Lessons From Lanka

There is an interesting context in the Ramayana. When Hanuman returned from Lanka, he was asked to describe the place. He explained that Sri Lanka was an exceptionally affluent country. He says, ‘Je Chhan Sunaika’, each and everything is made of gold. 

The island nation was one of the leading economies in South Asia even until recent past. Now, the country is reeling from economic and political adversities. After running out of foreign reserves, it cannot buy fuel and other essential commodities from overseas. With the collapse of the Mahendra Rajapaksa-led government, and the fleeing of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to Singapore, Ranil Wickremesinghe has been sworn in as the new President. In this critical situation, the wise people of Sri Lanka will be able to solve the problem for good in the nearest future. 

And, here in Nepal, we have learnt some lessons from Sri Lanka. The first lesson is that some leading world powers are never tired of making statements. The priorities of rich nations are different. Their one-size-fits-all approach does solve the current crisis facing the globe. Providing billions of dollars in cash and arming certain regions, and encouraging some others to fight wars seems to be top priority of some nations instead of rescuing the crisis-ridden Sri Lanka. 

Some anarchists or ex-royalists are excited seeing the chaos of Sri Lanka. As the Sri Lankan people lost their faith in their main leaders and took to the streets and captured the official buildings of the president and the prime minister, the anarchists and ex-king sympathisers here want to pander to some section of people who are disappointed with the poor service delivery in the country. They thought that anarchy began in Sri Lanka, and its domino effect will certainly grip Nepal. This is evident on Facebook postings and other social media.

But, the protesters of Sri Lanka have not bought the anarchist ideas of Pierre-Joseph Proudhon and Michael Bakunin. Rather, they proved themselves ardent nationalists who are really responsible for and worried about their nation's future. If you recall the history of Spain, the supporters of Proudhon and Bakunin had ransacked liberal system of Spain in the Spanish Civil War. 

The Spanish anarchists formed a new body called the Revolutionary Defence Council which overpowered the communists and other forces working in the country, and took the reign. George Orwell recounts: 'Every building of any size had been seized by the workers and was draped with red flags or the black and red flags of the Anarchists…’

But, in Sri Lanka, none of such scenes were seen though millions of the people took to the streets, and chased away the corrupt rulers, but they did not remove the photographs of the Presidents and Premiers hung on the walls of the capital. Except some instances, the Sri Lankan protestors neither smashed the railings of the streets nor captured any person responsible for the worst crisis since its independence. 

So, the wise people of Sri Lanka deserve kudos, and Nepali anarchists, who long for disorder, will have to face the fate like that of Aswathama in the Mahabharat. It is said that after being cursed by Lord Krishna, Aswathama has been render feeble and forced to roam from one place to another.