Sri Lanka: Good Governance & Travis Sinniah
An Open Letter to H. E. the President Maithripala Sirisena
by Ayesh Ranawaka
(October 17, 2017, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) If we look back a century into the past, the Sri Lankan farmer who grew up in the paddy fields became a soldier only because of their “patriotism”. They joined the army for their King because of that, not to become a soldier that receives a salary. They became war heroes by sacrificing their time, wealth and health because of their “patriotism”. Although there might have been some who received material things from the crows, as an army, the soldiers were from farming communities present only because of their “patriotism”. Then came colonialism and we attempted to build armies under the colonial influence.
There were very few Sri Lankans who were willing to join an army that was structured according to the British system. Thus, it became very difficult to find willing soldiers, and the Englishman decided to pile up any recruit with material things in order to get support. Even then, there were plenty of Sri Lankans who immediately gave up their veneer of “patriotism” in order to gain riches and fame. They betrayed the country too. It is a sad fact that our current forces and police were built based on that system. We incorporated many of this system and the systems that the British used to recruit for our armies.
Although the system seemingly changed on paper, it hasn’t quite changed in reality. Most of our customs and traditions are following the British methods and there is nothing wrong about it. To date, our forces have managed to maintain a certain standard. However, many of the officers who were a part the forces earlier did not have a culture of becoming lackeys. They had self-esteem and self-respect regarding themselves and their uniform. The politician too respected and feared that uniform and never attempted to supersede it. But, because of the betrayals that took place in the past, there were various consequences such as conspiracy theories, political influence which led to favoritism. Little by little, this all snowballed into one massive disaster and the forces became politicised.
When wealth was being distributed in ‘77 with the open economy concept, many individuals began flocking where the power was. Wealth too joined in soon. This wealth and power became the parliament. The people’s choice never went to parliament, power and wealth did.
This Good Governance concept that the current government is swearing on was brought forward in order to change this. However, we have yet to see a method in which this will change.
The Commander of an Army, Navy or Airforce cannot be rotated in a random manner. There is a systematic approach to this. All of the required criteria must be met with before a Commander is appointed.
Recently, Travis Sinniah was appointed through this systematic approach because his qualifications were not met by any of the others. If politicians think that their commanders should reflect their caste and their birthplaces, it is a very cheap argument. Accordingly, some individuals have a big ego. An individual who is not professionally qualified, but has other requirements, will feel threatened if another individual who is both professionally qualified and has all the other requirements come to the same position. It is things like this that send our country downhill.
There are several individuals who have various stories to tell on how they got their medals, but some of them have not commandeered their relevant positions in the field or the seas.
The fact that Travis Sinniah is sent home in two months is something to be proud of because if this Yahapalana government cannot realise what a treasure their sending home, it is better for Sinniah to go home instead of bowing down to anyone. There are plenty of others to take this position and if the government thinks they can just select another and replace Sinniah, the government will not be able to stop this country from falling.
We did not support good governance for any personal likes. We thought the system will change and we supported it even at the risk faced by ourselves and our families. But, if the things are moving like this it will lead to further disappointments.
Thus, I beg His Excellency to consider this situation and take a proper decision before 26th October.
Thanking you.
https://www.slguardian.org/2017/10/sri-lanka-good-governance-travis-sinniah/
