Huge opportunities for economic and social progress are awaiting Sri Lanka and international investments would start pouring in a big way , if the Sri Lankan government would be able to create an appropriate climate without giving room for suspicion that the government would be vindictive against anyone for any reason. Social and national stability is vitally important to achieve rapid economic and industrial progress and it is the primary responsibility of the government to promote and maintain such stability.
l by N.S.Venkataraman
(19 July, 2012, Chennai, Sri Lanka Guardian) After many years of conflict and strife, Sri Lanka is now in a position to forge ahead. However, the counter productive arrest of former Chief of army Fonseka created bad blood and feelings of bitterness between different political parties which should have been avoided . Unfortunately, it was not to be.
What is ultimately important for the country is to achieve social and economic progress and improve the sense of happiness amongst the country men. Such positive developments can take place only if conducive and amicable atmosphere would be built and sustained. It is primarily the responsibility of the Government of Sri Lanka to create and maintain such conditions. It appears that Sri Lankan government has failed in this task until now.
Even now, it is not late for the Sri Lankan government to undo its mistakes and create a new path towards peace and harmony. In any democratic society, there have to be necessarily ruling party and opposition party and it is the duty and responsibility of the opposition party to be critical of the government and oppose those policies which it would not approve. Strong arguments and debates between the government and the opposition parties is the essence and the beauty of the democracy.
When the opposition parties play such role, there is no reason for the ruling party and the government to feel annoyed and put down such opposition parties. Many got an impression when Mr. Fonseka was arrested that the government was really trying to put down the opposition party and was intolerant of criticism. Such attitude of the government cannot enhance the quality and spirit of democracy and would only become counter productive. Possibly, the government realized it to some extent by releasing Mr. Fonseka from prison but it is yet to show any convincing action to prove that it really means to accept the role of opposition parties to oppose and criticize.
In the case of handling the media, there have been severe criticism of Sri Lankan government’s treatment meted out to the section of media and journalists. Just like opposition parties, media has to function as watchdog in a democratic society and the government should allow it to play its role as watchdog. It is possible that in some cases, section of the media may have played negative role and in that case, the solution is not to arrest the journalists or suppress the media but apply the rule of law and haul such media personnel in the court of law as per the prevailing regulations.
Huge opportunities for economic and social progress are awaiting Sri Lanka and international investments would start pouring in a big way , if the Sri Lankan government would be able to create an appropriate climate without giving room for suspicion that the government would be vindictive against anyone for any reason. Social and national stability is vitally important to achieve rapid economic and industrial progress and it is the primary responsibility of the government to promote and maintain such stability. The task cannot be achieved by suppressing the opposition party or section of media and the government should realize this.
It is true that all social and political issues cannot be sorted out in one stroke and Sri Lanka is facing difficult issues , particularly relating to the Sri Lankan Tamils in certain regions. While the problems cannot be solved in short time, building an atmosphere of peace and confidence will create faith in the people who will willingly cooperate and wait for the grievances to be met.
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