Editorial - Lonely in the planet

The so-called paradise would look pretty from outside; so pretty that the travellers are tempted to cross many seas to rest their feet on this soil. Even during the troubled times, despite the travel warnings issued by many countries, there were tourists who braved the troubled terrain. Perhaps there is an enchantment that draws them here; may be that is the very reason why Sri Lanka has been named the destination for 2013 by the Lonely Planet.

While rejoicing over the accolade one could not help but wish Sri Lanka could be as beautiful as the tourist brochures boast; for beneath its beauteous exterior lies entangled priorities, murky politics and dangerous impunity that makes its citizens children of a lesser god. Hence, a country that is very much insensitive to the voices of its own citizenry would be hardly sensitive to those of the tourists.



Besides, in a terrain where national treasures are plundered from the heart of its capital cities and the culprits could evade arrest, it would indeed be a miracle if we could lure tourists. At a time when no place of religious importance is safe from the hawk eyes of the treasure-hunters and the perpetrators  could always seek asylum from the powerful few, in another decade, there would only be caskets and transparent cases to go on display where the artifacts and relics would have been.  

Lonely Planet in its latest edition pinpoints the Northern and Eastern cities as the potential tourist destinations where the citizenry were direct victims of the three-decade war.  Despite the government’s bravado of the flourishing North and East, it could be mindful of the fact that infrastructure development alone cannot paint a genuine smile on the people’s lips to welcome the tourists.

After all, we cannot be selling beaches every day as every other South Asian countries would have beaches with the same appearance, if not, those that are a lot cleaner than ours.  If the policy-makers are aiming at making profits, the best way would be to attract tourists who could afford to indulge, not only those who literally live out of their meager suitcases.

Becoming a hosting country for events that are of international importance will have plenty of merits as well as evils. If the government attempts to use this as an excuse to indulge in unaffordable projects, it would be nothing more than putting the country in reverse gear. The famous bid for the 2018 Commonwealth Games ended up a giant black hole that devoured truckloads of public money.

The Paradise is dry enough and does not need further draining. Corruption and nepotism have spoiled the almost perfect picture. Democracy has turned into ‘demonicracy.’  

The beauty of the island lies within the people who live in it. This is the part of their inheritance which in the modern sense could be called the sovereignty. Coming between them and their legacy is an act of treason even if it was committed by the very people who were born on the same soil.