Life has a beginning and an end. So does terrorism. It has a beginning and an end. But in a country, corruption has no beginning and no end.

Look at the situation in our country.

1. There is the COPE report on corruption in many state institutions

2. There is the VAT Scam

3. PAYE SCAM in CEB

4. There is the ‘Waters Edge’ deal, Thavakkal deal, selling of Air Lanka and Ceylon Oxygen and many other questionable deals by the former president

5. The Fertilizer corporation deals recently reported

Not a day passes without a report of a massive fraud in some dept, some corporation. Most corrupt deals involve ministers or institutions under them. I have simply lost count of them. There is rampant corruption all round us involving public funds. There is gross waste of public funds by ministries and depts. And corporations. There are lavish parties at state expense. There are celebrations and events at state expense involving millions. Just the other day it was revealed that a press conference cost the state one million. Who cares? Not the president, or the cabinet, or the secretary to the treasury. THEY ARE SILENT. No voices are raised in parliament except by the JVP, COPE and the auditor general.

I have heard that no prosecutions can be brought in the case of the Minister of Sports and its officials involved in a big foreign visa racket. The police, I'm told, has been instructed not to question the Minister. No prosecution could be brought because there is insufficient evidence.

In the case against ex-Air Force officer Gajanayake, also it is said there is insufficient evidence. This seems to be a pattern that is developing - most bribery and corruption cases fail due to insufficient evidence. The politicians would interfere with the police and not allow them to gather evidence. Or the culprits are allowed to escape abroad. Interpol is not being asked to arrest these million dollar crooks who have stolen state funds.

With this new ruse of the government - of having no evidence to proceed with prosecutions, the government will let corrupt officials and politicians escape the courts. If the practice of bribery and corruption continues unchecked, we would win against terrorists but in the long-term we will lose the battle against elimination of corruption. Sri Lanka will be a haven for corruption and bribery and we would go from being poor to one of the poorest nations in the world, Remember we have one million households or 4.5 million people below the poverty line. A recent report which says that there has been a 50 percent reduction in wheat flour consumption does not mean the people are eating 50 percent more rice - which is even more expensive. Many people are not eating at all and are therefore starving.

The government penchant for extravagance is stupefying. Much of the expenditure is for personal comforts - duty free cars, pensions, housing, allowances, insurance and trips abroad, subsidized meals etc. The President does not check waste, himself engaging in wasteful expenditure.

To let public servants who were corrupt to escape, Basil Rajapaksa, the President's younger brother in his first meeting in COPE, said that most of these seemingly corrupt practices were either due to negligence or carelessness on the part of public officials. He is thus setting the stage once again to exonerate corrupt public servants and officials from. It appears that the government is frightened of investigations into corruption.

How convenient it is to say that there is insufficient evidence in B&C cases. Firstly you can ask police not to collect evidence, secondly you can suppress the evidence if collected. The chances are that before going to court the court action is thwarted.

There is a distinct feeling in the country that the government and particularly the President is silent on B&C, thus encouraging it. The latest is the unwarranted removal of the DG of the B&C Commission. Justice Ismail, President of the Bribery Commission said that clearly it is an attempt to stop ongoing prosecutions for B&C.

We have a right to ask why the President is soft on B&C. Is something in his past haunting him?