When a nation is reduced to beggary

Tuesday 29th March, 2022

Most Sri Lankans earn an honest living, pay taxes and are not in debt. They are decent men and women who value and respect themselves. But thanks to a bunch of shameless, corrupt, failed political leaders, who have helped themselves to public funds, enriched themselves fraudulently, and pauperised this country, over the decades, every Sri Lankan has become a beggar in the eyes of the international community.

The so-called leaders of Sri Lanka, who would have the public believe that they were warrior kings in previous incarnations, and brag that they are capable of ushering in national progress, are begging for funds and food from other nations. We see no difference between these shameless politicians and the ‘beggar kings’ who amass wealth by exploiting people’s suffering.

Indignities Sri Lankans are suffering for no fault of theirs are perhaps the least of their worries. The pauperisation of the nation, and its leaders’ begging sprees have placed the country’s national security, independence, sovereignty and strategic assets in jeopardy. There is no such thing as an economic bailout package without strings attached. The government of pseudo patriots will not scruple to do anything that yields dollars and helps fatten their offshore accounts; they are seeking more aid.

As desperate as a drug addict going cold turkey for want of funds to buy hell dust, the government is ready to dispose of state assets or sign agreements that are detrimental to the national interest, if there are some dollars in them. The ongoing flurry of diplomatic activity in Colombo, with high-ranking US officials flying in, makes one wonder if the ground is being prepared for the signing of the State of Forces Agreement (SOFA) to enable the US military personnel to operate here.

The Opposition insists that prime land in Colombo is being sold to China as the government is desperate for dollars. India has succeeded in bagging the Trincomalee oil tank farm and making the Rajapaksa government cough up a container terminal in the Colombo Port for the Adani group. China has already got a harbour, a port city and a container terminal. What else the US will get is anybody’s guess.

Meanwhile, India has had the chutzpah to make an absurd request; it wants Sri Lanka to discontinue the deployment of the Navy and the Coast Guard to deal with Indian fishers engaged in poaching. It is said to have urged Sri Lanka to entrust that task to a paramilitary force. How do other countries tackle the issue of illegal fishing? They have given their navies and coast guards a free hand to protect their maritime resources. Even India has done so, hasn’t it? Why should Sri Lanka be expected to do otherwise?

Poaching is essentially a legal issue and it must be treated as such if it is to be solved. It continues to defy a solution because both countries are trying diplomatic and political solutions, instead of grasping the nettle; their leniency only encourages illegal fishing, especially destructive bottom trawling, which the Indian fishers are notorious for. Both Tamil Nadu and the Centre shed copious tears for the Sri Lankan Tamils, but at the same time they protect and encourage the Indian poachers who deprive the Tamil fishers of their livelihood here.

The Sri Lankan government has not yet responded to India’s request. It is said that beggars are no choosers, but the Sri Lankan Navy and the Coast Guard must be allowed to carry out their duties and functions in Sri Lanka’s territorial waters.

Sri Lanka should be grateful to India for having thrown a lifeline, in its hour of need, and must pay back every single dollar that belongs to the Indian citizens who have their own problems to contend with. It must also be mindful of India’s national security concerns, but it must retain the right to act as a sovereign state and do what is good for it.

If India and Sri Lanka get tough with their fishers engaged in illegal fishing, and allow each other to deal with the culprits according to the law, the issue of poaching will become manageable.