Tuesday 1st June, 2021
No society is short of vulturine elements that profit from human suffering, as we have seen during disaster situations across the world. Sri Lanka has its fair share of them. They were in action in the aftermath of the Boxing Day tsunami in 2004; television channels beamed across the globe shocking images of two monsters stripping a young female tsunami victim, in her death throes, of her jewellery instead of trying to save her life, in Galle. Such incidents are also reported following fatal accidents in this country, which boasts of being home to four great religions. In many cases, accident victims’ bloodstained belongings such as handbags, wallets, gold rings and necklaces go missing. The heartless beasts responsible for such inhuman acts are the scum of the earth, and most of them are druggies desperate for money to buy hell dust. But these shabbily dressed, zombielike characters are not alone in exploiting human misery. Some well-groomed corporate fat cats in their pinstripes, pontificating on social responsibility, do likewise if the despicable manner in which private hospitals fleece the sick is anything to go by.