Living beyond means

What caused the Sri Lankan crisis and can such a situation occur in India as well?

- PUJA MEHRA

If you have been to Colombo, you may be familiar with the story of the Independence Square, the beautiful colonial building that I was told by the local people - long ago served as an asylum for prisoners suffering from poor mental health. It was repaired and restored as a swish shopping arcade a few years ago by the Sri Lankan government. National resources were diverted to the project. Architecture and restoration experts were hired and flown in from foreign countries for the job. The stores that came up in it, though, have not managed to do well. But they find it tough to shut down because then the political heavyweights behind the project will find themselves unsustainable situation clearly.

The beautiful country of Sri Lanka has many such white elephants: vanity projects built by political cult figures that are now monuments to the years of economic mismanagement and all sorts of poor policy choices, all of which have run it into financial ruin. The Sri Lankan people, usually pleasant and happy, have in a spot an finally had enough. Furious with the politicians, they poured out into the streets, protesting the economic crisis. The world watched as an angry mob of protesting Sri Lankans stormed into the official presidential residence. State of emergency has been declared in the country after its President Gotabaya Rajapaksa formally resigned on July 15, having fled the country to escape the fury of the Sri Lankan people.