A Brief Colonial History Of Ceylon(SriLanka)
Sri Lanka: One Island Two Nations
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Sri Lanka: One Island Two Nations
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Back to 500BC.
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Thiranjala Weerasinghe sj.- One Island Two Nations
?????????????????????????????????????????????????Saturday, April 6, 2019
Can Sri Lanka Be Saved?
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Punarudaya Movement does not agree to a system of government that will restrict the sovereignty of the people into a narrow frame of exercising their vote at elections only.
The system that prevails in Sri Lanka can be considered a corrupt and
predatory one that allows powerful people to exploit the rest of the
people and loot their properties at their whims and fancies, no matter
how unreasonable it may seem.
This corrupt system has devastatingly impacted not only the State and
its institutional system; it has made its hideous influence on all
sectors of economy and the domain of public services such as education,
public health and travel. This situation has largely contributed to make
the life of people a tragedy and making the country a miserable
specimen of corruption, mismanagement and inefficiency.
The extensive crisis that has overwhelmed Sri Lanka can be considered a
situation which had developed gradually into its present height as a
result of our not being able to resolve certain historical issues which
ought to have been resolved at the time of regaining political
independence.
The independence gained can be considered more a gift received than an
independence won after a struggle. This did not pave the way
for building of the modern nation and producing matured leaders capable
of steering the country in right direction. In this backdrop, ethnic,
caste and religious differences play as major factors of internal
conflicts.
Ten years after independence, the country experienced ethnic conflicts
and 20 years later, it took a violent form which had gradually
developed in to an internal civil war which had protracted for nearly
thirty years, turning Sri Lanka into a country of incessant bloodshed of
mass scale. A large number of people lost their life while those who
were able to survive have been rendered spiritually dead to a greater or
lesser degree
This anomaly which had originated during the uncivilised times of
violent conflict has impacted not only on the society, but on the State
and its institutional system as well. In this backdrop, plundering of
public property had become a permanent feature of the State
administration. The deterioration of the state and its associated system
of institutions was accelerated with the state assuming the form of a
bandit and a carnivorous entity.
During the times of violent conflicts and the protracted internal war,
there was no atmosphere conducive for State reformations. By the time
the violent conflicts and the internal war had ended, the decay of the
State had reached an appalling level that it was not possible to move
even one step forward without making large-scale structural reformations
in the State and the institutional system.
But, the leader who won the
internal civil war and the two leaders of the Yahapalana Government who
came to power defeating the former had failed to address the issue. The
decline of the State and the crisis associated with it can be considered
an inevitable outcome of this situation.
Thus, the breakdown of the entire system can be considered an outcome of
not effecting reformations required for its survival. Now the system is
not in a state in which it could be reformed; instead, it has reached a
stage in which a complete breakdown of it cannot be avoided.
A third option
All political parties of Sri Lanka have failed to foresee the breakdown
of the system in advance. Punarudaya can be considered the only movement
which was able to foresee this eventuality. During its short history of
a little more than two years, Punarudaya Movement, since its beginning,
stressed to the people the deterioration of the system that had been
taking place over a considerable time.
Besides that, Punarudaya Movement can be described as an organisation
which had emphasised the people of the necessity of turning this
inevitable collapse of the system into an opportunity to recreate the
State and society. In this sense, the Punarudaya Movement can be
described as an active interest group that has focused its full
attention on the impending collapse of the system and made a
comprehensive study of the situation. It views this breakdown as a
golden opportunity bequeathed by the history to recreate the system. It
is an excellent chance the country has gained to rise like a phoenix
from the ashes.
The way the Punarudaya Movement perceives and analyses things that take
place in Sri Lanka and the experiments it has conducted in the domains
of social, political and public attitudes, ought to receive the
attention of social scientists and the people of Sri Lanka as they could
be useful in addressing the problem in a much broader context.
As I am an activist of this movement, I would like to invite the reader
to read what I write about Punarudaya Movement with a critical eye. At
the outset of this movement, it was launched not in urban areas but in
rural areas inhabited by Sinhala, Tamil and Muslim people. One main
object of the movement was to understand the real conditions of these
difficult areas. Another object was to adopt a reciprocal approach of
learning from them while educating and enlightening them on the problem.
The third object was to identify the rural leaders who are active and
are endowed with leadership potential.
There were several popular rumours regarding the holding of meetings
with village people. One was that the outsiders conducting discussions
in villages, in addition to providing food for the participants, should
pay them a sum of money and those fail to fulfil this condition cannot
conduct discussions in villages. Another popular story was that there
are politically influential people, and the villagers would not allow
discussions to be held by outside people without their support. But,
both these rumours were proved to be false.
We carried only our knowledge and ideas to the village. All other
facilities needed were arranged by the supporters in the village who
organised and coordinated the discussions. They did not expect anything
other than knowledge and ideas from us. On the other hand, we have not
gone to any village seeking approval or support of politicians. We have
been to hundreds of villages and so far not encountered any unpleasant
situations.
The village people are good listeners, when the issues pertain to their
life are discussed. Also, they are very clever in expressing their views
when an opportunity is given. They have a unique ability to express
themselves clearly. They won’t get angry except listening carefully with
interest even when the popular beliefs, which they hold true, are being
criticised.
On average, the life of the people living in villages is extremely hard.
The income they generate from agriculture is not at an optimum level.
Even the large-scale development programs like Mahaweli have not
contributed to make a discernible improvement in their life. They have
not been able to make maximum use of their lands. There is no mechanism
to guide them either. In addition, the damage caused to agriculture by
natural disasters like floods and drought and wild animals like
elephants, wild boar, monkeys, rilavus, porcupines, peacocks, and above
all by ruthless market forces can be considered the other forces that
had made their lives miserable. Almost all household items used by them
have been purchased from loans obtained from finance companies and micro
loans schemes. To pay for the loan instalments and interest, most of
the debtors are compelled to cut down their expenses on food and
clothing, the basic needs of life.
Despite the large number of Government officials appointed for the
agricultural sector, they have not been able to become a positive light
in upgrading the life of these innocent people.
An unforgettable experience
The villagers, when convinced that something is true, strongly stand by
it. To prove this, I wish to cite an unforgettable experience that I had
to encounter. At the early beginnings of the Punarudaya Movement,
arrangements had been made to hold a meeting at Kalawewa, in the
compound of a house belonged to a deputy principal of a school. A
meeting was held in the evening. A group of about 50 selected villagers
including the deputy incumbent priest of the Vijithapura Rajamaha Vihara
had come for the discussion.
The purpose of the meeting was explained by me. I made a brief analysis,
which took about 25 minutes, of the crisis of Sri Lanka, from its
beginning since independence and its development up to now. I concluded
my analysis of the problem with a request to the audience to express
their views, if any, about my analysis.
The first counter opinion was presented by the deputy incumbent priest
of the Vijithapura Rajamaha Vihara. The venerable priest appeared to
have perceived the Punaruda Movement as a Non-Governmental Organisation.
He said that Sri Lanka would not approve of the ideas expressed here
and also they were not appropriate for the country and asked the crowd
to raise their hands if there was at least one person in the audience
who would approve the views expressed by me. In an instant, the entire
audience raised their hands. There were a few who had raised both hands.
The venerable priest appeared to be flabbergasted. I too, was surprised
to witness the reaction of the crowd. At the end, the venerable priest
said that in a situation like this, in which everybody is in agreement
with the views of the proponent of the meeting, he too will join the
movement. Having said that, he excused himself and left the meeting for
he had to go for another appointment elsewhere.
Perhaps, there might have been several participants in the audience who
had read my articles. But, if at least a small section of the people who
had come for the discussion had approved of the views of the Buddhist
priest, certainly, we would have had to bury the Punarudaya Movement at
Vijithapura before returning to Colombo. But, at that crucial moment,
all of them defended us unconditionally. Instead of defending the deputy
chief incumbent of the temple of the area, they came forward to defend a
few of us who came to their village from outside.
We have adopted a policy of criticising certain popular beliefs of
village people which are baseless and not correct, rather than
maintaining a neutral stance on such beliefs. Particularly we criticised
their passionate attachment to paddy cultivation. We had to emphasise
them that the paddy cultivation is one important factor that had
impacted on rural poverty. Also we were compelled to insist on the
importance of freeing themselves from undue dependence on paddy
cultivation and the need for going for alternate products.
Eating rice for all three meals was an important topic which came under
our criticism. We pointed out that eating rice for all three meals was a
sure way to become a victim of diabetes and emphasised on the need for
shifting their food habits and the importance of eating less rice and
more protein foods, vegetables and fruits. We reminded them that the old
farmers used to hunt wild animals that damaged their crops and consumed
the meat which complemented their protein needs. In doing so, they were
able to control the density of wild animals and safeguard their crops.
We advised them of the importance of shifting to the old policy. Despite
these issues being sensitive, they however, listened to our views
patiently. They were not annoyed or angry over our criticisms on these
issues.
One important thing that came to light was that the political parties do
not visit difficult rural areas except during election
time; apparently they don’t do anything for the villages. According to
villagers, all politicians do their politics being in Colombo and
conducting media discussions held with TV channels for
their publicity, so they cannot be expected to have a proper
understanding of the reality of the village life.
Confidence on self-help
To conduct an island-wide program and visiting difficult villages in
remote corners of the country incur heavy expenses, in addition to
maintaining an efficient and active organisational mechanism. Raising
funds to meet expenses was a difficult problem that we encountered at
the initial stage of its launch.
A member of the Punarudaya Movement, as if he had foreseen this problem
in advance, made an informal suggestion that we must seek the support of
an international donor agency to procure funds required. We knew it was
easy to get an international donor agency to sponsor a program of this
nature. We were not against receiving international support for funds.
But, the majority of our membership was of the view that a movement like
Punarudaya should not be dependent upon international aid as it might
invariably make it a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO).
The social perception on and recognition enjoyed by most of the NGOs in
Sri Lanka is not positive.
Apart from the NGO label, foreign aid may
even be likely to corrupt a national movement like this. On the other
hand, a mass social movement which finds difficult to meet its expenses
locally cannot be considered one which is firmly rooted in the country.
Having taken all these factors into consideration finally, it was
decided to run the Punarudaya Movement as a program based on ‘self-help’
rather than depending on foreign aid or black money. A famous critic of
the Punarudaya Movement, commenting on this decision to run the program
on self-help basis, had made a sarcastic remark stating that he would
work full time for Punarudaya without a fee, if it could survive for
three months.
Not only three months, it has now completed successful two years and
three months. During this period it had worked spending their own
personal money, out of their pockets and voluntary support extended by
various people who are associated with the Punarudaya Movement. I am
proud to say that a new kind of culture of voluntary support has been
created in which there are members and well-wishers ready to provide
even their private vehicles for our use or taking us in their vehicles
when we travel long distances for Punarudaya work. The contributions
made for the movement by various people in diverse ways are immense.
The philosophy
Punarudaya is a pluralistic movement appearing for secular and
democratic values. It considers the caste system in the Sinhalese and
Tamil society as a menace and an evil system that makes divisions within
ethnic groups and disparages human dignity and therefore it should be
eradicated. The ethnic and religious divisions are perceived to be two
destructive passions that disrupt national unity and create conflicts.
It believes that Sri Lankan nation must be built within a framework
which allows all citizens equal rights, asserts human dignity and
safeguards ethnic and religious identity of all ethnic and religious
groups. It also appears for the need of a program which is committed to
look into the mistakes done since independence and to heal the wounds of
victims and meting out justice for them so that a strong social
atmosphere conducive to building the nation is created.
It also appears for a complete social and political transformation and
complete reorganisation of the economy. However, it does not believe
that these changes and transformations could be achieved by contesting
Presidential and General Elections and capturing political power under
the existing system. Therefore, the Punarudaya Movement believes that it
should not contest elections and seek elective office, but work as a
strong interest group committed to achieving these changes.
It also appears for a complete social and political transformation and
complete reorganisation of the economy. However, it does not believe
that these changes and transformations could be achieved by contesting
Presidential and General Elections and capturing political power under
the existing system. Therefore, it is of the view that the intended
changes should be achieved before the elections are contested.
The Punarudaya Movement does not believe that the corrupt and sadistic
political system that exists in Sri Lanka is a strong or sustainable
system. It is of the view that this system is on the verge of its
collapse as a result of internal conflicts which had developed within
itself. Re-creation of the entire system making use of the impending
collapse as an opportunity can be considered the main political object
of the Punarudaya movement.
It does not consider the question of what should be the type of
government suitable for the country - whether it should bad presidential
system of government or a parliamentary system of government, as the
main issue to be resolved in the sphere of the governance as far as Sri
Lanka is concerned. Both the presidential system
and parliamentary system in Sri Lanka are equally corrupt. Without
changing the corrupt structures of both systems, mere selection of one
corrupt system cannot be considered the best solution.
The Punarudaya Movement does not consider the making of a constitution
exclusively by the legislature as the best model of constitution making.
A constitution is a social contract. In other words, it is an agreement
entered into between the rulers and the ruled for a system of
government and administration. A constitution adopted exclusively by the
Parliament can be considered only as a unilateral contract formulated
by the rulers themselves.
The Punarudaya Movement does not accept the concept and the system of
constitution called “autochthony” proposed by Naganada Kodithuwakku. It
appears that he had adopted a conceptual term used to describe a system
adopted in constitution making at an exclusive historic occasion to give
a dignified look to the dictatorial constitution that he envisages to
make. We don’t come across a single example of the type of constitution
that Nagananda advocates in the history of modern constitution making.
The Punarudaya Movement appears for participatory constitution
making which is the accepted model of constitution making in the 21st
century. It is a model that can be used for a complete transformation of
the entire system without confining it to a program of drafting a
constitution only.
Punarudaya Movement does not agree to a system of government that will
restrict the sovereignty of the people into a narrow frame of exercising
their vote at elections only. It appears for a system of government
that grants them rights to submit proposals to the legislature, in
addition to exercising their right to vote. This system was confined
only to Switzerland until recently and is now being practiced as an
important element in the systems of government in countries like some
States in the USA, Italy, Germany and several other countries. By
introducing such a system, it would be possible to reduce undue
importance attached to politicians, overcome rampant corruption which
had overwhelmed the state and above all build an active and powerful
citizens force.
There is no need of a violent revolution to make a complete
transformation of the political system of Sri Lanka which is putrid and
had reached the verge of imminent collapse. What it needs is a kind of
revolution which will educate the people, build people’s networks,
utilise the modern technology and mobilise the collective force of the
people through peaceful and disciplined means.