51 years ago on February 4 Sri Lanka became a free nation. But today there is nothing much to celebrate about says Feizal Samath

Freedom: Where oh where are you?

Sri Lanka may have ob tained independence from British colonial rule more than 50 years ago to be free of foreign domination, but daunting problems continue to confront the country with freedom still being an elusive dream. "Freedom? my foot. We are just second class citizens," thundered a Tamil university professor, whose community is the second largest ethnic group in Sri Lanka.

Sarath Amunugama, a UNP member of parliament, said if people are not free to cast their vote without fear or favour, "where is the freedom that we talk of?" Social unrest, political violence and a festering Tamil separatist revolt in which at least 75,000 people have died, have all contributed to turn the clock back in Sri Lanka's march towards becoming a developed and industrialised nation.

Most people believe that had Sri Lanka not "burst into flames" after the infamous July 1983 riots against Tamil civilians which triggered the Tamil insurgency, this country would have been another Singapore, another Malaysia - given its abundance of resources, high literacy rates and skilled people.

"We had everything going until 1983. Growth rates were on the rise, foreign investment was flowing in and steps were being taken to create a financial centre, rivalling Singapore. But we were not prepared to give Tamils their rightful place in society, and now we are in the dumps," moaned a moderate Sinhalese professor.

The Sinhalese, who account for about 74 percent of the country's population of 18 million people, are the majority community followed by the Tamils, the Moslems and smaller groups like the Burghers - the descendants of the Portuguese and the Dutch, and a handful of traders of north Indian origin. Tamils, demanding equal rights, want a more equitable share of government jobs, land, education and employment. A provincial councils structure, introduced in the late 1980s to empower the Tamils with more powers in areas that they dominate, has failed to generate results or any excitement.

On Thursday, February 4, the Sri Lankan government held its 51st Independence Day celebrations but not included was the traditional tri-services parade. Instead the role of the forces was restricted to a tri-services guard of honour, presentation of arms and a 21-gun salute by the Navy.

Government sources said the main reason for this limited scale celebration was that the government did not want to withdraw tanks and other equipment from war areas for a parade in Colombo. Last year the military presented its biggest-ever parade for Sri Lanka's 50th independence anniversary celebrations which was attended by several heads of state and Britain's Prince Charles.

During the British times, thousands of South Indian labour were brought to work on Sri Lankan (then Ceylon) tea and rubber plantations but now the trend in migration is outbound. More than 750,000 Sri Lankan men and women work mainly as housemaids and construction workers in the Middle East and Asian countries, earning valuable foreign exchange for the country. If Indian labour was instrumental in tea becoming the biggest foreign exchange earner in the 1980s, remittances from Sri Lankan migrants now top the list of Sri Lanka's best exports.

Politics has been the bane of the country and politicians from all spectrums of society have been blamed for much of the problems this country is facing. "People are tired of politics. Most politicians have misbehaved, abused power and forgotten the national interest. It has been more a politics of confrontation than national interest," admitted Dr. Karunasena Koddituwakku, a spokesman for the main opposition UNP and a former university professor.

Professor Siripala Hettige, dean of the sociology department of the University of Colombo, believes that the "patron-client" system in Sri Lankan politics must end, otherwise whichever party comes into power, will resort to undemocratic means to seek power. Last week's do-or-die battle for stakes at the northwestern provincial council was a classic example of how politicians behaved, with utter disregard to their voters. In the run-up to the poll, two people were killed, men and women were stripped and paraded naked on the road and on polling day, ballot stuffing, thuggery and intimidation was the order of the day. Most of the incidents were blamed on the ruling PA, and some on the UNP.

Yet with such glaring examples of intimidation of voters, not a single politician from both parties was prepared to take the blame for it. Instead, Sri Lankans were greeted with a distasteful barrage of accusations by both sides and the traditional "you did worse things". Few people in Sri Lanka however expect politicians to be magnanimous. Jayadeva Uyangoda, a top political scientist attached to the University of Colombo, believes there is nothing to celebrate as far as independence is concerned. "We don't have a strong pluralistic foundation and democracy is facing a lot of challenges," he said. He said that the legitimacy of democratic institutions has been eroded by the political leadership. "The two party system - in which only the PA or the UNP have ruled this country since independence - is being hotly challenged but there is no space for other political parties to post a challenge," noted Uyangoda, a former revolutionary member of the former-radical JVP who once spent time in jail.

The JVP has embarked on a peaceful political programme since its two attempts to overthrow the government, in 1971 and 1988, failed miserably. Scores of youth were crushed by military might in 1971 and the UNP in 1988, and many more innocent youngsters died in the violence.

The economy may have survived the political bickering that has cost this country dearly, but a matter for concern is the growing social unrest. Underworld activity and crime are on the increase, rape and child molestation are rampant and a sense of helplessness among the public are prevalent. With police unable to cope with the violence, due to shortages of manpower and political interference, summary justice is becoming a phenomena in society.

Traditional values of decency and respect for the elders are fast eroding. Religion and the teachings of the Buddha, Christ, Mohamed and Hindu gods have taken a backseat as western values and violence via the media, invade the living rooms of Sri Lankan people. With a strong undercurrent of dissatisfaction by rural youth, most people fear a return to the dark years of the JVP insurgency, if the fabric of society caves in under pressure. "I believe the JVP will not go back to what they started. They have come into the political mainstream and we must keep them there. But I don't know," said UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe. Many government ministers, with an intellectual background, are also privately expressing regret at the state of affairs of the country.

"The level of violence in society is startling and we need to do something about it," confessed one minister, who declined to be named. The island nation's biggest obstacle now is to end the war and resolve the ethnic problem through political means. But that is unlikely to happen, at least in the near term, says another political analyst. He says that though President Chandrika Kumaratunga has vowed to implement a political peace package later this year despite opposition from the UNP, it is unlikely that she will go ahead with it. "The political reality is that she is facing presidential and parliamentary elections in the next few months and it may not be to her advantage to introduce the peace package," he said. "There are too many controversies involved in presenting the package. The other problem is that of credibility which the government does not have at the moment."

Kumaratunga's path to peace, via a comprehensive package of devolution and power to the provinces, has been stalled by the UNP. With a slender majority in parliament, the PA does not have the clout to ensure the peace package is approved by the legislature. Sri Lanka's list of achievements in the global context has many a dubious one. While Sri Lankans are proud to possess a cricket team that won the last World Cup and world standard athletes of the calibre of Susanthika Jayasinghe, Damayanthi Dharsha or Sugath Tillekeratne, its other unenviable "firsts" are - having the biggest army in South Asia (proportionately higher than India in terms of population), the highest suicide rate in the world and the world's deadliest guerrilla group.

It is also enslaved by World Bank and Interna tional Monetary Fund policies. The Sri Lankan economy may be the saving grace for this country, says a government economist, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. But economic independence has not been achieved. "We are still dependent heavily on the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and their conditions attached to loans," he added.

The IMF is urging Sri Lanka to implement far-reaching civil sector reforms by cutting spending and staff and overhauling a generous pensions scheme. Government subsidies for agriculture and industry have been trimmed in terms of recommendations made by the fiscal twins. But the economist said that the economy is doing well and is maintaining a five per cent growth rate despite a war that costs 50 billion rupees a year and eats into a bulk of the government's meagre financial resources.

"Our growth rates are much higher than that of South Asia which has shown an average 'Hindu' rate of growth of 3.5 percent in the past two decades," he said. Social spending and infrastructure also appear to put Sri Lanka ahead of others in the region.

Wealthy Saudi Arabia's per capita income is three times that of Sri Lanka but the tiny island nation, nevertheless, ranks much higher in the social development sphere, putting a lot of money in health, education and social welfare.

The country's social development structures have been hailed as an exemplary model in the South Asian region and the rest of the world. But with democracy, virtually nailed to the cross, and people engulfed in a sense of despair and despondency, the strides in economic and social development will be swept by the wayside, and independence will continue to be a far cry from home.

More Plus * This nonsense has to stop and stop now!

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