Sri Lanka, Aug. 18 -- We often read headline news about billions of rupees owed by large-scale loan defaulters to State-owned banks. But there is another story-one that tells us something disturbing about how differently debt can affect the poor and the powerful.
Go back to the 1970s. A poor man running a tiny cottage industry making wooden ornamental birds borrowed just Rs. 250 from a rural bank branch. When he failed to repay the small loan, the bank demanded payment and the guarantor pursued him relentlessly. Unable to face the pressure and humiliation, the unfortunate man took his own life by jumping before a train.
Now compare that with the behaviour of some affluent, influential and highly educated industrialists who have defaulted ...