By Darshana Abayasingha
The end is yet to come, but it is safe to assume it’s nigh. Thus, we rekindle that dream for Sri Lanka – of a land and people of promise, with opportunity and prospects for all. But this can only result at the end of a carefully-chartered cohesive process. It is time then for the progressive stakeholders of Sri Lanka to converge and discourse and deliberate on our future. Ideas are what Sri Lanka needs – and good ones at that! Ideas that would translate into meaningful action and not that what makes intelligent reading for minds starved for opportunity.
What must come is a testing time for the conventional Sri Lankan attitude, a time where the typical politician would search for substance to sell to the masses; results which he must deliver. Gone would be the banner of war and nationalism, and the promise of development must spew a more tangible yield – a time perhaps where fools would become wiser. You might be surprised to know that some are already thinking; what can we sell?
Extreme Precautions
To speak the mind of an enterprising few, our dream is for one Sri Lanka, where every man and woman are treated with equality devoid of caste or creed and where we all will live as Sri Lankans. Arguably and ideally a time where ‘Race’ will cease to be part of submission forms, and children gain admission to schools on individual merit; not because he’s a Sinhalese or Muslim, or that’s a Tamil school. He or she must be accepted because it’s a Sri Lankan – one who has a right to life, education and every bit of it that we as civilised human beings have come to accept.
Perhaps some of us may dwell too much on the Singapore example, but it’s a system that has worked and thus gives cause for interest. Let our official languages remain as it is, but perhaps the adoption of English as a ‘working language’ going forward would provide the incentive to learn and one day communicate as one. Let English education receive precedence in a new Sri Lanka; let it become the tool to empower. What value can we really derive of a literate population that cannot project to the world, or even within our own shores? For years, extremism and ignorance has prompted our countrymen to treat English as a discriminator as opposed to the empowerer that it is. They chose to shun those who spoke with the ‘queen’ deeming it evil, polluting the cultural and social values of the country. Politics fanned this thinking. These lame and introvert thoughts and its following are the root cause of our despondency, and that must be eliminated through a process of structured education and empowerment.
It is such extremist and selfish thinking that warrants the explanation for the term ‘progressive stakeholders’ above. We are all alive to the whims and qualms of a fanatical few who bawl about the need to revive a mythical past and a time of cultural greatness. We are alive to the rhetoric of our ‘comrades’ who bellow about protecting public property and rights, and denounce the mere thought of capital culture – the same that they richly enjoy. We all respect and love our proud history, culture and traditions which we uphold. But to distort it and press it on the public for the sake of power and place are actions we must scorn. It is they who have been the bane of this nation for generations, and will continue to be so should we not choose to uproot their cause.
Being Sri Lankan
Nationalism in its true form is not blind to the ills and sufferings of its countrymen. Nationalism that chooses to discriminate, oppress and shout for the selfish gain of power whilst holding back the progress of a nation could be considered crazed fanaticism that spits on the very values you claim to uphold. Sri Lankans respond to ideological rhetoric that perceives greatness and individuality. But it’s a shame when all it does is drag their own deep into a political and social mire that we still live in since its active emergence in the mid 20th century. Our leaders have been held hostage by these radicals – the promise of power being a rewarding incentive. And indeed we hope that the leadership of the new emerging Sri Lanka will rise above these petty selfish agenda and start thinking for the nation and leaders act as leaders. But how do you sober a drunk addicted to the spirit of power and riches. Perhaps, for the time being, we would have no choice but to accept a balance with the promise of delivery on a national agenda.
The end of conflict must not result in the oppression of any ethnic group. Let us remember the LTTE as a terrorist group, an organisation that slew the very people it claims to represent. Thus, our antagonism must be directed at terrorists – not civilians from any ethnic group. A recent poster that dirtied the walls of Colombo called on the public to attend a forum on defeating ‘Tamil Terrorism’. It is this type of irresponsible and crazed extremism that leaves many of us wondering whether Sri Lanka, or perhaps Sri Lankans, has the ability to rise above absurdity. After three decades of strife it is sad that some of our own cannot identify the very elements that caused this historical disaster. It is sad that some of us must try to fuel this fire that ravages our every hope and opportunity. Let us learn and let us edify our countrymen to accept us all. Let us propagate harmony amongst the groups, and identify that indeed they do have legitimate problems. Let us work together to become one Sri Lanka, and proudly discard the divisions of caste and creed. Do we aspire too much? Indeed it is hoped not – for our vision and ask is only for a better Sri Lanka for all. Each and everyone must play their part to get there.
The Seeds of
Prosperity
To build this new Sri Lanka it is not merely a cause for business and investment. That forms only a mere aspect and the process needs to be complemented with a more human kind. In Sri Lanka, it’s all about developing – or changing – mindsets, which we accept is an arduous task to put it mildly. But can we afford to give in? Can we afford another fifty years of lost opportunity for country and its humanity? The answer lies not in merely stating no, but being part of a national process to build that change and with it the country of our dreams. This dream is not for one and few but for all Sri Lankans – let us drive the pride and thought being Sri Lankan; one country, one people!
Who will instigate this process and how, this national civic front of ideas and process to triumph over our history? How do we communicate the message of peace and equality, education and process to the masses? How do we expunge the voice of hollow extremism? What of citizens’ rights, and the culture of impunity that grows amongst us. The situations are many, and the process must begin sooner rather than too late. Who and how do we begin?
Thus it is indeed a time for ideas; for new ones and some old. A mindset change for a new Sri Lanka has long been the desire of many including this column, and the aforesaid evils have stood as recurrent obstacles. And so we repeat these espoused ideals with the hope that the thought would finally kick-in. It is perhaps the last effort. We live and grew in a Sri Lanka that knew violence and strife; a life and time of discrimination, despondence and of missed opportunity. As so we dream to live in a new Sri Lanka.