Waltzing with virus

Friday 15th October, 2021

There was a mixed reaction to the demarcation by the government of an area adjacent to the Presidential Secretariat for public protests, in 2020. Some people welcomed it, claiming that it would help keep protesters off the busy city roads, but others suspected an ulterior motive; they said the government was planning to ban public demonstrations outside the designated area. Whether the government was contemplating such a move is anybody’s guess, but today the so-called ‘Agitation Site’ allocated for protests is perhaps the only place where there are no demonstrations. Hardly a day passes without mass protests being reported from different parts of the country. These agitations could not have come at a worse time.

Thousands of farmers took to the streets yesterday in Minneriya, calling upon the government to make fertiliser available freely. The protesters obviously ran the risk of contracting Covid-19. Burning Agriculture Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage in effigy, they bitterly complained that they had suffered crop failures due to a fertiliser shortage. The government looks unconcerned about farmers’ woes, and its propagandists are all out to brand the protesters as a bunch of hirelings of the Opposition and agrochemical companies. But so many farmers would not have protested in all parts of the country so aggressively without any genuine grievances although their demonstrations cannot be considered devoid of politics. In a country where not even places of worship are above partisan politics, it is not fair to expect farmers and their associations to be apolitical.

What really matters is not farmers’ political affiliations but the causes of their resentment and why the government has chosen to ignore the grievances of the farming community.

The government ought to meet farmers’ representatives without further delay, look into their grievances and do everything possible to solve their problems. Measures such as unleashing the ruling party propaganda hounds on protesters, and bellowing rhetoric will not do. It is also plain political suicide for the government to antagonise the farmers, who can make or break governments. Most of the protesting farmers of Minneriya must be the supporters of the present dispensation; the people of Polonnaruwa have voted overwhelmingly for the SLPP at the last two elections.

The fertiliser issue is a very complex one, which has to be tackled separately with the participation of all stakeholders; it cannot be solved overnight. But the government has to do something urgently to prevent mass protests which can worsen the national health emergency. What the country has gained with the help of an expensive, 41-day lockdown will be lost in a few days if super-spreader events such as protests continue at the current rate. Fear is being expressed in health circles that Covid-19 fatalities are likely to soar come December owing to the irresponsible behaviour of the public and the government’s lackadaisical attitude towards pandemic control; it seems to have pinned all its hopes on its vaccination drive, which cannot be considered the proverbial silver bullet.

Where is the Minister of Agriculture? We see only his effigies these days. He said no rice would be imported because there were enough rice stocks in the country; he embarked on a quixotic mission to tame the rice millers only to return bruised and much the worse for wear. Rice is now being imported, and someone will laugh all the way to the bank. The Agriculture Minister also insists there are enough stocks of fertiliser in the country. If so, are the farmers who are protesting against a fertiliser shortage out of their senses? He had better talk to the irate farmers and sort out their problems without provoking them further.

It behoves the government to direct the Agriculture Minister and his officials to meet the representatives of farmers’ organisations and make a serious effort to bring the situation under control. If he is not equal to the task, then either the Prime Minister or the President ought to intervene to solve the farmers’ problems that are driving thousands of people to stage street protests like the one we witnessed yesterday in Minneriya.