by Lionel Wijesiri

We are celebrating today the 56th anniversary of our independence - a glorious occasion that people of this country are enormously proud of.

However, it is also an appropriate moment for us to take stock of what it has achieved since independence for the economic and social emancipation of the masses. The widely held view on this point is that we should have achieved more than we actually have in terms of attaining economic and social advancement during more than five and half decades of independent existence. Some other nations with comparable economic standing at the time that we had founded our country have surpassed us by miles.

One has to admit that the political parties, entrusted with the sacred task of improving the lot of citizens, have failed to live up to the expectations of the nation. And that is at the root of all other failures. Our politics is not yet guided by a set of rules honoured by the parties, and good governance in the democratic sense still remains an elusive goal.

My Dream

There are different versions of Sri Lankan history; there are as many versions-or more-of Sri Lankan independence: political independence, economic independence, territorial independence . . . It would even seem that most of our people do not even care what kind of independence they have. Most do not even know which Independence Day we are celebrating. But for me, the Sri Lanka of my dreams is a nation in which no citizen is oppressed or repressed on account of language, race, caste, creed, gender or geography. It is a nation in which all are enabled to attain their full potential and inspired to use these enhanced resources in nation building.

56 years after independence we should have by now expanded the job market and economic production, which in turn would have led to a reduction and eventual disappearance of our economic dependence. Moreover, by becoming the owners of our own destiny, we would have strengthened our national pride and self-esteem. Yet, have we?

With independence we should have worked out to take the reins of developing our national environmental policy, created in response to our particular conditions and needs, and directed to protect our national heritage, improve our quality of life and limit the great costs which occur as a result of environmental damage. But have we?

What is important to a country's economic development is whether that country has the capacity to take advantage of its national assets - natural, human, political and cultural resources; geographic location and infrastructure - in a creative manner, so as to maximize their potential.

What is determinant in an independent nation's quest for economic prosperity is whether that nation can use its sovereign powers to exploit its resources and agree to beneficial treaties with other countries with the purpose of stimulating its economy. But have we done enough in this field?

56 years after independence ideally we should have had a fully revitalised local manufacture, agriculture and service industries. By assuming jurisdiction over our own management of our international commerce, we should have been able to strengthen our national industries, as all independent countries do. In addition, by promoting the economic integration of industries that operate in the country, prices should have come down, as products formerly purchased in the foreign market, will be obtained from local industries. But has it happened?

56 years after independence we should have attained complete transformation of this country into a single united nation. But has it happened? Economic disparities, the repressive nature of policies, political resentments and social tension have all contributed to the growing disintegrative forces.

Progress

Regionalism at first started as social and political disintegration. But all central governments saw people's resentments and disappointments as divisive elements to the unity of the state and therefore it has tried to cure the socially disintegrating communities with coercive measures. The results are not what the governments expected. The social and political disintegration have shifted toward territorial disintegration to a point of no return.

More than ever before, "progress" is in political focus today. It has become a mantra used by all political parties. Indeed, we have the IT revolution to flaunt and so also the progress we have made in stock market, Gross National Product ratio, inflation and so on. We are in the "Fast developing Countries" club. Trade barriers having collapsed, our markets are glutted with "items of desire" if not of need. So, the nation is progressing. But it is doubtful if the people are.

It is estimated that 85 per cent of the country's wealth and resources are now in the hands of 15 per cent of the people. For this 85 per cent of people in the non-elite sector, neither freedom nor progress means anything. If anything, they are plunged in unprecedented uncertainty and helplessness in the wake of globalization and liberalization.

How do the one million farmer families (or five million people) surviving on a meagre Rs 30 per day experience freedom and progress? What does freedom mean for those who cannot have proper 3 meals per day, those who cannot afford medical treatment in case of illnesses, and cannot find any employment for years together?

All these do not reflect the character or true potential of our country.

Potentially, we are one of the greatest nations in the world, but today we are known worldwide more for our levels of corruption, pollution and under-development, which is why our voice is listened to much less today than even three decades ago.

Move together

People with common sense who really care about the country are demanding the political parties to reach a broad consensus on core issues and play their due role. Their immediate vision should be to revitalise what is at the present moment a highly polarised political atmosphere that allows nothing positive to grow in the country.

It is my confirmed conviction that our march to progress and national dynamism cannot succeed as long as we continue to flee from the imperatives of social justice.

To sum up, Sri Lanka of my dream is a society in which diversities are not only tolerated but celebrated within a framework of shared spirituality, in which political leaders do not only pretend to be but in all honesty are the servants of the people, and a polity in which the will of the people is sovereign in this land.

At least, on this memorable day, let all our leaders agree that, along with us, they must all move towards the future resolutely and together, leaving the vexations and frustrations of the past behind them. For while it is true that we cannot safely and completely turn our backs on the past, we must at the same time never permit ourselves to be so enslaved by it that we overlook our primary duty, which is always to confront the challenges of the present and of the future, using the lessons we have learned from the past.

And the future that I speak of belongs, not to us, perhaps not even to our own children, but to our children's children, and to the generations that will come after them. It is because of them that we must seek to husband the present with diligence and determination. It is because of them that we must continue to see ourselves more as the agents of change, than as the primary beneficiaries of it.

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