Tomorrow marks the 71st Independence Day anniversary of Sri Lanka. Ceylon received independence from the British colonisers in a bloodless transfer of power in 1948 and the hopes and aspirations of the new-born independent nation could not have been higher at the time. However, 71 years down the line, the country’s 21 million people harbour the very same dreams of a better tomorrow as the country’s politicians continue to fail them. The British in order to keep a tight leash on the handles of power practiced a divide and rule policy pitting the Sinhalese against the Tamils when it came to granting top jobs in the state sector. With the exit of the British, the majority community wasted no time in asserting themselves and took over most of the top posts, although Tamils were equal contributors to the independence struggle. This understandably hurt the community. What started as a tussle for jobs ultimately ended up in a full-scale war between the two communities that lasted a good 30 years. Now, though the war may be over, the two communities are still at loggerheads over who rules what and where. Be that as it may, while the war took a heavy toll on the economic advancement of the country, the lack of a cohesive national policy on identified priority areas of the economy has left it at the mercy of international financiers who continue to dictate economic policy even after 71 years of so-called independence. The politicians have to take the lion’s share of the blame for the failure on the economic front as it is their lack of direction and short-term opportunistic policies over the past seven decades that have resulted in today’s less-than-desirable state of the country. Today, we are struggling to pay back loans – some of it absolutely unnecessary – and are dependent on international financial institutions and other donors to help pay back the mountain of debt. Although Sri Lanka is currently estimated as an $ 87 billion economy, its debt to GDP ratio is a worrisome 80% which is among the highest in the world. The recent unsuccessful sovereign bond issue in order to finance debt settlement is a stark reminder that the road ahead is not going to be easy unless there is substantial Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and export revenue generation, both of which look improbable at the moment. Throughout the entirety of it 71 post-independence years, Sri Lanka has been ruled by the two main parties at alternative intervals for more or less an equal period of time. In the immediate post-independence era, Sri Lanka was one of the most promising countries in Asia and was well ahead of countries like Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand. In fact, Singapore looked up to Sri Lanka, or then Ceylon, as the role model to emulate. However, starting with S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike’s disastrous “Sinhala only” policy of 1956, the repercussions of which are still being felt, to other opportunistic, politically motivated policy decisions at different times, the country has suffered and continues to suffer to this day. What is more worrisome is that the future doesn’t look any different. For starters, of the current 225 members of Parliament, a considerable number of legislators have reportedly not even passed the Ordinary Level examination. Additionally, many of them have not passed the Advanced Level Examination. Given this reality, one does not need to look far to realise where the problem lies, but those who are supposed to fix it prefer to look the other way for their own survival. Today, an O/Level pass is mandatory to qualify for a job in the lowest rung of the state sector such as a peon, driver, labourer, etc. Therefore, approximately 94 MPs in the current Parliament are unsuitable even for these menial jobs, yet they drive around in the most expensive vehicles, have hordes of aides to assist them, and lead a luxurious life funded by ordinary people. A poor labourer who lives on a daily wage contributes tax rupees when he consumes a basic meal at a thosai kade. Lentils, dhal, onions, flour, etc. are all taxed and the poor man has to bear the tax burden every time he is hungry. The same way a motorcyclist has to pay the same amount of tax on fuel as the billionaire who rides an Aston Martin. For 70 years, we have not been able to come up with a cohesive, equitable tax policy for revenue generation and social welfare. Every budget has been an experiment for the Tax Department. Our agriculture sector which had all the potential to achieve self-sufficiency at least in the daily staple rice, has not been sustainable due to vulnerability to politically motivated policy decisions such as the fertiliser subsidy. Hopes were raised sky high after the commissioning of the accelerated Mahaweli Project which enabled vast areas of land in the dry zones to be cultivated; but instead of catering to local requirements, farmers in these areas were advised to grow export crops like gherkins for the McDonalds of the world, but the revenue derived from such exports are being used to import rice, flour, dhal, onions, potatoes, apples, grapes, etc.! Sri Lanka’s spending on research and development over the years has been notoriously low. Despite this, even the spending on education as a percentage of GDP has hovered around the 5% mark. In a world that is fast moving to the “information age” where investment in research and development could determine survival of economies, the level of awareness of this very fact among our current crop of uneducated lawmakers is a telling indictment on the success of our post-independence story. Tomorrow, the ageing jets of the air force will fly past Galle Face, the Navy’s assets will be on display at a distance as the vessels now have to circumvent the Chinese Port City and the military hardware will be displayed in all its glory, but at the heart of it, one cannot help but see, beyond the parade, the reality that as a nation, we have failed to capitalise and build on what the British left behind. Not only in terms of material assets but more importantly in building an educated, disciplined, and committed workforce that would ensure prosperity for the nation. It is not too late to start, but in order for this to happen, the rot has to be stemmed at the very top. Since no parliamentarian is going to raise his hand for legislation setting minimum educational qualifications for MPs, it is the responsibility of the country’s electors to insist, even at this late stage, that enough is enough, and send only those suitable and educated enough to hold public office to Parliament and provincial councils later this year. While we celebrate independence tomorrow, let’s not forget the fact that we are a nation very much dependent on others for survival. It wasn’t this way 71 years ago and need not be in the next 71.