PANAJI: Sri Lankan architect and urban designer Madhura Prematilleke said one mustn't be fooled by the makeover Sri Lanka received post the three decades of civil war between the Sinhalese and the Tamil minority.

He was speaking at the recently held international Z-axis conference on architecture in Panaji. "The authoritarian regime with the four Rajapaksa brothers at the helm initiated a massive programme of physical infrastructure as a post-war chest thumping project, leaving minorities out. Boundary walls of public buildings were removed. New parks, walkways, water fronts, bird watching zones, flower markets, floating markets were all built at lightening speed in the mock classical style chosen by the dictators, brushing aside all opposition. The spectacle of glitz and glamour was meant to divert citizens' attention away from the real problems of corruption and bribery that the country was facing," he said.

Citing an example of dictatorial regime, Prematilleke said the army wanted to clear a waterfront which had been encroached by locals. The army met the locals and told them they had one week to vacate the area. The locals told the army they had been occupying the place for many years and would challenge it in court. The army pacified them, telling them they would postpone the project. "The next morning when the locals went to work, the army arrived and cleared the entire stretch within six hours," he said.

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As an architect, he retracted into the private realm, preferring not to engage in the regime at the time….