It is not only a Sinhala adage but also a respected tradition practiced by the Sinhalese that teachers are on par with their parents , and they deserve to be worshipped by children . It is very unfortunate that now this tradition is being given a death blow by grade 9 qualified Ministers like Johnson Fernando (Johnny) in the Rajapakse regime.
Johnny gave a perfect demonstration of what he is capable of with his bare grade 9 imperfect qualification, when he used his goons and marauders to launch a ruthless brutal attack on the teachers considered as his own parents. Of course , Johnny ‘s behavior is understandable in the backdrop of his poor inadequate education. Perhaps he has only learnt up to the point of teaching lessons to teachers ( launching murderous attacks on them in conformity with his lack of education and character build up) instead of learning lessons from teachers on what is good conduct and moral behavior. The worst part of it is , this episode worthy of national condemnation had however not drawn the attention of the Govt. May be Govt. is unable to notice violence committed by its Ministers that ‘far’ as Kurunegala , Johnny ‘s fortress. Hence , Govt.’s blindness is also understandable like Johnny’s conduct.
Herein are pictures depicting how the participants in the protests launched on the 6th by the Lanka Teachers’ Association were mercilessly attacked by grade 9 Johnny’s goons and gangs.
The demonstrations were staged by the teachers Association at the Kurunegala Gettuwana teachers’ square enraged at the illegal appointment of an interim outside group enjoying the patronage of the Govt. to the Co operative education teachers Association displacing the office bearers elected duly on the ballot . The Association has also staged these protests against the huge misappropriation of the funds by this Govt. backed group
LeN