Robber Barons, Medamulana Politics And The Performance Of Miracles

April 27, 2012By Samanmalee Unanthenna -

“This country, with its institutions, belongs to the people who inhabit it. Whenever they shall grow weary of the existing government they can exercise their constitutional right of amending it or their revolutionary right to dismember or overthrow it”.

Abraham Lincoln, Inaugural Address, 1861

Several months ago, in an article I wrote, I gently chided Dr Nirmal Ranjith Dewasiri for his comment that we should make up our minds to live with this regime for the next 15 years. Reading his recent interview in the Divaina dated 15^th April, 2012, it is clear that Dr Dewasiri has changed his mind. He has no intention of waiting 15 years anymore; in fact, he does not want to wait even 15 months! What has happened during the last several months to have brought about this change, not just in Dr Dewasiri, but many others?

It would be good for His Excellency to remember the words of Lincoln who proclaimed that citizens have the right to not just to vote out a government, but if necessary “dismember and overthrow” it.

Clearly, the economic consequences of the Rajapakse regime are becoming intolerable. Apart from the favoured 1% who are profiting by the regime’s excesses, the rest of us fight on a daily basis to cope with the rising cost of living. It is not unusual to see people buying two carrots, one egg, half a loaf of bread, 100gms of sugar; more seriously, even cutting down on essential medication because that too has become a luxury we cannot afford. When Minister Bandula Gunawardene arrogantly claimed that a family can survive on Rs 7,500.00 per month a more conscientised people would have marched up the Ministry of Education and physically hurled him out on to the street.

Perhaps, all of this would have been somewhat tolerable, had the regime shown any sensitivity to the woes of the people. But what this regime has excelled in is twisting not just truth, but hard evidence to suit its agenda. Thus, the countries that abstained from voting in favour of the US resolution in Geneva, were actually supporting Sri Lanka; political activists and journalists are not being abducted but handing themselves into police stations in order to obtain a free ticket out of this country; the price of goods is rising in order to keep up with the rising incomes of people. Governor Ajit Nivaard Cabraal cites the number of SUVs on the roads of Colombo as evidence for how well the economy is doing. How out of touch can this ‘people’s government’ be?

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