Why stealing the Navy scholarship tops the list

Milking the national treasury for personal use has become an integral part of the benefit package enjoyed by the top government officials in Sri Lanka. Despite much ha-ho about cracking down on the corruption at all levels, the apex of our democracy is infested with corrupt practices and violation of basic ethical codes. Tax evasions, foreign trips, cars permits, land deals … they come in all forms and sizes. And while the electorate is fully accustomed to news about these practices and have accepted them to be the norm, the recent report about the President Mahinda Rajapakse’s son is particularly heart wrenching.

For one thing – at the most basic and obvious level – the scholarship that was awarded to Yoshitha Rajapakse denied a real sailor the opportunity. The likely profile of the recipient of such a scholarship would have been a battled-hardened, intelligent sailor who, instead of going to university despite having the requirements, chose to defend the country instead. But now, the scholarship is awarded to someone with neither the battle experience nor the required academic qualifications.

Secondly, when Yoshitha joined the Navy, Rajapakse announced that he was “sacrificing a son to the nation”. Fellow Sri Lankans were moved. They thought the president was leading by example and the Yoshitha’s enlistment boosted moral of the armed forces as well as the public. But the euphoria was short lived and the soldiers and the public were left to grapple with fact that it was all the façade. Yoshitha, like all other government official’s children is to be whisked off to western countries where they will live in luxury and security at the expense of the Sri Lankan tax payer.