Wednesday, 12 February 2014 00:01
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Beautifying urban areas, especially Colombo, is a primary focus of the Government. Caught up in this latest task of showing the capital in its best light, the Police have begun arresting beggars. According to media reports, around 60 of them have been rounded up over the last few days for being a “public nuisance” and have become the victims of a world that prefers fake beauty to true humanity.
Attempts have been made many times to “clean up” Colombo of beggars. They are usually made to disappear when international conferences and events come to the capital as was the case during the recently-concluded Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM). Ironically, the summit itself focused on inclusive development but clearly such lofty goals did not include the beggars on the streets.
A large part of Colombo’s population lives below the poverty line. While the Police would justify their actions based on the fact that beggars are known to engage in illegal activities, few fair-minded people would argue that poverty is the root cause of the problem. Without assisting these people to make at least a basic living, these removals by the police will only be temporary.
These people want pretty much the same things as everyone else. They want a living, a place to sleep and food. The fact that these basic elements cannot be earned is the main reason they are on the streets begging. While usage of children for begging should not happen, the reality is that there are few safe alternatives for kids where they will be looked after and their basic needs met.
In an environment where social services are being reduced and the cost of living is increasing rapidly, beggars have an even tougher time of eking out a living. They are the unsavoury, gritty, evil-smelling reality that most people would much rather not come into contact with. It disturbs the average citizen, swipes the arrogance from the rich and highlights the uncaring attitudes of society in general. This is not a mirror people want to look into. They would much rather beggars not prick apart their happy little bubbles.
But beggars do not care; or rather, they have no choice. Sri Lanka, for all the politically-termed descriptions applied by politicians, is a country where poor people live. The beggars of Colombo are simply a facet of that reality. Hauling them off and depriving them of what little income they have and pushing them heartlessly further down the path of misery is a terrible abuse of power.
Shelters need to be set up where beggars can go to sleep; they need access to healthcare and food. This is especially true of many old people found on the streets, abandoned and confused. Police especially need to empathise with people who are genuinely suffering and policymakers need to find ways to get at least some of them off the streets. Without alternatives, randomly arresting them is just another form of injustice. Even accurate numbers of beggars in Sri Lanka are unknown and assisting them as individuals all but non-existent.
Yet, perhaps the most important thing of all, is that society as a whole needs to change its attitude towards beggars and poor in general. Beggars are just as much a part of society as the elite. They need the help of everyone. Locking them away is symptomatic of the loss of humanity and that is something everyone should be ashamed of.
