Movement For Democracy Overwhelms Sri Lanka
By S. Sivathasan -November 4, 2014
S. Sivathasan
“Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty”. Absolutely true and Sri Lankans know it. It is also said that “Threat of revolt is the final guarantee of all freedom”. This too is a proven truism. Both together make a potent amalgam. It may show its strength in Sri Lanka in a short while, the same way it did in 1994. From where comes a renewed momentum? From a convergence of wholesome factors.
Whittling Down of Freedom
For over three decades all Sri Lankans to the last citizen have been chafing against restraints and yearning for liberty. The mayhem and bloodletting ofJuly 1983 gave plausible cover to successive governments for creeping limitations on personal freedoms. From individual to collective was but a few paces away and imperceptible was the advance. The first to feel the rigour were the minorities; ethnic and linguistic. The majority was not much away not to get engulfed. The years 1989-1990 saw the country aflame and drastic reductions in personal freedom encompassed the whole nation. A lingering war pushed the whole of society to the limits of tolerance and yet they put up with loss of rights with hopes of freedom to follow. The end of the war in 2009 suggested a new dawn, of hope and promise. But this was not to be.
Receding Dawn
