Towards true independence and for all

"WHAT independence, and for whom?" was the title of a pamphlet by Colvin R de Silva, then leader of the Bolshevik Leninist Party of India (Ceylon Unit) in 1948, when it was claimed that Ceylon received independence from British rule.

He said the Dominion Status we received was a fake independence with British forces still on our soil, and power being transferred to those of the upper classes glad to be the political, cultural and economic vassals of the imperialist power losing its grip on the British Raj. They were later known as the Brown Sahibs. That was 58 years ago.

True independence came to us not with the election of the MEP in 1956 led by S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike, as many claim today, in the confusion of Sinhala nationalist extremism with freedom and liberation.

Real independence in the political sense came in May 1972, when Mrs. Sirimavo Bandaranaike was Prime Minister, when Ceylon regained its ancient name 'Sri Lanka' as an independent republic.

That was when the First Republican Constitution was adopted, drafted in the main by Colvin R de Silva himself.

But here too there were grave shortcomings in our freedom, especially in how we dealt with the issue of the minority, particularly the Tamils, and made a significant shift away from a wholly secular state.

Today, whether it is 58 years since 1948 or 34 years since 1972 the question that Colvin raised in his original pamphlet remains true and very much relevant. "What independence, for whom?" Milestones of failure

No doubt there will be many articles in this newspaper and others and special supplements too to mark this 58th anniversary of independence. It will be the same in the electronic media too.

However, I think it would be more useful for us to contemplate even for a short while on the actuality of the so-called independence we celebrate today.

We are hailed as being among the very few democracies functioning in South Asia. In the sense that we hold regular elections that elect members to a Parliament, the highest legislature, this may be true.

But we are immediately faced with questioning our credentials of democracy when we analyze deeper the system of elections we have and the actual functioning of Parliament, especially after the Second Republican Constitution promulgated in 1978 by J. R. Jayewardene, drawn up when he was Prime Minister and which elevated him to be the First Executive President of the country.

Especially after 1977, the year that brought JRJ into unprecedented power, we have seen the rapid erosion of the democratic electoral process, manipulated by an Executive Presidency that was initially thrust upon the people, with sufficient legal clauses as to make it impossible to change from the prevailing system, except possibly through mass action, which to many is a frightening possibility.

Electoral democracy becomes a hoax when it is manipulated legislatively through laws that do not suit our electorate. It is worse when the electoral process by its very nature gives an opportunity, nay even encourages, corruption in the election of the people's representatives.

We are now in the stage of democratic horse dealing, in a virtual marketplace for elected representatives who can be bought by the highest bidder.

This is exactly as it as foreseen by the late Dr. N. M. Perera, in his Critique of the 1978 Constitution, written very soon after it was promulgated and shortly before his death.

It is indeed strange that almost every sign of danger that N. M. Perera saw in the 1978 Constitution has been proven correct by now, much to the disadvantage of the people and the derogation of democracy.

Today, whether we count its inception from 1948 or 1972 the winds of freedom are not blowing in our society. What we experience are false images of freedom wholly unrelated to the actuality of Sri Lankan society.

What we in fact "celebrate" today are milestones of failure in a road that has taken away from the dreams of those who wanted and in their own way struggled for a genuine freedom in this country.

The slide downwards

More than half a century after that day in February 1948 when we celebrated independence, accepting a constitution given to us by the British and not drafted by a Constituent Assembly of our own people, we are still struggling to build a viable Sri Lankan nation.

Political greed transformed into outpourings of intolerance, combined with both bureaucratic manipulation and lethargy have made us feel we have lost our way on the path to nation building.

Some still boast of 1956 and the changes it brought about as the birth of cultural independence so badly needed for genuine freedom as a nation.

But there are many others, with greater perception, who while accepting the achievements of 1956, especially in the areas of social welfare and the need to build a national economy, who are ready to admit that 1956 accelerated the slide towards the failure to build a national identity among our people.

In a way the peace process that we speak of today began in 1958, with the Bandaranaike-Chelvanayakam Pact. But just as it was rejected through the work of pressure groups on that occasion, subsequent efforts at communal harmony were also similarly sabotaged, bringing us to the bloody reality of a war of separation.

All through these years we have seen a trail of missed opportunities for reconciliation, particularly among the Sinhalese and Tamils, mainly due to the shortsighted machinations of day-to-day politics, and the failure to take in the larger picture of the entire country and its people.

As we seek to resume peace talks, with strictly limited aims this month, we see the dynamic of a new divisive force emerging from the Muslims, who have been battered both by the LTTE and the tsunami.

Many a political thinkers have said the true character of a society can be judged best by how it treats those in need of care.

By this measure we have obviously failed as a nation or even as a cohesive society, in the manner we have treated the vast number of victims of the tsunami. We have shown signs of heading towards a failed society of State.

Another milestone

Once again, with the talks between the Government and the LTTE that are due to resume even for a limited purpose, we are reaching another milestone. But do we have the capability to transform this from reaching another milestone on the road to failure, as possibly the first one on the road to success?

Amidst the boom of the gun-salutes to freedom and the ceremonial marching of the armed forces, we also hear the voices of discord and learn of acts deliberately aimed at disrupting a possible peace or greater understanding between the Government and the LTTE.

The task of nation building requires these obstacles to be overcome with the genuine commitment of every political leader that does not stand for separation, standing together in the cause of nation building.

Such political determination requires great sacrifice and the need to subdue one's own inherent political one-upmanship that has been the hallmark of all those at the helm of political office so far.

The best wish on this February 4 is that the current political leadership eschews such temptations at one-upmanship, and carries out the difficult battle to build a consensus among all people against war and separation, that unity is both the source of strength and nation building.

The people of Sri Lanka must be heard with one voice, and not the voices of separate leaders who claim without election to be the sole representative of any community.

Independence must free us from the shackles of communalism, religious separation, divisions of caste and even tribalism that still binds our people.

Freedom must be a reality for all, and not just for a selected few. The answer to Colvin's question: "What independence, and for whom?' can and must only be "True independence and for all".