My dear Sri Lankans keep up your freedom fight and do not give up and yet, be mindful of all that you do. Sri Lankans are internationally famous for their good manners, behaviours and good attitude.
by A Patriotic Lankan in the UK
We are going through one of the most difficult times in Sri Lankan history. No doubt Sri Lanka has experienced many political upheavals in its history and yet, this political unrest is rather a political revolution of young Sri Lankan youths. Today, the Sri Lankan youths have taken this initiative to clean up the Sri Lankan politics. For the last one month, they have been so beautifully and peacefully doing this protest in Galle Face to get rid of this corrupt regime until some political thugs attacked them.
The Rajapaksa family and its cohort assumed that they could get away with this crowd if they sent some thugs to disperse them. They wanted to follow the cunning tricks and stratagem of SISI of Egypt and Assad of Syria to disperse our youths from Galle Face. They did not know that the Sri Lankan political culture and traditions are not like that of Egyptian or Syrian political culture. In those countries, they do not have any good democratic traditions or heritage and yet, we have inherited some best democratic traditions in Sri Lanka. All those traditions are put into jeopardy by this Rajapaksa family one by one. The Sri Lankan treasury is emptied by them, and Sri Lanka inherited one of the best public administration systems in ASIA. The Sri Lankan judiciary was once regarded as one of the best in Asia. All these public institutions are destroyed by the Rajapaksa family and its cohort willingly or unwillingly. The Rajapaksa family created a chaotic situation in this country through their corrupt politics. They introduced corruption and fraud in every fabric and layer of government apparatus in Sri Lanka. From local government members to government MPs started to milking government coffers till we are left with only 50m foreign reserve to buy essential food items according to Ranil Wickremasinghe.
These youths know who did this mess to this country and how did they do it and what are the way forward to get rid of this. They are no longer ready to accept any political manipulation on this matter. They no longer want to change the pillow for this political headache rather they want to have a total political change without any thugs and ineptitude leaders in power. They demand a complete system change and they want to create a new political culture and traditions in Sri Lanka. Youths of modern-day Sri Lanka are highly educated, diligent, and wise. They are well organised digitally, technologically, scientifically, economically, politically, and culturally. Galle Face protest campaign displays all these skills and talents, and sense of humour and good manners of our youths in Sri Lanka. They all love this country, and they all want to contribute to and develop this country. This generation of Sri Lankan youth has all the abilities, skills, and talents to develop this country. Above all, they have inspiration, aspiration, dedication, devotion and hardworking ethics for this country. otherwise, they would not have sacrificed all the 30 days in the scorching sun and pouring rains. No one paid them to come here but all of them spent their money to come here from various parts of the country to do something good for the better future of this country. Now politicians and community leaders are talking about the way out of this crisis.
How do we come out of this crisis? This is a crucial time in modern Sri Lankan political history. 22 million Sri Lankans must act with some responsibility on this issue. All of us have some moral and ethical duty and responsibility to save this country from any anarchy and chaotic conditions. Many different suggestions are made to come out of this crisis. It is suggested to set up
1) Some mediations and negotiation teams to come to terms with protesters and the government. It is suggested that some community leaders and professionals such as judges, doctors, engineers, monks and other professionals should come out and negotiate with the protesters to resolve this political deadlock.
2) It is suggested that an interim government should be set up to resolve this issue.
3) It is suggested to call for a fresh election. The Sri Lankan Guardian editorials have held this view
4) It is feared unless reconciliation is made, the Rajapaksa family may use the military to take over. But I do not think that the Sri Lankan military will do this. Because why should they damage their good name for the political mistake of the Rajapaksa family and why should they take responsibility to save the sinking ship of the political regime of the Rajapaksa family. I think Sri Lankan military leaders are smart enough to know all this.
It is not my objective here to predict what would be next in Sri Lankan politics but, my intention here is to highlight the importance of protecting our political and public institutions. Neil Ferguson has highlighted the importance of protecting democratic institutions in western countries. We know western countries have some of the best democratic and public institutions in the world today and still, he insisted that those democratic institutions must be preserved and protected from decay and degeneration. This is what Sri Lankan youths try to do in Sri Lanka in their protest in Galle Face. N. Ferguson argues that humanitarian organizations have two patterns. “Natural state or limited access pattern” and “open access pattern”. The former is characterised by
--a slow-growing economy,
--Relatively few non-state organizations,
-- a small and quite centralised government, operating without the consent of the governed, and
--- social relationships organised along personal and dynastic lines.
The latter is characterised by
--a faster -growing-economy
-- a vibrant civil society with lots of organizations
-- a bigger, more decentralized government; and
--- social relationships government by impersonal forces like the rule of law, involving secure property rights, fairness and (at least in theory) equality.”
Some radical social, political, and legal reformation processes went through European nations gradually and yet steadily until modern times since 1500 C.E. These changes did not take place overnight. Europe engaged in long religious and political conflicts from the dark ages until modern times. However, Westerners managed to come out of all these conflicts after World War II. How did they come out? Ferguson notes that “Between the Conquest and the Glorious Revolution, England went from being a ‘fragile’ natural state to be a ‘basic’ one and then a ‘mature one’, characterised by an extensive set of institutions governing, regulating, and enforcing property rights in land capable of supporting impersonal exchange among elites.… The decisive breakthrough to open access came with the American and French revolutions, which saw the spread of incorporation in various forms, and the legitimation of open competition in both the economic and political spheres. The components of a modern political order are identified as “a strong and capable state, the state’s subordination to a rule of law and government accountability to all citizens. ”
It is argued that Europe pioneered political reform, application of rule of law, and bringing elected government into accountability. It succeeded in establishing a strong and accountable government. The reason for the success of western Europe is noted by some academics. “The reason that Britain is richer than Egypt is that in 1688 England had a revolution that transformed the politics and thus, the economics of the nation. People fought for and won more political rights and used them to expand their economic opportunities. The result was a fundamentally different political and economic trajectory, culminating in the Industrial revolutions.”
Although it is not appropriate to compare political revolutions in Europe to our conditions in Sri Lanka and yet, the basic political aspirations of our people today are different from those of Europeans who were suppressed by rulers in their countries. What I want to highlight is that people in Europe gained their political freedom and liberty through all these sacrifices they made in the past. We all have a moral duty to maintain law and order in this country and we all have a moral duty to strengthen our democratic institutions such as our parliament, judiciary, and other public institutions. All these public institutions are bedrocks of our social and political organization. The government institutions, departments, apparatus, democratic system, public administration, the rule of law and civil society are an integral part of human organization and lifestyle in modern society.
These components are like interconnected political, economic, legal, and social black boxes. He argues that “inside these political, economic, legal, and social black boxes are highly complex sets of interlocking institutions. As the circuit boards inside your computer or your smartphone, it is these institutions that make the gadget work. And if it stops working, it is probably because of a defect in the institutional wiring. You cannot understand what is wrong just by looking at the shiny casing. You need to look inside…. The simple point is that institutions are to humans what hives are to bees. They are the structures within which we organize ourselves as groups. You know when you are inside, just as a bee knows when it is in the hives. Institutions have boundaries, often walls. And, crucially, they have rules.
What do you expect from the bees when someone starts to attack the beehives? Do you expect them not to react and defend themselves from their attackers? This is what exactly the Rajapaksa family and their cohort did for this country. They started to dismantle, demolish, and degenerate our democratic institutions one by one. Yet, our youths have been tolerating all these for years now. Yet, when they find their parents can not feed their children and when they see that their country is looted day by day, they did not have any alternative but to come out in public for a system change.
We have had some excellent political leaders in this country in the past. No doubt about it. I have always admired the leadership skills of late Srima and Lalith Athulathmudali. In old days, our political leaders had true loyalty and dedication to this country. I will highlight here two occurrences or incidents to illustrate this point. In 1977, the government of Srima was badly defeated. Our local MP Mr Ratnayake was badly defeated by his counterpart Mr Beligammana. I was a teenager at this time, and I used to go to Colombo by bus in those days. I had seen this honourable politician Mr Ratnayake getting on onto the CTB bus with his black colour handbag and setting in the front seat behind the bus driver on many occasions. This honourable politician wholeheartedly consented and accepted his defeat in his election, and he preferred to go by the public bus without any superiority complex or power addiction. He did not suffer from “ chair psychology” to give up his post and the parliamentary privilege. Soon after the election defeat, he intermingled with the public and became one of them without power addiction. We see such mindsets, attitudes, and behaviours in many politicians in western countries. once politicians are defeated, they give up all their governmental privileges and yet, in Sri Lanka our politicians expect the public must respect them and honour them forever.
Another incident happened in 1974 or 1975. I read this story from the biography of Late PM Srima Bandaranayake. It was reported a Chinese delegation came to Sri Lanka in 1974 or 1975 for a regional conference in Sri Lanka. After all official engagements, the Chinese delegation was keen to visit some parts of the countryside ( Nuwara-Eliya) before they depart for China. So, they asked our late PM to let them go on a picnic for three days. We all know that Sri Lanka was suffering from economic hardships and difficulties in those years. This wise lady asked her officials not to pay any rupees from the government coffers for this trip, but she volunteered to pay for this trip and wrote a cheque with her own money for this trip of the Chinese delegation. Compare her attitudes and mindset with our politicians today. She was keen to take every austerity measure to save our economy and the country and yet, our politicians are trying to exploit our system to make money out of public funds. All these misbehaviours of our politicians today have angered our youths and this protest is triggered by the decay and degeneration of our political culture and political system.
I sympathise with these youths, and I agree with you 100%. I think over 97% of Sri Lankans are with you. Your aims and objectives are very much sincere and honest and yet, the means or the mechanisms you all use to achieve these political goals or political reformation must be peaceful and clean. Today, we are living in a virtual world and 7 billion people with their 14 billion eyes are watching us live in this virtual world. Therefore, we must avoid all violent means to achieve our legitimate political rights. I fully appreciate your anger and agitation. I know this was triggered by some thugs and they must be punished by the law of this country and yet, we should not destroy our national assets. All those houses and properties must be nationalised or taken by the court legally and officially with a proper investigation. Our actions and behaviours are seen, observed, monitored, and judged by international communities and there are many countries out there to catch fish from trouble water. So, we must set some examples. I know well you have been teaching some good lessons for the international community through various programs in Galle Face. You have taught the world how to demonstrate, and how to protest. The entire international community sympathises with you. So, please my dear fellow Sri Lankans do not give any opportunity for the Rajapaksa family and its cohort to tarnish your good name with any violent behaviours.
You must not lose your common sense, wisdom, logic, rationality, and intelligence in the face of all these difficulties. We all must work with sincere dedication, devotion, and determination to succeed in this struggle and win the rights of people from these political thugs. There is no economic recovery or any economic growth without a stable government and good political leadership. Political stability proceeds the economic growth and prosperity of this nation because politics controls every aspect of human life in the modern world. your health, your wealth, your education, your lands, your money, your pocket, and everything is controlled today by politics. At the same time do not forget to know that justice proceeds with peace. You cannot have a peaceful and prosperous community without unconditional justice for all Sri Lankans.
So, my dear Sri Lankans keep up your freedom fight and do not give up and yet, be mindful of all that you do. Sri Lankans are internationally famous for their good manners, behaviours and good attitude. We all know we depend on tourism for our economic growth. So, do not create any violence that damages the reputation and goodwill of this country.
REFERENCE.
1) Ferguson. N. The Great Degeneration: How Institutions Decay and Economics dies, London: Penguin publication, 2014
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