Irony Of A Racist Regime, Being Strangled In Its Own Yard!

By Mohamed Harees –MARCH 21, 2022

Lukman Harees

‘To sin by silence, when we should protest, Makes cowards out of men’- Ella Wheeler Wilcox

Social media was on fire after photographs emerged of Namal Rajapaksa flyboarding and on a jet ski in the Maldives. Meanwhile , an extravagant motorcycle parade Kalpitiya to Anuradhapura , organised by a group with reported connections to the top , despite the fuel crisis, was suspended following public outcry. Sri Lanka is meanwhile facing the double whammy of rising prices and high debt, and its people are bearing the brunt of it as the domestic situation turns increasingly grim. The growing scarcity of food, fuel and medicines on which Sri Lanka’s import-dependent economy survives, and a spike in inflation during 2021, has prompted warnings from some informed quarters that the country is on the cusp of bankruptcy. Economic decline is resulting in a complete breakdown of law and order. People are worried and there is a lot of anger directed at the government. However, as public anger seems to be not worrying Gotabaya ,the proverbial Nero – the most inept and corrupt government in recent history, playing fiddle while the nation is burning.

Gotabaya addressed the nation recently and disowned any responsibility to the national catastrophe he clearly authored. The public however knows very well how his tax concessions to the rich, his bungling fertilizer policy , chronic corruption of his family rule bursting at the seams and printing money endlessly, among many others, led to this disaster. Thus, once feared and respected ruling Rajapaksa family now see their effigies being hit and burned in the street, and spat at by even by those who once voted for them. Although their ethno-nationalist government sits still securely in power, there is mounting resistance to a regime that has thus driven Sri Lanka into economic crisis, amid continuous corruption. Significantly, despite the constant government and media promotion of anti-Tamil and anti-Muslim communal poison, workers of all ethnic backgrounds have participated in various anti- government rallies.

Those who were part of Gotabaya’s massive victory are now nowhere to be seen or found. The racist agenda on which most of them voted for their ‘Weda Karana Wiruwaa’ is almost forgotten. The same racism ghost appears to be haunting the Rajapakses, an irony indeed. Those who put the ruling Rajapkses in power are now joining those who did not vote, in the queues for gas and fuel. The Somadasas, Sivanandans, and Mohameds are all in the same plight, forgetting their racial and religious divides created by the Rajapakse camp in their greedy quest for power, sighing at their common destiny ahead and of their motherland with equal trepidation. They are all in the same storm, nursing their wounds,- with both their dignity and livelihoods shattered. This was the sad result of being duped by a scam – the Rajapakse magic, which led them to bring a ‘Cardboard Sando’ to power. What now occupies their collective minds is how to get rid of this accursed Rajapakse rule which has brought Sri Lanka to the verge of bankruptcy and international disgrace. How to return this corrupt genie back to the bottle?

Averse to what is developing around them, the Rajapaksa family wants to stay in power and build a political dynasty. Their corrupt governance is a major reason for the island’s recent democratic backsliding. Family, friends and allies of the Rajapaksas have reportedly profited by receiving lofty, well-paying, state-funded positions that require little work. Today Gotabaya, Mahinda, their two other brothers and Mahinda’s son oversee departments and agencies that collectively control nearly 70% of the island’s budget. Dubbed “The Terminator” by his own family, for his short temper, he has faced several corruption allegations, but his court cases have been frozen or withdrawn as he enjoys immunity after winning the presidency in 2019. So are many of his cronies who were acquitted of various corruption charges, which reflects adversely on the judiciary of Sri Lanka. Those who are enjoying immunity includes his brother Finance Minister Basil and his niece Nirupama of Pandora’s ill-fame. “We are acutely conscious that the actual amounts of wealth hidden offshore would be so much more than this [reported by ICIJ] – and it remains a massive problem for developing nations such as Sri Lanka,” the Transparency International Sri Lanka spokesperson said.

Rajapakse government has also systematically launched a police witch hunt against activists among teachers and students—arresting some, gathering names and filing court cases—in a warning of the further repression being prepared. The government’s shift to police state methods is part of an international phenomenon. Ruling classes around the world are turning to autocratic forms of rule, in response to rising social opposition. By increasingly shutting down avenues for political critique and protest, they appear to turn a blind eye to the risk of creating more serious conflicts.

To the great disappointment of civil society organisations and international community, who had embraced the Yahapalanaya government’s sweeping agenda for change, internal divisions and tensions meant that the coalition government was unable to follow through on many of its commitments, including bringing corrupt Rajapkases to book. As a result of the Yahapalanaya government’s inability to act decisively on its reformist agenda, space opened up for detractors to ‘control the discourse:’ the political opposition, dominated by the Rajapaksas. The new Rajapaksa government immediately signalled a shift away from the liberal, reformist rhetoric of its Yahapalanaya predecessor. There was also an immediate hardening of the government’s position in relation to ethnic minorities. These moves have been accompanied by a considerable crackdown on political dissent, as the government relies on existing laws and policies to suppress critical voices. The victor’s peace since 2009 created difficulties for Sri Lankan civil society human rights activists working to pursue ‘justice’ for crimes committed during the war. Ultimately, the return of the Rajapaksa family to power provides an important lesson on the need to take a long-term perspective on peacebuilding, democratisation, and establishing social justice in Sri Lanka.

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