‘Independence’

Editorial from The Island

Independence Day for a developing country is like a mendicant’s wedding anniversary. Why it should ever be celebrated on a grand-scale defies one’s comprehension.

The government’s decision to scale down today’s Independence Day celebrations and hold the main ceremony near Parliament instead of at Weeraketiya is most welcome though it is not devoid of partisan politics. A lot of money has thus been saved and many a participant spared the trouble of sleeping rough for a night or two in a far-flung township sans facilities to host a national event. The Independence Day, or any other national ceremony for that matter, must not be an expensive political circus for the party in power to gain propaganda mileage or a grandiose project for government politicians to boost their egos.

Is what we celebrate on Feb. 04 every year real? If independence means pomp and pageantry, military parades, fly-pasts, gun salutes and boastful rhetoric bellowed by politicians with deep pockets and shallow minds, then we have it in abundance. But, if independence means the freedom to act as a sovereign nation without being bullied and dictated to by others, then it is a delusion we have been cherishing all these years.

We have celebrated Independence—with capital ‘I’—for nearly seven decades since the British made a symbolic exit, but the country has since remained dependent, for its survival, on foreign aid and exporting agricultural products, garments etc to the developed world and slaves to West Asia, where they are exploited and tortured with impunity.

The country has come to such a pass under successive governments of politicians by politicians for politicians that even democracy and good governance have had to be imported. Foreign politicians and diplomats rush here as and when they feel like, read out statements prescribing democratic norms to be adhered to and abruptly leave media briefings without fielding questions. They come, they sermonize and they leave! Sadly, Sri Lanka is still the white man’s burden!

Today’s Independence Day celebrations take place against the backdrop of chaos. The judiciary is in a deep crisis and the national legislature is in a shambles. Replacing one set of political parasites with another so that all of them can take turns to ruin this country has come to pass for democracy; governance has apparently been mistaken for patronage and goodies for the masses who politicians seem to think have only oversized stomachs and no brains. Every institution upon which hinges the country’s ability to forge ahead and attain its development goals is politicised to the core and, therefore, inefficient. The police are an appendage of the party in power with its bigwigs turning somersaults like gypsies’ monkeys to appease their political masters. The less said about the public service the better! The national legislature has become a haven for drug dealers, fraudsters and other anti-social elements.

A politician is said to be a person who thinks of the next election while a statesman thinks of the next generation. Thus, it may be seen that the statesmen we have had since 1948 can be counted on the fingers of one hand. This may explain why we are going hat in hand to foreign powers and international lending institutions seeking funds even to fix leaking sewers.

Charles De Gaulle it was who famously said the only way a country could gain true independence was to acquire the bomb, meaning nukes. No truer word has ever been spoken about independence, given the deplorable manner in which mighty nations are bullying and exploiting their smaller counterparts while extolling the virtues of human rights, democracy etc. But, we believe, there are some alternatives, economic development coupled with democratic governance being one of them.

The need for a truly national leadership driven by patriotism and altruism to hoist the country from the present politico-economic mire is felt more than ever.