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Hell
on earth
Bombs
and battering of journos. Bare-faced lying and stealing. Law
of the jungle; immunity for the chosen few. All of Sri Lanka
is left wondering, ‘can it get any worse?’
By
Dharisha Bastians
The abduction and assault of Keith Noyahar, Deputy
Editor and Defence Columnist of The Bottom Line’s sister
publication The Nation was outrageous and brutal enough. Worse
still is the deafening silence from quarters of the political
firmament, especially those who have genuinely or otherwise
retained a modicum of decency in a sea of corruption and abuse.
Sri Lanka is left wondering today, where are the Karu Jayasuriyas
and Milinda Moragodas who crossed over to the government fold
promising to bring about good governance, to set the country
on the right track. They couldn’t do it with the UNP
Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe, they charged. It would be different
on the other side, they were convinced.
Today, the Moragodas, the Jayasuriyas and the rest of those
who promised to
‘reform’ – they stand mute as Sri Lanka slips
into a state of terror and anarchy that has grown disturbingly
familiar. A bomb blast at the end of each week killing a dozen
or so innocents. Media personnel being abducted and assaulted
under the cover of night. A law enforcement arm that has completely
lost the confidence of the citizenry. And a body politic that
continues merrily on its way, even as the world community
glares down on Sri Lanka and her constantly deteriorating
human rights record.
They say that all that is required for the triumph of evil
is for good men to stand around and do nothing. Good men in
Sri Lanka have grown tragically rare. Those who might still
put the people and the nation first have chosen the path of
least resistance. They have chosen to look away.
The people meanwhile, are being put through physical and emotional
hell. Socially, politically, financially they cannot seem
to raise their heads. The recent record fuel price hikes have
proved the biggest possible kick on the common man’s
stomach. His bus fares have risen exponentially as will every
commodity he must necessarily purchase for survival in the
next few days.
In our neighbouring India, this blow upon blow on the poor
man’s stomach would have led to mass protests. Housewives
would have clanged their pans, general strikes would be called.
Across the Palk Straits in Sri Lanka however, any dissent
is proving deadly.
The main opposition – the only ones with a degree of
immunity to stage protests and demonstrations is a lame duck.
It’s quite possible that their demonstrations go untouched
because they are fundamentally ineffective. It is to the administration’s
advantage that the UNP keeps the numbers in the house and
maintains its status (however undeserving) as the country’s
main opposition party. Yesterday’s UNP bullock cart rally
was a classic example of its ineptitude. There they were,
harnessing the power of cattle to block Colombo’s roads
for an hour, ending up at a rally that was rained out. Reporters
who went to cover the event ended up being the only ones left
at the rally, which had been abandoned with a majority of
the party’s MPs within a matter of minutes after the
rains started to come down. If the state of this country doesn’t
warrant a few allegedly rebellious members of the opposition
getting a little soaked if they have to in order to get their
message across, what we might ask, would be worth it? Ah,
the UNP. It’s been good only for a few laughs lately.
And we would be laughing a lot more if it weren’t so
damn tragic too.
The problem of Sri Lanka today is that there is no light at
the end of the tunnel. Any sign of light, is more than likely
to be that of an oncoming train. It’s no wonder Sri Lankans
are lining up as quick as lightning to get the hell out of
the country. Caught in a vicious cycle of lies, politics and
terror, the people of Sri Lanka are being compelled to find
a safer home elsewhere. Those with the resources will pack
their bags and board the jet planes. The poor man, penniless
and starving will remain, falling again and again for the
same political promises, losing family members to one bomb
blast after the next, being driven to suicide when he can
no longer feed his children.
With no saviours in sight, Sri Lanka is all but lost.
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