Sri Lanka was one of the four Asian countries to be hit by cyclones at virtually the same time.  The international media reported that cyclone-fueled downpours battered parts of Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia while Sri Lanka was struck by a separate storm.  In those countries too, which are visited more regularly by cyclones than Sri Lanka, the death toll reached the 100s. The death toll is presently over 600 with over 200 remaining missing. The full scale of the disaster wreaked on Sri Lanka by Cyclone Ditwah is still to be realised. Initial assessments indicate that more than 50,000 homes have been damaged or destroyed. The Agricultural Services Department reports damage to 1,777 irrigation reservoirs, 483 dams, 1,936 canals and 328 agricultural roads. More than 200 roads remain impassable, 22 bridges have been damaged, and only 478 km of the 1,593 km or one-third of the railway network is currently usable. 

Unlike other disasters that were confined to a part of the country, such as the tsunami of 2004, this cyclone has affected virtually the whole of the country. Tragically, the destruction caused by the cyclone will impact heavily on the economic recovery that was being anticipated. Sri Lanka will need resources beyond what it possesses and will require international assistance on a large scale in a world of conflict that has become less generous. The Government’s foreign policy achievement was the immediate response from India which had one of its aircraft carriers in Sri Lankan waters on a friendly visit and immediately deployed it for rescue efforts. As in 2022, when the economy collapsed, India has stepped in first again to mitigate the humanitarian catastrophe caused by the cyclone. 

In addition, the United States and Australia have provided financial support for relief. Even Nepal, which is facing its own economic problems, made a financial donation. A Pakistan Navy ship has brought essential relief items for the flood victims. Most promisingly, Japan sent a team to Sri Lanka to assess the damage and plan out a strategy to assist in longer term reconstruction. The Chinese Red Cross has made a donation to be followed by Chinese official assistance. The United Kingdom, Switzerland, the Netherlands and Bangladesh have been the latest to step in with assistance. Trust in the Government’s commitment to anti-corruption, shared by the people and the international community alike, will no doubt serve the country well. It may provide the basis for an appeal to the international community for a Marshall Plan for Sri Lanka to rebuild it from the ground.

Unifying impact

Another positive feature has been the large number of volunteer groups that have sprung up within days of the disaster. Across the country, community kitchens have appeared to feed the displaced people who now number more than 100,000. They have been supported by members of the public who have donated money, cooked food, dry rations and even their own vehicles to transport supplies. Videos on social media show electricity repair teams braving storm winds and climbing poles to reconnect power lines at great personal risk. Other videos show security forces personnel going through surging floodwaters at the risk of their lives to rescue people stranded in their homes with six of their members paying the ultimate price. These acts of service and sacrifice are a reminder of previous moments in the country’s history when an extraordinary spirit of solidarity overcame the divisions that party politics seeks to deepen even now.

This time however, the magnitude of the crisis ought to have had a unifying impact on the national polity. It created an opportunity for the Government to reach out to the Opposition to seek advice and cooperation rather than only its criticisms. President Anura Kumara Dissanayake invited the Opposition parties for discussions on how best to deal with the disaster. The meeting was conducted in a spirit of seriousness and respect with the President giving an initial overview of the situation and then listening to the views put forward by the Opposition leaders. This gesture was in sharp contrast to what has usually taken place in Sri Lanka where consultation between the Government and the Opposition has been sporadic and often adversarial. In the present situation, the President sought to create political unity to manage a national crisis that is without precedent in its scale and geographical reach.

In an unprecedented response, the Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa met with foreign diplomats to ask them for assistance to the country and also urged the Government to declare a state of national emergency to equip itself with the powers required to take all actions needed to deal with the disaster. Usually, the Opposition denounces the Government for resorting to emergency powers as they have too often been abused and used to curtail democratic freedoms. The Government’s reluctance to assume such powers reflects its own misgivings about them, having spent years accusing previous Governments of misusing emergency regulations. In an address to the Nation, the President pledged that the emergency powers would only be used to facilitate the relief and recovery effort and not to oppress the people. He has re-committed the Government to this position despite isolated statements to the contrary by some in the Government. 

The Prez’s openness

Another positive development was the invitation to civil society organisations (CSOs) to meet with the President and the top Government team handling the crisis. This invitation can be taken as a sign that the Government wishes to draw upon all national capabilities to overcome this disaster. The meeting itself provided insights into how the Government is viewing the crisis. At the meeting, the President gave a brief overview of the situation that indicated his grasp of the overall situation. He spoke about the disruption in communications, difficulties in access, the damage to infrastructure and the Government’s plan to deal with the situation. The CSOs representatives who participated, thanked the President for the opportunity and recalled their collective contribution during previous emergencies. They noted that many agencies are already working on the ground, providing support at different scales not only through funds but also through their experience, expertise and local networks. They said that coordination and information sharing at the national level would be useful but asked that clear instructions be sent to District and Divisional authorities to include the CSOs in the response mechanism where appropriate.

During the discussion, the CSOs discussed, among other things, the need to ensure that all Government communications regarding the disaster relief measures be in both the Sinhala and Tamil languages. The practice of Government agencies releasing information only in the Sinhala language is an entrenched one within the Government system, which needs to be changed. The CSOs members also said that the present crisis should be taken as an opportunity to show that this is a Government for all its citizens without discrimination and to handle relief efforts in a way that brings communities together. A significant feature of the discussion was the President’s assurance that CSOs would be free to decide on how they would work with the Government and what their own priorities would be. However, the understanding of the Government administration appears to be different. They have written to the District Secretariats that, “all activities carried out by non-Governmental organisations (NGOs) operating in your District must be coordinated through the District NGO Coordinator”.

The problem here is whether the Government officials at the District level are best suited to lead the relief effort.  There is certainly a need for coordination but it needs to be consultative and not take the form of control. Sri Lanka is a plural and diverse society and the best solutions will come when its different voices are heard and responded to. The Government’s outreach to the Opposition, the willingness to meet the civil society and the acknowledgement that no single institution can manage the crisis alone are signs that a different kind of politics is possible. The country today may be economically bankrupt, but it is not morally bankrupt. Unfortunately, the Opposition has been resorting to negative politics, staging a walkout in the Parliament, blaming the Government for abusing the Emergency Law and for having denied it an opportunity to discuss disaster management policies, strategies and measures. There is a need for statesmanship on both sides of the political divide so that the spirit of unity necessitated by the cyclone will not be blighted by party politics.

The writer is the Executive Director of the National Peace Council organisation