But things are drastically changed now. We have television
in almost every house. Sometimes we have more than a television per houses. And
we have over 30 television channels plus cable channels and satellite antennas.
Even with a house with only four members there is conflict over channels, since
we have so much to choose we are going our own ways. I ll tell you a good story,
I had a cousin brother after he got married the first thing he did was bought a
television and made their bed room into a television room, Because the sister
in law had bitter arguments over tv channels with his father in-law.so my
cousin brother bought this their own television.
But the problem did not solve as he expected .little while later new couple started
fighting over the television channel. But I do remember in this same house about
twenty years ago all of us gather in front of the small black and white television and
watched cartoons very happily. Now it an only a good old memory.
Out of all my childhood television experiences I do remember
one tele drama. Even those days tele drams were not common as today. One
episode for one week. These tele dramas I cannot remember the name but it was
about drug addicted son and his wealthy family. Drugs were supplied to the son
by father’s close associate.in the end it came to know father himself was a
drug dealer and his son indirectly
become a victim of the process. Most of the actors in the teledrama were film actors.
During that time there were not this much actors everywhere, the role of the
drug addicted son was done by Kamal Addararachchi, though he was subjected to
many controversies I have to admit he is good actor. He was in his early twenties
while he did this role.People started believing he is really drug addicted one after watching
the tele drama, this was in late 80’s and drug addiction just started to begin.
Most of infamous drug smugglers to the Sri Lanka had direct
links with Pakistan also majority of them were Muslims May be this is different
in western part of the world where it has notable drug lords such as George Jung, Pablo Escobar, Carlos Lehder
Rivas or Frank Lucas none of them linked
with Pakistan or Muslims. But In Sri
lanka Colombian Cocaine is not very common drug. Instead of that we have Heroin
from Afghanistan known as “Afghan Kush Kush”.
But this smuggling drugs did not happened so openly. They
did very primary methods of smuggling drugs such as swallowing, body packing,
hiding the goods in luggage, or clothes, Sometimes the goods are hidden in the
bag or vehicle of an innocent person, who does not know about the contraband,
for the purpose of retrieving the goods elsewhere. And it came to Sri Lanka in
really small quantities. Usage of drugs mainly with the urban youths, it has
not spreading into the villages. Most cases school children were targeted in
the city. There were very unfortunate stories
about boys who got through grade
5 scholarship exam came to leading schools
in Colombo and ended up using drugs.
The real stories like” Basketball diaries” actually happened
with some school children.Also we never
had drug dealers who keep it as a controlled
business what we saw in “Godfather “Young school students were the main victim.Apart from
that there was a higher percentage of drug use on the coastal belt of southern
part of the Sri Lanka. Because of the Civil war the northern part coastal belt
as well the youths not been widely open to the tourism. Around Hikkaduwa the
most popular beach town in Sri Lanka for decades linked with drugs .it’s more
like a beach culture.
The drug business is not an effort of single,
Like rest of the world even in Sri lanka this is very much linked with support
of the police, crooked politicians and very clever lawyers etc.
But in the past ten
years our country became a center for the drugs .My home town Ingiriya which is
over 60 km from Colombo there were no people who were addicted to drugs, but in
past ten years this became very common in the Ingiriya area.it started with
sand miners oh River Kālu. Then spared into the school children.
After the end of the Sri Lankan civil war drugs were widely available
in the northern part of the country.
About Jaffna peninsulas was always famous for its educated, ambitious
hardworking youths, but after 30 years of civil war the old Jaffna peninsula turned
into an epic center for drugs.
Well how this happened? Who is responsible for this disaster?
As Sri Lankans we are partially responsible for what have made into this country.
We ll we can scold our government and politicians but we are the people who
elected them. We had a prime mister who had lunch with person charged with drug dealing.
The same prime minister later told what the wrong of having lunch with a friend
is. Yes the prime minister is correct there is no fault of having lunch with a friend,
but problem is the friend is charged for smuggling drugs to Sri Lanka.
Meanwhile the same prime minister’s son got elected to parliament and the good government’s
offers a minister post. Well this is Sri Lanka.
But yesterday Colombo High Court Judge Preethi Padman Surasena
sentenced Gampola Vidanage Samantha Kumara alias Wele Suda to death over
possession of and dealing in heroin. This is only for 7.9 grams in 2007.but
same person has 57 charges and other court process not yet been finished.As per
the police this person is responsible of supplying 60% drugs
in Sri Lanka. During the 19 years of his activated his time before he was captured
in Pakistan he has send 10000milion worth drugs to Sri Lanka. We Sri Lankans
easily could have made bricks out of his drugs.
But Wele Suda appealed and said “When I came to the Court,
the CID took me away saying they needed to obtain a statement from me. 80g
heroin were put on me and then I was produced in Court. I was not aware of
anything. That is all I have to say my Lord." To the judge. He is innocence
his own ways.
But the Police had traced assets worth Rs 185 million
belonging to Samantha Kumara alias Wele Suda,
As per the list of property a two-stored Bungalow at Wijerama Road, Colombo
7, a house at the Royal Park housing
complex, Rajagiriya, two houses in the apartment complex at Bagatalle Road,
Colpetty, a house at Palanwatte, Pannipitiya, a house at Obawatte, Madiwela, a
land 16 perches in extent at Dharmapala Mawatha, Colombo 7, a 15-perch block of
land at Nedimala, Dehiwala, a Prado vehicle, a BMW vehicle, 3001 grams of gold
and Rs 18.2 million in banks.
In addition, the police team had raided the ‘heroin
headquarters’ of Wele Suda located in a super luxury multistoried residential
complex at Sri Jayewardenepura and seized 901 grams heroin, as well as Rs
9,071,680 in cash.
But Wele Suda said this all he earned by his coconut and pineapple
cultivation which was given from his father. If it is that much profitable business
I’m going to stop practicing architecture, we should grow coconut and pineapple.this clever planter but thinking his children should not follow the
same sending to the international schools like most of other leading business men.
Yet again this is just only one piece of a huge chain,
what about the others?
