By Praying Mantis
This must indeed sound like an extremely condemnatory, acerbic and miserable indictment on the inhabitants of our beautiful island. However, facts have to be faced. A nation should be judged by the qualities of the people who encompass its population. Many countries in the world today are so proud of their populace. Can we say the same thing about Sri Lanka?
Our lovely Motherland, which should rank among the planet’s la crème de la crème, is now in its worst possible doldrum; an abyss of despair. We have the most fertile soil, wonderful flora and fauna, scenery of indomitable splendour surrounded by the blue ocean, a literate population, free education and free healthcare, as well as many other attributes which many other nations would dearly give even their very soul to have and to hold. Yet for all that, we have squandered all these gifts by succumbing to many selfish and crafty motives, indiscipline, lack of empathy, irrational behaviour, and an uncanny knack for making a fast buck whenever and wherever the opportunities arise.
We had it coming, right from the time we managed to cut off the shackles of colonial rule and started to boast of independence. The so-called magnificence of centuries of existence and 74 years of independence have not gotten us anywhere. The reasons are quite obvious and could be summed up in just one phrase; total lack of patriotism and resounding deficiencies in professionalism.
Many blame the politicians for all our woes. But, are they the only set of people responsible? Of course, the manipulative and self-serving attitudes and behaviour patterns of the legislators have very definitely dragged us into a morass of despair. Those dregs of the very pits of the earth are responsible for the plight that we are in at present, a bankrupt nation, despised by many other inhabitants of this planet, as a result of all kinds of financial and manipulative misdemeanours by our politicians. There have been, and still are, many a rip-off perpetrated by these unscrupulous lot who have not thought twice about plundering our country’s great wealth. None of them has been brought to book and put behind bars in government facilities maintained at great expense to safeguard the people from criminals.
Yet for all that, we have plenty of people in the political sphere who shout till they are hoarse and even bellow rhetoric from the rooftops, about the transgressions of their opponents. They repeatedly and steadfastly promise the populace milk and honey if they are given political power. Some of those who have even missed the bus are now very busy trying to convince the gullible public that they would be the saviours of our thrice blessed land. Others who vociferously espouse their capability to resurrect our country do not even have the guts to admit publicly the damage caused by their outfits during several insurgencies in the past. Some of those who have held power in the past have been monumental failures; are nincompoops at present, and inclined to spread wide grins across their ugly mugs and pontificate on a resurrection of their parties to a level that would instantly bring about succour to the suffering masses. All these could be, charitably labelled as wishful thinking, but most unfortunately there are quite a few naïve takers in our land to even consider, let alone accept such misguided grandiloquence.
Our legislative pinnacle is an absolute disgrace. There have been fisticuffs, rowdy behaviour, chilli powder throwing, shouting matches, meaningless pomposity and even the usage of unsavoury language in that hallowed citadel of governance. On the other hand, in the best terminology of His Majesty’s language, the most commonly used collective noun for a group of owls is parliament. In ancient Greek mythology, the owl was seen to accompany or represent Athena, the Goddess of Wisdom. Our legislative assembly owls do not even know the meaning of the word ‘wisdom’. In full flight, owls are considered to be silent as they are extremely capable and excellent hunters. Need we say more?
It has been reported that the head of the foremost and premier financial bastion of Sri Lanka has recently lamented publicly that the professionals do not pay taxes. One has to admit that this is perhaps true of certain professions but is it fair for the majority of highly qualified experts in certain vocations, who steadfastly pay their taxes, to be labelled as cunning tax evaders? It is also pertinent to ask why the authorities do not go hell for leather to round up these miscreants. It has been suggested that those wrongdoers have the backing of powerful political personages. Indeed, heaven would be the only source to help us if that be the case. The ancient Roman lawyer, writer and orator Marcus Tullius Cicero, who is credited with the saying ‘O tempora, o mores’, must surely be turning round and round in his grave!!!
There is rampant food insecurity and sky-rocketing prices of essential food articles. A very significant proportion of the families of Sri Lanka are forced to forego at least one meal a day. As a result of all these factors, malnutrition in all age groups is just around the corner. There is a rice mafia that is calling the shots. They have unmitigated political patronage from all sides and are even more powerful than the people in the highest echelons of power in this island nation. They have even been featured in the media and their boorish and impudent behaviour needs to be firmly dealt with. The farmers as well as the consumers are at their mercy. The legislature has fought shy of confronting these scoundrels and using the full administrative power they have, to teach them a bitter lesson. The solution is simple my dear Watson, just confiscate all their hoarded rice and distribute it to the needy. Some time ago, a few of the strongholds of these unscrupulous rascals were raided and then inexplicably, the government proceeded to pay them and buy the detected hoarded rice from them!!!!!
There are shortages of even life-saving medicines in our much-acclaimed Free National Health Service. Many patients on long-term medications desperately needed for sheer survival are forced to pay exorbitant prices out of their pockets for their essential drugs bought from the private sector. The nonchalance of the health officials, from the top downwards, to the suffering of the people sticks out like a sore thumb. They just could not care less, as long as they are looked after, in more ways than one. The Education Sector, Power and Energy segments and Transport Systems, are at the mercy of the trade unions. In a most amusing but inappropriate initiative, the trade unions of teachers seem to be more worried about the attire of the lady teachers than the knowledge that they are duty-bound to impart to children. The power mafia will stoop to anything to fatten their own pockets. Even their taxes are being paid by the institution where they are supposed to work. The transport systems, both the state-controlled and privately owned enterprises, are a law unto themselves. These worthies would not think twice about inconveniencing the travelling public who sustain their existence.
The Police Force of our land leaves a lot to be desired. They will bend in two, salute and even pay obeisance to politicians of all hues and all types. They treat the ordinary public like criminals. It is an axiom in law that one is deemed to be innocent till proven otherwise. Our police officers believe in the exact opposite; guilty till proven otherwise. The police are not an independent lot. They are ever so dependent on the politicians, even to the extent that their postings are done according to the whims and fancies of politicians. The police force is supposed to protect the citizens irrespective of caste, creed or social standing. However, what happens is that rather than protecting the populace, they even go to the extent of harassing and even abusing females and children. Cases in point are many, including harassment of peaceful protesters, victimising two women on a protest march along public roads, manhandling of lower-ranked female police officers by higher-ranked officers, beating and even electrocuting children who are just alleged to have stolen a purse of a teacher etc, etc, etc.
Rabble-rousers are there in plenty. Some cannot even see even some vague semblance of some order in the country and they will crank up one thing or another to disturb the day-to-day life of the majority. It takes just one vague warning shot across the bows in social media for our people to run and get into queues for one thing or another. Then unrest builds up and the media latches on to all kinds of riffraff cursing the government and the country. Some lotus eaters expect the government and the rest of the populace to do anything and everything for them; the well-known ‘welfare culture’ merchants. We need to remind them of the sterling words of John F. Kennedy the iconic President of the USA who said “Ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country”.
As for the way the children are treated in this emerald isle, it is perhaps a disgrace, just to say the least. One would like to quote just three statements from the great statesman Nelson Mandela: –
“The children must, at last, play in the open veld, no longer tortured by the pangs of hunger or ravaged by the disease or threatened with the scourge of ignorance, molestation and abuse, and no longer required to engage in deeds whose gravity exceeds the demands of their tender years”.
“Our children are the rock on which our future will be built, our greatest asset as a nation. They will be the leaders of our country, the creators of our national wealth who care for and protect our people”.
“There can be no keener revelation of a society’s soul than how it treats its children”.
It seems to this writer that the crying need for Sri Lanka for the immediate future is a statesperson who would be firm but quite benevolent. It should be an individual as the Head of State who will deal resolutely but surely with scoundrels. It should be a person who would espouse the impartiality and steadfastness of autonomous and independent organisations that are involved in proper governance as well as in maintaining law and order. It should be one who would try his or her very best to make this country self-sufficient in food and promote food security. It should also be one that would promote exports, develop tourism further and champion world-class education, optimal health facilities to all and in general, look after our people.
Is there an exceptional national leader of that calibre even on the horizon? As a considered answer to that question, your guess is as good as mine. Without such a personage, we are doomed forever.
