Editorial - When money cannot bring the dead back to life

22 January 2013 09:34 pm - 7 - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

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When it comes to Sri Lanka, not all those who board planes go on joy rides. There are those who cross the seas in search of employment. As much as wanderlust compels one to venture out of one's egg shell comfort, poverty too pushes individuals towards wide open doors; whether they lead to heaven or hell is entirely another matter.

Despite the rosy picture painted by the foreign employment agencies and the government that boasts of “our women” who earn foreign currency for the country, when it comes to bearing the brunt of poverty, it is always a personal agony of the individual, unshared and unempathized by those who swear by our workforce.
What happened to Rizana Nafeek does not entirely belong to the past; it is very much relevant to the present and, if the dormancy continues might become a part of the future as well. Her death leaves the country with many lessons worth learning.
At times when well-to-do families send their children abroad for higher education, Rizana was compelled to cross the seas for the survival of her family. When the former were dreaming to come home with a few more pages in their long CVs, Rizana’s dream was to replace their wattle and daub hut with a decent house.
No doubt, her execution drew crocodile tears from those who are only good at providing ample lip service. Yet, real grief was what her family members who were left to bear alone. There is very little left to lose when their daughter who went to become the saviour now lies buried a thousand miles away from home.
Her release would have changed many things her death could not.
Hers would have been another teary tale of a Sri Lankan housemaid meeting with tragedy in the Middle East had not her mother, in the aftermath of her execution, boldly refused any sort of aid given by the Saudi Arabian state.
“I am not willing to accept any assistance from the state of Saudi Arabia or any individual of this country who killed my daughter. Several institutes and individuals have offered to help me to provide a house but I strongly ask those who are linked with the murder of my daughter not to come with gifts to us,” she told the press.
Her stand is strong enough to shake the stability of all the larger than life cardboard figures, who act like angels in public when in real life they are devils. At a time when nothing could be done without greasing the palms of the high heads and the greed to have more lead to robberies and murders, Rizana’s mother’s words carry a strong tinge of integrity many would find hard to gulp down.
Some would have sold her death and pawned the sympathy. Yet, she knows that money cannot bring her daughter back to life. With the refusal that screams aloud the pathos and the courage of a mother, she tells the world that money cannot buy integrity.

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Comments - 7

Pol Pot Wednesday, 23 January 2013 01:00 AM

Didn't an early British writer say that one could wash off the dirt from a poor Sri Lankan Farmer and he would be fit to rule the Country. Rizana's Mother proves thie point, when she courageously refused the offer of money from Saudi authorities. Our Politicians could take a leaf from her book and work for the backbone of our Country instead of borrowing from these countries for them to enslave our future generations into paying back these loans with Interest. Rizana's Mother for Queen of Sri Lanka!

ziad Wednesday, 23 January 2013 04:43 AM

Well said. Indeed she is the Queen who puts to shame the charlatans masquerading as religious authorities; who forced Sri Lankan Muslims to remain silent on this barbaric beheading of a poor soul, by the barbarians.

Maha Rajanani Wednesday, 23 January 2013 05:19 AM

.She was kept in jail for 7 years before chopping the head off. Everybody lied for 7 years.

Lawrence De Alwis Wednesday, 23 January 2013 07:29 AM

She indeed resembles and deserves to be Queen of Sri Lanka.

Raj mohaideen Wednesday, 23 January 2013 07:43 AM

A theoretical possibility is the harvesting of organs for transplantation, non toxic execution of bought slaves could be a dependable source.

demeter Wednesday, 23 January 2013 09:51 AM

and yet today she took money from MR

demeter Wednesday, 23 January 2013 09:51 AM

"MR"

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Editorial - When money cannot bring the dead back to life

Comments - 7

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