"Mahaththayo ... to tell us about AIDS .. we aren't babies
-- Kuliyapitiya parents shout
The child is deprived of that school too!
Doctors of National Sexual Diseases who visited the village school in Kuliyapitiya where a child was prohibited from gaining admittance to a
school there as a result of a rumour of AIDS being linked with the said child was spotlighted by us during the past few days. However all efforts of the doctors to bring a settlement to this issue had gone astray and thus the child was deprived of studying in that school too.
Villagers who still entertain ideas that the child's father died because of AIDS are not prepared to accept the validity of the medical reports given to the contrary. In addition they have expressed suspicion that the mother of the child too is afflicted with Aids.
When the doctors and authorities of Human Rights visited there, there were organised posters pasted on the walls expressing antagonism against the media too. Those who had gathered were all parents of the school. The moment the doctors began explaining the situation, some parents who interfered in the proceedings had begun shouting, "Here mahaththayo .... we aren't babies .... we know how someone gets AIDS ... you needn't come here to teach about it to us; there's no point in coming here specially to make speeches about it and there's no necessity of those talks". Thus they were making a big protest about this issue and were not prepared to give ear to anything said by these doctors.
In the meantime, the North West Minister, Mr. Sandya Kumara Rajapaksha who kept silent and later began making a speech happened to be in favour of the villagers. His opinion was that admitting the child to that school is by no means a suitable thing. Further he made an allegation that this incident has been 'marketed' by the media and when he made a request in public from the villagers to raise their hands up to signify whether they are in favour of the child being removed by the school, on that occasion all of them agreed to his appeal and even groups who came from Colombo too became a source of futile effort on the last effort.
The Minister also found fault for this school being closed down for a period of close upon a week because of this child's problem and he also mentioned that the mother of this child also had no interest in admitting her child to this school.
This is what the Minister said about the misconceptions of the villagers: "Giving a school to the child can't be done publicly according to the situation of the villagers. It is a funny kind of people in the village. People of the Human Rights have been sent way by shouting at them. We can't reform them. Human Rights mean ... that they aren't America's Geneva. This is Sri Lanka. It's difficult to change some opinions. There's traditional opinions. This problem won't be solved just by removing the child, isn't it?" In this instance what the Minister said was that before the end of this first term he would mediate in getting some other school for this child and till then he would take steps in providing educational activities necessary for the child by getting down a teacher to a community centre. However the Chairman of the Sri Lanka Human Rights Commission Dr. Mrs. Deepika Udagama says that a break in the rights of this child's for his education is created by that, as a result.
Because of the ignorance of parents in Kuliyapitiya, the future of a child still remains in suspense in vain.
school there as a result of a rumour of AIDS being linked with the said child was spotlighted by us during the past few days. However all efforts of the doctors to bring a settlement to this issue had gone astray and thus the child was deprived of studying in that school too.
Villagers who still entertain ideas that the child's father died because of AIDS are not prepared to accept the validity of the medical reports given to the contrary. In addition they have expressed suspicion that the mother of the child too is afflicted with Aids.
When the doctors and authorities of Human Rights visited there, there were organised posters pasted on the walls expressing antagonism against the media too. Those who had gathered were all parents of the school. The moment the doctors began explaining the situation, some parents who interfered in the proceedings had begun shouting, "Here mahaththayo .... we aren't babies .... we know how someone gets AIDS ... you needn't come here to teach about it to us; there's no point in coming here specially to make speeches about it and there's no necessity of those talks". Thus they were making a big protest about this issue and were not prepared to give ear to anything said by these doctors.
In the meantime, the North West Minister, Mr. Sandya Kumara Rajapaksha who kept silent and later began making a speech happened to be in favour of the villagers. His opinion was that admitting the child to that school is by no means a suitable thing. Further he made an allegation that this incident has been 'marketed' by the media and when he made a request in public from the villagers to raise their hands up to signify whether they are in favour of the child being removed by the school, on that occasion all of them agreed to his appeal and even groups who came from Colombo too became a source of futile effort on the last effort.
The Minister also found fault for this school being closed down for a period of close upon a week because of this child's problem and he also mentioned that the mother of this child also had no interest in admitting her child to this school.
This is what the Minister said about the misconceptions of the villagers: "Giving a school to the child can't be done publicly according to the situation of the villagers. It is a funny kind of people in the village. People of the Human Rights have been sent way by shouting at them. We can't reform them. Human Rights mean ... that they aren't America's Geneva. This is Sri Lanka. It's difficult to change some opinions. There's traditional opinions. This problem won't be solved just by removing the child, isn't it?" In this instance what the Minister said was that before the end of this first term he would mediate in getting some other school for this child and till then he would take steps in providing educational activities necessary for the child by getting down a teacher to a community centre. However the Chairman of the Sri Lanka Human Rights Commission Dr. Mrs. Deepika Udagama says that a break in the rights of this child's for his education is created by that, as a result.
Because of the ignorance of parents in Kuliyapitiya, the future of a child still remains in suspense in vain.
