Death of Rizana: Some food for thought

by Amyn Chatoor

I refer to the print and electronic media articles on the above subject, with the above caption.

It was indeed agonising and heart rendering to read all the articles in the print and electronic media regarding the demise of “Dearest Rizana”.

I have been following closely all the reports in the media and the final fate “that took her to her final destiny”. The news of her untimely demise was taken by shock by all and sundry when the news reached our motherland, especially when everyone following the print media reports was expecting her to return home safe and sound.

There are certain questions which I would like the Government of the Day to answer, not with any vendetta or rancour, but just to increase my general knowledge and the public’s knowledge on this subject. I may be wrong and subject to correction, but nevertheless it would help the general reader and me to increase our knowledge on this very painful and sour subject.

Firstly, I would like to know why no action was taken by the Government of the day regarding this matter, when she was in prison for so long – I guess over a year. Why was the Government silent about this tragedy and why didn’t it intervene at the early stages, before this matter reached its zenith at the later stage?

May I ask, why didn’t the Government intervene and take necessary action to get her out of prison and perhaps win the case and bring her home safely?

Wasn’t it total negligence and fault of the Government of the day to take drastic steps at the later stages, when it was a matter of life and death? In my opinion, it was too late and the Government lost the court case in Saudi Arabia and the decision was already given by the judiciary to sentence her to the gallows.

I am fully aware of the fact that the Government used all the resources available to our Motherland to save her, but it was too late. They sent Ministers from here, the President himself had spoken to the Saudi Government and our Ambassador also did intervene and many other international agencies, organisations and even heads of other countries spoke in favour of her to save her life but, alas, perhaps it was too late, as the decision by the judiciary was already given. It was all empty talk; that was the bottom line.

In my opinion, the Government should have intervened not at the last stages, but many, many months ago when she was in prison, then there would have been a far better chance of our winning the case and bringing Rizana home but, alas, that was not to be.

It is the sacrosanct duty of the Government of the day, sitting in the high echelons of State, to look after the poverty-stricken masses of our Motherland, without enjoying the high privileges of the seat of power and looking down on these poor masses, who live in huts. If they do not change their methods of governance, there will be another Rizana in the making, and this time with lethal, devastating consequences, which will be terrifying.

As a matter of fact, it is an act of sacrilege on the part of the Government of the day to look down on these poor people who live in absolute poverty.

May her soul rest in eternal peace in the world beyond and may God’s showered and choicest blessings be with her always and may she attain Jannathul Firdhouse.

Secondly, I am fully aware the President has given a substantial amount of money to the tortured parents and had promised to build a house for them, etc., but as Rizana’s mother with tears flowing down her eyes and in a state of absolute shock, said, “all this is not going to help to bring our beloved Rizana back, we want Rizana, not all this money.”

She said it loud and clear, like tears, falling in a pool of water. This is something which is very painful to take from anyone, especially from a mother who has lost her daughter. Is this Government aware of this statement and various other statements made by Rizana’s parents during their period of agony and despair, or is that they are not interested as it is something that is history now? Alas, I wonder which one is correct.

Thirdly, did any Government care (before this unjustifiable and painful crime) to visit Rizana’s family and scores of other families in our motherland living in absolute poverty in huts with rainwater leaking into their houses? I guess the answer is no, and my further guess is that it is still a no. May I ask, what is the Government doing for them? Or may I ask, what has the Government done for them in the past, ever since coming into power for the past so many years? The answer, in my opinion, is absolutely nothing.

It is only for one reason and one reason alone that Rizana went to Saudi Arabia: To make a better life for her family who were living in huts and were unable to make ends meet, with the skyrocketing cost of living and the rate of inflation. This she did and ultimately paid the heavy price of fate that finally took her away.

Fourthly, may I candidly ask the Government of the day, with no vendetta whatsoever, the Government economists and the Government advisors, who talk so much about the rate of inflation in the country, and being so proud of the fact they have brought it down by 1% and flashed it in the print media in bold letters on front pages, why don’t they talk about the more serious, neglected and correct economic factor, which is the rate of poverty or the poverty level of our Motherland? This would be an eye-opener to various Government advisors and economists, who advice the Government that in reality the rate of poverty is more of an important discussion than the rate of inflation, which they keep basking in proudly.

If today the various governments for the past 40 years, and especially for the past 20 years, would have looked at this very vital and crucial economic factor, then our Motherland today would have been a different place to live in and gone to greater heights in development and been a second Singapore in the making, but unfortunately our politicians don’t have that sort of visionary and broad-based thinking, which Singapore had under Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yiew.

Our Motherland would have been ‘The Pearl of South East Asia’ but, alas, it is not to be. I do not know if it is fate that has befriended our Motherland or what I don’t know. As we Muslims say, it is ‘karma’ in one word.

My only hope and prayer is that at this late stage, even now, if the Government takes correct steps to eradicate poverty from the face of this country in the correct direction without fooling the people about the rate of inflation, then we would get somewhere with the developed countries in the South Asian belt.

As a matter of fact, the root cause of Sri Lanka’s ethnic problem or terrorism is due to the have-nots being neglected and being treated like cannon fodder that made them ultimately take up arms to make their ends meet. It is true even today.

If one were to study the real start of bloodshed in contemporary Sri Lanka, it was I think in the year 1958 when the first racial riots broke out in the country and this is amply illustrated in the scholarly, monumental work ‘Emergency ‘58’ by Tarzie Vittachi, the only book to be published as at today on this subject. This is subject to correction, as I may be wrong.

I would be happy and very satisfied if any Government official replies to all the questions mentioned by me in this letter. I repeat I have no malice or vendetta whatsoever against anyone, but this is just some food for thought and I would like to have the answers.