Independence is ‘square’
Independence Square is a nice sit-and-wait place, now even more than
before after a walkway was built on one side, extending towards the
Planetarium. It is pretty at night, with the lights playing off the
grandeur of the structure. It is also a place where a lot of wealthy
people who really don’t know what to do with the weight they’ve
accumulated over the years come to ‘work it out.’
I am not a student of architecture and the aesthetics of edifice are
beyond me. I like the place but that liking depends on the time of day,
the company I am with and the mood. I suppose it is the same for
everyone else. It is a quiet place on most days and has that
unmistakable ambience of ‘history’, assuming of course that we got
‘independence’ in 1948 (some would dispute this).
Strange things happen at Independence Square, my friend Muditha told
me a couple of nights ago. Muditha who has spent many years in the USA,
reading for a PhD in Chemistry is right now in Sri Lanka. He had been
passing Independence Square and had decided to talk a look-see. He had
walked around, noting the new couple-friendly landscaping and other
things. He had wanted to take some photographs. He had been stopped by
an official at the place who had politely told him that permission had
to be obtained before hand, explaining that there was a security threat
involved.
Muditha had not complained. In fact he had acknowledged that
sometimes there is a logic for certain rules and regulations. He had
moved around, looking-seeing. Then the full weight of what
‘independence’ meant had hit him square in the face. This is how it
happened.
Independence Square. File photo |
He had seen a bus-load of Europeans arriving at Independence Square.
The passengers quickly got off and started clicking away merrily.
Muditha had inquired about ‘permission’ and found out that nothing of
the sort had been obtained. He had then gone back to the official and
sought clarification.
He had been told that an agreement had been reached between those
tasked with issuing licences to photograph and tourism authorities to
waive the permission-requirement for tourists. Muditha, being a
reasonable man, had thought this was still understandable. Not for long.
This the gist of what he told the official.
‘There are all kinds of tourists. There are Europeans and there are
also local tourists. Just assume that a man from Anuradhapura comes to
Colombo and visits this place. It is not just another building but one
that has historical significance. He wants to take a picture to show his
family. He is stopped because he is a Sri Lankan, never mind the fact
that he is also a tourist. The man is required by regulation to go to
Sethsiripaya, wander around that huge office complex until he finds the
relevant desk, obtain a document that allows him to take photographs,
come back to Independence Square and click to his heart’s content.
‘What wrong has this citizen done that he is required to waste a
couple of hours just so he can take a photograph that a foreigner can
take without having to suffer any kind of hassle? Surely, it cannot be
that difficult to set up a small booth where such permission slips as
such are necessary can be issues? They could charge a nominal amount to
cover costs, couldn’t they?
‘And what about South Asian tourists? You assumed I was Sri Lankan,
but I could have been from South India. You ask me questions that you
don’t ask a person who is light-skinned. You are racially profiling me,
aren’t you?’
Muditha had been cordial throughout and the official too had been
courteous, explaining that such issues had been brought to the notice of
relevant authorities but nothing had happened.
There are several issues here. First, thee is the matte of the
principle of equality being violated. Then there is the colonial
mentality; the readiness to hassle a fellow citizen while going out of
the way to accommodate someone just because he or she is white. The
insensitivity of those whose job it is to think about these things.
Finally there is the issue of ‘independence.’ All this is ‘wrong’
whether it happens at the Museum, the Zoo, the Vihara Maha Devi Park,
the Cultural Triangle or wherever. This is particularly telling though
because the place is a signifier for something we are supposed to have
secured some 60 years ago: ‘independence.’ Being belittled for being Sri
Lankan and not French, German, Norwegian etc., is doubly unacceptable.
It is not only physical things that need to be protected. There is a
psychological space within each of us and in us as a collective that is
vuleunable to attack and this too needs to be protected.
I am not asking people to go overboard and I know Muditha was not
too. Something wrong here, though, and it leaves a bad taste on the
tongue of our national psyche. We can do without it, especially now,
when we are ready to explore ‘tomorrow’ with vigour and hope that was
hard to come by for thirty years.
We have a ministry for building the nation. We have one for cultural
affairs. The Constitutional Affairs Ministry must take note of the
differentiation that is facilitated by these policies.
I am going to Independence Square (perhaps with Muditha) a week from
now. I sure hope I will not have material for a second article on this
subject.
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