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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Thiranjala Weerasinghe sj.- One Island Two Nations
?????????????????????????????????????????????????Wednesday, January 17, 2018
From Parliamentarians Of Intellectual Giants To Those Accused Of Corruption, Crime, Fraud & Hooliganism
By Latheef Farook –January 17, 2018
During
the second half of 1960s when I started my journalistic career with the
now defunct Independent Newspapers, I was sent to cover parliamentary
proceedings. Within weeks I realized that here was a place where one
could learn a lot. Those were the days when parliamentarians in general
were educated, cultured and well-mannered .They respected religious,
cultural and social values.
They came well prepared for discussions. In this regard
parliamentarians from left parties contributed a great deal. To name a
few Dr N.M. Perera, Colvin R De Silva, Bernard Zoysa, Peter Keuneman,
Dudley Senanayake, J .R. Jayewardene, Ronnie De Mel, Felix R Dias
Bandaranaike, George Rajapaksa, M Sivasithamparam, A Amirthalingam and several others.
They were a respected lot for their intellectual
caliber and integrity. Many used to buy Hansard comprising their
speeches at 30 cents and preserve for future reference.
They were not only familiar with domestic issues but
also well versed on international developments. For example in August
1968 Soviet Union invaded Czechoslovakia and installed its stooge in
power. This was discussed in the parliament.
Then Minister of Industries and the leader of Mahajana
Eksath Peramuna, MEP, and Philip Gunawardena explained the reason behind
Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia. He gave a clear picture of the
political scene in countries under Soviet control. It was intellectual
tonic for those who wanted to know about socialist world.
However unfortunately half a century later today one
could say that most parliamentarians know nothing about some of the
burning international issues including the Israeli Palestinians problem
or the United States led UK,France, Israeli and Russian wars destroying
Muslim countries in the Middle East under the guise of fighting a
deceptive war on terrorism.
Commenting on the high standard of discussions then
former Arab League Ambassador in New Delhi, also accredited to Sri
Lanka, Abdullah Murad who watched a session told me that “these
discussions are free,
enlightening and are of high standard. You don’t see this anywhere in
the Middle East as most countries there are dictatorships.
Listening to late Finance Minister Dr N.M. Perera, the
commercial attaché of the Iraqi Embassy in Colombo Jawdat Al Khidairy
said “Dr Perera should be the finance minister for the whole third
world.
They were also known for their simplicity, honesty,
integrity and respect for talent without any racial prejudice. For
example I remember when the then Finance Minister U.B. Wanninayaka was
approached to help a person who had applied for a job in one of the
government departments, his response was; I can speak, but the problem
is we will deprive if a more qualified person has applied of his job.
Once I went to the vegetarian restaurant Indo Ceylon
Café at Colpetty for breakfast. I was shocked to see late Prime Minister
W Dahanayake having his breakfast in the traditional banana leaf which
he later threw in the garbage bin and washed his and mouth in the common
pipe.
Thus the parliamentarian of yester years had shown us the path which the politicians in the subsequent years discarded.
The standard of discussions began to decline under late
President J.R. Jayewardene whose 1978 constitution made him a
democratically elected dictator. This made free expression impossible aggravated further by possession of undated resignation letters of government parliamentary members.
This gradual decline continued under successive governments.
With the end of the 30 year ethnic war most people
expected former President Mahinda Rajapaksa to learn from the racist
politics which brought death and destruction and use the golden historic
opportunity to put the sinking country in order.
Therefore everyone thought Mahinda Rajapaksa will remove bitterness and bring divided and devastated communities together, restore democratic values, pave the for political stability ,economic development and move the country ahead for a better future for all and earn a name in history.
However he miserably failed and ended up as godfather
of crime, corruption and brought about a dark era. Racism flourished.
Government institutions including judiciary became corrupt. Tamil grievances ignored and violence unleashed against Muslim community. They
drove terror into the minds of Muslim community which culminated in the
burning and looting of Muslim owned houses. Provincial council members
were accused of gang raping a tourist who later died. In short there was
mayhem everywhere.