Challenge before Jumbos
July 19, 2013, 8:51 pmThe Krrish Towers affair has taken a dramatic turn with the government going on the offensive. Claiming that the life of a high ranking public official who had allegedly accepted a USD 4 mn bribe on behalf of two government bigwigs for granting a further extension of time to Krrish Towers to fully pay up on the Fort land agreement was in danger, the UNP on Wednesday called for a high level probe. The Ministry of Defence has demanded that the three persons involved in the alleged scam be named and a formal complaint lodged with the police so that a probe could be conducted.
The UNP has chosen not to name the persons concerned, but now that the government has offered to conduct a probe, provided the matter is formally reported to the police, it should take up the challenge and furnish the required information. It has been in the political wilderness, troubled by ignominious electoral setbacks and debilitating defections for a long time, and here is a real godsend in the form of an alleged racket; if it could prove its ‘towering’ allegation, it would hit political pay dirt, especially in the run-up to three crucial elections.
It is hoped that the Opposition will refrain from reducing the Krrish affair to a mere political slogan to be used and discarded after a while and, instead, go the whole hog and make the best use of it to expose government corruption. If it fails to respond to the Defence Ministry’s challenge, its credibility is likely to suffer hugely though its failure to prove its allegation will not necessarily mean that the government is clean. Besides, the UNP is duty bound to move the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery and Corruption (CIABOC) against the government bigwigs concerned. Here is a political tide which, ‘if taken at the flood, is sure to lead on to fortune’. Whether the UNP will take time by the forelock or let this vital chance go begging and continue to be in political shallows till the cows come home remains to be seen.
Father, Son and Unholy Mess
Sri Lanka ‘A’ cricketer Ramith Rambukwella has been fined Rs. 250,000 over a recent incident where he allegedly tried to open the cabin door of a flight in mid-air at an altitude of 35,000 feet. (Why should planes fly so high?)The poor boy insists that he is a somnambulist and he may have been sleepwalking at the time of the alleged incident. He has vehemently denied that he was in a state of inebriation contrary to media reports. (There are conspiracies against his family!) His truthful father, Keheliya Rambukwella, who heads the Ministry of Truth, has vouched for the veracity of the boy’s claim. Initially, Sri Lanka Cricket issued a statement based on the team manager’s report, attributing the incident to the lamentably dim lights in the passageway leading to lavatories. (British Airways should be given some 1,000 watt bulbs!)
So, the question is why Sri Lanka Cricket Executive Committee has punished a player afflicted with a chronic sleep disorder, for what he is said to have done in an abnormal state of consciousness whereas it has not taken any punitive action against notorious rogues who, in a state of full consciousness, helped themselves to Cricket Board funds, struck corrupt deals and ruined the game. It’s not cricket!
We urge the aggrieved Rambukwellas to sue Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC).
Meanwhile, the SLC Executive Committee has proved that it is capable of performing the functions of the disciplinary committee and, therefore, we suggest that the latter be disbanded forthwith, for it is redundant. Why should there be so many committees when the Executive Committee is equal to the task of running the SLC all by itself?
"Spare the rod and spoil the child" is a threadbare adage which has lost its meaning in this country. Our politicians’ obedience to their sons is amazing. Ramith must be proud of the way he has brought up his father!