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There are quite a few places of tourist interest in Sri Lanka, most
of them with religious significance that requires a permit to be
obtained, if a tourist wishes to photograph or video record the place.
This is an archaic regulation that has no place in the modern world.
Such a practice is still implemented only in a few places in the world
like in India and Sri Lanka.
If a tourist requires to take pictures of places of interest he or
she should be free to do so without going through cumbersome
bureaucratic procedures. This restriction has no meaning today as it is
quite difficult to implement with almost every new cellular phone now
having built in cameras and video recorders making it difficult to keep
tab on who is taking photos. The income generated from such permits are
also not high.
It is time that the Government repeals this camera permit
requirement. Doing away with this requirement does not mean that we
should relax the guidelines on being respectful in taking photos of
religious places. They should still be implemented strictly.
Sri Lanka needs a lot of tourists and we should make places of
religious and historic interest tourism friendly.
Tourists who visit places of interest like to take pictures and there
should be no obstruction placed for that provided that they do so within
the guidelines. With more pictures now being sent across in e-mails and
internet, allowing to freely photograph those places of interest would
attract more interest boosting the potential for tourism.
K.G.E.,
Nugegoda
A friend of mine who was hoping to join her husband on a trip to
Italy went to the Embassy of Italy in Sri Lanka to get the visa and to
her horror, the Embassy officials in Sri Lanka had requested her to
bring a passport with a photo without Hijab - mind you, not just a photo
without Hijab for the visa, but change the passport altogether.
She has asked whether she can take a photo with just the ear showing
(even that is distasteful to Muslim woman) and they have refused
categorically.
This is certainly an infringement on our human rights. This country
itself allows the passport with Hijab. But some outsider is asking to
change our passports. Imagine the hassle one has to undergo for this.
Almost all the other countries accept the passport of Muslim women with
hijab.
What are they afraid of - why are they so obsessed this little piece
of clothe on the women's head? Surely there are ways to verify a
person's identity in this 21st century without looking at their head.
Let them take the fingerprints or the tongue print or the picture of the
fundus(the interior of eye).
What is there to prevent a woman change her hairstyle and go after
taking the photo? Often women do - straightening the hair, perming the
hair, cutting it short or letting it grow long etc.etc. As if the hair
is a valid way of identifying a person.
I wonder if a person takes the photo with hair on and then shaves the
head, whether they will refuse entry into their country.
Hope the Ministry of Cultural Affairs and the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs will take action to rectify this glaring injustice.
Covering the head for a woman is a religious obligation in Islam. We
are required to cover our beauty to non mahram men - why does it bother
the men so much?
DR. MAREENA THAHA REFFAI,
Dehiwela
I read with much interest and concern the very vivid,
thought-provoking and pertinent article by D.R.P. Abeysinghe in the
Daily News of March 5.
I have produced many articles to the print media over a period of
time, on a similar experience but alas, nothing has changed, and no
authority, be it the Police, Grama Niladhari, temple or Local
Authorities etc. have taken any action at all to rid this unlawful use
of loudspeakers by the temple in the area.
Worse than the experience of the said writer, in my area, the
loudspeakers are placed at a distance of 1 km and another about 2 kms
from the temple and my residence is 2 kms away from the temple and I am
still a victim.
Why on earth has this been done and why haven't the authorities,
specially the police taken any action at all, to arrest this unlawful
act, beats me and depresses me.
The referred article contains all the facts anyone needs to know
about noise pollution, unlawful use of loudspeakers, highhanded acts by
temple authorities, the trauma of victims etc. and the stark inaction of
the police.
Can the authorities especially, the police in their respective areas
please initiate necessary action, to rid this menace, which is
un-religious and above all, illegal in the first place?
VICTIMISED
I hasten to write this letter to thank both the Daily News and H.W.
Goonasekera for the letter in the Citizens Mail in the Daily News of
March 14 on the 'Poor roads in Panadura town'.
Apart from the pot-holes referred to in the letter all roadside
drains too are dilapidated.
This is a grave problem affecting hundreds of road-users who suffer
in silence. May be that the Local Councillors do not read English
newspapers but now that the Divisional Secretary is at the helm of
affairs, it is up to him to direct those responsible to attend to these
neglected matters. If he does so, it is very essential that he gets a
feed-back on the progress made.
I appeal to the Divisional Secretary to initiate action on this
matter before the roads become impassable.
V. K. WIJERATNA,
Panadura
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