There is a saying that ‘Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it”
It could very well be a good lesson for our current crop of politicians who want to live for the present and the future only, with all sorts of personal benefits at the expense of the common man.
An interesting anecdote comes to mind when we talk of the “achievements” of politicians:
“A doctor, an architect and a politician were arguing over the oldest profession in the world.
The doctor said it was his job because Eve was created from Adam's rib, a surgical procedure.
The architect said it was his job because before that there was chaos and the world was made from this chaos with an architect.
Then the politician said "And who do you think caused all this chaos?"
Likewise, who created the ethnic tensions and language issues : the answer is very simple, greedy politicians who wanted to grab power by whatever means with magical solutions such as “Sinhala Only – in 24 hours”. It is rather unfortunate that even foreign educated men from good families resorted to this sort of cheap ruses to grab power. From then onwards, it had been a very rough ride for the country which is still struggling to get out of the mess. Even though we were triumphant in war, we have miserably failed to usher in peace to the country.
As if to add insult to injury, we now have a thoroughly racist and fanatic organization called Bodu Bala Sena, styled along the lines of India’s Shiv Sena which had created a lot of trouble for those who are not followers of Hinduism.
If these fanatics are allowed to proceed with their agenda of subjugating everyone who are not Sinhala Buddhists, without doubt, the country will once again be plunged into another unwinnable war.
And, the politicians would thrive on the resultant chaos.
“From fanaticism to barbarism is only one step” – Denis Diderot
It could very well be a good lesson for our current crop of politicians who want to live for the present and the future only, with all sorts of personal benefits at the expense of the common man.
An interesting anecdote comes to mind when we talk of the “achievements” of politicians:
“A doctor, an architect and a politician were arguing over the oldest profession in the world.
The doctor said it was his job because Eve was created from Adam's rib, a surgical procedure.
The architect said it was his job because before that there was chaos and the world was made from this chaos with an architect.
Then the politician said "And who do you think caused all this chaos?"
Likewise, who created the ethnic tensions and language issues : the answer is very simple, greedy politicians who wanted to grab power by whatever means with magical solutions such as “Sinhala Only – in 24 hours”. It is rather unfortunate that even foreign educated men from good families resorted to this sort of cheap ruses to grab power. From then onwards, it had been a very rough ride for the country which is still struggling to get out of the mess. Even though we were triumphant in war, we have miserably failed to usher in peace to the country.
As if to add insult to injury, we now have a thoroughly racist and fanatic organization called Bodu Bala Sena, styled along the lines of India’s Shiv Sena which had created a lot of trouble for those who are not followers of Hinduism.
If these fanatics are allowed to proceed with their agenda of subjugating everyone who are not Sinhala Buddhists, without doubt, the country will once again be plunged into another unwinnable war.
And, the politicians would thrive on the resultant chaos.
“From fanaticism to barbarism is only one step” – Denis Diderot
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