And now for the other independence
where presumably local owners of these establishments refuse to serve local people while pandering to the needs of foreigners.
This type of discrimination against Sri Lankans has been practised for several years. But it was mainly in the first two or three decades after independence. There was a time when the Colombo Swimming Club in Colombo 3 would not admit locals as members.
If I remember correctly this issue of discrimination against local citizens was raised in the old parliament by the sea. After much agitation when the doors of membership were finally thrown open to all it was W.P.G Ariyadasa, who was then either the Minister of Health or Local Government who became president under the new dispensation.
The Queen's Club on New Bullers Road was another exclusive club that did not admit locals. Eventually that too had to change its colonial ways, white faces giving way to an occasional brown/ coloured one. If my memory serves me correct the Queen's Club premises was later the venue for the sittings of the Criminal Justice Commission trying the JVP leaders of the 1971 uprising.
It was understandable that in post-colonial times there would still be a club or two (the Nuwara Eliya Hill Club was one such I think) that were the exclusive preserve of the white business community, the planter class and western diplomats. But under political and social pressures they underwent change and adapted themselves to the new circumstances.
What is happening at Mirissa and other such places is to reverse history by once more establishing preserves for foreigners to the total exclusion of the people of this country.
It is shameful and disgusting that 68 years after freeing ourselves from Western rule some Sri Lankans are still bowing and scraping before foreigners under one dubious excuse or another.
It raises a very fundamental issue. The Sri Lanka constitution forbids discrimination on grounds of race, religion, gender, colour etc. If that is so, how are those who run these tourist places allowed to violate the very basic law of this country with such impunity that they could advertise their discrimination so publicly or at the doorstep when locals seek service?
The state institutions that are mandated to supervise the tourism industry in this country and ensure that they adhere to a code of conduct seem to be looking the other way if they look at all.
If these authorities argue that there is no code to prohibit hotels and restaurants from declining to serve a particular class of persons or that they are not parties to such a code if it exists, then should they not be required by law to fall in with a code of conduct that should be established to prohibit such blatantly unacceptable behaviour?
How such hotels and restaurants, because they cater to foreign tourists, can be allowed to brazenly violate the constitution without any state institution hauling them before the law is shocking and is an insult to the people of Sri Lanka.
If nothing else at least fundamental rights cases should be filed against the owners and managers of such establishments to stop them from getting away with such despicable conduct.
There are also those in saffroncoloured robes who use the sanctity of their attire as a convenient cover to sow mayhem on the streets and the law courts. They exploit the respect that local people have for the robes of a monk to violate not only the sanctity of the teachings of the Buddha himself but also the laws of this country in the name of freedom and the independence to act as they wish because they belong to the monkhood.
One is constrained to ask what value could be attached to such freedom if those who are supposed to preach the value of moderation, non-violence and compassion as taught by the Buddha actually preach hatred and engage in violence by word and deed while others in the name of protecting Sri Lanka's image openly discriminate against the majority of its people.
As for the trapeze artists, jugglers, clowns and others who somersault with such dexterity performing on the political stage the less said the better for the mental health of the nation.