By Rehan Fernando –

Rehan Derrick Fernando

At the beginning of this article, it is apt to ask some relevant questions:

Why does Sri Lanka lack educated thinkers? Or why do Sri Lankans constantly fail to make wise decisions? It is quite important to answer these questions by reading the primary realities of the country. There had been top-class educated men and women in Sri Lankan political field. However, most of them failed to introduce a reliable system in which the public could grow toward a well-developed society. It is pathetic that we still struggle to formulate a reliable political structure ever after 1948, the year we received independence. I suppose it is a shame in front of many international communities that Sri Lanka has become a prostitute-beggar who is pregnant always with “overwhelming poverty” and “superstitious religiosity.”

Burning of people’s library

I don’t think the above sub-title would give a sensitive mood by calling it “people’s library.” People in this country are aware of the fire that took place in Jaffna Public Library, yet most of them are reluctant to call it “people’s library.” Such are the negative effects of deep nationalism. Jaffna library was burned during the regime of JR Jayewardene. He is directly responsible for this national tragedy. The Jaffna Public Library, therefore, was burnt by certain educated men and women who also owned huge libraries in their permanent residential places. It indicates how a corrupted political ideology was created during the regime of JR Jayewardene in misleading Sinhalese. What Mr. Bandaranaike did was an emotional division to gain power. JR Jayewardene was shred enough to divide Sri Lankans for a long-term struggle, especially using his executive presidency. He and his thug politicians burnt and destroyed what belonged to the public and they built their palaces on the ashes.

Sinhalese majority happily approved of such violence because their ulterior motive was to flatten Tamil people. So, the burnt library in Jaffna was not a big issue in the 1980s. It was not just an issue of Jaffna library, yet it was “our library”. People used to travel and make use of many books for many academic adventures. JR’s regime established a season of thugs and put the foundation to create uneducated men and women who blindly support dirty politics. Gamini Dissanayaka and Cyril Matthew are directly responsible for the fire in Jaffna Library. I think both of them paid a huge price eventually with the permission of time and space.

Can we still call this house of wealth “people’s library?” Or is it still remaining with a separate terminology “Jaffna library?”

They are readers and murderers

Recently, we saw in the media how Ranil Wickremesinghe mourned over the fire that took place in his house that burnt his personal library too. He was referring to 2500 books he used often. But this so-called voracious reader is a thug and a fox who appears in the lamb’s skin. Nowadays we experience his reading mind setup so closely.

In Sri Lankan political history many personalities did the same as Ranil has been doing today. They were better readers who studied in top-class universities but all that they promoted in the country was military regimes with violence and dominative mechanisms. Military regimes and the usage of weapons were the media for them to remain in power. So, the culture of death was the only paradigm, and it was easily promoted. They shrewdly protected their libraries but they destroyed the libraries that belonged to the public. Unfortunately, Sinhalese never understood this naked truth until recent days, especially with Aragala Bhumiyaa.

If a man like Ranil Wickremesinghe, a voracious reader who promotes a killing regime, what can we conclude with Velupillai Prabhakaran? I think Prabhakaran is a benevolent leader more than Ranil. Ranil is a first-class terrorist in a third-class country.

Sri Lanka’s pregnancy with overwhelming poverty and superstitious religiosity

The so-called Sri Lankan readers and owners of huge libraries have shown and still show off Sri Lanka as a prostitute-beggar who is constantly pregnant with ‘overwhelming poverty’ and ‘superstitious religiosity.’ Mahinda Rajapaksa and his killing regime were so popular among people after the 2009 war victory and Mahinda went begging and selling Sri Lanka and its wealth. Naturally, Sri Lanka became a prostitute in front of international communities. On one hand, people in this country were famous for begging from all over, on the other hand, political leaders of this country showed Sri Lankan nakedness which is none other than overwhelming poverty and superstitious religiosity.

For the last forty years now, Sri Lanka has been a developing country with its overwhelming poverty and superstitious religiosity. International communities are still giving financial support and use this country in order to make their remote-control. This situation indicates the lack of national policy in which we can stand on our own. Beginning from so-called readers like SWRD Bandaranaike to Ranil Wickremesinghe, Sri Lanka has been used as a country for their own gain of power. Burning issues and struggles of this country became only a mere discussion during their tea or coffee break or when reading books.

Isn’t it a shame on us to use the term “rural school education” even after independence in 1948?

New wine in new wineskins

Sri Lanka is in need of a new chapter that is to be written in a new book. It implies a “new reader” who can critically analyze things for the smooth running of this system. The old readers of this country did a massive mess that cannot be put in order by those so-called voracious readers. Instead, my suggestion is to appoint and choose a new man or a woman who can read between the lines. So many international communities have condemned Sri Lankan political misconduct. Therefore, it’s time to overcome these crises and create a new outlook. Since the Sri Lankan parliament has become a home for elders, better management is impossible. During the high time of Aragalaya, people used to come to the library of GotaGoGama and I saw how it created space for genuine voracious readers. Those people have enough capacity to build a cultured society in Sri Lanka. They don’t need any advice from old readers or political slaves.

Thus, letting these youngsters is the best option that the elders of this country must do. The elders must understand that they did nothing but a time-waste. The voracious readers who massacred innocents by using their knowledge should allow this new generation to a new chapter in Sri Lanka.

Unfortunately, what happened here right now is those old readers are involved in writing the same nonsense in the same old book. They might at least learn from Jesus’s words “we never pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins will burst; the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined.”

Conclusion

A corrupted leader like Ranil Wickremesinghe who is also a favored disciple of JR Jayewardene will never change his mind set up for a revolutionary Sri Lanka. He is a terrorist leader who willingly defends the Rajapaksa family and uneducated fools in the parliament. He is a voracious reader who is also responsible for certain massacres of this country. He is the only voracious reader who can cunningly control diplomatic games in the parliament. If so, what is the best solution to get rid of this situation? The answer is to read history and learn from its events for a revolution. This revolution must first be a self-conscious process, which must eventually turn into a collective effort. Surely, it might take some time because we cannot do this overnight. If we do so or follow the true conscience, then we can eventually chase these voracious readers who destroyed Sri Lankan society.