Dominion Status, The Lost Independence

By H.L. Seneviratne -February 4, 2015

H.L. Seneviratne

Nationalism, especially in its manifestation as anti-colonialism, is of universal appeal among those who have endured colonial domination. This is legitimate, but a proper understanding of this requires a closer look. Two dimensions are of particular importance. First, not all colonialisms are equal. The severity of their oppression varies according to the particular political cultures of the colonizers, which themselves have varied according to time. In general, early colonial rule has been more oppressive and more characterized by atrocities than late colonial rule. Second, different strata of the colonized feel its hegemony differently. Typically it is the elites among the colonized who feel the burden colonialism. Sections of these elites could adapt and become local agents of the colonialist, but large segments of elite populations will remain alienated and become fertile ground for the cultivation of nationalisms. The ordinary people who constitute the majority are oblivious to colonial domination for the simple reason that they have been always oppressed, making little difference as to whether the oppressor is colonialist rather than indigenous. Indeed, for them the colonial oppressor could well be the lesser evil.

A particular feature of anti- colonialist nationalism is its inability to recognize the beneficial effects of colonial rule, irrespective of the interests and motivation of the colonizer in bringing about such effects. Typically the colonized nations, at the time of colonization, have exhibited social and political features that are culture-bound and “pre-modern” in the sense of being untouched by modern ideas about the individual and society. Our contemporarily fashionable ideas about diversity notwithstanding, it is necessary to introduce value judgment and state, for example, that individual freedom is more valuable than its absence. Using this criterion and continuing the same example, we can say that wherever colonialism sought to institutionalize the idea of individual freedom it was engaging in a beneficial act.Read More

How We Can Once Again Become A Truly Independent Nation

By Bishop Kumara Illangasinghe -February 4, 2015

Bishop Kumara Illangasinghe

The New Year dawned for Sri Lanka with a sigh of relief, with much needed respect for justice and freedom. Currently it seems to be an environment of less and less restrictions, fear psychosis that engulfed the minds of people has moved a side, people are receiving almost daily, the benefits that they had been crying out for many years, fingers are pointed in the direction of the former regime and individuals who ruled the roost, during that period and of course with a sense of relief praises are sung and flowers are offered to the leaders of the new regime. There is definitely a feeling of ‘achievement’ on the part of the simple majority of people. There is also a sense of urgency in respect of many other issues and concerns connected with the people. The cry for good governance, abolition of the executive presidency, actions on those who have been responsible for corruption and interference in the state machinery, establishment of the rule of law, justice and fair play, punishment for those who have been involved in drug trade and other illicit scams and on the whole, the implementation of the one hundred day programme, are very much on the cards.

Sri Lankans have suddenly become very alert and watchful. The media is involved in a very creative competition to make sure the administrators deliver the promises made. The media too appears to be experiencing more freedoms and unrestricted access, enjoying the fearless arena to be truly exercising their right to provide the information for the people. We take the opportunity to thank God for all what we have been able to achieve through the franchise and the peaceful transfer of power that has been ensured, by the creative and faithful actions of some of the administrative hierarchy.

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