Dr. Sudath Gunasekara Mahanuwara.
2020, Year
of Great Expectations of a nation after 72 years of pompous celebrations of
so-called Independence since 1948. Will they be fulfilled at least now, under the
Government of Gothabahaya Rajapaksa?
Introduction
I start writing this note on the assumption
that we have not received any independence, other than the room to elect local
representatives to Parliament under a system orchestrated by the British with
serious limitations on us as an Independent nation. (This subject has to be
treated separately as it is outside the scope of this essay. (Please see Did
this country get any Independence in 1948, Lankaweb 31.1. 2019.)
The purpose of this essay is to
highlight the long overdue grievances of a nation neglected, not addressed and
therefore betrayed by its own elected rulers for the past 72 years after
celebrating a fake Independence we are supposed to have got
in 1948 and bring them to the immediate attention of
the new President and the people’s Government elected by them with
unprecedented faith and hopes in one person called Gothabahaya from Magama in
Ruhuna, the birth place of legendary King Dutugemunu the Great, to get those
historical injustices inflicted upon a nation, both by invaders and by their
own leaders rectified at least now.
Looking at
the way how President Rajapaksa has spoken and acted since his historic
swearing it at the Ruwanweli Mahaseya up to the latest at the inauguration of
the 9th Parliament on the 20th of August one can have the
highest confidence in him as a true patriotic Sinhala Buddhist leader that he
will definitely fulfill the
burning unfulfilled aspirations of this nation.
As we all
know historically Ruhuna had been the cradle of national heroes throughout
history and the birth place of the nation’s greatest war hero King Dutugamunu,
from where Gotabhaya also hails.
Incidentally among the King Dutugemeun’s Dasamaha yodayas there was also a warrior by the name Gothayimbara,
the patriotic people of this country believe is reborn as Gothabhaya, the
legendary Diyasena mentioned in Perakumbasirita to save this nation and its
motherland.
A Long list
Obviously
the list of grievances given here is too long. But readers have to bear with me
as this constitutes a dream of an 82 year old patriot of this soil who has been
fighting and yearning for this change for the last 50 years and who does not
wish to die without getting them fulfilled by someone before the writer closes
his eyes in this life.
The writer believes the expectation
of the majority people in this country to be the same as those of the writer as
he too comes from the same class. The expectations of the people at this
election were greater than at any of the previous elections since so-called
Independence.
First and foremost they expect this Government
to be the best since the so-called 1948 Independence, that will usher in a
period of sanity, peace and prosperity preceded by restoring law and order and
full freedom from all internal and external threats like narcotics, underworld,
frauds and bribes, corruption and wastage of public funds and abuse of
authority on the part of both politicians and public officials and unnecessary
interference by foreign countries in the domestic matters of the country. They
also expect a patriotic and people friendly government under the present
leadership. In short they expect a government by the people, for the people and
of the people’ in place of the corrupt and oligarchic ‘government of the
politicians, for the politicians and of the politicians’ as we have had up to
date in this country from the time we know.
A legacy of
deception and betrayals
1 Sri Lanka is a nation that had been
deceived and betrayed by their own politicians who were only implementing the
British system of government with its political, legal and administrative
systems as laid down by the British under the Soulbury Constitution for the
past 72 years of so–called self-government that benefitted only the
politicians and their kith and kin ever since 1948.
2 As a result the country and once a
Great Nation in the world had been dumped in to an Augean mess almost beyond
recovery by all successive governments by blindly following the British system
of governance completely alien to us, that was designed to divide and destroy
the 2500 year old Sinhala Buddhist civilization in this country, without going
back to our roots we had inherited for millennia, to make this country a free,
independent, vibrant and prosperous country, in spite of its unique location on
the globe and enormously rich natural and human resources. The British not only
divided and destroyed the Sinhala nation that existed up to 1815 including
Tamil and moor elements, on ethnic, linguistic and religious grounds and
labeled it as a multi-ethnic, multi religious and multi- racial nation but also
they divided the country in to Provinces based on language, religion and ethnicity on grounds.
What was worse is they even conferred special
privileges on Tamil and Muslim minorities who were outsiders and forming an
insignificant fraction of the total population of the country by allowing them
to have their own civil courts, marriage and divorce and inheritance laws while
depriving the native Sinhalese of their entire legal traditions and forcibly
imposing the Roman Dutch and English Laws on them. Unfortunately no politician
at that time raised these issues. Even today the same discrimination remains.
3 We are a nation that claims a long legacy of
an Independent and sovereign government of our own with a glorious heritage
that flourished on this land for nearly 2600 years or even more, as recent
archaeological evidence have found. It
was annexed to the British Empire by convention between two sovereign nations in
1815 (the only country in the world so annexed without defeating by war) , 1815
Convention was completely replaced by Royal proclamation of Nov 21 1818 by
Brown Wrigg (the brutal colonial murderer) that made the 1815 Kandyan
Convention of March 2nd completely a dead letter But in practice although it
still stands valid as a legal document drawn between two sovereign nations
under International law.
4 69.5
million people in this country who elected President Gotahabhaya Rajapaksa as
their President on 16th of November 2019 and elected this government
in to power on 5th August 2020 with a 2/3 majority winning almost all Districts
are aspiring for a complete change in the existing political, legal,
administrative systems and socio-cultural outlook under a new Constitution that
is based on our own civilization, that is the Sinhala Buddhist culture that has
nurtured this nation for more than two and half millennia and taken to great heights,
at least now, as Martin Jacques has pronounced in his famous treaty When China
Rules the World” 2009.
5 Therefore the need to replace the Alien British system of
governance with the native system of State craft that flourished over time and
time tested for 2 ½ millennia on this
land as a Sinhala Buddhist model introduced to this Island by Arahat Mahinda
Thera in 307 BC. At least now we have to
tell the world that we were not barbarians when British annexed this country by
deceit and we were a nation with a with
a great civilization with our own statecraft and legal system long before the
British were known as a civilized nation in this world.
Under this backdrop the gap between
the achievable and expected goals of the nation is extremely wide. I call this
election a historic event and a mass uprising calling for a turning point in
the history of the Island Nation. This is why I name the coming years as an age
of Great Expectations of the Sinhala nation.
Preliminaries
1 Immediately after completing the
Parliamentary formalities like appointing the new Prime Minister, Speaker, the
Deputy Chairman, Leader of the Opposition etc,
people of this country want the President to appoint a small Cabinet
(say 20 the most) out of the best with clean track records, eminent in
different fields and acceptable to the people from among the elected. No
National list MP should be appointed as a Cabinet or State Minister as they are
not elected by the people and not responsible for the people. (In fact this
so-called national list that has already become a big joke, eroded democracy
and become a mere tool of the Party
leaders and come to remain as a dead weight around the nation’s neck should be
abolished at the first opportunity the government can do it legally.
2 Then, beside the usual swearing in
made under the Fourth Schedule to the Constitution to defend and uphold the
Constitution etc get them also to swear that hence forth they will devote
their full time for the good of the people and the motherland discarding all
personal agendas” as it had been the practice up to date in this country. Also
make it mandatory for all MPP to attend all session and remain their the full
time until the proceedings of the day are over, violation of which should be
made punishable
The Prioritized list of people’s expectations
What the
people who voted this Government expect from it now
I list below some of the main burning
issues and grievances what the patriotic people of this country who have voted the President in last November and the SLPP in
to power on August 5th 2020 election expect the new Government under
Gothabhaya to resolve with the least delay, as they have been already delayed
at least by 72 years
A list of
High priorities are given below
1 A Cabinet of 20 from among the
elected Members of Parliament only
2 Bring down cost of living
immediately as it is priority No 1 of the masses and restore the stability of
the Rupee
3 Politicians elected by the people
should work for the good of the people and the country and not for their own
enrichment
4 Remove the 19th Amendment, without
restoring the 18th retaining its good provisions in the 20th A and
restoring full Executive powers of the President sans Presidential immunity
5 Restore law and order and good
governance in the country by reorganizing, restructuring, streamlining and
pruning the political, legal and administrative institutions as most of them
have become big burdens to the economy
6 Formulate a strict code of conduct
for all politicians and public servants and set targets for both groups
(monthly/six monthly)
7 Scrap the Ministry for Hill country
New Villages, Infrastructure and Community Development Ministry created by the
previous Govt immediately, that was meant exclusively for Estate Tamils and
Indianization of this country
immediately that discriminates against the Bhoomiputras , the Sinhala nation
and Instead
8 Set up a
separate Ministry immediately for the rehabilitation of native Kandyan peasants
under the President as the Head of the State to restore and rehabilitate the
Kandyan Peasants as proposed in the KPC Report of 1951. (That would be the
greatest tribute the President could pay to the hundreds of thousands of those
valiant Sinhala patriots who sacrificed their lives and everything they had,
from 1505 to 1848 to protect this country for the Sinhala nation.
9 Close down the Indian Consulate
offices in Hambantota, Jaffna and Kandy ASAP as they pose a big threat to our
Independence and sovereignty. There is absolutely no need to have four
consulate offices in all strategic corners in a small country of 25 000 sq
miles when they have a fully equipped A class Embassy in Colombo, unless the
India has a secret plan up in its sleeves.
10 Revoke the JR/Rajiv Accord of 1987
and the 13th Amendment, the two Indian made Kautilyan Atomic bombs to bring
this country under its full control and finally annex this Island to the Subcontinent
and destroy the Sinhala Buddhist civilization on this planet.
11 This should be followed up by
abolishing the Provincial Councils (created by India) together with the
Provinces created by the British to destroy the Sinhala Buddhist nation
12 Also abolish the Pradesiya Sabha
System and go back to the native Village Council that administered this
countryside of this nation from 427 BC also save trillions on their future
maintenance as it had been done for 35 years since 1987 which has brought
absolutely no benefit to the country or the people but had been disastrous only
all round (Politically, administratively, economically and socially) while
providing a heaven for politicians at lower level and vote netting for
Parliamentarians.
13 Declare this country again as ‘The Sinhala Buddhist Kingdom” as it had
been before 1815 for 2500 years
14 1nvoke the 6th Amendment of the 1978 Constitution immediately and ban
all political parties named after ethnicity, religion or race, leaving only
National Parties
15 Restore the historical name of
this country SIHALE that was there in 1815 when it was ceded to British by
Convention and rename all villages named by Sajit Premadasa as Gramams (18),
(Indian), and Akbar Nagar (Arabian) etc with tax payers money with the
ulterior motive of collecting Tamil and
Muslim votes
16 Grant citizen ship to Indians only
under the Nehru/Kotalawala Agreement 1954 and revoke all citizenships given
under all other criteria just to collect their votes since 1956
17 Enact a New Constitution ASAP
based on our culture limiting Parliament to 160 seats, Scrap the National list
and Limit the Cabinet to 15 Cabinet Ministers and deputies to about 20
18 Ban establishment of all mono
Tamil or Muslim Settlements in any place in the country as it is done today
specially in the Central hill country
19 Remove all special privileges
given to MPP like pension after five years (a gross violation of the Pension
Act and a criminal discrimination against nearly 600,00 Government pensioners
who get a pittance after 35 years of hard labour), duty free vehicle permits
every 3 years and many more , too long to be listed here, to discourage selfish
people getting in to politics to make money at public expense
20 Save Sri Lanka from the tyranny of
minority politics by banning all political parties set up on racial, religious
or regional basis Like Tami, Hindu Muslim or even Sinhala.
21 Remove the obnoxious so-called
National list of 29 to reduce the burden on the people
22 Stop appointing any Tamil or
Muslim as Ministers of Justice, Education., Trade, Land, Cultural Affairs,
Foreign Affairs, Ports And Shipping and Plantation, unless and until they
accept that this is the Land of the Sinhala Buddhist Nation and they are only minority communities living
in that country and they never claim separate Kingdoms with self-rule” and
also unless you find a person of Luxman Kadiragama’s caliber.
23 No Cabinet Minister should be allowed to
take any decision or make any appointment anywhere without being finally
approved by the Cabinet presided over by the President
24 Introduce electoral reforms to
have one MP for each electorate and do away with the District MPP and
proportional representation system and preferential voting
24 Declare one country, one law, one
nation, one official language (SINHALA), one National Flag (sans the strips)
and one National Anthem like in any other country in the new Constitution
25 Scrap the British found Provinces
and go back to the District system of administration and reduce the number of
Districts in present Northern Province to 3 by scraping Mullative and
Kilinochchi Districts as only that Province has 5 Districts
26 Allocate public Sector jobs
according to the prevailing ethnic ratios to stop discrimination against the
Sinhala majority.
27 Stop appointing defeated candidate
to any post in government or semi-government jobs including diplomatic posts as
it is often done today.
28 Make Buddhism the State religion
and bring the Ministry of Buddhism under the President as it had been the
tradition throughout history in this country
29 Appoint a permanent commission to inquire
in to malpractices of all politicians and high officials from 1987 including
misuse of tax free vehicle permits
30 Eradicate the drug menace
corruption and waste in public expenditure
31 Declare all lands >5000 feet MSL
as strictly reserved Forest and ban all human settlements above 3500 ft. as it
had been declared by royal decree before 1815 and establish mixed settlement
for landless Kndyan Peasants and displaced Estate Tamil due to implementation
of this settlement rule and who are
qualified as Citizens as under N/K agreement 1954.
32 Re-name all villages and place
names given since 1815 including those made by Sajit Premadasa more recently
such as Akbar Purams and various Gramams and those given by minority
politicians like in Batticalloa and also restore ancient place names, village names and various others
like mountains, rivers and towns.
33 Reduce public national holidays to
12 as that is the number most countries have and limit religious holidays only
to those of that particular religion except Vesak and Poson that have been the
National Holidays of the Sinhala nation.
34 Stop appointing persons outside
the Sri Lsnka Administrative Service to scheduled post of SLAS and persons
outside the Overseas Service to diplomatic posts unless some special reasons
demand such persons being appointed.
35 Reduce the number of Ministries
and government and semi-government institutions by amalgamating or scraping to
reduce public expenditure, waste and corruption and also make them efficient
and cost effective
36 Allocate all public expenditure
through Ministries and Departments and institutions under Votes, Heads, Sub
Heads, and Items as we had them before holing official accountable and
responsible for every cent to stop waste
and corruption and stop allocating money to MPP, a system that has been
disastrous
37 Ban Buddhist monks contesting
election for any political institution starting from Parliament to the Village
councils
38 Ban women workers going out as
housemaids and instead reorganize the country’s education system to produce
technical and professional men and women needed by the world market
39 Completely restructure and
reorganize the Gramasevaka system as the Gramaseva Division forms the
cornerstone of effective, efficient and good governance in this country. Why
not call them again as Gampathi. (Details of this scheme could be made
available if someone is interested).
40 An independent efficient,
productive and people centric Public service and Judiciary free from Politics
and Recruitments to Public Service and Judiciary only on competitive exams and
meritocracy to be the only criterion in selection and appointment.
41 A programme to make Sri Lanka
number 1 in the world in Fishing Industry by making use of the Indian Ocean
that stretches from Africa in the West to Australia in the East and South Pole
in the South and making this country a major naval power in the world by using
our strategic location on the globe in relation to the Great East and West
trade routes and its enormous economic potentials of fabulous ports around the
Island. (The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world’s oceanic
divisions, covering 70,560,000 km² or 19.8% of the water on the Earth’s
surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west, and Australia
to the east)
42.To convert this country to an
International hub in Aviation, Shipping, trade, Banking and all kind of
Services to make this Island a world Giant making use of its strategic location
and god given resources both natural and Human.
43 The need to take immediate action
against Hindu and Muslim vandalism against Buddhist religious places in the
North and East and to take steps to protect those places and the Monks living
there.
44 To reduce excessive public
holidays (some years running in to 132) to world average of 12 per year and to
limit religious holidays only to those who profess those religions to save
hundreds of millions of man days to boost development to catch up with the
competitive world
45 A national Planning Council and a Supreme
national Advisory Council consisting of non-political personalities
Realization of these objective
entails far and wide structural changes in systems and institutions which call
for many a hardship and sacrifices in the short term that brings long term
benefits for the country.
