Paddy harvest vs electricity; storm over style of singing
Cassandra in her Friday Cry-s has often noted with deep gratitude 
that nature has been benevolent to suffering, down and almost out Sri Lanka. Forest fires due to intemperate temperature in usually cool climes; sudden floods due to torrential rains; erupting volcanoes and earthquakes have all assiduously avoided troubling poor little Sri Lanka struggling against economic woes and continuing corruption. Sadly, not so any longer; meaning climate-changed Nature has struck us, though not cataclysmically nor totally catastrophically, but struck she has. A water shortage from wewas that feed the major rice producing areas of Hambanatota, Uda Walawe, Ampara and elsewhere is prevalent.
Farmers are desperate because needed water for their growing paddy fields has not been trickling in, leave alone spurting forth along irrigation channels. Water was not released from sources such as Uda Walawe and Samanala Wewa. And why? Levels have fallen so low. It was shocking to see pictures of the Uda Walawe Wewa which Cass remembers to have been so full and sea-like when the area was a favourite family holiday spot some years back. The deep water lapped the bund on which vehicles travelled. This week’s TV photographs showed water that was sure shallow far away in the middle of a vast acreage of bare tank bed. Samanala Wewa water is used to generate electricity.
Farmers are on strike – sit down, silent ones. They have loudly proclaimed their prediction that this season their paddy harvest will fail. They shed heart felt tears over their fear of not being able to feed their families and death from starvation staring them in the face. We echo their cries since no harvest means shortage of rice and importing of inferior varieties at great cost – unaffordable as of now.
Two contrary ministers
Two ministers are pitting themselves against each other, trumpeted by various trade unions and political pandits. The Minister of Power powerfully puts forth the threat of four hour power cuts if water is released from the Samanala Wewa to paddy fields. The Minister of Agriculture smilingly, meekly proclaims he will get water released for paddy farmers. The threatened power cuts will be only for southern areas. So where’s the balance between the two fears/threats? The weighing scale, not only to Cassandra but all right thinking people, tips strong in favour of water to paddy farmers. We, or they, the Southrners can suffer power cuts for short periods, but stomachs have to be filled, at least to some extent. TV news yesterday had a spokesman from a mushroomed people’s forum declare that power supply depletion info is merely to buy electricity from money-making private sources. Power mafia at work?
The onsetting SW Monsoon seems not to have brought sufficient rain to fill our wewas, which surprisingly are either overflowing at great danger to those living below spill gates or so low the water can hardly be seen. Where have the always full wewas gone to? Or been sent to? We do hope that at least the receding monsoon will fill these thirsting wewas. Or have the poor farmers to wait for the North East Monsoon – much weaker and not widespread in its dispersal of rain, by which time the now growing paddy plants would have turned to old piduru.
The singer not the song
The song was our national anthem sung at the inauguration of LPL cricket matches, and the singer, I learned, was popular Umara Sinhawansa. Her crime – which to some ultra nationalists (stoopid to Cass) was heinous – was that she rendered Namo Matha in a novel style – operatic it was said. SO WHAT!?
The moment Cass heard that a singer was faulted at the LPL tournament, she remembered how a Sri Lankan opera singer of international fame was booed and derided after the newly formed Yahapalanaya government’s February 4 National Day ceremony in Galle Face Green. This talented, beautiful singer decided to give Danno Bundunge an enhanced lilt with a slightly different rendition from the usual. Didn’t she get into hot water for that! Similarly, as stupidly and insanely as then, Umara is being said by a few ‘legal bigwigs’ to have violated the Constitution of the Democratic, Socialist Republic of SL! Bah to that!
Please read the editorial in The Island of Wednesday August 2, under the title Singer under fire, where the Editor, in his usual sharp and succinct manner verbally shoots around. To show the absolute triviality of the matter in hand – the manner of singing the national anthem – he mentions crimes committed in presidential pardons given to the worst type of criminal with hardly a public protest. Against those ‘mistakes’ of the highest in the land – Mahinda R, Maithripala S, Gotabaya R and Ranil W – Presidents granting pardons of those in death row, this singer’s mistake is as a mustard seed is to an elephant. She is being crucified because some people know no singing style other than the rough and ready baila. This is Sri Lanka for you! Nitty gritties gather so much publicity and social media hype while huge economic crimes, corruption, rape and murder by politicians pass uncensored or ignored.
Referring back to Presidential pardons, the most unpardonable and horrific is Prez Ranil W pardoning them who blew up the Central Bank killing hundreds, blinding and injuring many and causing such economic loss to the country. No protest except a couple of newspaper editorials, a voice or two in the wilderness and a smattering of letters to the Editor like Pardon for terrorists unpardonable by Ranjith Soysa, spokesperson for SPUR in many states of Australia and another Lankan organisation in London.
To Cassandra’s manner of thinking and reaching summations, this privilege given to Presidents of this land amounts to contempt of court since the pardons are for persons judged criminal by the highest court of law. Ranjan Ramanayake was sentenced to four years hard labour just because he gave leeway to his big mouth. Similar for Congress Leader and scion of India’s most respected family – Rahul Gandhi. He said, maybe laughingly, that in any pack of thieves (was it?) there was sure to be a Modi. What weight does that carry for goodness sake! Didn’t Gandhi have to resign his MPship for this statement considered libelous and/or contempt of court. Please correct Cass if she is wrong; don’t quarter and slaughter her. The privilege of pardon MUST be removed from those allowed our presidents; better still remove forever the presidency.
Splashes of humour
Cassandra often rolls around laughing at pronouncements made by politicians. It must however be qualified that her laugh is not a happy one. It is spontaneous, but prompted by derision. Recently, she guffawed at the command issued by the Leader of the Opposition to the Prez himself. In his inimitable style of speaking, whether in King Charles III’s language or our very own national language of Sinhala, he pontificated: “the satyagraha by Embilipitiya farmers has started demanding water for the crops that are blossoming and however, the authorities of this relentless government seem to have no empathy at all …”
It must be the translator’s fault for causing extra derisive laughter by translating his statement ludicrously. Does paddy blossom forth? Sajith would have pronounced the demand in studied Sinhala so more would appreciate his concern. Jeff and Mutt pounced on Sajith’s declared command, asking: “Does he expect the President to cause rains?”
Vegetables being imported
Writing about paddy which gives us our staple food, Cass had its accompaniment vegetables coming to mind immediately followed by Tuesday’s TV announcement that vegetable growers in Welimada, while harvesting their potato crops, complained bitterly the government was considering (or already) importing vegetables. Potatoes are imported cutting into the up county potato production. Importing eggs is bad enough. We should never import vegetables. Make people grow whatever vegetable wherever possible. We can be self-sufficient in this food commodity at least.
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