A good president needs to be challenged by evil! - EDITORIAL

Despite the Aragalaya having failed people haven’t dismissed the idea of a system change. However according to ancient Hindu scripts the world exists because of a magical balance between good and evil that’s present. Try to make one weigh over the other and administrators would encounter problems.

There had been times when Ceylon was a colony and the British had observed that Sri Lankans were cultured; specially at times of public gatherings during religious functions. There was all around discipline and the law enforcement officers didn’t have to go about reminding people about the laws of the county when they were at public gatherings   A known British governor had even written to the queen about this character of the Sri Lankans. However, there was a problem with the Sri Lankans who were then under the British. They didn’t have a hero or villain. All the heroes were either killed or captured. No system change was possible in the absence of a leader and Ceylon received independence because the British thought that they had robbed enough from their colony. The other reason why we received independence was because the British thought that we were ready to govern our own country.

Fast forward the clock several years from then and Sri Lanka had a terrorist problem that no government seemed capable of solving. Velupillai Prabhakaran was a villain for some and a freedom fighter for the lower caste minority Tamils. The civil war was deadlocked even after a failed ceasefire and fighting erupted again between government security personnel and tiger rebels. Sri Lankan heads of state were good individuals with proven track records of giving peace a chance. The taboo word for Prabhakaran was ‘peace’. He was bad in a good sense. No one was willing to listen to the grievances of the Tamils if not for him and his organization. 

The good politicians of Sri Lanka just couldn’t deal with terrorism. Then arrived Mahinda Rajapaksa; potentially bad as Kalinga Magha, Elara, Ranasinghe Premadasa and the Tsunami. Then came the 2005 presidential elections and Rajapaksa swore to finish off the war. The civil war ended in 2009 and instead of prosperity being ushered in corruption and arrogance became the hallmarks of the Rajapaksa governance.

Then we saw a so-called good man called Sirisena defeat a ruthless Rajapaksa. We thought that good prevails over bad when things get out of control. This pattern of good defeating bad or evil or vice versa is explained beautifully in the book ‘Raavan-The enemy of Aryawartha’ ; penned by Indian author Amish. Legend has it that the ruthless Raavan was also killed despite being such an accomplished king because he represented evil despite having special skills. 
The universal system according to Amish’s best seller functions in a way that good will prevail over bad when evil is unbearable. But bad cannot be wiped out entire otherwise this world might not exist because the law of opposite is so vital for balance. 

The presence of bad is important for good to surface and give people hope. A good leader with the blessings of the majority will defeat the bad. History has proven this time and again. Despite his dictatorial ways President Wickremesinghe now represents good, but still we hear of awful things like dishonesty being present in state institutes and also among some members of the general public. This president needs a rival; a strong opposition who’ll make him sink or swim. The ideal match for a president was last seen when president Mahinda Rajapaksa was forced to perform politically following a challenge posed by Fonseka at the 2010 presidential elections. Wickremesinghe needs that kind of opponent.

We can’t wait till 2048 for Sri Lanka to become a developed nation. Christmas is six months away but a kid might demand Christmas cake and want it now! That’s  a good attitude to have for the citizens who are remaining in this country and hoping for a brighter future. The good that Wickremesinghe talks about must be challenged by evil; that will speed up the process of turning this nation on to the road of prosperity.