{"id":240587,"date":"2025-01-18T06:45:04","date_gmt":"2025-01-18T01:15:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?p=240587"},"modified":"2025-01-25T10:28:58","modified_gmt":"2025-01-25T04:58:58","slug":"february-4th-our-independence-for-whom-for-what","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/february-4th-our-independence-for-whom-for-what\/","title":{"rendered":"February 4th, Our Independence: For Whom & For What?"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Vishwamithra<\/a> – <\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cImpatience is the mark of independence, not of bondage.\u201d <\/i><\/i>~ Marianne Moore<\/p>\n

In 1948, on February 4th<\/sup><\/span> Ceylon gained Independence from the British colonial powers. DS Senanayake<\/a><\/span>, our first Prime Minister, clothed in the decadent tailcoat and hat brought down the Union Jack, the British flag, and raised the Lion Flag, the design of which was only completed just a couple of months before the so-called Independence Day<\/a><\/span>. When one ponders about our Independence, how far we have come to arrive at financial bankruptcy, cultural decay and ethnic discrimination? The symbolism itself was quite bizarre and tells a story based on mythology and racial hallucination.\"\"<\/p>\n

A vast majority of the subject people are poor; their preoccupation with earning enough to put food on the table has overwhelmed all other socioeconomic demands of a nation. Cultural creation has come to a dead halt; embracing whatever that arrives at our shores from the economically advanced West has become a second culture; that tendency has pave the way for indigenous enhancement of life. No more sculpture in style, vastness and magnificence of the Awukana Buddha Statue; no more paintings to be compared with the fine lines and serene murals of the Sigiriya Frescoes. Neither the generations that followed nor the current one that is breathing with certain uncertainty in the twenty first century could hold a proverbial candle to the great masters of ancient Ceylon.<\/p>\n

Ancient Ceylon was a totally different story; her mastery in cultural manifestations and somber expression of life well lived is still astounding many a historian and academic. In the sphere of literature, only Ediriweera Sarathchandra in Sinhala theater and drama, Mahagama Sekara in the purity of lyrical masterpieces and Joe Abeywickrema on celluloid may be comparable with the composure of those who penned Salalihini Sandeshaya, Guttila Kaavya, Saddarmalankaraya and Poojavaliya. Even Valmiki the ancient author of Ramayana, albeit not of Ceylonese origin, stands like a colossus in the presence of our modern-day pygmies of vernacular literature.<\/p>\n

Seventy seven years of ‘Independence’ has been a blur; it has suppressed our intellectual curiosity, evaded our inquiring minds and substituted our originality with imitation and flattery. The ancients had traveled much farther than our lightening-fast social media; an IT-savvy generation that is glued to a Smartphone or a Smart TV looks already out of date. Instead of creating originals, they have chosen to imitate the modern literature and culture that does not seem to present itself as bona fide <\/i>indigenous and authentic human phenomenon. Where have all the flowers gone?\u00a0 \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

A lamenting people ask the same question; their stamina for inquiry is slowly fading; their breath has become uncertain and short-winded. Dulled by repetition of foreign-born, mediocre products of rap music and hallucinated by Sci-fi movies, the present generation is pursuing a mirage that recedes before them before they take their first step; the whole country was praying and hoping for salvation when the monstrosity of bankruptcy engulfed the whole land.<\/p>\n

Seventy seven years of Independence has carried the whole nation to an abyss of existential proportions. What do we have to celebrate? Catacombs of ill-run state-owned enterprises, half-baked intellectual fraudsters and avaricious and corrupt political leaders are awaiting at the edge of the abyss. If this is what seventy seven years of Independence portrays, please don’t tell me how an inglorious path to hell would look like.<\/p>\n

Skeletons of all substance and a band of well-fed moving obesity are looking at a meandering people whose aspirations have been crushed and hopes dashed. They made every attempt to trudge along, but the negativity of the human condition drags them further back on a reverse gear. It was in this terrifying context Anura Kumara Dissanayake<\/a><\/span> (AKD) and his NPP once again appeared on the boundary of horizon.<\/p>\n

AKD may not have the experience of governing a country that has in itself all elements of fast-destroying mechanisms. But he seems to have the foresight to the extent of being clairvoyant and yet calm and collected about the purpose of his journey. When others around him shrieked from the depths of their throats, AKD articulated the country’s ailments succinctly and forcefully. He traveled the country’s breadth and length like an teenager eager to show his prowess and stamina to his would be coaches waiting to select him or reject him. When his arguments failed to impress the older generation, he displayed his sincerity of purpose and doggedness to see an end, whatever that end might be.<\/p>\n

One might ascribe the fault of the system to its creators; some may do the same to its executives; others to the legislators, bureaucracy and private sector that are as corrupt and greedy as any branch of our society is. AKD has to deal with all these actors. Whether they are willing partners of an awakening process or unwilling spectators of a dying community, AKD and his government will discover, not at the end of the voyage, but after a very few nautical miles on these stormy seas.<\/p>\n

Therefore, when the country is preparing herself to celebrate her Independence on February 4th<\/sup><\/span>, 2025, we all must ask the question: are we really independent? If yes, in what sphere are we independent and in what provinces we have been bound by varied manacles of economic downturns? There are no easy answers. If the government or AKD hesitates, even one hundredth of a second, they must go back to the proverbial drawing board and begin sketching again. They seem to have the will; but will alone will not get you from A to B. You need the wherewithal, the means and also they must create the opportunities, so that the whole drama that is being choreographed before our eyes would reach a magnificent climax. Anything less is not an option.<\/p>\n

The emotional appeal, the otherworldly entreaties and profoundly intellectual approach should be all part and parcel of the governing strategy. Would AKD and his government be willing to confront the challenge and challenge the challenge itself with self-assurance and wisdom. If AKD is planning to address the nation on February 4th<\/sup><\/span>, 2025, in another two weeks, what is his tone? What is his style and what is his substance. Style and tone should take a secondary level. Substance, the meat and flesh of the address should be reinforced. His style is intrinsically genuine. His appeal is off-the-cuff and utterly impromptu, unscripted and unrehearsed. Yet when words cascade from his lips, it rings so frank, so earnest and profound.<\/p>\n

We have the right man at the right time and at the right place. The masses responded to his appeal and once again, they will show that they have not lost that trust and confidence; not blind faith and reliance in a superficial sense. Cry for change of date for celebration of our Independence is a false cry. Whether one likes it or not, Ceylon freed herself from the colonial powers on February 4th<\/sup><\/span>, 1948. Peripheral demands for change of dates of our Independence are narrow, cosmetic and shallow.<\/p>\n

But any failure to mention the Tamil question and the prospective resolution of the burning issues facing the Northern community would be unpardonable. It’s not the optics that matter in our celebrations of Independence. It’s the substance, material and the very fabric of Sri Lanka, the complete mosaic of a nation that could be visibly grasped at the core of our celebrations. Is Sri Lanka ready, is our vast segment of Sinhalese Buddhist population ready to concede land and police powers to our Tamil brethren in the North and East? How easily and how conveniently such a policy could be adopted by the majority in Sri Lanka is a separate question altogether. One cannot deny that the existing structures, the prevailing Sinhalese mindset and its susceptible makeup has to change. That change, that fresh technique of addressing national issues in an entirely new and outside-the-box perspective needs to be addressed in a wholehearted manner and fashion. If it flows from the country’s President, the people would accept it. The fabric of our national life should not suffer any more fissures, rips, slashes or slits.<\/p>\n

Celebration of Independence should be a well choreographed ballet; not a carnival of pomp and pageantry. A civilization that gave birth to the great poets and sculptors, the great writers and dramatists, the great builders of ocean-like lakes and marvelous irrigation systems is not a product of small minds. Nor were they lazy, listless and sluggish. Great men and women must have spent endless sleepless nights so that their succeeding generations could see the light of day after deep slumber the night before.<\/p>\n

*The writer can be reached at vishwamithra1984@gmail.com<\/span> <\/em><\/strong><\/span>\u00a0<\/em> <\/strong><\/span>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[…]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":29,"featured_media":240594,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,2186,46,8,2375],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-240587","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-colombotelegraph","category-featured-news","category-constitutional-reforms","category-editorial","category-stories"],"yoast_head":"\nFebruary 4th, Our Independence: For Whom & For What? - Colombo Telegraph<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/february-4th-our-independence-for-whom-for-what\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"February 4th, Our Independence: For Whom & For What? 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