We are digging our own grave

by Dr. H.W. Tillekeratne

(July 28, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) It is 60 years since we gained independence and we boasted that we achieved it without bloodshed. Little did we know then that the bloodshed was yet to come.

We are today faced with a never-ending war, killings, abductions, absence of law and order, and thriving bribery and corruption. But the funny thing is that wrong doers do not get the punishment they deserve. They go scot-free and continue to commit more crimes. The law does not get enforced although billions are spent to maintain the law enforcement arm.

Many believe that politics has ruined this country. It is time to correct this situation at least now. Better late than never. Innocent people are finding it difficult to live. So let us live and also let others live.

If we do not do this what do we leave for the generations to come? A country going down the precipice leading to death and destruction — a failed state, a banana republic, and not the ‘pearl of the Indian ocean.’

It is our own seeking. It is time that those who are responsible for this mess give deep thought to the problem and rectify the wrongs done, which is not easy. But it has to be done somehow. No country can escape from the repercussions of its own making.

At the start of independence we had good politicians; but now they are a minority. It is time that people do not vote for those who cannot live up to the reputation of the parties they represent, and the political parties present candidates who are worth their salt for election.

It has often been reported that the very persons who should be seeing to the implementation of the law do exactly the reverse. In this predicament the people have to grin and bear. This has been happening for too long and it is time the powers that be do something to correct the situation. The people see that this is a perilous situation and expect the change to come from the top. Any country that does not work to build a righteous society seeks its own doom. This is abominable.

God forbid this!
- Sri Lanka Guardian