A tale of two scenarios of Sri Lanka 2020

This was an article by the writer, a former Ceylon Chamber of Commerce CEO and among the foremost thinkers in society today, published in our newspaper on May 9, 2004 which is relevant in today’s context. De Alwis wrote a column for The Sunday Times FT under the pseudonym RAM (Random Access Memory)

Imagine all the people who deserved better, who dreamt of a better tomorrow for themselves and for their children, now let down by our leaders for they drove only their own selfish agenda. There is only bleakness all around. What was once dubbed ‘a land like no other’ is once again struck by irrationality and is in a state of chaos. ‘Paradise lost’ is yet again the popularly used acronym by the international media to describe what was once, the ‘Pearl or the teardrop of the Indian Ocean’ where serendipity was more than just a state of mind.

Since the breakdown of the peace talks in late 2003, when our leaders missed the boat, not heeding good sense to agree to work together on a common programme for peace and development, this 2020 Sunday scenario for our motherland had to be one of mayhem and chaos. The commentator appearing on my 2002 model television screen, that is nearly tearing itself apart, describes the footage of skirmishes in the areas that were once territory of a united Sri Lanka. Several thousand villagers have lost their lives and women and children are among them. The next story is of military men and firemen clearing the debris of the deeds of a suicide bomber yesterday in the heart of Colombo. Once known as the business district, it is today a pile of rubble where charred bodies of innocent victims are being unearthed. The death toll has arisen to 78, the commentator states.

The leader of the ‘United Gangs of Peoples’ Urumaya’ now ruling ‘Paradise lost’ appears on television to address the broken people of the ‘nation’- or what little is left of it - to appeal for calm. Several fully armed militiamen stand guard beside him and others keep sending him scribbled notes with the latest statistics of the death toll.

The ten-hour daily power interruption is to begin in half hour and the queues for kerosene and petrol are reported to be miles long. The rationed provisions of rice, sugar and dhal for the next month were issued yesterday at what’s left of the now defunct super markets. Scenes of angry mobs fighting for the merger provisions, recreated mental images of the aftermath of the now forgotten invasion of Iraq by the allied forces a little over a decade and half ago. On foreign news, a feature on the emerging nations of Africa is announced for later in the day, but with the power supply cut off, there is no way that I will be able to view the stories of those who have made it good.

On the contrary, imagine all the people in a state of content and bliss, led by our leaders who only meant what is good for us. Leaders who had the courage and the conviction to put aside all the petty differences they earlier had, and joined minds and hands for our sake, to give us the citizens of this ‘land like no other’ what we truly deserve, a prosperous and joyous future of peaceful coexistence. The decision made by these rational leaders of the Southern polity in a united front towards the end of 2003, had paid rich dividends for us today.

I join the many middle class Sri Lankans to watch morning news on the interactive digital screen mounted on my wall. The national anthem preambles a special programme to celebrate the seventeenth anniversary of the day when our leaders decided to work together to set up a common agenda for peace negotiations and development. Hundreds of thousands of grateful Sri Lankans have come from the South, the North, the east and the Central hills to join in the celebrations about to begin in the provincial capital of Trincomalee. The smiles of joy and the fragrance of the little white flowers they carry in their hands tell the whole story. Sitting in the comfort of my living room, I press the ‘I approve/ yes’ button on the hand held interactive remote device to register my own elation of the path our leaders took to enable us to truly regain our motherland.