Let the focus of Sri Lanka shift from politics to public welfare

| by N.S.Venkataraman

( May 21, 2012, Chennai, Sri Lanka Guardian) After all the stress and strain undergone by Sri Lanka during the last several years due to ethnic war and separatist movement, Sri Lanka is now in a position to take a big leap forward. It is the responsibility of the Sri Lankan government and the people to make possible such big leap forward.

A disabled Sri Lankan Army person rests during a Victory Day parade rehearsal in Colombo on May 16, 2012. Sri Lanka celebrates War Heroes Week with a military parade scheduled for May 19.- Getty Images

It is very unfortunate that after the end of this ethnic war, Sri Lanka appears to have been bogged down in avoidable and counter productive political controversies and mistrust, with political murders and attack on journalists becoming too frequent. This obviously indicates that the political leaders in Sri Lanka, whatever the party that they belong to, are not able to think beyond themselves and they seem to be pre occupied in mutual distrust and one up manship. As a result, Sri Lanka appears to be losing the advantages that it has gained by overcoming its troubled period of conflicts.

In several countries in South East Asia , though political parties exist and elections are held at regular intervals, this have not made the democratic institutions and culture in these regions wholesome. The regions have not been benefited by the system of democracy as practiced. The democratic system is supposed to enable transfer of power from one political party to other in a smooth and peaceful manner as per the will of the people. While this is as it should be , the fact is that high bitterness and mutual hatred between the politicians of different groups have come to mar the system and kill the spirit of democracy. Sri Lanka is not the only country that is facing such problem But, that is no reason for consolation.

The leaders of various political parties seem to be thinking that their main task is to outdo each other and they even go to the extent of putting the opponent in prison under various pretexts. Then, judiciary steps in with prolonged hearings and gives one judgement or the other, which only leave an air of bitterness and suspicions all round.

If one would carefully analyse, it can be clearly seen that these problems are man made or rather made by self centred politicians. The politicians appear to think that public opinion do not matter and they conduct themselves with scant regard for public perceptions. Obviously, they find it possible to indulge in such acts because the public largely remain dormant and have reduced themselves to the level of creatures sitting in the gallery and watching helplessly.

It is high time that the citizens of Sri Lanka should demand that the government and the political leaders shift the focus from politics to public welfare. A lot of good things still remain to happen in Sri Lanka. There are immense possibilities to set up industrial projects and build research and educational institutions that will empower the

Sri Lankan citizens in the international arena. The task of creating confidence amongst the Tamil minority group

still remains half done. All this would be possible only if the focus would shift away from politics to public welfare.

It is in the power of people to achieve this goal. The fact is that people are not exercising such potent power by expressing their views strongly and despising the corrupt people,which gives confidence and courage to the dishonest elements in politics.