tw news-features

by Dr.Rajasingham.Narendran

“A developed India by 2020, or even earlier, is not a dream. It need not even be a mere vision in the minds of many Indians. It is a mission we can all take up – and succeed.” – President Abdul Kalam of India

IF– has become a key word for Sri Lanka. If we can transform ourselves into a mature, united, motivated, disciplined, principled and farsighted entity, at least at this juncture in our history, we may embark on an adventure that can be exciting and potentially rewarding. However, if we continue on the path we have followed over the past 58 years- juvenile, undisciplined, divisive, criminal, opportunistic and short sighted- we can expect at best the status-quo to continue and at worst, national life to degenerate further.

The problems confronting Sri Lanka can be easily identified, although the list can run into volumes and it will be impossible to assign an order of priority. In summary, life in Sri Lanka is a problem and Sri Lanka has become synonymous with problems. Only the Sri Lankan Airlines can proudly lay claim to the word ‘Serendib’ (the old Arab name for Lanka, from which the word serendipity was coined), because its flights are comfortable and quiet, in contrast to everything else in the country! Every problem that can be thought of needs urgent attention and immediate redress. Everything is a problem in Sri Lanka! This situation is an indictment of our political system and an indictment of a people, who have been foolish to tolerate it this long.

Democracy has not paved the way for the needs and aspirations of the people to find expression as national goals, but has become part of a charade that makes fools of the people. The attention of the people is cleverly and cynically diverted to petty, unimportant, irrational and emotive issues and away from what is important to them and the nation, year in and year out, by every element in our political system. There have been no attempts to educate the people on the problems confronting the nation, the truth, the all too visible realities and what needs to be done, while leading them towards meaningful and necessary goals. The scum and dredges of society thrive at all levels in our political system and are imposing their values on the people and the nation. The gradual degradation of the people and the nation is all too visible and a sorry sight to behold.

Those who claim to be leaders have never led us to anything positive and have never understood what leadership means. They have no dreams, no values and very rarely any abilities, and continue to be charlatans throughout. Leadership requires a capacity to understand the problems confronting a people and resolve them, ability to envision a future the people can be enthused and the ability to make dreams come true. Our leaders are demagogues at best and plain criminals at worst. Power and money are what they seek and these are what they work for all their productive lives. They have been nothing else but politicians all their lives and have very rarely proved themselves in any other sphere of human endeavour. Unfortunately, we as a people who have not yet understood the essentials of democracy have enthroned such men as our masters. Who is the leader who deserves to be remembered with respect and fondness in independent Sri Lanka, for having made life better for us as a people or even laid the foundations for a better future for our country? This is one question the people of Sri Lanka- whether Tamil, Sinhalese, Muslim or other- should ask and seek answers. Have we had leaders who could be classed close to Jawaharlal Nehru, Lal Bahadur Sastri, Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, Narasinha Rao and Manmohan Singh in India, Mahathir Mohamed in Malaysia and Lee KuanYew in Singapore? Would our political system permit such men to assume power and leave their mark on the country? Could decent and able men and women aspire to power and positions of leadership in Sri Lanka?

Our politicians – as an entity- and those associated with them, have enriched and empowered themselves at the expense of the people. The rare few that have not enriched themselves, have thrived on self-aggrandizement, permitted by an unaccountable and largely criminal political system. The even rarer few who were capable and honest, not being able to thrive in the putrefied environment, were marginalized and eventually fell by the way side. Everything else that is a problem in Sri Lanka has flowed from this fatal flaw in our political system. Our political system, overburdened with bribery, corruption, nepotism, criminality and incompetence, needs urgent reform and a major overhaul immediately, if we are to make a dent on the problems confronting us.

While bribery and corruption are not unique to Sri Lanka, the overwhelming influence the state directly has on every aspect of life in the country, the power vested in a highly centralized government and a lack of social activism among the ordinary citizens, have made it more vulnerable. Mediocrity, corruption and venality should be weeded out of our political system. Bribery and corruption- of whatever form- irrespective of scale should be made criminal offences worse than murder and liable for the worst punishment our criminal justice system can impose. Ill-gotten and unaccountable wealth should be compulsorily confiscated. Men seeking public office should be made truly accountable to the people. Cabinet ministers should be chosen from the general public based on their specialties, abilities, experience and probity. While they should be accountable to parliament, they should be part of the executive branch, independent of parliamentary control. Parliamentarians- the legislative branch of government- should not be permitted to hold executive office. The public service and other government-controlled services should be freed from the grip of politicians. Men and women elected to public office should be liable for more severe punishment than others for bribery, corruption and other crime committed.

The present exercise in constitution making that has been embarked upon should focus seriously on this issue. However, will our politicians who are thriving on a corrupted and inefficient political system serving them well and beyond expectations, permit it to be reformed. This is the dilemma facing our nation. The ancient adage ‘Physician! Heal thy self’ applies quite well to our politicians. We have to demand our politicians heal themselves first, before we can expect anything better for our country. Can President Mahinda Rajapakse do this for us through the current constitution making exercise and enlightened, visionary leadership?

Every thing touched by our politicians, since independence, has been ruined. I will be glad, if any one will come forward to prove me wrong. National unity was the first casualty and we are paying a heavy price for this today. We were a truly multi-ethnic, multi-cultural and multi-religious nation at independence, with a vibrant democracy. There was civilized debate, discussion, agreement and disagreement, until all civilized norms were smothered by intolerance, violence and vitriol. A people who were largely united and had a national outlook reaching beyond their parochial identities, were forced to retreat into their shells and assert their parochialism. We are Sri Lankans because we have to carry Sri Lankan birth certificates, identity cards and passports, and will readily give up this identity, if given the opportunity to migrate. Sri Lanka is today a conglomeration of multiple nations, at war-both overt and covert- with each other on multiple fronts. The divisions within the country are multiplying by the day. The blood letting of July’1983 has only helped institutionalize violence on both the Sinhala and Tamil fronts and make civil war a profitable business. Neither side has the inclination to seek reconciliation and solutions. Our politicians have no solutions to these problems yet and most have found it an ideal situation to perpetuate their power and enhance their wealth. They are happily angling in troubled waters! We are refusing to learn from the mistakes of our past; are exasperating our well-wishers, world wide; and condemning the people to a life of misfortune, violence and death.

Our public services are in shambles. Politicization and political interference have sapped the vitality of our public services- a once admired institution. The pubic services are bloated with unneeded staff and overflowing with corrupt, mediocre, unmotivated, undisciplined, poorly led and poorly paid men and women. Walking into a government office is a nightmare. The pervasive inefficiency, cussedness, lethargy and corruption are a national shame. How can a country such as ours be carried forward on the backs of such a bureaucracy? While India has a corrupt bureaucracy at the lower levels, at the higher levels it is of high caliber, dedicated and disciplined. The bureaucracy in India has also not been politicized to the extent it has been in Sri Lanka. This has helped India forge ahead.

The services sector, managed by the government is a disgrace. The national railways are a case in point. The present railway system is a shadow of what it used to be. There is no national transport policy and there are no attempts to deal with the soaring fuel costs. The public transport system has to be made efficient, comfortable and clean, to meet modern needs. The trains are the cheapest form of mass public and goods transport the world over. India has the largest rail network in the world and it is run fairy efficiently. We in contrast have neglected our railway system to the point it is a forbidding experience to travel in a train. Should not the bicycle become an important means of transport for short distance travel and it be made safe to ride bicycles on our roads? Should we move to more fuel efficient - hybrid and electrical- vehicles to meet our inner city transport needs? Should we continue to be the dumping ground for used vehicles, discarded by others? What is this policy costing us in terms of imported spare parts and fuel inefficiency? The congestion on our roads is contributing to fuel wastage and increased pollution. Are we doing anything to deal with this scourge and a looming fuel crisis?

In the police service, corruption has become endemic, institutionalized and reaches the highest ranks. Policemen are in the service of criminals and vice-versa. The nexus between politicians, policemen and criminals is an established fact in Sri Lanka and is a curse that needs to be exorcized fast. The police service as a whole is more criminal than any criminal gang that can be named! It is difficult to find men of integrity in the police service, any more. The policemen are poorly trained, poorly motivated, poorly paid and badly led. The armed services, which are involved in a vicious civil war, tearing the country asunder, have also been tainted by indiscipline and corruption at all levels. The revelation that personnel of the armed forces are in the pay of the Tamil militants is a serious indictment of a system that has made this possible. Can the Sri Lankan armed forces ensure the unity of Sri Lanka, under these circumstances, even if millions are spent on arms, ammunitions, tanks and planes? They are rotten at the core now and will become rotten all over, if remedial action is not immediately taken!

The educational sector- primary, secondary and tertiary is a shadow of what it was in the early years of independence. It is out of date and irrelevant to the country’s needs. It is also not oriented to meet the evolving needs of the 21st century. The universities have ceased to be centres of excellence and become mills churning out graduates ill equipped to meet the challenges ahead. We are making do with the second or the third best in all critical areas of our national life, including the universities, due to migration of the best and the brightest to foreign climes. Have we institutions of higher learning of the stature of the Indian Institutes of Technology? Graduates from these institutes are in demand the world over. Planning for the future is overdue in our educational system and investments should be made on quality rather than on quantity. Poorly educated graduates are a curse and burden on society. They think they are worth more than what society values them and become frustrated individuals. We are producing thousands of these every year. They are becoming our teachers, professors, administrators, professionals and extremists. Can there be any hope for Sri Lanka, with such a baggage?

Private tuition at the primary and secondary school levels has become an industry and an unnecessary burden on over-burdened parents, as schools are failing in their mission. The children have no time to play, read and learn arts and crafts after school, which will mould them into wholesome citizens. Teachers are poorly trained, unmotivated and poorly paid. Any one with any capability and ambition in life will not aspire to be a teacher in Sri Lanka! The gains of free education have been negated by the qualitative decline visible in all aspects of education in Sri Lanka. ‘International Schools’ teaching British and American curricula have become the last refuge of parents who can afford the cost. While it is the democratic right of every citizen to seek and provide the best for his or her children, the very principles of equal opportunity on which the concept of free education was founded have been undermined. The standards of English language in the country have declined precipitously, compared to India, where there has been a meteoric improvement. India has prepared itself for world-class standards in education in her post-independence years, where as we have let ours decline below acceptable levels, through sheer neglect, cussedness and lack of vision. India is implementing a strategy to become a super-power, whereas we are vigorously pursuing a path to become another Somalia! Let us at least prepare ourselves to hang on to India’s coat tails as it forges forward!

Reading is a luxury in Sri Lanka. Only trash and pornography are available cheap. Quality reading has ceased to be a habit, due to high cost of books. Home libraries were a feature of most middle class home in the past. It has ceased to be so now. We are becoming a nation with fossilized minds, in the absence of non- institutional learning. Our minds are closed to new ideas and the developments in the world around us. The entertainment available through multiple television (The’ Idiot box’) channels has become our opium and contributes further to shrinking our thinking abilities. It is indeed painful to see prolonged discussions on trashy TV- mini serials, in the living rooms of Sri Lanka. Books are available in plenty and at very reasonable prices in India. Publishing and reading have developed hand in hand and contributed to what India is becoming today. Is there any way we can make books of value, available at affordable prices in Sri Lanka?

The soaring cost of living is a specter haunting a majority of Sri Lankans. How can a nation with a per capita income of around U.S $900 (currently equivalent to Rs.94,500 per annum and Rs.258 per day), contend with the prevalent and ever rising cost of living? The considerable disparity in income between the few haves and the vast majority of have-nots would imply the real income of the low-income segments of society would be much lower. However, it is also true that the per capita income figures do not reflect the substantial black economy, beyond the reach of any official statistic, functional in Sri Lanka. This is of course fueled by bribery, corruption, and other nefarious activities. This black economy is sustaining the extravagant life styles of the few at the expense of the many. The fact that 90,000 Sri Lankans, mostly maids, are employed in Lebanon for wages equal to approximately U.S $ 100 (Rs.10, 500) plus free meals per month is both shocking and edifying. This salary is only marginally above the current per capita income of Sri Lanka. What prompts such a large number of young women to leave the shelter of their homes and our shores, for such low salaries, should be a matter of national shame. The misery that is the lot of a majority of these maids should be a matter of serious concern for our country. However, we take pride the money these unfortunate Sri Lankans remit is our major source of foreign exchange!

What are we doing to bring down the cost of living, while expanding our per capita income? Have we analyzed the factors that contribute to the ever-increasing cost of living? The cost of food has become unbearably high for a country that has a predominantly agricultural economy and is surrounded by seas teaming with fish. Have we planned to increase the productivity of our farms, farmers and fishermen, while decreasing their cost of production? Have we improved the transport, handling and storage of perishables, to minimize wastage? Have we worked on agricultural by-products and value added products that can enhance the income of the farmers? Have we developed a system to minimize the role of the middlemen in the food trade? Why haven’t we developed an effective system of producer’s co-operatives to deal with farmers, their problems, their produce and the marketing of agricultural commodities? Have we concentrated on making biogas and solar energy technology available nation-wide, especially in the rural sector? Are we waiting for foreign experts to instruct us on such matters? The agriculture department is a shadow of what it was in its hay day and the many research institutes dedicated to agricultural commodities- tea, rubber, coconut etc., - are starved of funds and competent staff.

The high cost of feeding a person and his or her dependents coupled with our ‘Boru Shoke (false appearances)’ mentality, is forcing many to cut down on quality food and instead spend money on clothes and other accouterments. This is making us a nation of mal- and under-nourished. We are becoming smaller in stature as a result. The adverse effects of mal-nutrition on our brains will cripple us for centuries. The long-term consequences of this trend do not bode well for our country. Our expectations as a people are higher than what the country is geared to provide. Expectations and life styles have expanded faster than the economy, seeding the pervasive bribery, corruption and violence. While our country is capable of providing a much better quality of life for all her people, our governments have failed to manage the country to optimize her potential. We have been poorly governed in the past and this is likely to continue, unless President Rajapakse has the will to reverse this trend. Is he capable of rising to this challenge?

One can go on and on about other aspects of our lives that are a problem. What I have discussed above would suffice to illustrate the point I want to make. I hope all citizens of Sri Lanka, will confront the stalk realities confronting us and demand changes in our political system and the manner in which our affairs are governed. We are the masters and have to learn to assert ourselves in relation to those who are supposed to be our servants! We cannot ride into the 21st century in a creaking bullock cart! Reflecting Rabindranath Tagore in his Gitanjali, I can only pray that my country awakes!