The furore over the e mails exchanged between Mahela, Sanath and the Team Manager have now become stuff of legend. Legendary pettiness. All smokescreen and running a block for the real shenanigans going on. A paid employee, of SLC affords a house in Australia, according to website reports. Property must be going cheap.
In the wake of Angelo Mathews being given Test and ODI captaincy and Lahiru Thirimanne’s cricketing nous being recognised in his appointment as vice captain in all formats, the discussion of ‘cricket’ loving fans is the ridiculous gossip, accusation hurling and general churlishness. It’s no surprise really, that journalists write this stuff because it’s the sort of tele drama fare that readers lap up. Disgusting.
As an aside, it’s surprising that nobody has come out and screamed “Et tu, Bute!” at Paul Farbrace and the stiff upper lipped ECB. Since we’re big on calling out ‘betrayal’ and such.
I’d like to see some leaked e mails Nishantha had with his property broker, and I’d certainly like to see the outcome of the police investigation on who stole the hard drives. Chastising a World Cup winner though, is the obvious priority.
This blatant lack of accountability has now grown so repugnant, it is almost not worth talking about. We have reached that comedic level of Baldrick like idiocy, so much so that it is embarrassing even to mention. The toy pistol story, is proof enough.
Happily though, accountability is not alien to S. Thomas’ College. And many lessons can be learned from the incidents at Mt. Lavinia over the last few weeks. As is now publicly known a senior player was expelled from school for ragging a fresher. The senior player, by all accounts was merely perpetuating a vicious cycle that had begun recently, in the mistaken belief that it was tradition. He, and his fellow seniors, for whom he took the bullet, have found out pretty quickly that sexual abuse is intolerable, whether or not it is disguised as tradition.
Upon being alerted, the STC authorities acted swiftly, asking the boy to leave school and taking severe disciplinary action against some senior players. The Thomians’ midfield defence has floundered as a result, but it is good to note, that at least some private institutions value accountability above almost all public institutions.
The thing about vicious cycles, is that they must be arrested. Unfortunately, someone will have to be the fall guy, but it is unavoidable. S. Thomas’ brings – or should bring – its students up to know right from wrong, and also to have enough of a backbone to stand up for what is unreasonable. The incident – regrettable though it is – has shown how abuse and intimidation should be handled.
But for it to be handled as such, the authorities must be strong. Unfortunately, the judiciary does not have the same credibility among the populace that the Warden has among the parents and students. This is an institutional deficiency which must be remedied forthwith. Similarly. heads of the Police, various commissions, Ministries and even religious institutions need to learn that if they are strong, and willing to take unpopular decisions, that life will improve for those under their charge.
It is an unfortunate reality that it is only in a place as innocuous to the tangible quality of public life as SLC, that the junta has a passionate interest in. The umbrage at the latest attempts to further shackle the national heroes, has left SLC withdrawing their threat of disciplinary action. It would really be lovely to see the people of Hambantota campaign against their [toy] pistol waving mayor in the same way, or the 70% majority of Sinhala Buddhists vociferously showing their displeasure at the hopelessly un-Buddhist conduct some members of the Sangha.
It is insane that our national pride is only pricked when someone vilifies our cricketing icons, and not when public institutions are being robbed blind, crime is rampant and corruption is laughably bad. SLC, its governance, and the actors in these dramas, are a microcosm of this country as a whole.
“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil, is for good men, to do nothing” – Edmund Burke
