Chaos on the horizon as India’s neighbours bleed
People with a “Hitler-like mindset” attacked my house, complained Sri Lanka’s acting President Ranil Wickremesinghe. “I had 2,500 books in my library, my only asset. There were over 200-year-old valuable paintings. All of them destroyed,” he said. Wickremesinghe, with his extensive library, must have read about the French and Russian revolutions. Their only lesson is that people on an empty stomach are unconcerned about such things. This is exactly what is going on in Sri Lanka.
The angry crowd that gathered in and around President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s official residence on July 9 indicates that this is a rare occurrence in modern times. The common people’s anguish and suffering had been lingering for months. Inflation had made it difficult to survive, forcing angry people to take to the streets every now and then. On numerous occasions, many members of parliament had become victims of this rage. The July 9 demonstration had already been planned, but President Gotabaya’s administration had not anticipated how far it would go. Crowds gathered in such large numbers that the police and army’s lathis, bullets, and tear gas proved ineffective.
A desperate Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled the country, while his brother was apprehended by an angry mob at Colombo airport. For decades, the Rajapaksa family ruled this island nation. Is Gotabaya going to be the last disgraceful name added to the long list of those deposed by people -- like Louis XVI and Tsar Nicolai II?
When the charge was given to Ranil Wickremesinghe after this escape, defiance flared again. It is widely assumed that he is merely a pawn in Gotabaya’s chess bet. How will he rally the Opposition parties when there is so much distrust? How will he gain popular support? To quell the rage, a state of emergency has been declared, but police and army personnel sympathise with the public. The streets are still crowded with agitators. To disperse the crowd, security forces were mostly seen firing tear gas shells, resorting to mild lathi charges, or firing in the air. They had to work harder to prevent the crowd from entering Parliament House. Three people were killed during the action. Tanks were then deployed on Colombo’s streets. Despite this, there was harmony among soldiers and civilians. Soldiers were seen providing water to protesters in one location, and protesters were seen assisting injured soldiers in another. This spirit gives this entire agitation a distinct shape. The test in Sri Lanka is not only of the government but of the entire political community.
Sri Lanka is not the only country affected by an economic volcano’s eruption. Largescale mass defiance can also be seen in Lebanon. The government has failed to repay the country’s foreign debt. People are protesting in the streets due to a lack of foodgrain, medicines, and other necessities. The same is true of many Latin American countries, including Venezuela, and some African countries, including Ghana. The people of 17 countries have been affected by this disaster.
Will rich countries and global organisations be able to help them effectively?
This does not appear to be the case in the current situation. Since the time of Covid, the European continent and America have been shaken. Russia attacked Ukraine before things began to improve. This war has not only divided Europe but now, there is also a new threat. It is associated with Nord Stream-1. This pipeline is many European countries’ primary source of Russian gas. It was shut down on July 11 for 10 days of scheduled maintenance work. There are growing fears that Russia will extend the suspension of gas supplies in retaliation for the sanctions imposed on it. As a result, many countries, including Germany, are at risk of drowning in darkness. On February 15, the World Bank issued a warning that 70 developing countries were on the verge of becoming “defaulters” on foreign debt. The United Nations warned in March that 107 economies were in crisis. They may face serious financial difficulties as food and fuel prices rise.
Besides Sri Lanka, our neighbours Pakistan and Nepal are facing similar crises. Last month, Pakistan’s planning and development minister Ahsan Iqbal requested people no to drink more than a cup or two of tea a day to conserve foreign exchange. Every year, Pakistan spends ₹600 million on tea imports. Nepal, in turn, has had no foreign exchange reserve for more than six months. This is the point that worries New Delhi. With these neighbours in poor health, chaos seems to be on the horizon. Another neighbour, China, is causing trouble on our borders. Fortunately, we have enough food and resources to feed such a large population. However, the situation in the neighbourhood both warns and scares.