A society without a conscience

What Sri Lanka faces is a crisis of conscience. The things that separate a man from an animal are the ability to think independently and the conscience — and the organisations that exist to exercise both have gone quiet at exactly the moments they were needed.

හෘද සාක්ෂියක් නැති සමාජයක්

The editorial says Sri Lanka’s crisis is one of conscience. Intellectuals who spoke out under Jayewardene and Premadasa are now silent or defend injustice, and the Civil Rights Movement founded by S. Nadesan fell silent over the North Western provincial poll, as have peace, rights, professional and religious bodies and the Bar Association. It lists basic wrongs, from extending Parliament to judicial interference, that organised society should publicly oppose.