Prisons, hypocrites and the missing hangman

Going down memory lane into Sri Lanka’s past can be depressing because punishments were gruesome. Let’s not walk back on that path. We have  laws in place and several prisons where inmates get a second chance at life

A good question to ask these days is: ‘What is the value of human life in Sri Lanka’? We have enough temples, kovils, churches and mosques, but do we know, even through the application of religion, how to value human life? When we see the killing of humans in recent times and gruesome visuals of some of those shootings shown on television during the news broadcast, we tend to form our own questions about the value of human life and the law  existing under a set of terms and conditions. 

No worthwhile citizen in this country would wish to live life if it’s not going to happen under his own terms and conditions. This writer uses the words ‘worthwhile citizen’ because there are Sri Lankans who see themselves as second class citizens because they don’t enjoy the status which the majority citizens enjoy. Coming back to the ideal living conditions that a Sri Lankan should enjoy, this writer suggests that there should be two categories that classify people; one where people are law abiding and the other that includes those who breach the law. 

These two categories must supersede all other classifications of human beings. One religious leader once said that a person’s worthiness is not determined by social class or lineage, but rather by moral character, practice, and adherence to the Dhamma. Times have changed now. It’s a must that Sri Lanka, like other nations, puts ‘law’ ahead of ‘religion’. This is because the former can serve as the best yardstick for control and discipline when compared to the role of religion. 

We know that the law works extremely well and the religion is there only to supplement this process of building a community where its members are healthy and mentally sound. But when it comes to Sri Lanka, there is confusion at times when the application of the law produces news worthy of being carried in mainstream media outlets. 

Just the other day we read in the newspapers that when over 30 prisoners  granted presidential pardons in the event of marking Vesak Poya,  were going ‘out’ of the prison premises, the Prison’s Commissioner General was going ‘into’ prison for allegedly being involved in facilitating the release of an inmate from prison when official documents showed that this person’s release wasn’t ratified by the president.  

We sadly don’t have a hangman on duty. An ardent reader of newspapers wrote a letter to the editor of our sister newspaper recently mentioning the need for the return of the hangman. The writer stresses in the letter that the presence of a hangman during present times would help rectify the diminishing  value of human life. 

Giving value to a human life is so difficult in an island where there is a past where animals were rated high above humans. Even now, the killing of a leopard or an animal (endangered or not) that attacks you is considered an offense and can trigger your arrest. In this country, the law is enforced strongly to protect animals from being at the mercy of human beings and not vice versa. 

A peep into our history is sufficient to make us law abiding citizens. In Dr. Anslem De Silva’s book ‘Crocodiles of Sri Lanka’ it is mentioned how law breakers were thrown to the crocodiles. This was during the early Portuguese period and this brutal punishment was carried out (according to this book) is Malawana,  Kalutara. Rewind the clock many centuries beyond the Portuguese period and we observe that wrongdoers were even trampled by elephants by the order of the king. 

Going down memory lane into Sri Lanka’s past can be depressing because punishments were gruesome. Let’s not walk back on that path. We have  laws in place and several prisons where inmates get a second chance at life. A prison can serve as a finishing school. This is because a prison can teach you lessons on law and discipline which society failed to teach you. Above all a prison teaches you to value life. This is because that lesson is quite conveniently overlooked when you are a passerby who even doesn’t notice the existence of a prison.