Perhaps, it is now time to rewrite this Obituary once again with a suitable epitaph on a tombstone for posterity so that the future generations would come to know how Sri Lanka destroyed its democratic values and came under a jackboot.
When famous author Ian Fleming created the character of James Bond, he assigned him the code “007 – Licensed to Kill” – since his hero required it during the period of the cold war to eliminate the enemies.
It is rather funny that our own local Jamis Bandas too are playing with such numbers as 018 and now more dangerous 019 – all referring to Constitutional amendments but aimed at destroying the independence and freedom of their perceived enemies inside the country itself. Whilst the 18th amendment provided for the incumbent executive to have a free run and to perpetuate his rule with unbridled power, sans the independent commissions – thanks to the so called two thirds majority which had been achieved through dubious means; the currently proposed 19th amendment which aims at destroying what is still left of an independent judiciary, would drive the final nail on the coffin of Democracy.
It was just the other day we witnessed a politically appointed Chief Justice entering the Court Complex with a heavy contingent of security guards – perhaps another world’s first and in all likelihood the same Chief Justice is going to have a “ceremonial sitting” without the presence of members of the Bar Association but with political hangers-on for company.
It was Aristotle who once said: “Every fool in this world thinks that he is born to rule the others”
How appropriate it sounds in the current context relating to this once beautiful and free country.
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