Sri Lanka: Brave New Days

Written by Saumya Lee

COLOMBO, SRI LANKA - JULY 13, 2022: Sri Lankan protesters angered by the country's economic meltdown call for the resignation of president Gotabaya Rajapaksa and prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe

1949: The beauty of Ceylon lies not so much in its blue seas and golden beaches, its jungles, and its mountain peaks, as in its ancient atmosphere. There is no nation, from Egypt of the Pharaohs to modern Britain, in whose literature this island has not at some time been mentioned by one or other of its many names -- Lanka, Serendib, Taprobane, Cellao, Zellan, to recall a few. History lies buried in its sands, and ghosts of romance lurk among its bastioned rocks, for Lanka is very, very old. (D. J. G. Hennessy, Green Isles)

2019: Endless beaches, timeless ruins, welcoming people, oodles of elephants, rolling surf, cheap prices, fun trains, famous tea, and flavorful food make Sri Lanka irresistible (Lonely Planet’s 2019 “Top Best Country to Visit”)

2021: 5th Best Country to Visit (Condé Nast Traveler “Readers’ Choice”)

2022: For the first time in its history, a President resigns (read: ignominiously bolts), leaving the country out of fuel and bankrupt. Sri Lanka, which never defaulted on its debt through years of war, a tsunami, terrorist attacks, and a pandemic, does so for the first time. 

Sri Lanka is located in the Indian Ocean, just off the southeastern coast of India, with a population of nearly 22 million people. The Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, once known as Ceylon, has been an independent nation since 1948, gaining its independence from the British Crown. Sri Lanka gave the world its first democratically elected female Prime Minister, Mrs. Sirimavo Bandaranaike. Even before independence, the country was regarded as the oldest democracy in Asia, with universal suffrage (right to vote) extended to both men and women in 1931. 

The last time I visited Sri Lanka was in 2011, after having moved to the United States for university back in 1983. When I left, the country was dealing with the beginnings of what would become a 26-year-old civil war. In 2011, the country had just ended its war and was bustling with renewed foreign and local investments, rapidly growing industries, and a speed of progress that was breathtaking. Sri Lankans are definitely the friendliest people I’ve ever met, with an unquenchable optimism and a gentleness that seamlessly melds with the loveliest of its landscapes. The future of the country looked bright and its promise, limitless. Most notably, Mahinda Rajapakse, brother of the now disgraced Gotabaya, was the President, lauded, and even adored for ending the prolonged war. Yet, during my visit, nowhere in our long chats with friends and relatives was there a mention of an 18th Amendment to the Sri Lankan Constitution. 

Introduced in 2010 by Mahinda Rajapakse, the 18th Amendment was passed by parliament and, incredibly, by the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka. Crucially, it eliminated the presidential two-term limit and gave him the power to appoint the Chairman and members of the Election Commission, Public Service Commission, National Police Commission, Human Rights Commission, Permanent Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery and Corruption, Finance Commission, Chief Justice and Judges of the Supreme Court…You get the picture. The 18th Amendment did away with all the usual checks and balances of democracy, paving the way for a dictatorship. In my relatively luxurious perch in America, it would be far too easy to wonder at the lack of an immediate reaction, a national uproar. But keep in mind that this was a country exhausted from war and terrorist attacks by the LTTE (The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam). Perhaps some supported the Rajapakses for future favor, some just looked the other way as long as they could finally run their business without interference, and some genuinely believed in the promise of a new dawn and leader for the people. “The [civil] war, militarization, authoritarian power...[and] nationalism were all part of consolidating the regime’s power, and the economic trajectory was set by that regime without democratic engagement”. (Chotiner, 2022). 

There are times I wish my father were still alive, and this would be one; he held an extremely high post in government (not politically elected) and had the ability to work with anyone and help everyone. At a young age, I inherited his love of current affairs and geopolitics. Around 1982, we attended a cousin’s wedding that was probably the society wedding of the year. At the glamorous reception, one large tent held the current President and his retinue, while another contained the previous one. My father was in both tents for the whole duration. On the way home, I asked him which one was the better president. I never forgot what he said; “It doesn't matter. Both have deficits and virtues. The key is the ability to do the most good within whatever circumstances they've been given.” Fast forward to the present day, it appears the leadership certainly did that, but for their own enrichment, not for the good of the people. 

In my calls to friends and family in Sri Lanka, I see a clear disparity between what we see and read on the global media and what the upper and wealthy classes experience. While many complain, they are actually doing so on behalf of the poor. I asked one affluent person about fuel lines, and they replied, “Oh, they are awful; our driver had to wait in line at least 7 hours”!!! But most people are in fuel lines for seven days, and they don’t have drivers. Thus some are certainly not suffering like the rural farmer or the city day earner. Others, while unable to wait out the crisis by vacationing abroad, can manage but find the 50% inflation intolerable as they burn through their hard-earned savings. They are angry as they know that they will be the ones paying for the government’s reckless greed. 

Last week, I asked a top Sri Lankan economist for her perspective. It was excoriating, sagacious, and succinct: 

Sri Lanka is a country blessed with every resource except petroleum but is now facing its worst economic crisis with severe scarcity of domestic (cooking) gas, fuel, and medicines. The country has lived beyond its means by borrowing at exorbitant commercial rates and investing in pet projects of the Rajapakse regime – that are not generating income: a southern harbor, new cricket grounds, convention halls, etc., all ‘white elephants.’ Welfare programs that were supposed to help the poor were poorly targeted, resulting in increasing poverty and added government debt. Expanding the public sector to an unsustainable size (to fulfill election promises) with their salaries, pensions, and interest payments are more than all Government revenues. Knowing this, they made sweeping tax cuts in November 2021, which made them print money in excessive amounts. 

After speaking to her, it's evident to me that corruption and nepotism have been the main cause of Sri Lanka’s current woes. All this contributed to this current crisis while the pandemic and global supply issues tipped the country into bankruptcy.

There is one thing that made me wonder how God saw Sri Lanka. The ousted President Gotabaya and his brother Mahinda Rajapakse had introduced “anti-conversion bills” and “unethical conversion” bills. In the past decade, the country which celebrated all religions had changed. There were reports of increasing attacks on churches in rural areas, carried out by, antithetically, “extremist militant Buddhists.” There was looting, burning, and interrupting Sunday services with threats of violence. In some instances, thugs had gone to a pastor’s home and shot or beaten him and his family, killing or gravely injuring them. The police looked the other way despite pleas for justice. The current government fostered this new intolerance, encouraging majoritarian and populist views, unbelievable in a country where a central tenet of Buddhism is tolerance. “Despite being the oldest democracy in Asia, we are not used to a social space where everyone—young and old, poor and rich, people of faith and no faith, Sinhalese, Tamils, Muslims, and Burghers—can have an equal voice and share a common aspiration for a better future” (Poobalan, “The Struggle”  2022). 

But on July 9, I saw a battered people set out with an unimaginable resolve, their deep pain and frustrations tempered by their commitment to the endgame. As I joined that heaving mass of humanity all the way to the gates of the President’s House, I remembered I was there as an ambassador of Christ. And it wasn’t just me. Here and there, I recognized the clergy of various churches in their clerical garb and the Catholic nuns scattered in the melee: “As you sent into the world, I have sent them into the world (John 17:18).” (Poobalan, “The Struggle” 2022).

As I read Ivor’s indefatigably optimistic articles about the recent events, I find hope in his message. Ivor, the child of a Sinhalese mother and Tamil father, has risen above attacks on his childhood home and, later, seminary to become an erudite, brilliant voice for God. 

It is my prayer that the present circumstances would bring many to Christ who, alone, can provide true help in the midst of human suffering and hope that outlasts the grave. I covet your prayers* for Sri Lanka for a new dawn of balanced, equitable governance, a solid democratic foundation, and God’s grace upon its economy; for religious freedom for all religions; for not only Sri Lankans but everyone seeing this crisis to embrace our interconnectedness since this will not be the only nation to be affected by the past two years. Christians in Sri Lanka have already responded by providing vital meals, standing shoulder to shoulder with the protestors, and, importantly, contributing to the legislative process and government through moral, active leadership. Around the globe, Sri Lankans are coming together to offer significant support through dollars, technology, medical expertise, employment, academic exchanges, and other ways, too many to mention. 

Dare I claim a promise for Sri Lanka that God made to Israel that can only be fulfilled in Christ? “For behold, darkness will cover the earth and deep darkness the peoples; but the Lord will rise upon you, and His glory will appear upon you. Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising... surely the isles will wait for me.” (Isaiah 60:2-3 & 9).

“...In the brave new days that come,

When the races all have blended

And the voice of strife is dumb;

When we leap to a single bugle,

March to single drum,

March to a mighty purpose,

One Man from shore to shore,

The stranger become a brother,

The task of the tutor o’er;

When the ruined city rises,

And the Palace gleams once more.”

- The Call of Lanka, by W.S. Senior                                                                   

Saumya Lee, J.D., resides in Houston and describes herself as “a conduit for the power of God to empower and assist other women of all ages, ethnicities and every diversity.” She is a lawyer and the mother of two daughters, aged 20 and 24. After earning a Doctorate in Jurisprudence from Baylor University, she elected to stay home to raise her family with her husband, an American-born Chinese physician. Saumya delights in serving her church in capital campaigns and interior design. She maintains deep ties with Sri Lanka and has helped to raise funds for its minority Christian community, NGOs, and theological institutes.

References 

*Prayer Points from Dr. Ajith Fernando, the Teaching Director of Youth for Christ in Sri Lanka:

  • Following an unbelievably massive, largely peaceful protest, the President and Prime Minister have resigned.

  • Please pray for the next steps that need to be taken. Our leaders have throughout history shown a notorious preference for personal power over the welfare of the country. Please pray that this would change, given the dire situation in the country, and that a consensus would be reached that helps the country to move forward. 

  • Please pray that the hand of violence would be restrained. I believe this is a thing we can influence through prayer. 

  • Please pray that other nations would come and help us with dollars. The nation is bankrupt with no funds to purchase fuel, cooking gas, essential food, and medical supplies. 

  • Many people are on the brink of starvation. Please pray that the various projects to serve them would be effective.

  • Pray that the church would be an influence for good in the nation through its commitment to the sacrificial meeting of people’s needs, its promotion of peace and harmony, and the wise involvement of Christians in national issues. 

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