A Brief Colonial History Of Ceylon(SriLanka)
Sri Lanka: One Island Two Nations
A Brief Colonial History Of Ceylon(SriLanka)
Sri Lanka: One Island Two Nations
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Back to 500BC.
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Thiranjala Weerasinghe sj.- One Island Two Nations
?????????????????????????????????????????????????Tuesday, June 20, 2017
Sri Lanka, The Resplendent Isle, The Real Of Indian Ocean Then & Now
How
times have changed! When DS Senanayake, SWRD Bandaranaike, Dudley
Senanayake, Sirimavo Bandaranaike ruled Sri Lanka, did the people go
around glorifying them as larger-than-life superhuman entities? Did
anyone try to deify them as worthy of obeisance and reverence? Did we
see articles in newspapers specifically devoted to the worship of such
personalities as some kind of weird idols that were somehow better than
ordinary human beings? Did the ministers who worked under these leaders
praise to high heaven, with empty and obviously insincere adjectives,
the virtues of these men and women? However, Sri Lanka’s recent rulers
rode high on these ego trips.
DS Senanayake’s son Dudley did not have children, so that dynasty ended.
SWRD Bandaranaike’s place passed to his wife and then later on to his
daughter. That dynasty seems over as well. JR Jayewardene did not
cultivate a dynastic culture. DB Wijetunge was by far the most
honourable human being to hold the post of “Executive” president. He had
no ambition to pass on his genes for the spawn to rule the land.
Dynasties have ruled in neighbouring countries in contemporary times.
However, this is not a characteristic of representative democracy; nor
the parliamentary system as practiced in progressive and politically
mature countries.
When the Senanayakes ruled, say the population in Sri Lanka was 12
million. How many ministers were employed? How many “portfolios” were
there? Granted, that times were less complicated, with no special
emphasis on national security or women’s affairs. If the population has
doubled since then, how many times more, is the number of ministers,
their minions, carers, secretaries, “official” residences, “official”
vehicles for entourages and “security” battalions? There were nine
provinces in Sri Lanka. I believe there are still about the same number.
Yet, how many more snouts splurge at the trough of public wealth?
How have rich people become rich? They either inherit wealth from their
parents, marry other rich people, or make lots of profit from a
lucrative business, where sales incomes are consistently high and
expenses are correspondingly low, which result in much more cash inflow
than outflow. The profits are largely kept by the owners to make their
lives better (ie rich people) Who are the consumers? Do ordinary
consumers also become rich? No.
As we see around us, prices of commodities invariably go up, although
prices of some items like vegetables and fruits (killer commodities that
I will deal with later) do fluctuate, maintaining the illusion of
fairness. Are there many more people who are very rich than when the
Senanayakes and Bandaranaikes ruled in the 60’s and 70’s? Yes.
Exponentially so. In fact, the super- rich in Sri Lanka are many, many
times richer than the richest back then ever were, allowing for
inflation and depreciation in the value of the currency etc. Has
economic development (per capita Gross Domestic Product) improved as
much as the rich had become richer? No way! In fact it has largely
stagnated and has been marginal.
What does the above say about the poor? With almost the same amount of
wealth in the country (not accounting for the massive, record foreign
debt) the poor have far less than they ever had several generations ago.
In the ruthless capitalist system that dominates poor third world Sri
Lanka, are the poor being taken care of? Is there a welfare system
(Samurdhi?) that keeps the poor above poverty levels, with at least two
meals a day, a suitable roof above, protection from common diseases
which can kill, or a proper education? I would suggest a loud NO. The
rich component of society is a dismal 0.003%, whereas the poor
(including the so-called “middle class”) make up 99.997%. So, who has
the system benefitted? Most Sri Lankans? NO.
Compared to three or four decades ago, in the last few years many more
local residents tune into “Buddhist” channels on TV and radio more
often, and also “listen” to bana (sermons) being preached by all sorts
of monks with various bents, some often flouting basic concepts of the
Buddha’s teachings while talking of their own unsubstantiated theories.
Hordes of “pilgrims” flock to the more fashionable places of worship,
dressed in white to symbolise purity, on full moon days, presumably to
observe “uposatha ashtanga seela” as never before in the contemporary
history of Sri Lanka. Yet these same people very clearly seem to be as
far from the dhamma as ever, in their daily countenance, behaviour and
attitudes, easily established by simple observation.
Now, people lie as a habit, not as a hasty escape route from difficult
situations. Dishonesty has become a norm rather than the embarrassing
exception. In fact, if one could successfully deceive people
consistently and achieve financial objectives and prosperity, others
look up to them with pride. The fact that such vermin are beneath
contempt, by traditional standards of ethics and morality is ignored or
overlooked. The Buddhist concepts of the noble eight-fold path “samma
kammantha, samma waayaama” in practice by their kith and kin are looked
down upon as stupidity and naivety, or a simple lack of opportunistic
wisdom, not worthy of credit.