Are politicians for the people or are people for politicians?

In a democratic country commonly, it is believed that politicians elected by people are bound to ensure the well-being of public masses. We know that Sri Lanka is identified as a democratic nation in the world. And also in our country too we can see democratic procedure of electing political leaders to represent parliament. The parliament is the place where the law that how the country public should be ruled is made.

There are two main factors, which forced me to write this article on this particular topic. The first reason is that the decision made by the government to introduce a new law under which the national anthem should be sang only in sinhala language, the mother tongue of the majority of Sri Lankans. According to decision of introducing this new rule, the national anthem should not be sung in Tamil or some other languages. It is a well known fact that in 1977 with the great constitutional changes, the sinhala version of national anthem created by late Aananda samarakoon was directly translated to Tamil with no a single change in the meaning. From then until today singing national anthem in Tamil Language has been practiced by Tamil and Muslim people almost more than thirty years.

It is a matter of concern that now some political leaders who have contributed largely to sabotage the nation’ economy are pretending as people who love our nation more than their life. Their argument is that singing national anthem in several languages with in a one country can create an ethnic conflict between majorities and minorities.  According to my point of view the explanation that they give with the goal of justifying the decision to be passed in parliament to sing national anthem only in sinhala language in every breadth of the country, is a childish activity of our brainless politicians. One thing must be understood by every one is that abolishing a right people have been enjoying for years is able to affect adversely people’s mind   more than giving people new.

After the ruthless thirty year of war, approximately three decades now people in north and south have began to live new life with new hopes and aspirations. In a situation like this introducing a law as such above I discussed about is not a right decision of politicians. What I think is they try to get some personal political benefits by introducing a law as such. Indeed people have numerous types of burning problems such as economic, social and cultural problems. Politicians must take some immediate measures to meet these problems instead of creating unwanted problems among people have received a lease of life after the end of the merciless war.

At this moment in the country people, have to face a mountain of problems due to the unbearable price increment of essential goods. This critical situation has ordered the people to reduce the degree of meals they eat normally, not to full fill the basic needs of their children and not to motivate their children towards a better education, which is the pillar of the development of a country. Although government is playing its own trumpet through presenting false data that the resettlement process is over completely still affected people are experiencing psychosocial problems in various ways. As a responsible group of people, parliamentarians, representatives of country people of an independent country they ought to work on people’s problems religiously. However, in Sri Lanka it is ugly to say that politicians have failed to do so. As far as my knowledge is concerned, this national anthem matter is a kind of strategy of cunning, visionless politicians with the aim of making minority of Sri Lanka to feel an inferiority complex among them.

The ridiculous thing is that some senior politicians Endeavour to make people believe whatever the lie they tell in the parliament. One of the senior ministers recently said that since the national anthem in India was sung in the Hindi language only, majority’s language in India. Therefore in Sri Lanka the national anthem should be sung only in Sinhala language. To this statement, all of parliamentarians have moved their head up and down. In accordance with the knowledge I have accumulated the national anthem in India “Vande Madaram” is in Bengali, the mother tongue of a specific small group of people in India called Bengalis. These politicians change their words how they change their dress simply because some times they say that Sri Lanka should not imitate other countries in journey of acquiring the status of wonder of Asia. Some times the same politicians say that Sri Lanka should follow the Indian system in the matter of national anthem. One point is obvious that they have proved that the tongue does not have bones repeatedly.

It is sad to say that politicians who have come to parliament with the immense support of Tamils and Muslims, the representative of minority of our country except the TNA parliamentarians were in a grave silence while this special discussion was taking place in the parliament. As most of the parliamentarians were silent, one of the senior ministers who does not have a single educational qualifications to represent the parliament was expressing his own ideas over this national anthem matter as his will. It is not an easy task to avoid incidence as this when wrong people are in right places.  When the basic rights of their people are severely violated, sabotaged and ridiculed, they were silent. However, people  bring them to power to lead luxurious life sacrificing and dedicating their priceless life some times. This makes me to raise the question of Are politicians for people or are people for politicians?

The next regret fact pushed me to write this article is the death silence of up country politicians on the occasion when the price of wheat flour, the main consuming food item of people in estate sectors, was increased suddenly by a big amount. It is apparent that the consumption range of wheat flour is very high among estate workers. For the estate Tamil people wheat flour is the substance by which they can make rotty or something else with in short period of time rather than cooking rice. The wheat flour is supportive for them since women leave their home for work early in the morning.

Recently I got an opportunity, given by a INGO called Mercy Corps  to work in plantaion areas. I worked in three districts Nuwaraeliya,Badulla and Ratnapura where the cash crops such as tea and rubber widely available. During the research I found out that people in estates are used to use wheat flour since it is able to controle the degree of hunger they feel when they involve in very hard works in the estate sectors. The present government is not concerned of the estate sector people that is why president forgot to talk about the       

Living pattern of people in estate sector when he presented the Budget for 2011 in the parliament.

It is necessary to note that upcountry politicians have been calm and quite under the nose of burning problems of estate people. Because of this, the government is also making maximum opportunities to marginalize this poverty ridden, backward, and illiterate community. It is certain that politicians from plantation will never discuss of the problems of estate people in the parliament, as they know very well that as long as these problems are prevailing there they can do their money making business of politics. Finally, I can say problems of estate sector people are similar to the wound in the bagger’s leg. 

Jegan prakash BA(hons)

                                                              University of Colombo