Whilst appreciating the editorial matter in “The Sunday Times” last week, pertaining to “My Way” organised by the Lions’ Club with the twin objectives of paying tribute to me and raising funds for the development of the Chilaw Base Hospital, I would be grateful if you would accommodate a correction to the statement in your newspaper which said that I would be retiring from Showbiz to become a Crusader for Christianity.
Whilst my retirement will be from the permanent staff of the Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation with which I have had the privilege of being associated for thirty three years, I shall be retiring not to be a Crusader for Christianity but to be an Ambassador for Christ.
The reason that I seek the correction is not for an insignificant reason but because of the significant difference that must be perceived.
Christianity is what we in the world have made it out to be. Christianity is of man. Christ is of God. The Bible, which is the Word of God, proclaims that God so loved the world that he gave us not a religion but a person. His only begotten Son that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
All life begins with birth and as we come to experience spiritual regeneration in this physical existence, we become ‘children’ of God. Consequently, the creator God becomes ‘Father’. Hence, through the forgiveness of sins appropriated by repentance and belief in Christ, God calls us (not to a new religion) but to a new relationship with Him. Herein, we experience and encounter the Christ in a person to person relationship that touches and transforms our lives with spiritual power.
I am therefore the servant of a person and not a religion. I do not abhor religion, but I adore Christ, because He is unique and He is alive.
I endorse Chitra Perera’s suggestion to scrap Free University Education in The Sunday Times of December 21. Privatise University education and let those who can afford obtain University education. A few scholarships can be offered to those who have done well at the A/L examination but are unable to pay for higher education.
Before the introduction of Free University Education the students who were in the University never went on strike nor did they create disturbances because they came from respectable and affluent homes. Now the majority of undergraduates are from backward areas.
What Sri Lanka requires is development in Agriculture and Industry. A degree is not required for this. O/L would be sufficient. The Govt should open more vocational schools and not Universities.
Chitra Perera bemoans that “in fifty years Sri Lanka has not produced a single Education Minister with guts to do what is right for the country.” How can they do what is right for the country when their main vision is popularity.
How can the Government conduct the northern local polls overlooking the following:
The last enumeration of voters was held in or about 1984. The youth who were 18 at that time will be above 31 years old now, but will not have the voting rights. Out of the eligible voters most of them are displaced or gone abroad or dead..Is it fair to deny representation to these youth of 18 to 31? What about the Muslims who had to leave en-bloc and live elsewhere. Those days this block vote played a decisive role in the Jaffna town elections. Is it democracy to find a majority from the small minority of elders living there and may not be in their own villages. It will be like the mock parliamentary elections held last time.
What are the Tamil parties going to tell the voters as to what they have achieved during at least the last three years. Many of them are with the Government. They should only contest after the Constitution is finalised, without giving a tacit support to the Government to show the world that there is democracy in Jaffna, which is not really there.
The people in Jaffna are under the army rule and would openly say that they want peace only. This type of peace was there also earlier. But the Tamils want peace, with dignity honour and powers to manage their own matters. So even if areas and roads are captured militancy cannot be eradicated without the support of the Tamil people who should be satisfied with the devolutionary powers enshrined in the Constitution.
Let the government not put the cart before the horse. Proceed with the war, if necessary, after passing the Constitution to the general satisfaction of the Tamils. It is only after that, confidence will be created for the displaced people to come back. Have a fresh enumeration and hold the elections.
The Trincomalee U.C is unable to decide about the market tenders against the dictation of the Army. This is ample proof of the uselessness of these local polls in the present context.
Until these suggestions are finalised, an interim non-political body with the concurrence of the Tamil speaking parties represented in the Parliament and Government officials could govern the area.
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