This is not the sign of Jaffna: Those who are responsible for the mistakes that have happened should be held accountable
Member of Parliament Angajan Ramanathan posted a Facebook post about the concert held yesterday. It states that,
It is possible to observe mixed reviews from Sri Lanka, India and abroad regarding the Hariharan Live in Concert and Star Night which was held at Jaffna’s Yardveli Stadium yesterday.
Although the hosting of musical events in Jaffna and the resulting investment are to be welcomed, there should be no inflexibility in organizing such events.
Many people point out that the extraordinary situation of yesterday’s event could have been contained if proper planning had been done.
Various controversies like announcements about the event, confusion over tickets, last-minute changes in participating artistes, ground arrangements and security lapses have been pointed out as factors behind yesterday’s chaos.
On the other hand, some criticize the event for demeaning the people who went to see it. It is seen as deliberate politics to blame the mistakes made by some of them on the people of Jaffna as a whole.
I condemn the erring people and emphasize that we must understand that it is our traditional culture to take care not to embarrass the guests visiting the land.
Dealing with aggressive people is a unique personality trait. Moreover, when it was known that tens of thousands of people had pre-registered, the arrangements should be made perfectly.
Jaffna Municipal Council, Police and others involved in security should have acted with extra responsibility and ensured that the organizers provided correct information to them.
I learned that students were heavily involved in fan control. The decision to handle tens of thousands of fans with students who have no prior experience in such work is very surprising and sets a wrong precedent.
It is regrettable that yesterday’s concert has become an example of how mistakes made in arrangements can completely change the outcome of a big event.
In addition, there are chances that the comments published in the media on behalf of the organizers of the event, especially “No one wants to come to Jaffna. We have managed to come…” also had an impact on the event that took place last night.
They must understand that their point of view may be different and that the words and tone used have created a stir among people. I request Brother Indran Padmanathan, who has a great desire to do good things for Jaffna, to pay more attention to this matter.
At the same time, it is also necessary for the organizers of the event to hold a media conference and give an explanation before South Indian artists and the media build wrong impressions about the people of Jaffna based on yesterday’s events. Such accountability should be carried forward to hold such musical events in the future.
I request that no one should take the opportunity to portray Jaffna and its people as wrong on the basis of belonging to Jaffna and emphasize that it is necessary to recognize our mistakes and improve self-discipline.
At the same time, we should also remember that we are the ones who behaved with dignity in large gatherings like this, Indravizha, Valvettithura graduation, temple functions etc.
So I request the departmental people to learn from yesterday’s mistakes and organize better events in future.
This is not the identity of the people of Jaffna.