08 September 2010

The End of History

From beneath my office window a ragged chant rises from throats already hoarse at half past nine in the morning. It is accompanied by a lurching dot-and-carry drumbeat. 
        All along Parliament Road from Alexandra Place to Pelawatte, the rent-a-crowds are gathering. The Transport Board buses that brought them fill every lay-by, lane and empty roadside lot. Expensively-dressed thugs and thuggish-looking cops are walking busily up and down, talking self-importantly on mobile phones and walkie-talkies. In spite of the cops, the traffic is an unholy mess. The crowds have taken over the streets.
       No-one dares oppose them, for they are here at the behest, and under the protection, of our new Master. They carry his smirking face placarded on a stick as an amulet, and they wear blue caps, red shirts and other tokens of their loyalty. Most have bunked off from their government jobs to be here and their faces are alight with the joy of sanctioned truancy. Many are already drunk – foam-flecked, sweat-drenched and drooling, primed for the day’s inevitable violence. Here and there a politician walks among the masses, distinguishable from them by the pristine whiteness of his raiment and the bloated lividity of his face, toward which other faces turn as eager sunflowers toward a ashen sun.
       They are here to demonstrate in favour of tyranny, to show the world how eager Sri Lankans are to give up their freedoms and constitutional rights. They have not come here of their own initiative, of course; they were brought. And bought – some for no more than the price of a lunch-packet and half a bottle of arrack. They sell their freedom cheap, these Sri Lankans. But then, their fathers and grandfathers got it cheap, didn’t they, back when Sri Lanka didn’t exist and the British, exhausted by the Second World War and the trials of Indian independence, were only too eager to hand back the Crown Colony of Ceylon to a people who weren’t ready to receive it and, for the most part, didn’t really want it anyway.
       The rest, as they say, is history.
       But history ends today.

15 comments:

  1. It's a sad sad day for us all.

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  2. How apt this comment is. It reflects how I feel as well.

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  3. How true that last paragraph is.

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  4. Beautifully written. It resonates the sense of futility and fear of the implications of this latest regression on our collective future.When you look at Sri Lanka you often ask how far backwards must we go before we move forward?

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  5. They have no interest in freedom. Its something that is quite alien to Sri Lankan history and culture.

    I am actually surprised it has taken so long for it return to the historical normal.

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  6. A sad,depressing day for all of us in Sri Lanka no doubt, but we get what we deserve. We could have all collectively stood up and defied tyranny,but the opposition politicians just could,t resist the temptation to sell out to the dictatorship in exchange for future gains.

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  7. Hey, great post, Richard. Very evocative. I particularly liked -
    "foam-flecked, sweat-drenched and drooling..."
    Wish we had a picture of this.
    Great closing sentences. You got it exactly right.

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  8. Your last paragraph hurts so much, bc it pierces you to the truth.

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  9. what democracy? sri lanka has never been a democracy, especially if you're tamil... it is a tyranny of the majority... and now you have the govt you deserve... you sold your souls to win a war and now must live with the consequences... good luck

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  10. A really great write-up, but the sad truth remains. I guess in some way or the other the ones like us, who think otherwise, could make a difference if we only take the first step.

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  11. What ever said and done majority of the country with the government. I think people like dictatorship.!! So let's hope this is end of a sad history and hope for the best in coming future.

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  12. Freedom is too precious and too subtle to be entrusted to the masses. That is the flaw in democracy - writ large is current events in Sri Lanka.

    W need to invent a system that is more discriminating in how power is distributed, otherwise it goes to the dregs. That is what our current history demonstrates.

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  13. I believe in KARMA. What ever action one does be he Sinhalese, be he Tamil, be he Muslim he will reap the consequence. Therefore there is nothing to be sad about. This is the way it is and it is upto us to accept and have compassion mainly to the ones who behave in this manner because it is they who will have to suffer for their actions. People who try to win by the gun or in any other unwholesome way will have the same fate. Therefore have loving kindness to every human being be they your friend or enemy. Why commit bad karma with any unwholesome thoughts or actions. Just watch ourselves and look inwards.

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  14. You are so right. Sri Lankans never worked for anything we have, we were just given. We never toiled, spilled blood or sweat for the liberties, freedoms, and facilities we enjoy today. As a result Sri Lankan's don't really feel ownership towards their country and wouldn't think twice about giving it up for a buth packet or a shot of arrack.

    I am a Sri Lankan, and i have tried so hard to help my countrymen/women to prosper by employing and empowering them. But i am so saddened by what Sri Lankan people have become. Not an ounce of decency, courtesy, honor, loyalty, tolerance, pride or shame. They would far rather work towards toppling their neighbor than work towards uplifting their neighborhood. Sri Lankan's are capable of any kind of indecency, crime and injustice because they are totally numb to 'shame'. That is why the leaders of this country so shamelessly do what they do, when other heads of states who possess an iota of self-respect would rather die of shame than do what they do.

    It is these actions from those that lead, that leads to the rest of the populace behaving the way they do. Likewise, i believe that if we had a leader that possessed decent qualities, upheld the law, respected the rights of others and acted as a leader, Sri Lankan's would be a far better people. Sadly, any hope of that prospect died yesterday.

    We don't need enemies to conquer us like most other people do, for we ourselves are our own worst enemy.

    I dont appologise for running my own people down, because it comes from sheer frustration. Obviously my sentiments don't represent all Sri Lankans, but certainly (and apparently based on recent elections) a majority of them. If this comment i have posted angers you, it is probably because 'the truth hurts'... Time to do something about it.

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  15. So would things have been better if the colonizer never left? Very curious.

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