Prof. Asoka N.I. Ekanayaka

 · Fundamentally racist

 · Indifferent to corruption

 · Inherently selfish

 · Basically foolish though imagining themselves to be wise, and

 · Afflicted with a malignant distorted religiosity

 Prof. Asoka N.I. Ekanayaka

 This article is not primarily about the woeful record of the present

government. Nor is it about the abomination of governance by family

oligarchy in whose stranglehold a nation groans in every part as if

being slowly crushed by the constricting coils of some giant Anaconda.

Rather it is about the attitude character and mindset of 6.9 million

people who with their eyes open provoked this catastrophe.

 The final disgrace was the UNHRC Commissioner’s damning indictment in

her 2022 report about the erosion of the independence of the judiciary

and other key institutions, and the constriction of the democratic

space for human rights advocacy, amidst a further drift towards

militarisation and an emphasis of Sinhala nationalism and Buddhism in

State institutions, thereby increasing the marginalisation of minority

communities”.

 However, the purpose here is to focus on the mindset of 69 lahks of

people who deliberately conscientiously and enthusiastically of their

own free will opted through the ballot to bring about such a

predicament to their own detriment . That millions would of their own

volition invite a cataclysm that might spell ruination for themselves

and their families for generations to come is amazing. It is

tantamount to an act of collective national suicide bordering on

madness rarely seen in the history of nations. In retrospect the

foolishness irrationality and sheer immorality of such an infernal

choice should have been plain to even a little child. And yet

incredibly those who made the fatal choice came from every strata of

society.

 They included the well educated and the semi literate, the richest of

the rich and the poorest of the poor, learned professionals and the

posh business classes rolling in money. They included pampered

government officials wallowing in the perks and privileges of high

office and thriving medical consultants. Nor must we forget the

scholarly Ph.Ds and university professors now looking foolish with

their lofty pretentions to high intelligence and critical thinking in

tatters. From the sophisticated English speaking middle classes to the

unlearned monolingual masses and riff raff of society , from

sanctimonious buddhist monks pastors and priests who habitually pay

lip service to truth and justice, to the many millions of their simple

minded adherents whom they regularly regale with exhortations to live

righteous lives – all of them would seem to have blindly voted to

their own destruction in the 2019/20 elections.

 But now everything seems to have changed. The air is thick with the

bitter reproaches of the disillusioned millions who having eagerly

voted for this government now find that all their expectations have

been dashed. To them the promised vistas of prosperity” have all too

soon become a mirage. Those of us in the 8th decade of life who have

lived through all governments since independence can state

unequivocally that no government in the postcolonial history of the

country has alienated so many supporters so much in so short a period

of time as this one. Indeed many feel that if there is an election

today the ruling party will be wiped out by a majority as large as

that by which they were elected to power 2 years ago. And they may be

right. It is so hard to find folk who proudly admit to have been

amongst the 69 lahks of supporters that one wonders whether they ever

existed ! One gets the impression that many erstwhile supporters are

embarrassed and would prefer to distance themselves from that

association. Many of the disillusioned rather than having the humility

to acknowledge having made a great mistake dishonestly disclaim

responsibility by assuming a lofty air of self righteous disdain for

all politicians.

 However taking all such variations into account there is enough

reason for opposition politicians to believe that support for the

government has evaporated. It is natural that they should look forward

to a dramatic turn around by 6.9 million disgruntled voters at the

next election, in the expectation that the ruling party and the

detestable family oligarchy that drives it will be wiped out. On the

one hand there seems to be plenty of justification for such heady

optimism.

 On the other hand such confident expectation needs to be tempered by

an important consideration. It has to do with the troubling question

of why exactly such a large proportion of the Sri Lankan population

voted as irrationally as they did in the first place ? What false

values, ideological fixations , debased attitudes, entrenched beliefs

and inherent assumptions drove such people to make such a monumental

error ?. What deep seated prejudices blind loyalties and fatal flaws

in the national character did such a bizarre voting pattern signify ?

Did such madness even imply a low level of national intelligence” (if

one can imagine such an attribute) that is not easily rectified ?

 Such questions are important and disturbing . Have those who are

hurting today really had a change of heart? The answers may provide a

clue as to whether the current wave of anguish and alienation amongst

69 lahks of voters is a passing phenomenon or indicative of a

permanent change of heart and mind. Is their current disenchantment

the outcome of frustration that their narrow selfish expectations have

been momentarily dashed or an indication of a radical change of heart

?

 For example not very long ago teachers were up in arms. It looked as

if they were a major threat to the government. Then they were given

their salary increase. They have been quiet ever since. The farmers

have been justly outraged by the denial of chemical fertilizer amidst

the president’s asinine obsession with organic substitutes . If by

some miracle there is a radical reversal in policy resulting in

farmers being provided plentiful fertilizer as in the past might they

end up eating out of his hand by the time the next election comes

round ? And for millions of others who voted SLPP now fuming and

fretting away in long queues for gas and fuel, might the restoration

of these basic essentials and an end to queues settle them to a point

where their selfish domestic needs being met they turn back to the

political vermin they once elected like dogs returning to their own

vomit, and begin to make excuses for the shortcomings of their

favourite government politicians ?

 So the issue of a change of heart becomes paramount. And whether or

not millions have had a true change of heart is grounded in the

question of why millions voted as they did. Obviously there can be

many theories about this. But one can make a case for five attributes

that might define the 69 lahks of people who voted at the last

election and explain their bizarre preference. Put in a nutshell one

can hypothesize that collectively as a voting population they were

characterised by being (a) fundamentally racist, (b) indifferent to

corruption, (c) inherently selfish, (4) basically foolish though

imagining themselves to be wise, and (5) afflicted with a malignant

distorted religiosity.

 That is not to say that all of the 6.9 million individuals possessed

all these attributes nor that the attributes themselves were mutually

exclusive. But taken as a whole one can speculate that these five

attributes broadly define the mainly Sinhala Buddhist population of

nearly 7 million folk who elected a strongly Sinhala Buddhist

president and a dominantly Sinhala Buddhist government by a thumping

majority in 2019/20.

 Firstly there is the indisputable ingrained racism of the Sinhala

Buddhist masses of this country amidst a chauvinistic attitude to

minorities that seems to cut across the entire social spectrum.

Admittedly these days such attitudes are subtle and well disguised.

They do not manifest in burning Tamils alive (as occurred in 1983),

arson and looting of Tamil shops and homes at regular intervals (from

1956 onwards), burning down a precious public library (as happened in

1981) brutally assaulting those carrying out a peaceful Satyagrah in

the Gandhian mode and defacing Tamil name boards in Colombo with

impunity (as occurred in the 1950’s and 60’s), and the scandalous

standardisation of marks to keep Tamil students out of Universities in

1971 – amongst many other examples from history.

> 

> But the negative racist attitude towards minorities today is reflected in the complete absence of any moral outrage about that sordid recent history, indulging instead the grandiose delusions of a falsified ancient history based on Mahavamsa mythology leading to the axiomatic belief that Sri Lanka is a Sinhala Buddhist country, to challenge which is to commit political suicide. No wonder there is a disinclination to investigate any allegations of war crimes, and violent hostility (as evidenced by incidents all over the country) to peaceful Christian conversion which is both a basic human right and for Christians an inescapable divine commission. Nor should we fail to notice the relatively placid and laid back reaction of the Buddhist majority to the Cardinal’s explosive accusation that the government might be covering up the truth about the Easter massacre, leaving the Roman Catholic Church to wage a lonely battle for justice on the international stage. True, amidst their current sufferings millions may regret voting as they did. But when it comes to the crunch that they might ever bring themselves to elect a Tamil, Muslim or Christian as President or Prime Minister of Sri Lanka is pure fantasy. The Americans may have elected a black man as President a mere 150 years after the abolition of slavery. But in Sinhala Buddhist Sri Lanka a Tamil or Muslim cannot dream of being elected to that office for another 1000 years ! That is the basic racist mindset of the 69 lakhs of voters who now groan with discontent amidst a catastrophe which they themselves asked for. But does their mourning and groaning today denote a true change of heart ? That is the question.

 Secondly, the way 69 lakhs voted reflects a callous indifference or

at least a relaxed attitude to the malady of corruption. This is not

surprising given that Sri Lanka is a country where corruption is

ubiquitous. It is said that people get the government they deserve.

More likely people get governments that mirror their own corrupted

nature and moral depravity. Like begets like. The late Justice Mark

Fernando once clarified that corruption is not merely bribery and

corruption but extends to extravagance, waste, neglect, and every

form of malpractice, dishonesty, and abuse, misuse, and unreasonable

exercise of power . . . and indeed anything and everything done or

left undone, which results in the rights of the People being denied or

impaired”. What a magnificent all encompassing definition ! No wonder

the great man was himself the victim of corruption in being denied

promotion to Chief Justice which he richly deserved and shamefully

bypassed in favour of one who brought that high office into disrepute

!

> 

> But by this definition Sri Lankan society reeks of corruption from top to bottom. From bribery kick backs and nepotism at the highest levels to millions of workers who insist on a consideration for doing there plain duty, from those who think nothing of sending a false sick note and staying away from work, bribing ones way out of a traffic offence or a vehicle emission test, fiddling tax returns or underwriting the property value on some deed of transfer, from mercenary government doctors and teachers whose heart is in the private sector and those who abuse official transport to cart their families around, to mediocre university academics who produce garbage mountains of useless publications and have perfected the art of deftly manipulating a point system which enables them to be promoted as professors who are now dime a dozen – from top to bottom Sri Lanka is a corrupt society. It is surely unrealistic to expect a corrupt population to vote for an honest government that might abolish corruption ! The voting behaviour of 6.9 million people might be explained by a benign tolerance of corruption by a fundamentally corrupt population. Does their mourning and groaning today denote a true change of heart ? That is the question.

 Thirdly today’s disenchanted 6.9 million might be defined by their

innate selfishness and lack of compassion. True, they may be suffering

today. But in voting as they did they were guilty of being callously

indifferent to the far greater sufferings of others. Hundreds of

weeping women may be pining for their husbands and sons who

disappeared and were probably murdered years ago. But they were not my

relations so who cares ? That’s the attitude. Those victims of ghastly

prison massacres, that fine young man Wasim Thajudeen who was

reportedly brutally tortured before being killed and made to appear as

if his death was an accident, the ‘Trinco 5’ kids who were killed

execution style, Lasantha, Ekneligoda, Keith Noyar those who used to

disappear in white vans never to be heard of again, all victims of

unsolved crimes – they were not my father or husband or son or

daughter. So who cares? That was the attitude. That is the hard

hearted selfishness that defined the 6.9 million who voted as they did

in 2019/20. Does their mourning and groaning today denote a true

change of heart? That is the question.

 Fourthly there was something inherently foolish and grossly naïve in

the way 6.9 million voted at the last election. It is almost as if for

the vast majority of the population the main outcome of 70 years of

free education has been little more than learning to read and write !

Otherwise what nation in its right senses would elect a family

oligarchy of very modest intelligence (to say the least) to rule over

them with the absolute power of a constitutional tyranny ? Academic

qualifications and elite professional training notwithstanding formal

education has failed to impart true discernment, good judgment,

political maturity, moral discrimination and plain wisdom, all of

which are components of that indefinable entity that we may refer to

as national intelligence”.

 Contrast with the high national intelligence of the British

population in the general election at the end of the 2nd world war

when they rejected the war hero Churchill who had led them to victory

in favour of the Labour leader Atlee, who they felt was better

equipped to undertake post war reconstruction ! More recently the

fortuitous distractions of the war in Ukraine may have saved the

British Prime Minister from being thrown out over the ‘small matter’

of parties during the Covid lock down. That kind of national

intelligence is a far cry from a nation which swayed by foolish

emotion voted to make an ordinary weeping widow’ prime minister in

1970 and give absolute power to a family oligarchy in 2019/20.

 That is the Sri Lankan naivety that enables politicians to spit in

the face of the population with impunity every night on TV with

blatant lies deceptions and double speak, a fraction of which would

damn their political career instantly in a more intelligent society.

Perhaps Robert Knox was on the right track when he diagnosed the

Sinhalese as having a low cunning which they mistake for high

intelligence ! That is the ingrained folly that defined the 6.9

million who voted as they did in 2019/20. Does their mourning and

groaning today denote a shift from idiocy to intelligence and a true

change of heart ? That is the question.

> 

> Lastly, Sinhala Buddhists who dominated the 6.9 million voters were defined by a primitive distorted religiosity that makes a mockery of true religion. It is characterised by superstition, a reliance on horoscopes, blind idolatry, an obsession with empty ritual, and groveling before any yellow robe irrespective of the character and reputation of the sinner it shrouds. These were the docile millions who are regularly manipulated by a rapacious militant nationalistic Buddhist establishment. They constitute the base of a Sinhala Buddhist government which proudly panders to them and cares for no one else

 One feels sympathy for these misguided millions in their shattered

expectations and present sufferings. But does their anguish denote a

real change of heart? When it comes to the crunch at the next election

would they favour a party that stands for a secular society? Would

they support the repeal of the iniquitous clause in Chapter 2(9) of

the Constitution which gives the foremost place to Buddhism it being

the duty of the State to protect and foster it, which is repugnant to

minorities? Would they be amenable to abolishing the stupid full moon

day holiday which makes Sri Lanka look like a nation of moon

worshipers ? Would they favour legislation to debar monks from

engaging in active politics? The answers to such questions will show

whether their mourning and groaning today denotes a passing lovers’

quarrel with the government they elected or a radical change of heart

and mind.

> 

> One hopes that the 69 lahks who recklessly voted to bring about the present national catastrophe, would in the midst of their shattered expectations bitter recriminations and suffering, stop to introspectively examine themselves and ask whether the five attributes enunciated herewith might apply to them. If so one hopes they would repent of their unspeakable folly and have a true change of heart enabling them to bear the tragic consequences of their action with greater fortitude and equanimity.

 If not Sri Lanka is doomed. By a radical change of heart today’s

disenchanted 6.9 million voters will not only be able to throw out

those whom they mistakenly elected last time, but their transformed

attitude will enable a new government to rule with justice, equity,

righteousness and peace to unite a divided nation. On the contrary if

the prevailing public disquiet only denotes a selfish reaction to some

immediate material deprivation rather than a radical change of heart,

then the words of Alexander Solzhenitsyn’s 1974 valedictory to the

Russian people would apply to us Sri Lankans :

 And if from this also we shrink away, then we are worthless,

hopeless, and it is of us that Pushkin asks with scorn : Why should

cattle have the gift of freedom? Their heritage from generation to

generation is the belled yolk and the lash”