Opinion

Fateful history of last 75 years: food for thought

Published

3 years ago

2023/03/2

A Connoisseur of Journalism

Several participants at a very popular night-time political chat programme on television recently talked about the history of Sri Lanka after gaining independence. They also chose to lament that the historical events in Sri Lanka are not even taught, let alone mentioned even and discussed in our schools. As a direct result of this, the younger generation is quite unaware of how things had panned out over the last seven and a half decades. Some of the younger members of the community have not even heard the anecdotes nor even a few of the true-to-life stories of numerous cardinal mistakes made by many people who wielded power over the nation.

It really is an intellectual crime that the salient features and the glaring mistakes made by them during the reign of different governing parties and their modus operandi have not been adequately outlined in the history of our country. We talk so proudly of the magnificent three-century-or-so-old heritage of this country without graphically describing the damage done by political leaders in a period as short as seventy-five years; that is of course since the time we managed to secure the so-called independence from our colonial rulers.

Well, as a matter of fact, it is not just the children and the younger generation who have missed it. Even adults, the middle-aged as well as the elderly too have done so and missed the bus completely in their response to various man-made calamities that fell on this beautiful country. The Sri Lankan populace is notorious for having very short memories; virtually minute memories. All the faults and failures of the political clowns of our legislature are generally not remembered and acted upon to prevent a recurrence, thereby allowing repetitions of the very same misdemeanours, over and over…, again and again. Come any election time, the rhetoric of politicians makes the populace forget all that water that has gone under the bridge.

If one looks dispassionately at the way this island has been governed over the last three-quarters of a century, initially by the Prime Ministers from the time when independence was secured, and then by Executive Presidents from the 1970s, one could point out the very many glaring mistakes made to convert a once prosperous nation to the current status of bankruptcy as a country with untold and miserable suffering inflicted on our people. Short-sighted policies with the end result being complete disorganisation of the country, together with purposive manipulations to deeply fracture the coherent nature of Sri Lanka as a united country has wreaked havoc over many a decade.

The self-serving, utterly selfish and do not care attitudes of almost all our so-called leaders over many decades have been the bane of this nation. Making a quick buck and resorting to all forms of corruption with almost complete impunity has been how things have repeatedly gone along. Family cronyism and building personal empires, all at the expense of the people of the country and with enormous gains to the hangers-on, henchmen and henchwomen, really makes one want to retch and puke. However, these have become almost the norm.

The united Ceylonese of the late 1940s has been torn apart by all kinds of religious, ethnic and societal bitterness, and even unbridled sectarianism, leading even to a war, by leaders who fanned the flames of communal disharmony of Sri Lankans. Insurgencies by certain sections of disgruntled inhabitants of our land have dealt severe body blows to Lanka. Some of the proponents of those misdemeanours have now ostensibly entered into the political scenarios to apparently save the country and its people without shedding even a reluctant tear for the atrocities committed in the not-too-distant past. They do not have even an iota of remorse for the suffering of the people brought on by their dastardly capers in the 1950s, 1970s and the 1980s. They have never had the inclination or the guts to come forward and clearly state that they made mistakes in the past, that they murdered innocent people, that they violently rose against the state and that they are so sorry for those mistakes which will never be repeated. We can clearly see many wolves in sheep’s clothing in these shameful sections of our politicians and their supporters in our populace. Then there are the ‘wannabe’ leaders who are adept at only shouting themselves hoarse at the drop of a hat and coming out with grandiloquence that is at best laughable. If you listen to some of them raising the decibel level to the realm of sheer suffering, you would not laugh at all.

We have not had even one elected Prime Minister or an elected Executive President who has TOTALLY eschewed violence and not behaved like a dictator or a tyrant. Of course, they have all got their hangers-on to do all the dirty work without getting their own hands sullied. There are all too well-known instances of those dissidents who have opposed their views and actions, being sent on their way to the next world without any hesitation or remorse whatsoever. Some of these so-called leaders have been corrupt to the core and amassed unimaginable fortunes through filthy lucre. They have not thought even twice about bleeding Mother Lanka virtually to death. There is no doubt that such dishonestly accrued wealth is safely stashed away in other countries which do not ask too many questions about the origins of such vast fortunes. Nobody has up to now even made a feeble try to get that money back into our country coffers. Instead, they have made a concerted attempt to strangle the people with a draconian tax act.

Many of these ‘top leaders’ have also suffered from delusions of grandeur and a case in point is one who dreamed of making this country the Pride of Asia and taking it to Vistas of Prosperity. That worthy destroyed the country by instituting drastic cuts in inland revenue taxes to suit his hangers-on and then went on to completely crush the agriculture landscape of the country by banning chemical fertilisers overnight. He listened to some acolytes who did not even have a clue about agriculture. He did just that, rather than making a solid effort towards obtaining skilful and well thought out advice from the experts in agriculture sciences. He completely chose to ignore the facts of the matter such as the woeful lack of even one country on the planet that has been able to change to 100 per cent to organic fertiliser. In fact, there is no single country that has successfully gone into 50 per cent of organic fertiliser usage or for that matter, even into it by 25 per cent. The maximum a country has been able to successfully use an organic fertiliser mode is by a small proportion akin to 10 to 15 per cent of the entire agriculture situation in that country. Yet for all that, the hard nut decided to ban all imports of chemical fertiliser overnight. One could only echo the immortal words of Marcus Tullius Cicero, ‘O tempora, O mores’. We can only shake our heads in exasperation and incredulity at those who commit such wanton sedition.

The ‘selected’ latest leader who has been in the saddle for the last few months is even more of a cunning fox than his famed uncle who basked in the glory of the nickname ‘old fox’. The current glibly speaking nincompoop seems to have outsmarted all his adversaries. However, mark my words, he will get his just desserts, as one Siri…… from Polonnaruwa did to the tune of one hundred million Sri Lankan smackers. The blue fellow will ultimately learn to his cost that the delusion that he is under, which is that leaders control the people, will not work. That would be because, in a vibrant democracy, the people are sovereign, and they would ultimately take meaningful steps to control the leaders. In addition, at present, we are governed in the legislature by a plethora of buffoons, a set of liars, kings of corruption, confirmed murderers, renowned rapists and drug lords of all hues. They are totally indifferent to the suffering of all fellow Sri Lankans. Those who can do so, are leaving this sinking ship in droves. The youth are emigrating, seeking greener pastures. The intellectuals are deserting our beloved Motherland looking for better landscapes on the other side of this abyss of despondency. The powers-that-be are totally oblivious to the suffering of the masses. As for the legislators enjoying all the perks at the expense of the common masses, we need to remind them, in the illustrious words of the Irish playwright, critic, polemicist and political activist George Bernard Shaw; “The worst sin toward our fellow creatures is not to hate them, but to be indifferent to them: that’s the essence of inhumanity”. Such cold-hearted indifference towards the misery of our countrymen, women and children, will definitely boomerang on them, and hopefully with interest too.

In the current status of this wonderful country of ours, in this summer of discontent, everybody is suffering, in an unfathomable chasm of despair. Even the rich are in misery to a certain extent but they will survive because money talks, even in the very worst of circumstances. The middle class and the lower classes have no such lever to fall back on but the worm may turn at some time or the other.

It is noteworthy that in the most recent 75-year-long history of Sri Lanka, oppressor leaders and despotic legislators have been made to pay…, eventually. Some have even been made to pay dearly. The foregoing tirade of the content of this article was written to show how important the history of a country is. It is also axiomatic to remind the people of this thrice blessed land that history has a funny, inexorable and sometimes most unpleasant habit of repeating itself.

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Opinion

SL CRICKET SAVED BY THE PRESIDENT

Published

6 hours ago

2026/04/26

Thilina Walpola

The President has taken the bold decision to get rid of the office bearers of Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) and appoint an interim committee till such time suitable persons are elected to run the SLC. All Sri Lankan cricket lovers will applaud and endorse President Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s action as the SLC was one of the most corrupt sports organizations in Sri Lanka for a long time.

The office bearers had organized it in such a manner that no other persons could get elected to this den of thieves. They increased the number of clubs as members to collect their votes. Large amounts of funds were doled out to the clubs to which the office bearers belonged.

All cricket lovers would remember how when a previous Minister holding the Cabinet portfolio pertaining to sports tried to get rid of the corrupt officials which the then Parliament endorsed unanimously and how they manipulated to remain in power and get the President at that time to get rid of the Minister instead of the corrupt officials of the SLC.

They were able to get round the ICC too to get what they wanted. The Minister who was appointed in place of the ousted Minister fell into the pockets of the SLC officials and they continued happily thereafter. The Minister was happy and the corrupt officials were happy!

It is not only the elected officials who have to be removed. There are executive employees and other permanent employees who have to be relieved of their duties as otherwise they could get round the incoming officials, and the activities of the bandwagon could go on.

We would appreciate if the President and the Minister in charge would go the whole hog and relieve the SLC of all corrupt personnel so that Sri Lanka’s cricket could get back to its halcyon days again.

HM NISSANKA WARAKAULLE

Opinion

Has Malimawa govt. become Yahapalanaya II ?

Published

2 days ago

2026/04/24

Thilina Walpola

Malimawa government and Yahapalanaya are dissimilar in many respects, the most important being whilst Yahapalanaya had to manage with a balancing act in the parliament, Malimawa has the luxury of a massive parliamentary majority. However, they share one thing in common; the main plank for the election of both presidents Dissanayake and Sirisena was their solemn pledge for the eradication of corruption. It looks as if both have failed miserably, on that count!

It did not take very long for Yahapalanaya’s first act of corruption; the bond scam. COPE, headed by the veteran politician D E W Gunasekara, picked on this but to prevent the presentation of the report, Sirisena dissolved the parliament which was done at the request of the Prime Minister Ranil, to whom Sirisena was obliged for the unexpected bonanza of becoming president. This enabled the second bond scam to take place, also masterminded by Ranil’s friend Mahendran, imported from Singapore!

Malimawa convinced the voters that they are the only group that could get rid of the 76-year curse of corruption and made a multitude of promises, most of which are already broken! What is inexcusable is that, in a short space of time, they seem to have become as corrupt as any previous government and they seem to excel their predecessors in doling out excuses. Of course, they have a band of devoted social media influencers who are very adept at throwing mud at their opponents which they hope would help to cover up their sins. How long this strategy is going to work is anybody’s guess!

Some of these issues were addressed in an article, “Squeaky clean image of JVP in tatters” by Shamindra Ferdinando (The Island, 22 April). I hasten to add that, though some of his supporters are still trying to paint an honest image of AKD, he should be held responsible for many of these misdeeds and irresponsible acts.

One of the first acts of the newly elected president AKD was to appoint two retired police officers, who openly worked for the NPP through the Retired Police Collective, to top posts; Ravi Seneviratne as Secretary to the Ministry of Public Security and Shani Abeysekara as the Director of CID. Both of them held top jobs in the CID when the Easter Sunday attack took place and were blamed, by some, that they too failed to prevent this horrendous act of terrorism. In addition, there was a case against Seneviratne for causing accidents whilst under the influence and Abeysekara was exposed as a ’fixer’ by the infamous Ranjan Ramanayaka tapes. No one would have objected had they been appointed after their names were cleared but AKD’s rash decision to appoint them, disregarding all norms, clearly showed what his long-term strategy was. Was this not political corruption?

Now these two tainted officers are heading the search for the mastermind of the Easter Sunday attacks! Are they being used to divert attention away from Ibrahim’s family that was supposed to have funded the project? After all, Mohamed Ibrahim, the father, was on the national list of the JVP, and the two sons were the leading suicide bombers. It is a matter of great surprise that the Catholic church led by Cardinal Ranjith is not demanding the removal of these two officers from the investigation, who obviously have a conflict of interest. It becomes even more surprising when the demand is made for the Deputy Minister of Defence Aruna Jayasekara to resign, for the same reason; as well stated in the editorial, “Of masterminds” (The Island, 21 April).

The first act of the new parliament was to elect ‘Dr’ Ranwala as the speaker and pretty soon his doctorate was challenged. He stepped down to look for the certificate, which he is still looking for! Though some of the ministers too have admitted that Ranwala may not have a PhD, AKD seems silent. When Ranwala was involved in an RTA, police had run out of breathalyser tubes and blood was taken after a safe period had elapsed. Why has AKD no guts to sack him?

Episode of the release of 323 containers, without the mandatory inspections, seems to be receding to the past and the long-awaited report may be gathering dust in the president’s office! It is very likely due to political intervention and we probably will never know who benefitted.

A minister, who claimed that he is living on his wife’s salary and on the generosity of the party faithfuls, seems to have been able to build a three-storey house in a suburb of Colombo. He claims that when he made that statement, his father was alive but has since died and he has inherited everything as he is the only son! What a shame that Marxists do not believe in sharing the family wealth with sisters? Though the opposite may be true, his explanation that he was able to build a house in Colombo by selling the land in Anuradhapura rings hollow!

The worst of all was the coal scam which would have long lasting consequences on our economy. I do not have to go into details as much has been written about this but wish to point out AKD’s role. In spite of ex-minister Kumara Jayakody being indicted by CIABOC, AKD continued to give unstinted support till it became pretty obvious that he had to go. In fact, he is being charged with an offence which was committed whilst he was serving the Ceylon Fertilizer Company which was under the purview of, guess who? AKD when he was the Minister of Agriculture.

Devastating report from the Auditor General,before Jayakody’s resignation, would not have happened if AKD had his way. He attempted a number of times to get one of his henchmen appointed to this coveted post, overlooking those experienced officers in the department. AKD’s political machinations were thwarted thanks to the integrity of some members of the Constitution Council. If not for them, AKD’s nominee would have been in post and, perhaps, his friend Jayakody would still be the minister.

Malimawa seems to have beaten Yahapalanaya rather than being the second!

By Dr Upul Wijayawardhana

Opinion

Pot calling the kettle black?

Published

3 days ago

2026/04/23

Sahan Weerasooriya

Doctor Upul Wijayawardhana (eminent physician), posed a riddle for us. He wrote about that island Sri Lanka as ‘ this little dot in the ocean’ when deriding the remark of President Dissanayake who had said that Sri Lanka was a hunduva , a term that indicated a small volume: me hunduve inna puluvan da? (Can you live in this restricted space?) Most sensible people, even uneducated, judge that the volume of a little drop (of whatever) is smaller than that of a hunduva; so is weight. When the learned doctor emphatically maintains ‘….we are not a hunduva’ but ‘… a little dot in the ocean…’, is the pot calling the kettle black or worse?

Physically and population wise, Sri Lanka is neither ‘a little dot’ nor ‘a hunduva. This is all in the rich imaginations of Dissanayake and Wijayawardhana. I once counted that there were more than 50 members of the UN who were smaller than Sri Lanka in physical and population size. England was a sizeable island with a small population in the northwest corner of Europe in late 18th century when it began to become what China, with 1.3 billion people and jutting out to the Pacific, is now. From about 1850, when the population of Great Britain was about 20 million, less than that of Sri Lanka in 2026, it ruled more than half the world. Besides, do not forget Vanuatu, Kiribati, Cook Islands, Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Lesotho and New Zealand (who habitually beats us at cricket). New Zealand with 5 million population played against 1.5 billion population India (1:300) for the T20 cricket championship a few weeks ago. I quietly wished New Zealand would win; so much for crap about dots in the Indian Ocean or the south Pacific.

Dr. Wijayawardhana also wrote about history and about ‘The achievements of Hunduwa’. The massive reservoirs and extensive irrigation systems in rajarata and ruhuna as well as the stupa are indeed tremendous works of irrigation and bear witness to superior ingenuity and organising ability, for the time they were built. They compare very well among structures elsewhere in the ancient world. Terms like ‘granary of the East’ must be taken with more than a grain of salt. Facile use of such terms does not take account of whatever shreds of evidence there is of adversity in those times. Monsoon Asia over the ages has more or less regularly suffered from floods, droughts and consequent famines. The last dire famine was in Bengal in 1944. The irrigation works in Lanka were a magnificent response to those phenomena. The modern response has been scientific agriculture making India a major grain exporter, from near famine conditions in 1973-74. Recall Indira Gandhi’s garibi hatao (eliminate poverty) speech to the General Assembly of the UN, that year.

The bhikkhu who wrote down the tripitaka in aluvihara did so because there was the threat of a severe famine in the course of which learned bhikkhu might have come to harm. Buddhist thought over centuries had been passed from generation to generation vocally (saamici patipanno bhagavato savaka (listener) sangho) and the departure from that tradition must have required a major threat of famine. There are stories of bhikkhu from Lanka fleeing from dire straits. In the same vein, while the mahavamsa speaks of kings and their valiant deeds, there is little account of the large mass of little people who lived then. Sensible teaching of the history of a people must include the history of as much of the people as possible and some idea of the history of other peoples in comparable times to avoid feeling dangerously smug and arrogant, which we have seen many times over.

Usvatte-aratchi