The Fallacy Of Independence & Hypocrisy Of The Independence Day!
Lukman Harees
The Declaration of Independence is among the most profoundly interpreted and fiercely discussed topics in modern history. Although Independence remains a sacred and an emotive concept, it still remains a poorly understood one to numerous people. When the UN was founded in 1945, some 750 million people, nearly a third of the world’s population, lived in Territories that were dependent on colonial Powers. Today, fewer than 2 million people live under colonial rule in the 17 remaining non-self-governing territories. The wave of decolonization, which changed the face of the planet, was born with the UN and represents the world body’s first great success. Since the creation of the United Nations, 80 former colonies have gained their independence. As a result of decolonization many countries became independent and joined the UN.
In the case of Sri Lanka (then Ceylon), after colonial rulers Portuguese and the Dutch left, the British came to control coastal Sri Lanka in an era when the internal politics of the Kandyan Kingdom were in a state of crisis, due to the growing rift between the native aristocracy and the Nayakkars. The British signed the Kandyan Convention in 1815, with the Kandyan disawes (the powerful nobility in charge of running the provinces) which made Kandy a protectorate, preserving its system of government and customs. Consequent to a breakthrough for the path back to self-determination, with the appointment of British socialist Sidney Webb as the British Secretary of State for Colonial Affairs, there was the establishment of the Donoughmore Commission, which effected a new constitution for Sri Lanka in 1931. The constitution aimed to address the unique multi-cultural challenges Ceylon then faced. Ceylon also had universal suffrage before even the UK and the USA.
Moving further on, by 1947 the new Soulbury Constitution came into effect, with general Elections being held, and DS Senanayake was appointed the first Prime Minister. Sri Lanka gained independence within the British Commonwealth on the 4th of February, 1948. Gaining freedom was the joint effort of all communities, all of whom subscribed to the idea of an independent Ceylon, on the basis of equal rights to all and not on a majoritarian platform. Then, Sri Lanka became a republic in 1972, finally becoming ‘fully independent’ and severing all constitutional links with the United Kingdom, including the shared monarch and the authority of the Privy council. This 1972, incidentally withdrew the Section 29 clause in the Soulbury constitution which granted some safeguards for minority rights.
This Independence Day on the 4th February has since been commemorated for the last 70 years with a national but politicized event in Colombo and many religious events marking the day. But, apart of this day being a national holiday, to what extent has this D day being a day of reflection for Sri Lankans across communities, as the country commemorates the 71st year of Independence from British colonial rule.? Has it been of any good for the people of Sri Lanka yearning for an inclusive and socially just country where all of them can live and reap its’ fruits of progress as equal citizens after this so-called Independence? After all, political leaders of all communities practically chipped in, to make it a reality.
Sometime back, when an African friend was asked: “When do you celebrate your Independence Day?”, he, without hesitation or bitterness, said: “We don’t celebrate our Independence Day… it is meaningless”. Although I then found it difficult to digest his answer, I however tried to reflect on the Independence fallacy focusing my attention to Sri Lanka. Ceylon Independence Day is depicted as a milestone separating two periods: the colonial era of oppression and impoverishment AND the independence era of freedom and ‘our brand of progress’. Further, through subtle and not so subtle indoctrination, Independence day also became indivisibly connected with the way we think about ourselves so much so that our own concept of our Lankan –ness can only be understood only in relation to colonialism, the struggle against colonialism and eventual independence. Thus, our identity became inextricably linked to our Independence.
After seven decades of Independence, we have come to see Independence as an essential marker of our Lankan-ness. To our utter disappointment, even after 71 years, independence did not however bring socio-political freedom or economic progress; only disaster after disaster in these areas. There is a poignant lament expressed by writers and analysts about the collapse of the vision of equality and prosperity which inspired the Independence struggle. But no one has questioned the validity of the Independence Day and exposed its’ cultural, political and psychological underpinnings and associations as false. Yet, this falsehood has been maintained year after year over the Post- Independence period in our history.
Every Independence Day, national and local political leaders in the tongue in the cheek fashion engage in national events and other symbolic functions as the nation get suffocated by its’ own un-doings. We hoist and wave our national flags while the very lofty ideals like equality, justice and fair-play symbolized in them are being blatantly desecrated. As the national leaders hasten to stress their resolve and their commitment to national reconciliation and Lankan-ness, the governments of the day have been violating them with impunity using racism as a tool to achieve power. They have been allowing extremist groups to roam the streets freely to engage in the infamous 1983 Anti Tamil pogrom, Aluthgama and Digana anti-Muslim communal violence. They were certainly being shameful episodes in our Post Independent history. As our leaders talk of social justice and stress on the need to eliminate poverty and inequality, the equality gap has been widening as never before while the corrupt top has been squandering millions of public money to fatten their nests. Rule of law has become ineffective with some are more equal than others.
