A society without a conscience

Even during the Jayawardena and Premadasa administrations which could be considered to be very powerful administrations, there were at least a few intellectuals who spoke fearlessly against serious misdeeds when they occurred. They did so in accordance with their conscience and not with the expectation of gifts and honours in the future. But today they all are silent. Or, when a great injustice is done, it is they who try to make injustice appear to be justice. The heroes of yesterday who fought courageously for the freedom of the media have become trusted servants of the censorship authority.

Usually the intellectuals who win against an oppressive regime become, when that regime is defeated, partners or close supporters of the new regime that emerges. When that happens, their struggle ends and they become defenders of injustice that occur under the new dispensation.

Thereafter, the emergence of a new group of intellectuals who protest against injustice takes a long time. Maxim Gorky was a fearless writer who rose against the Tsarist administration. But when the Tsarist regime collapsed and a Bolshevik administration replaced it, he not only became a partner of that administration, but also followed a policy of justifying Stalin's brutalities. However, when his own conscience rose against his actions, he fled the Soviet Union and committed suicide.

The Civil Rights Movement of Sri Lanka was a great creation of Mr. S. Nadesan. It came to existence when the youth insurrection of 1971 arose, and followed a policy of fearlessly expressing its view point against every action and provision that led to a curtailment of civil rights and democratic freedoms. For the massive role it played in that field, that organisation won the highest international award that such an organisation could win.

However, surprisingly, that organisation became silent for the first time about the irregularities and violence that accompanied the Wayamba Provincial Council elections. Does it not mean that even giants who cannot be felled with live bullets can be felled with spent bullets covered with honey?

This is something that is happening not only to that organisation but also to humanistic, civil and progressive organisation too. There are hundreds of peace organisations in the country, but they speak about peace only when there is a signal from the government to do so. Human rights organisations take action about human rights only when it does not displace the governing party. The Bar Association too is among the most powerful professional associations in the country. During previous regimes that association was watching what was happening in the country and spoke out courageously when serious wrongs were committed. However, that association too has become an association of the deaf and the dumb.

The country is declining daily not only because of arbitrary actions on the part of politicians, but also because the society is behaving like the deaf and the dumb in regard to the arbitrary actions of politicians. The greatest challenge before the country today is how to reactivate the social conscience which has stopped functioning. If at the beginning, organised social organiations, namely professional organisations, trade unions, religious organisations and mass organisations, instead of individuals, succeed is creating a tradition of saying 'foul' without being silent when serious offenses are committed, then the possibility of serious misdeeds occurring can be controlled. There need not be any partisanship in this matter. There are common criteria acceptable to a majority of the people about what is good or bad and about what is right or wrong.

In a democratic society it is wrong to disseminate against a group of people on the basis of race, religion, language or caste. It is wrong to unduly extend the term of a parliament. It is wrong to commit election malpractices. It is wrong to obstruct the possibility of opposition parties to organise themselves or to protest. It is wrong to limit the freedom of expression. It is wrong to curtail the freedom of trade unions to organise or to bargain. It is wrong to interfere with the judiciary and it is wrong to misappropriate public property.

If trade unions, professional organisations, and religious and other public organisations cultivate a habit of openly protesting when offenses are committed in relation to fundamental matters like those mentioned above, it will probably be possible to reactivate the social conscience which has stopped functioning. It is then that a social environment necessary to solve the many explosive problems that our society is facing today will arise.

Inside the glass house

Editorial/ Opinion Contents