Whither Quality Of Life In Sri Lanka?
By Ayathuray Rajasingam -October 30, 2014
Ayathuray Rajasingam
People are eager to know whether the Political leaders in Sri Lanka are concerned with the Quality of Life or the high Standard of Living. Standard of living and quality of living are two different aspects of life. High standard of living revolves round the wealth of people which generates luxurious comforts and class disparity. There are many definitions for Quality of Life, but for analyzing purposes, let us determine in the context of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights which provides a list of freedom and rights that can be considered as evaluating the quality of life. Quality of Life is ascertained by the impact on social, health, economic and environmental conditions which affect human and social development indicating satisfaction and happiness.
After the defeat of the LTTE, life among the communities have been a disproportionate one. The oppressed communities are at the mercy of the ruling politicians. It is unfortunate that politicians when once emerge victorious, are engaged in taking revenge on others. Moreover, the Military Forces and the para-military groups were also given a free hand to plunder the wealth of the oppressed minorities to the extent of destroying their properties, especially belonging to the Tamils and the Muslims, all of which demonstrate that there is an absence of rule of law and sends the message of a decline in the Quality of Life.
Problems between Standard of living and Quality of life in developing countries like India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh in Asia and in some Northern, Eastern & Central African countries have been a great concern to the extent of committing murders sometimes amounting to genocide for which the unscrupulous politicians are responsible for failure to realize the consequences of maintaining the Quality of life. Had Sri Lanka been a liberal democracy, mass murders of its own citizens would be reduced.
Generally more prominence is given to Quality of Life in view of the operation of the Provincial governments among the developing Federal countries. Quality of Life has the force of discouraging disparity of class as more opportunity is afforded to the citizens of the Provinces by way of participation and share powers with the Central Government. Mention should be made that half the number of G20 countries are with Federal structures from which Sri Lanka receives aid.
The authoritarian rule by unscrupulous politicians of the majority in a Unitary State is bound to promote the Standard of Living of the ruling class resulting in discrimination among the society. The ruling politicians misled the public with their interpretations of self-determination for their survival, when in fact it is concerned with the Quality of Life. If unscrupulous politicians fail to learn from Singapore, then this is another disadvantage in the Unitary State which brings about discrimination within the society. Even the cause of the insurrections by the JVP was due to the unscrupulous politicians for neglecting the Quality of Life of the masses. The use of emergency regulations by unscrupulous politicians resulted in the emergence of poor governance and manifesting the inability to maintain law and order to control the sporadic eruptions of political instability and violence. As a result it had experienced regional insurrections which had caused a negative impact on the economic growth. The aspect of quality of life within the concept of democracy is bound to fade away in a Unitary State as there is lack of transparency and accountability for the accumulation of wealth by unscrupulous politicians. Read More
