Fear the pain, curse of the oppressed

“The oppressed are allowed once every few years to decide which particular representatives of the oppressing class are to represent and repress them” 

– Karl Marx

Making a teacher kneel before a provincial councillor, a Minister with a “PhD” tying a Government servant to a tree and humiliating him in the presence of the general public are nothing but ordinary, routine, regular happenings in the paradise island of Sri Lanka. Let’s call what these acts actually are – State oppression.

A  VIP knocking a pedestrian and substituting the driver to avoid legal liability. Intimidating a law-enforcing officer for doing his job are but few of the chivalrous acts our much-loved politicians have done and escaped any legal consequences. 

Greater and more impactful incidents to the masses are corruption and mismanagement of the economy. These realities truly and painfully affect the average man due to people being forced to share the losses and longer time duration. This is not only oppression but calculated injustice.

The debt situation in Sri Lanka is one such mismanagement. Its indeed navigating a calamitous path and most unaware.  It’s definitely not sustainable. The estimate of what Sri Lanka currently owes its financiers is a whopping $64.9 billion — $8 billion of which owned by China. The country’s debt-to-GDP currently stands around 75% and 95.4% of all Government revenue going towards debt repayment. You need not be a graduate of the prestigious London School of Economics to discern and extrapolate these numbers. 

The captive audience to rake in by way of taxes to pay for these appalling sins will be the people of Sri Lanka as if what they are going through already is not enough. This is compulsion, coercion, and persecution in addition to being brutally oppressive.

Fear the pain of the people, fear the curse of the people. These are far more lethal than physical missiles. These are frustrations piling up, these are anger piling up as a result of not being able to put food on the table, meet regular monthly bills, pay for a child’s tuition, etc. As the old saying goes, “man who fell from the tree was stung by the snake”.

Accused of assaulting a police constable for having overtaken his vehicle, surprised? Injustice unlimited. The very thought elicits cacophonous laughter that could possibly bring down a ceiling of a room. At the same time it could bring about a worry, a kind of pain of the growing rowdiness of our national legislators.

Is this the way our parliamentarians recompense voters for having worked hard for them and sent to the general assembly to represent them? This time around our charming protagonist UNP Parliamentarian Chaminda Wijesiri. The accused had arrived at the Bandarawela Magistrate’s Court a couple of days later to surrender.

The MP had allegedly assaulted a constable attached to the Police Narcotics Bureau (PNB) in Bandarawela. The police officer in question having reportedly done the unforgivable, unpardonable and unbailable felony of overtaking the vehicle of the ego bruised MP.  The constable apparently had to be admitted to the Bandarawela Hospital following the incident while the MP’s driver, who too had admitted himself for whatever reason, was subsequently arrested.

Why do Sri Lanka Parliamentarians have such a bloated egos? They come couching for votes and once elected everything changes for the worse.

Just savour the irony here – A Sri Lankan legislator purchases a vehicle using a permit courtesy of the taxpayer. Assaults anyone and everyone in the public space for overtaking or just knock them down sans no concern whatsoever. Isn’t it bizarre for a nation that considers itself a thriving democracy? Isn’t this a travesty? Is there anything crazier than this? 

Sri Lanka is certainly one of the few countries in the world in which such asinine things take place and the perpetrator goes scot-free. A country like no other. All in a day’s work it seems.

You’ve done nothing as a politician until and unless people are happy with what you do and have extended a superlative service as their slave, servant and representative. I know I am scribbling the attributes of an extinct species. 

Power, money and status have brought forth the vicious, villainous and venal proclivities of the incorrigible Sri Lankan politician. In the last two decades we’ve seen it all, it’s disgusting, revolting and sickening to the very core. 

Politics, once a noble course of work for people of character, integrity and uprightness, has degenerated to something totally different. Some of the behaviour witnessed in recent history is truly beastly, unsightly and repulsive. When the last time democracy became synonymous with oppression?

Those intending to enter politics in Sri Lanka and aspiring to effect change, let them first learn to serve, second let them learn to serve, and third let them learn to serve. May the future politician’s epitaph read, “Here lies the body of a man who truly served”. 

What the average Sri Lankan says about elected representatives posthumously is not mellifluous to the ear or aromatic to the nostrils. Curse of the oppressed is serious and our politicians must understand it. Whether one is a theist, polytheist or atheist is irrelevant. One has to come to terms with the natural consequences for injustice, impunity and oppression.

Sri Lanka witnessed another shameful day recently when chaos, pandemonium and fisticuffs broke out in the national assembly with brash and brazen legislators hurling hellish missiles at each other in an activity reminiscent of a typical juvenile escapade. A gross misrepresentation of the will of the people.

The obscene amounts allocated to purchase vehicles for an already well-fed legislator is out of this world. An unwieldy mismatch for a government servant. This at a time the ordinary man could ill-afford to purchase even a 20-year-old car for Rs. 1 to 1.5 million. What about the increasing taxes on the small man’s car? This is another topic by itself. The steady streak of injustice and oppression continues.

Now that peace and safety has been restored to the country why can’t our parliamentarians take public transport and set an example?

In the West, parliamentarians and even presidents and prime ministers use public transport. Former French President François Hollande took the train to official journeys within France, and to European summits in Brussels, to save money. David Cameron Prime Minister, United Kingdom, once told Government ministers to forget the limo and take the tube. The rule was part of a ministerial code that aimed to rebuild trust in politics and politicians following the ministers’ expenses scandal and excessive public spending.

And the best example comes from current leader of the Opposition in the UK Jeremy Corbyn who it is said rides the bus most of the time. A particular photo of him in the night bus shows why the Labor leader has one of Parliament’s lowest expenses claims. 

A picture of the bloke was posted on the ‘People’s Campaign for Corbyn’ Facebook page, alongside the caption, ‘a photo can tell you a lot sometimes’. The post further added: “This is Jeremy Corbyn on the night bus going home after another day of meetings and hustings.” He has the lowest expenses of any parliamentarian. 

A code of conduct for members of Parliament is long, long overdue. If there is one already, it’s very unlikely it’s being implemented. All parties must agree such a code of conduct will necessarily elevate public discourse and is consistent with the cardinal principles of democracy. 

It’s also important that members of Parliament be given induction classes, as in the UK, not just the workings of Parliament but a comprehensive course, especially on how to deal with the public. Certainly the obstructive if not egregious conduct of some MPs and ministers leaves much to be desired.