Riding From Crisis To Crisis
| by Gamini
Weerakoon
( December 16,
2012, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) What’s happening to the country? This is a
question frequently posed by thinking people and even those who do not think.
This is the question we were contemplating in our thinking chair, the
hansiputuwa, on Thursday morning but no ready answer was forthcoming.
There was the
‘War’ which we were told would end all our troubles but even after three years
defence expenditure is gobbling most of the income – Rs 231 billion – 23 per
cent more than last year. Everything is going up in price but no one seems to
care. There is a Sri Lankan satellite now up in space – we did it before the
North Koreans sent it last week – but fortunately this one was not at the cost
of the tax payer but by a foreign investor, we are told. But how is this
country going on from crisis to crisis? We pondered.
From crisis to
crisis
Three years ago
the ‘War’ ended. After that there was a national crisis on who won the ‘War’:
Sarath Fonseka or the Rajapaksa brothers? Fonseka, the Army Commander who led
the army and was described soon after the victory as the ‘Greatest army
commander in the world.’ But soon after that he was sacked and jailed.
It was a grave
political crisis but the ruling party organised playing raban, kiributh
gobbling throughout the island and staging victory parades.
Then there was
the presidential declaration: Patriots are those who are with us. Others are
traitors.
We can’t keep
track of the events but a major crisis occurred when we plunged into the ‘War
Crimes’ debate and the UNHCR moves made at Geneva. Dayan Jayatilleke, the new
Ambassador in Geneva at that time led Lanka to a spectacular victory but soon
Jayatilleke was back at home at his lectures in the Colombo campus. He had
stepped on the toes of an almighty person. Needless to say, you can’t prevent
rubber bouncing back and so has Jayatilleke and now he is in ‘Gay Paree’.
Then Sri Lanka
in the second Geneva round took on the mightiest of the mighty, the US of A,
and was roundly trounced. Patriots roared against neocolonialists, imperialists
and western hypocrisy, etc. causing national consternation.
We will be back
at Geneva next March and will there be another crisis?
Yes, Sri Lanka
has been going from crisis to crisis. We took on India whom we looked on as our
Godfather. We spoke and supported not only the 13th Amendment , produced and
directed in New Delhi but pledged even to enact 13 Plus – whatever it meant.
Then the Indians dealt us a resounding slap at the second round in Geneva and
we have not been offering the other cheek as good Christians do but griping and
threatening to end the 13th Amendment while abolishing provincial councils. In
the meantime we are embracing the Chinese.
Local Crises
Local crises we
simply cannot keep track of. There were suspects killed at police stations,
people surrounding and attacking the stations; ‘Grease Yakkas’ emerging from
the dark and embracing women from down South to the Jaffna peninsula, trade
union protests and a FTZ worker being shot dead by the police; fishermen in
Mannar demonstrating on roads and protesting against fuel hikes which
ultimately led to the Mannar Courts Complex being stormed and the magistrate
threatened. There was the showdown between two SLFP strongmen and leading
politicians and their gangs at Himbutana with one person being killed and the
other being shot through the head.
Crises keep
churning out by the day. Contaminated fuel being imported not once but twice;
hedging by officials familiar with cricket statistics dabbling in international
finance costing billions to the nation; the famous Z-Score controversy
affecting tens and thousands of innocent students; leakage of question papers
and more.
Crises keep
Lanka going
Reflecting on
all these crises – there were much more which we couldn’t recall – we realised
the secret of Lanka’s survival. This was our Eureka moment like that of
Archimedes. Only thing different was that we did not drop our sarong and sprint
down the road like Archimedes did in his birthday suit when he discovered the
Law of Specific Gravity, shouting ‘I have found it, I have found it’. We
celebrated our discovery quietly with a sip of the Golden Water of Life.
Our discovery
was: Sri Lanka survives because of the continuous cycle of political crises –
an incoming crisis knocking out from the public eye the existing crisis and
after some time the existing crisis being knocked out too by another. And life
goes on with the nation forgetting what happened the week before.
Velupillai
Prabhakaran, a very perceptive observer of Sinhalese society declared: The
Sinhalese have memories which last only two weeks. Absolutely true.
What escapes the
attention of most Sinhalese is that the main problems affecting the daily life
of the people are forgotten in the heat of these political crises. In bad old
times the rise in the price of rice, flour or sugar by a few cents brought
protestors on to the streets. Remember the Hartal of 1953 when the hike of rice
by a few cents caused violent demonstrations and a few people were shot dead by
the police. It led to the resignation of Prime Minister Dudley Senanayake.
In contrast the
price of a loaf of bread has risen from Rs 3.30 in Chandrika’s time to more
than Rs 50 today. But has there been a whimper of protest? People have been
blowing out their fuses, developing apoplexy on TV shows over political issues
but ignoring their pangs of hunger and even that of their children.
We are now in
the throes of the biggest political crisis in recent times, the impeachment of
Chief Justice Dr Shirani Bandaranayake. And this has helped the Rajapaksa
regime getting over the biggest financial crisis it has faced. The budget for
2013 was passed a few days ago, heaping terrible burdens on the poor and the
middle class as never before. Indirect taxes placed on essential commodities of
the people have sent prices sky rocketing. But the people were far more
concerned about the impeachment of Dr Shirani Bandaranayake and the budget was
passed in parliament without much fuss and bother.
Dr Shirani
Bandaranayake’s impeachment helped the easy and comfortable passage of the
budget which had the potential of causing riots.
What if
political crises fail to materialise in the Sri Lankan political scene in the
future? Simply ask Vermin and his son to attack some innocent people and the
whole country will rise against it, make a terrible fuss and forget about it
next week.
We have seen
that happen quite often. That’s what Vermin is there for.
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