The easy way is to swim with the flow. But choosing the direction
that clearly appears to be the truth is the practice of media activity.
It is not easy. Sometimes they can even turn life into a challenge.
Especially in Sri Lanka, politicians have been accustomed to
standing up for their own opinions, not for the right opinions.
It is clear from the National Sports Council itself that the
government is strongly feeling the need to stand up for the wrong
decisions in rugby that are being pointed out by the media at this
moment in sports. The expectation at this moment is to end the
pro-Namal interest at the root of the rugby crisis with a political
victory, regardless of the law of the country. Therefore, a National
Sports Council has been appointed to ensure the identity of rugby
with a majority of rugby representation. We have written about it
before.In that regard, the Minister cannot ignore that the £50,000 fine
imposed on the Sri Lanka Rugby Administration an international
offender that has become a black mark not only on rugby in this
country but on the sport as a whole has played a role in the
decline of Sri Lanka Rugby. However, he will have to set that
aside and personally appoint its CEO as the Chairman.
Some individuals must be appointed despite their ineligibility
under the laws of the game. To mask this irregularity, the names
of Roshan Mahanama and Sidath Weththamuni figures known
for their clean reputations have also been included to lend
credibility and cover up the mess.
What we are witnessing here is the identity of a political faction
that cannot be detached from figures like Namal or Sunil Kumara.
It represents a mindset where highlighting the truth is viewed as
an act of influence, disrespect, and opposition. What this identity
defends is not just the £50,000 offenders, but also a broader
extension that tacitly endorses troubling actions, such as the
murder of Thajudeen a tragic chapter in the history of Sri Lanka
rugby and sports. The damage caused by any form of proud and
arrogant ideology is not insignificant. Rather than addressing the
fundamental issues related to the two points mentioned above, it
is becoming increasingly evident that the misguided belief that
opposing these issues harms one’s character goes beyond party
affiliation. It is, in fact, a reflection of the identity of our
politicians.To a society that still views sports as mere play, the murder of
Thajudeen, a player, may seem like the killing of just a boy who
played. When politics interferes and the politician sees no harm
in exploiting the situation, the incident is regarded as normal.
However, as politics becomes entangled, we witness how not
only the law of the country but also the Hippocratic Oath along
with its inherent nobility diminishes, tarnished by the dirty and
inhumane actions of political manipulation.
This process has been energized and a blessing for the security of
the people, and it is a moment when another narrow politics is
working in a similar way. But there is an ugly and noble coating.
The desire to confine the entire power in a narrow place as a class.
The above-mentioned evils are the result of making the
environment of this country a blessing without punishment so that
the culprits can go for a power recognized not only in the country
but in the world.
Although the Sports Minister, who was a Namal supporter, left
behind figures who always stood up for his interests. Roshan
Ranasinghe, who wielded great power in the Sports Council, is
considered an accomplice in some of the legal charges against
Namal. The current Sports Minister does not know that the Rugby
World Cup was also organized in this country by a group of
politically blessed people, outside the Rugby administration, in
collaboration with people who handle the wealth of this country,
so that they could spread their wings like octopuses.Therefore, not only in Sri Lanka but also in the rugby world, the
guilty parties who have ignored the mistakes of Sri Lanka are
making plans to seize the responsibility as a hereditary right. It is
a political tragedy that rugby powerhouses, who largely fit the
political identity of the current government, are showing great
interest in securing the legacy of a noble system with the blessings
of that same government.
In the final phase of the attempt to destroy rugby regionally by
sacrificing the country’s development funds to pay the £50,000
fine, political authorities should be working to revive the sport by
holding accountable those who have destroyed it, even if it means
banning the country’s sports administration. Yet, to this day,
because the local associations refuse to agree, those responsible
have lost their rugby positions, only to occupy prominent sports
roles elsewhere. What is happening now, despite the justice that
should be served, feels like burying the victim alive and covering
it with soil.
In an environment where the government thinks it is the children
of working people like farmers, laborers, fishermen, and the like,
under the power of a movement that has used young women like
Ambiga to attract votes on the country’s stages, instead of
standing up for the return of sports to their culture, a great wall is
being built that prevents them from entering.If a child from an ordinary family is given the opportunity to play
rugby in a college like Olcott in Galle, it is sad that the Southern
Province Rugby Administration should be helped to further
strengthen it, but it is sad that the government has the blessing to
trample them and deprive that class of its right constitutionally.
For several years, this unholy alliance, both domestically and
internationally, has been striving to strip ordinary Sri Lankans of
their right to rugby, reducing it to the pastime of a privileged few,
simply because the law was properly enforced. State officials and
politicians, who have disregarded the constitutional
representatives and overstepped the boundaries of the existing
constitution, are eroding the right to play sports for certain
classes. How tragic it would be if the plans of the elite who have
long enjoyed these privileges in sports club restaurants for a
fraction of the cost were executed by the very politics that serves
their interests.
After the tales that the red-tinted tea poured onto our tables by the
Ambigala generations is the very blood of the people, the plan to
deny justice to those who believed their sacrifices of blood, sweat,
and tears would be acknowledged is unfolding in rugby. This is
happening with the blessings of the same power that once upheld
those ideals. We are waiting. In Sri Lankan political ideology,
where correcting pointed-out wrongs is seen as disrespectful, it
has become the norm to commit to upholding injustice, whether
against one’s conscience or without regard for the will of others.
Because of the distance to that right, they fail to see the future
being lost for the children of the Ambiga.One day, when the Ambiga grow older and realize that fighting
for rights, which seem so far out of reach, is a political act, they
will be deeply shocked by the mistakes they have made and the
impact those choices will have on their future generations.
