“Where every prospect pleases and only man is vile” - Should the British have given Ceylon independence?

Author’s father and mother Emmanuel and Manon Muttukumaru greeting Queen Elizabeth and Prince Phillip at a reception in Ceylon in 1954

“What though the spicy breezes blow soft o’er Ceylon’s isle; Though every prospect pleases, and only man is vile” 
- Anglican Bishop Reginald Heber – 18th Century

As we watch the incredible and heartwarming events and scenes in Balmoral, Windsor, Dundee, Edinburgh and finally in Westminster and London, every citizen of Ceylon now Sri Lanka must wonder “what has happened to Ceylon and the Ceylonese”. This was the title of my article in the Daily Mirror a few years ago. Now more than ever this question must haunt every Sri Lankan. 

As a Sri Lankan born American I am heartbroken by the recent events in Sri Lanka and am doing everything I can with my colleagues in America and Sri Lanka to create a new future for this nation where every prospect pleases and only man is vile.

The British left Ceylon with a top class education system and public service. What have Sri Lankans done with it in the last 50 plus years? They even gave us the language of international business, education and diplomacy but today almost every street in cities and towns in the nation have signs that read “spoken English classes”. A high literacy rate in Sinhala means nothing in today’s hyper competitive post pandemic global economy. Don’t get me wrong. One must be proud of one’s native language – Sinhala or Tamil – but this is of little or no value in the global economy.

Is there democracy today in Sri Lanka? Stop blaming elected political leaders. You elected them. As Churchill observed “ A people or nation gets a government it deserves”.
There is no war in Sri Lanka. There is however an unprecedented exodus of talent especially skilled workers, professionals and youth from the country. They see no future. In spite of the protests and events of the last several months nothing for them has changed.
You cannot have the people who caused the fire or stood by and watched the fire burning and profited from it, now be put in charge of putting out the fire and rebuilding the nation and economy!

"It is my heartfelt plea in the memory of my father and uncles and all their contemporaries decades ago to bring back the good that the British left us. Honour, decency, a vibrant and respected private sector, democracy and a world class public service and education system"

My late father, a lawyer and the first from Ceylon in 1965 in the UN World Food Programme, an uncle who was the first army commander, another uncle, Monsignor Manik Muttukumaru who was I believe the first Catholic Priest from Ceylon to serve as a Vatican official and even a grand uncle who was the first Ceylonese Principal of the Ceylon Law College and so many of their contemporaries were part of a nation who were admired in the world. Today it breaks my heart to know that Sri Lanka is a case study in bankruptcy, corruption, dysfunction and what not to do. A Kenyan Presidential candidate told an international journalist “ we do not want to be a Sri Lanka”. 

A democracy is “of the people, by the people and for the people”. There is no place for any violence in a democracy by its citizens or government authorities. “He who lives by the sword will die by the sword”. Peaceful protest is a vital part of any democracy. Terrible deeds cannot be erased by good deeds. You reap what you sow.

It is my heartfelt plea in the memory of my father and uncles and all their contemporaries decades ago to bring back the good that the British left us. Honour, decency, a vibrant and respected private sector, democracy and a world class public service and education system. The current system has drained the nation’s treasury and is simply unsustainable.
 A young man in a recent Rotaract Club discussion that I led said“ The British should never have given us independence”! We can still prove this young man wrong and give them a reason to stay in their country of birth and create a new future with new firemen and firewomen, not with the ones that caused and profited from the fire!!  The Cardinal, a dear friend of my late uncle, bishops, priests and nuns should join hands with all their Buddhist, Muslim and Hindu brothers and sisters and work with the youth, all professionals and business leaders to build a new Sri Lanka free of corruption. 

I think this is what the late Queen Elizabeth may have wanted and the new King Charles wants for 
Sri Lanka. 
My Catholic faith tells me that we will be judged and held accountable for “what we have done and what we have failed to do”.