Roshan pays the ultimate price for crusade against corruption

Roshan Ranasinghe turned martyr after he was sacked as Minister of Sports on Monday afternoon following his relentless crusade against corruption at Sri Lanka Cricket Institute.

His sacking came as no surprise. It was only to be expected. It was writ on his brow on the first day itself he launched his brave crusade against the entrenched towers of corruption at Sri Lanka’s Cricket institute which has become a state within a state. It’s an Unholy See whose officials jealously protect its monopolistic hold on the national sporting religion of our times, and in cricket’s revered name, exploit the riches it churns out to further their own interests.

It zealously guards its territorial borders - as a State would do to protect its sovereignty - and, shrouded in secrecy, protects its interests by warding off any inquiries made into the rotten state of Sri Lanka’s cricket as an infernal interference into the internal affairs of a de facto sovereign entity. It does not hold itself accountable to the public and varnishes its torrid existence by occasionally condescending to drop the jangling donation to the government’s proffered bowl.

In the wake of his campaign to expose corruption at the SLC, ruffled feathers questioned his motives and even attempted to taint his character with ludicrous allegations of corruption.

It doesn’t concern us what his motives were to expose in Parliament corruption at Sri Lanka Cricket. A man without motive is a psychopath who acts without rhyme or reason and a most dangerous item to have on the loose. If his motive was to further his political ambitious by attempting to disassociate himself from his corruption ridden SLPP, to distance himself from the scarlet colour of corruption that has made Sri Lanka bleed, so be it. It’s a commendable act for others in the party to emulate if - even at

Neither must it concern us whether the man is corrupt or not. One who has broken bread with corrupt SLPP party men can hardly be expected to rise from such perverse company without carrying with him the stink of the sewers. Suffice to say that the few ludicrous allegations that have been thrown at him since he began his mission to dethrone the corrupt at Sri Lanka Cricket have been hurled by his detractors with knives out for his blood.

His recent track record seems to suggest that he is a man who stands up for his beliefs. One who doesn’t sacrifice his principles for a mess of political pottage.

On 2nd April last year Roshan resigned f rom Pre s i d e n t Gotabaya’s government as State Minister of Local Government and Provincial Councils. He also resigned as the SLPP District organiser for Polonnaruwa. The issue over which he quit was Gotabaya’s failure to provide quality organic fertiliser to enraged farmers following the presidential ban on chemical farming.

The strength of his mettle was

If the Lankan public have to wait for a thoroughly rinsed haloed messiah to come along, one whose personal motives are above question, whose character is beyond reproach, one driven only by a compelling patriotic zeal, prompted solely by an ardent altruistic love for his motherland to cleanse her broadacres of the black soot of corruption, they might as well await the promised advent of a saint.

Are the 6.9 million people – nearly half of the qualified voters – that brought back the Rajapaksa regime four years ago, still stuck with guilt? Do they not truly wish to see corruption totally eliminated? Is there some deep inexplicable reason why they quickly rush to find some flaw or chink in the armour of a new inquisitor at corruption’s gate? If so, as Anne Bronte said, ‘ they who dare not grasp the thorn, should never crave the rose.’

The pressing need of the hour is to rid this land of corruption. It hardly matters if it’s the devil himself who does the job. If the whole acreage cannot be weeded overnight, then, at least, let it be done weed by weed, acre by acre. But what hope is there for the land to be redeemed when, in these accursed times we live, even the Gods appear to side with agents of corruption to let evil reign.

The nation should be batting for those against corruption: not be striving to bowl them out.

Four weeks ago, in an unusual but welcome show of unity, the Lankan Parliament unanimously passed a resolution which called for the immediate abolition of the Sri Lankan cricket Board. Yet, today, the entire Board still rules the cricketing roost while the inquisitor lies in the dust, impaled upon his sword; and a unanimous parliamentary resolution, which could have impeached a President, lies rendered impotent. This would suffice to starkly show the reality of Lanka today.

Roshan may have failed, made mistakes and, perhaps, his somewhat rebellious attitude may have made him outstep his ambit in his crusade. But he has been brave to raise his sword against corruption which the IMF warned in its forensic report, as the biggest drain on Lanka’s resources. The obstacles that arose and which finally defeated his crusade, reveal the dangerous extent corruption’s tentacles have coiled around and tightened its grip on the pillars on which democracy rests.

The President, no doubt, may have had his own good reasons, other than Roshan’s crusade against corruption at SLC, for stripping him of all his cabinet portfolios – the Ministries of Sports, Youth and Irrigation - but whatever those reasons were, the end result has been to, even unintentionally, deliver just what his enemies had yearned: Roshan’s decapitated head on a platter.

Alas, the people briefly glimpsed with hope, a light at the end of the black tunnel of corruption. Their forlorn hopes were made more forlorn when it became clear it had been nothing more than the last burst of flare from a dying firefly’s light.

The whole episode shows that one David alone cannot combat and slay this fattened Goliath of corruption in Lanka’s cricket den.