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Where every Blake, Chilcott and Hogg, talks of Human Rights of terrorists, nobody speaks of the Human Rights, Grievances and Aspirations of Unemployed Graduates
By Charles Perera
It is really sad that neither the President, nor any one of the Ministers of the Government has intervened to settle the years long claim of the unemployed graduates trained under the Yovun Diriya scheme. They have a just cause having followed a difficult training course, which in Kandy was under a Military Officer. Some of these unemployed graduates from Kandy, come from poor families, some of these families had even mortgaged their homes and property to educate their children hoping that after graduation they may get employed and then they could redeem their mortgaged property from the earning of the children. But today the reality is different for them. Their hopes, the hopes of the graduates and their parents, have been shattered
In those physically wearing out training programmes the young graduates men and women were made to jog many hours each day. They were ill fed. The uniforms they were provided for tiring out physical trainings were the old uniforms worn by previous trainees. They were treated as soldiers. Yet they followed these difficult courses, as they were promised jobs after training. But after all that they were left out high and dry with only empty promise of jobs.
Even to-day the Minister of Education had promised 2088 posts of teachers, after these young graduate hopefuls were treated to water jets, baton charges and tear gas. It would have cost nothing for one of the Ministers, if not the President to have called Prasad Bandara Herat -the Chairman of the Graduates Collective, to explain their position. Who will believe the promise of the Minister of Education, which may merely be a ploy to get them to end their peaceful protests ? They are tired of these promises, what they want is the government to keep their promise to provide jobs for them -the unemployed graduates who went through the Yovun Diriya Training Course. While, the great leader Somawansa Amarasinghe of JVP was shouting over the loud speakers …., "At the time the 2 nd General Convention of the Socialist Youth Union is being held, our country has been gripped by imperialism. A separatist movement manipulated by imperialism is active in our country. As such, the task of the Socialist Youth Union is colossal…..", the unemployed graduates were being tear gazed, and neither Somawansa Amarasinghe, nor UNP friendly JVP Trade Union leader had a word of support for them. It is strange in a country where every Blake, Chilcott and Holmes, is crying out for human rights for the LTTE terrorists, grievances of the Tamils and their aspirations , the unemployed graduates from poor families who are demanding their fair share of rights are tear gazed and baton charged by the police. These young people are the future of the country. Like the young soldiers
who are giving their lives to redeem the country from the blood thirsty
terrorists in the north, these unemployed graduates too come from poor
families from the rural villages. They are claiming what they had been
promised. Therefore, it is now up to the President and the Government
to keep those promises and provide them with suitable employment., without
humiliating them further.
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