The strength and honour of a nation lie in the discipline of its citizenry. It is a proven fact that unless the citizenry in a country is disciplined, that country cannot progress. As such, discipline is the essential edifice that upholds society and keeps it from falling into chaos and eventual collapse. Discipline that engages rules, regulations, and laws is the basic element of a nation’s functionality and prosperity. A set of rules and ethical codes of conduct control the relationship between individuals and society.
In chapter 9 of his manifesto “Vistas of Prosperity”, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has said that his vision is for a righteous, disciplined, and law-abiding citizenry for Sri Lanka. The President wants to create a society where one treats others with compassion and where people help others with mutual respect.
There is no doubt that the Presidential manifesto was created with sincere intentions and expectations. Nevertheless, the pertinent question is whether the citizenry of the country currently follows rules, regulations, and laws adequately. If they do, to what extent and how many members of society are genuinely interested in maintaining such discipline?
In a country where the day begins with ‘Pirith’ on every single television and radio channel, customarily, the print and electronic media news in the early morning invariably consists of more negative material than constructive or optimistic updates. Constant stories about criminal activities of various magnitudes are being presented to the country by media institutions every morning.
Morals or laws
Adding salt to the wound, social media incessantly comes up with posts with insults, misinformation, disinformation, mud-slinging, and defamatory posts. Although the connectivity in society is creditable to the use of social media, the flipside is that these platforms have no forms of morals or laws to follow. Hence, the country is exposed to explosively negative substances that can create social anxiety and depression.
Disorderliness has crept into society much more now than ever in history. Almost all of the public service institutions are inundated with malpractices, misuse of funds, corruption, and abuse of power. Currently, almost everyone who has the capability and financial capacity is used to going through known contacts, predominantly political contacts, to get things done, particularly from Government offices.
Road discipline in the country has deteriorated during the past decade and has reached its lowest levels by now. Hundreds of accidents are reported daily, with an average of eight fatalities. According to police sources, many others are not reported. Billions of rupees of the taxpayers’ money are being wasted by way of health expenditure and legal proceedings, in addition to the colossal waste of time.
Due to the lack of control and the unavailability of proper laws, strikes, public protests, and demonstrations that are habitually unruly are pestering the everyday lives of the common public. Apart from the human cost that not only includes strikers but also law enforcement officers, it is hugely costly for the country.
In addition, the man-hours lost from the people who become victims of these unruly acts cost more to the state coffers. These routine trade union actions have become a menace to the entire citizenry, and the accumulated loss related to them is unbearable.
Public places
Indiscipline in public places is common in Sri Lankan society. For example, news reports revealed that the collection of non-perishable waste around the sacred footprint shrine Sri Pada is around an enormous thirty metric tonnes per month.
This undisciplined act takes place despite the many placards and notices displayed at the site and the many advertisements telecast on television channels. Considering the importance of the sacred place to the nation, this example alone is adequate to fathom the mindset of Sri Lankans on self-discipline.
Discipline is based on scrupulous attention to detail and also on mutual respect. It cannot be bought. Self-discipline must be obtained through a process of control and self-restraint on the part of the individual. At young ages, parents and teachers attempt to inculcate discipline in children by teaching them to control their impulses, emotions, and desires. Nevertheless, as adults, people may react differently to the subject of discipline.
Time and again, it has been adequately proven that coercive action is the best and most effective method to control public indiscipline in Sri Lanka. For example, when the Government introduced the seat belt rule for motorists, no one paid much attention initially and grossly ignored the rule.
The law enforcement authorities decided to impose already established fines on the drivers and front-seat passengers who disobey the rules. In just a few days, with the news of levying spot fines around the country breaking out, almost 100 percent of the drivers and passengers started following the rule. The same occurrence took place when the Government imposed fines on wearing helmets for motorcyclists.
Many examples
There are many other situations where the public has reacted positively to punitive action much more effectively than cordial appeals. Also, there are many examples from the world to prove that coercive action is more effective than appeals to which people pay mediocre attention or completely disregard it.
Convincing people of public discipline is not easy, even in developed countries. Examples from countries such as Singapore, Malaysia, Australia, and some other developed countries can be cited to show how effective punitive actions are. According to historical data, the rulers of all these countries, from time to time, achieved better results on public issues by enforcing punitive actions.
The requests for wearing face masks, maintaining distance, and hand-washing are being followed by the majority of people out of fear of their own health more than any sense of social responsibility. Therefore, the theory of fear appeal, often used by advertisers, is also an effective way to inculcate discipline. When people are exposed to a threat, they will obey any rule to thwart it.
The use of coercive power can be a useful tool under certain circumstances. It has the ability to force compliance from people. When a situation goes beyond control, the threat of coercive power legitimately given by the people can be used sparingly to confront and control controversial situations.
Therefore, tightening existing laws and enforcing them will help control the prevalent unruliness in society. Currently, everyone seems to have taken the law into their own hands. For example, protestors are legally allowed to conduct a peaceful protest, but they have no legal right to infringe on others’ rights by blocking roads or any other similar activities.
Soft stance
Regrettably, the present Government does not seem to be taking adequate action to safeguard the rights of thousands of people stranded on roads due to protests. Seemingly, the authorities have not realised that the Government falls victim to protestors who are disrupting public life and earn the wrath of the general public by taking a soft stance on them.
Laws that are empowered to fulfill common or individual needs must not be broken. If such laws are broken by anyone, they must be punished. The public will not hold protests on the roads against lawbreakers. However, habitually, most lawbreakers seek political favours to evade punishment if they have any capability of doing so.
There are more than enough recent examples of politicians being improperly and unjustly involved in boisterous incidents on behalf of wrong-doers. As President Rajapaksa stated in his Independence Day address, first and foremost, as lawmakers, politicians must set examples for the country.
Disciplining and civilising policies and practices are a part and parcel of the modernising process to create the society of the future. Modernisation does not only refer to economic and administrative modernisation but also the organisation of society in general as a whole and the individuals within it.
Discipline goes hand in hand with either success or failure in life. Regardless of race, caste, religion, social status, and position, the possibility of the failure of an undisciplined society is likely to be high. Discipline in a society implies consistency and persistence in achieving the common goal of the prosperity of the country. The prospect of a disciplined and law-abiding society must be achieved within the limits of power, avoiding the threat of a back clash.