Demons Of The 18th Amendment Are Devouring Body And Soul Of Sri Lanka
“Undermine their pompous authority, reject their moral standards, make anarchy and disorder your trademarks. Cause as much chaos and disruption as possible but don’t let them take you ALIVE.” ~Sid Vicious
Chaos, they say, is order undeciphered. Such undeciphered order is what is prevalent in Sri Lanka. All attempts by any quarter to decipher that disorderly ‘order’ is being met by extreme measures. And these measures could be discerned against the harsh realities of self-imposed censorship, intimidation of independent-minded journalists and free-expressing academics, stuffing any and all worthwhile jobs with blood relatives who have proven to be absolute nincompoops and imbeciles and distorting and camouflaging truths about the economy, war-victory and any and all sundry achievements.
From the impeachment of the then Chief Justice, Dr. Shirani Bandaranayake to the harassment of attorney Upul Jayasuriya, the President of the Bar Association of Sri Lanka and the alleged assassination ofLasantha Wickrematunga, disappearance of Prageeth Ekneligoda and the assault on Upali Tennekoon, Poddala Jayantha and the editorial staff of the Jaffna-based ‘Uthayan’ newspaper, tell a very sordid story of sinister hands at work with diabolical aims in mind.
Every dictatorship wants to have control over its subject population. In ancient Rome they restricted knowledge and information but gave entertainment, bread and circuses to the populace. They limited education and they censored any means of self-expression. This is a pattern that repeats itself in every dictatorship, throughout history.
What started, with the easy passage of the draconian 18th Amendment to the Constitution of Sri Lanka in the wake of the 2010 Presidential Elections, seems to continue without any break towards certain death of democracy and freedom. The right to information is acknowledged as a universal right of each and every human being. Of all SAARC countries, only Bhutan and Sri Lanka do not have a Right to Information Act in place. Even Pakistan which has not had a democratic system of government except for a few short years under the Bhuttos and Bangladesh that came into existence as recently as 1972 have Right to Information Acts. With all its infamous corruption, nepotism and scandal, India has an exemplary Right to Information Act, thereby establishing her credentials in transparency and accountability. Even Nepal which was a monarchy until recently can boast about a Right to Information Act. Read More