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“My life could have saved - If there was RTI” – Roshan Chanaka’s rebirth speaks

I am Roshan Chanaka, the person who shot dead in the protest against the Pension Scheme for private sector at Kutunayake on last June 2011. As a youngster I never thought god may invite me sooner into the heaven as I was a peaceful person from my childhood. Though I am not from a wealthy family background I am lucky to have the attitude to stand up from my own feet. So I walked up to a job in the industry of garments which approximately supports the economy by 32% foreign exchange to my mother lanka. I was a fresher to industry.

I had a beautiful house, a vehicle and many more always in my dreams. Everything was shattered in few seconds in a way I never expected.

On that day I walked on to the protest with no idea. What I only knew was that the government is getting ready to pass a bill regarding a pension scheme for private sector. That news was also got to know from my friends and through media then and there.

When I was walking through the protest I asked my friend who was next to me “Do you know what percentage of our salary is going to pay as the pension once we retired?”

I am sure you can imagine the answer. Because I know there were few people who exactly new about that. The minister who was handling the case was almost new nothing about it. So there is no wonder and a possibility for us to know that what was exactly in the bill.
We all live in the era of Technology and Information. There is no value in Information without its credibility. I knew there is something going to happen and it’s going to be happening with certain effects to our EPF, ETF and Gratuity was also known by me. But there is no point in knowing that without the exact facts.

I thought whether I kept my own life at a risk by walking on a protest without understanding its purpose.

I honestly feel my decision was fair because I have a right to protest for anything which affects my future negatively. I tried my level best to find the content but there were no mechanism to aware us about the exact facts in this bill. Truly I was miss lead. I was miss lead because I was not aware of the information that I wanted. All agree on one thing. In this millennium Information is money, Information is opportunity. But in my case Information has become LIFE.

Unknowingness of all details convinced me to walk and participate on the protest. If we had a proper mechanism to demand the Information we wanted I would not have been participated on that event. I am already gone. I still do not know whether the private pension bill is good or bad for the people in the private sector. But inability of awareness and inability of deliver the accurate, credible information created a disaster. Not only a disaster but a huge negative impact on my mother land.
If we had the act for RIGHT TO INFORMATION we could have demand the information what we are interested in. Before I walked in the protest I could have gone through the bill and get to know what is exactly in this scheme.

The RIGHT TO INFORMATION can not only demand the raw information but also the Quality and supplier details as well. I am sure that the best precaution for the conflicts that can occur due to information gap is the act RIGHT TO INFORMATION. RIGHT TO INFORMATION gives benefits for countries like us the most. We can use this act as a direct tool against the corruption. Politicians can prove their selves that they are pure and solid because anybody can demand the details of their ministries and the processers of recruitments.

I never had a last will because I had to go in a moment that I never thought. People say that I sacrificed my life against the bill of Pension scheme in the private sector. It might be true up to a certain extent. But I wish if I could sacrifice my life for worthy
cause such as RIGHT TO INFORMATION.

But

“MY LIFE COULD HAVE CAHANGED IF THERE WAS RTI”
Roshan Chanaka’s Voice
By Dhananath Fernando.

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