 10 × 10 house culture. That is the problem of the Tamils in the plantation areas. What are the problems when it comes to Sinhala areas?
Village people do not have a school to give their children a satisfactory education with proper facilities. You need to spend a lot of money to get admission for the school. Then you have to lie a lot. Why couldn’t we find a way to make the nearest school the best school? Is it because we have no money? Why can’t every major school have a swimming pool? Why can’t all major schools be given the facilities to play cricket? Why can’t all schools be provided with laboratory facilities? How many schools with such facilities could have been built with the money pumped into the city of Hambantota to development with white elephants?
Children like Rohitha Rajapaksa speak English very well. That too must be a element of this glorious life. Was Rohitha’s father who came to power after preaching about the Sinhala language and the Sinhala nation able to build a country based on the Sinhala and Tamil languages? Was Mahinda Rajapaksa able to lay the foundations for a country with at least English literacy like India and Singapore? At least the axe could not be introduced instead of the sword.
This vehicle which use by Rohitha Rajapaksa should have been imported on tax concessions. The man on the edge of the village wants to bring his youngest son at least a three-wheeler. He likes it. At least an Indian vehicle ..! But how much cost should pay to the state when such a man going to buy a car? That amount is about three times higher than the production cost of that vehicle. Then Mahinda Rajapaksa who buys a Range Rover for Rohitha, could build a country’s economy where marginalised person could buy a three wheeler for his son for Rs. 500,000?
If you go to the North, there are many problems that unique to the Tamils, and if you go to the East, there are many problems that unique to the Muslims. The same goes for Sinhalese when it comes to the South. Aside from addressing these issues, the people who have been the rulers for so long at least have provided solutions to the economic problems of small household unit. instead of looking at photos like this and blaming them, we need to think about what happened to them? What they have got and what we have got?
K.Sanjeewa.