The doctors strike was called off yesterday after the government for obvious political reasons strained its neck to save Health Minister A.H.M. Fowzie's face and its own, while attempting to get the doctors back to work.
Obviously President Kumaratunga had forced Mr. Fowzie to back down on the issue of the 10 Cuban trained graduates. Earlier she stopped short of deciding on the dates of appointment for other interns, leaving it for the Cabinet to decide but yesterday that issue was also settled.
When all hell had broken loose in public hospitals and poor patients were suffering more than ever before, a blatant dragging of feet was inexcusable. From any standpoint, Mr. Fowzie had been extremely unfair by the nation and the government collectively, was equally culpable.
For doctors as well as others in public service the date of appointment and seniority are of fundamental importance. It is not like politics where they can bypass others in strange ways.
The government is clearly showing its inability to govern. Strikes are once again becoming fashionable. The electricity employees followed the plantation workers. There is a feeling in the air that the government is not governing.
The doctors also must be aware that their work is not just a profession or a business but a vocation and a noble call to heal all who come to them. They are kept on a pedestal by society and they must not fall from it by their own actions.
With Narasimha Rao's Congress Party getting its worst thrashing from the people in the 100-years history of the organisation, the world's biggest democracy India finds itself in an Italian-type scenario. Whether or not the Italian-born Sonia Gandhi, widow of the slain Prime Minister Rajiv, could rescue the Congress and influence the course of Indian history is left to be seen.
Amidst all the intrigue, manoeuvring, backroom dealings and poker games going on in New Delhi yesterday in the race to become Prime Minister, one Indian columnist summed up the situation aptly. In the frontlines of the battle we see the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janatha Party with a prime ministerial candidate but no majority. The Congress has a caretaker Prime Minister with no hope. The National Front - Left Front has an alliance without a prime ministerial candidate.
Most analysts believe there were two principal reasons for the Congress party's debacle where it has been disgraced into third place in Indian politics. One reason was corruption with nearly seven of Mr. Rao's ministers facing charges. The other was that Mr. Rao's liberalisation of the economy, though widely applauded in the world, did not impress the millions of India's poor masses because the fruits of development did not flow down to them. This message from the people of India is very important for Sri Lanka and other countries. Growth without an equitable distribution of wealth would be disastrous for all.
All that apart, Sri Lanka must maintain healthy, official and personal relations with whatever government that emerges in New Delhi and in the state of Tamil Nadu as well as the opposition. We must not take sides as Sri Lankan leaders did in the 1970s with severe repercussions.
In Tamil Nadu Jayalalitha Jayaram has been stripped of everything because of her outrageous extravagance and demands for adulation. Back in office with a landslide majority is the DMK's Muthuvel Karunanidhi, who is known to be more sympathetic to the LTTE than the AIADMK or the Congress. But this time Mr. Karunanidhi is in alliance with a strong breakaway Congress group, the TMC which we hope will help maintain a balance. So Sri Lanka can build good relations with the government of Tamil Nadu and also with the state governments in Kerala and West Bengal with which we have ancient ties.
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