Danger of wearing borrowed feathers
(This is a true story.
Locations are correct. However names of individuals were changed to
protect the innocent)
The year was 1972, the beginning of Mahaweli project. First phase was Polgolla and
the second phase was the Bowatenna complex. Bowatenna complex consisted of a dam across Amban Ganga
and a four and a half Mile long tunnel to convey the water to North Central
Province. Head of the tunnel was at Naula and the tail was at Lenadora.
Basically people in Lenadora did not like the Mahaweli project
for a valid reason. There was no benefit to them from the project. Mahaweli
water flows through their backyard to Huruluwewa and Kalawewa. without giving
them water. Further most of them lost
their land to the project work, receiving minimal compensation. This anger
trickled down to the people who worked on the project.
Lenadora was a primitive village. There was no electricity.
People used kerosene lamps. At night villagers used to carry flash lights when
going from field to homes.
People who worked on the project were mostly young ones who
wore trousers. Village folk used to wear sarongs. Naturally young females of the village got attracted to trouser
clad boys who came from the city.
It was a Monday. Early morning, around seven a mob of
villagers surrounded the Mahaweli office.
They demanded that the office be closed and all those who work on the
project sent back to where they came from.
The storey went like this. Previous night one influential farmer
returned to his home around 6:30 pm. after hard days work in the field. His house was partially constructed like many
houses in the area. There were three rooms in the house. The front room had
only window frame. There was a table and three chairs in this room.
As he entered the house he looked at the front room. He saw
his 14 year old daughter with a young man. This man jumped through the window
and ran away. With his dimmed flash light he got a glimpse of the man. The
stranger was wearing trousers. As such there was no ambiguity that he is one of
the people who worked for the project, and not a village folk. This incident
mingled with similar incidents made it possible for the man to gather a mob to
attack the Mahaweli office.
The senior project engineer(SPE) could not handle the
situation. At that time Naula had only
four telephones. One at the police station, one at Mahaeli office one with the
MP and one at the hospital. Telephone
numbers were two digits unlike 10 digits today. Our telephone number was 17. No
direct dialling. One has to 'book' a call and wait. Generally waiting time was
about 2 hours.
Mahawli office was privileged to have a radio link. We
communicated with our head office via the radio. SPE contacted the head office and told about the incident
and said that the situation was very serious. Head office instructed him to
find the culprit and dismiss him immediately. So the SPE asked all those who
are in the age range 20 to 30 years to come to site office immediately.
An identification parade was carried out to identify the
person. Father of the girl, Kusuma identified the man as Ruwan who was a
technical assistant(TA). TA was furious. He denied and said that he never left
his official residence previous evening. At this twin house there were two engineers
and five TAs. Two of the TA's who were
sharing the quarters confirmed that they were playing bridge with Ruwan from 6
pm till about 9 pm the previous night. However the farmer (Kusuma's father)
said that there is no doubt that this is the person. He further said that he
had a flash light and chased the man in the dark. However the young man managed
to escape.
Ruwan told the SPE
that he is innocent. But the villager's eye witness was more powerful than
Ruwan's denial. When informed the head office of the outcome of the parade
Ruwan was transferred to Kalawewa with immediate effect. He was given only one
hour to pack things up. As he left in his jeep villagers who were gathered
jeered and were shouting anti Mahaweli slogans.
It is a common practice that when a person leaves the site a
farewell party is given. But Ruwan was
not given one. There was no time for a party. So after about two weeks later a
farewell party was organised for Ruwan. Only young engineers and TAs were
invited for the party. There was more than enough liquor. Sanath, a recently
graduated lived in the adjoining house. After about two hours into the party Sanath, told Ruwan that there is a secret that he
need to disclose. What is it Sir? 'I am the one who went to Kusuma's house that evening' What? What
Then why is that farmer identified you without any doubt? Ruwan had a beautiful batik shirt. White. red
and black. That day afternoon Ruwan washed this shirt and had it on the clothes
line for drying. When Sanath was on his way to Kusuma's house he saw this shirt
and wore it. After returning he put it
back on the cloths line. Unfortunately following day morning Ruwan wore the
same shirt to the identification parade. So in
reality farmer identified the shirt and not the individual.
I took this example at one of my engineering ethics lectures
at the University of Ruhuna. I asked the students who was wrong. Who was
unethical. These were some of the answers I got
SPE - not conducted a thorough investigation
Mahaweli head ofice - Took a quick decisions without properly
studying the case
Sanath - should have told the truth and saved innocent
fellow subordinate
Ruwan - visiting a young girl without consent of her parents
The Girl - Majority of the class said that it is girl's
fault. She knew the truth and was silent.
This incident took place in 1972, 45 years ago. Since then
The SPE went to USA, university of Texas at Austin to do his
PhD and did not return to Mahaweli
Ruwan, worked his entire life at Mahawli. Last year passed
away after a brief illness
Sanath is retired as a
deputy director of Mahaweli when he retired
Kusuma, married a sarong clad boy from Naula.
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