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
?????????????????????????????????????????????????Wednesday, July 12, 2017
When Elitist Hierarchies & Systems Fail: A Community Empowerment Model
Whether
we read newspapers, listen to radio or watch Television, there is no
shortage of issues confronting the country as many stakeholders,
commentators and politicians express themselves freely their views
through such media. This is in quite a contrasting situation when
compared to the atmosphere that existed before the present coalition
government came into power in 2015. But the issue now is not the lack of
freedom to express or comment on social and political issues. The
concern now is lack of action on many critical issues that the voting
public in 2015 had high hopes and the failure of hierarchies and systems
in place to serve those in need. When questioned about this those in
authority come up with various excuses including blaming the previous
regime or the lack of political will in one of the constituent parties
of the government. Listeners get more frustrated with these arguments,
explanations and counter arguments when they realise that these are mere
talk shows and no action. Some commentators have even characterised the
existing governance situation as paralysis.
The
model of representative democracy fails where there is a self serving
ruling class or an enlarged elite group who do not work toward nation
building or work efficiently to address the needs of those at the end of
various hierarchies established to serve people, in particular those
who are weak and vulnerable. A measure of a compassionate society is how
well it’s governance mechanisms take care of these segments. However
the story since independence in Sri Lanka shows how the rich gets richer
and the poor gets poorer? How the rich and powerful enjoy the fruits of
globalisation, free trade, liberalised economies, migration, employment
and education opportunities unleashed by the opening of borders (among
these beneficiaries are some members of the middle and working classes
but their life chances and net wealth may be much less compared to those
in the privileged class’s, politics being one major avenue of
privileging).
The
hierarchies that have been established over centuries to serve the
interests of the people have become burdensome and non-liberating
entities for the majority of people. One could even characterise them as
oppressive, anti democratic, elitist and anti people. Serious critical
reflection is necessary about the contemporary relevance of various
hierarchies that control life in general. While a command and control
system is required for the administration and security of the people,
these hierarchies should be there to serve the people of all ranks and
statuses. Likewise, religious and social hierarchies need to serve the
interests of the masses without distinction instead of serving those who
occupy leadership positions. When political and bureaucratic
organisations fail to meet the needs of people, in normal times and in
emergencies, their value is no more. Unfortunately, the hierarchies,
entities and systems that have evolved in the country seem to function
to safeguard the powerful rather than the weak. In this context, what is
required is fresh thinking about the model of governance suitable for a
small country like Sri Lanka to serve the needs and interests of
people, particularly those at the bottom end of governance hierarchies
rather than a new constitution that entrenches the power and privilege
of the ruling elites or class with big government. Smaller and
inexpensive government is a necessity if the desire is to continue with
representative democracy, which has been diluted by having an executive
President.
In
this context it is important to reflect on a few issues not necessarily
from party political lenses but from a more communitarian perspective.
Let’s take the issue of race, ethnicity and religion about which so much
has been written in the media recently. Every human being from the
richest to the poorest need a sense of belonging and connectivity with
other human beings. This is why we call humans as social beings. This is
one lesson we learn when we study sociology- science of society. Some
find such belonging in their family, community, school networks, ethnic
groups, religious community, language community and so on. By doing so
they derive strength to carry on with life, meet daily challenges, find
likeminded fellows, happiness and more. Such belonging and connectivity
are important when one grows older and become frail. So, there is
nothing wrong when individuals in a society are seeking to be affiliated
with social and cultural entities like the ones mentioned here.