Don’t mislead patriotic citizens
In a nation that is fast being destroyed by power hungry, political and
military leaders who place self before country there are many patriotic
soldiers and civilians who are still willing to place their country before
self. Many of them have formed into non-political organizations and are
doing their best to save this nation from destruction.
The National Joint Committee, the Sinhala Jathika Sangamaya, the Thawalama
Development Foundation, the Success, the Jathika Veera Padanama, the Sinhala
Veera Vidhana, the Dharma Wijaya Padanama are a few such organizations
that make a valuable contribution to the country. There are many more who
work sans fanfare but they all face one common problem. They lack the necessary
support and funding to expand their activities.
Yet, together their contribution to place this country on the correct
course is substantial. Many are those who praise and appreciate the work
done by such organizations but few join or financially support these organisations.
Many are those who agree that now is the time to place country before
self, but few who put these words into practice. For many citizens of this
country, personal, business and professional interests take precedence
over the interests of their country. What then has made a few think and
act differently? They may be individuals who can stand on their own two
feet without having to depend on business or professional interests for
survival. They maybe selfmotivated Buddhist monks or laymen who are driven
by a strong Sinhala Buddhist sentiment. There maybe a host of other valid
reasons for them to act differently such as being members of the security
forces who are totally committed to this cause.
Though the slogan ‘Country before self’ may be acceptable to many, it
may be difficult, if not impossible for most to practise such a sentiment.
The reasons may sound trivial to others but are nevertheless very important
to the persons concerned. Be that as it may, it would not be too much to
request those who are unable to practically place country before self,
to at least look for those individuals and organizations that genuinely
do so and to give them a helping hand to achieve success.
This brings to mind an interesting story of a young American military
officer on horseback ordering a few soldiers to remove a tree trunk blocking
the path of his horse. An older gentleman who arrived on the scene, also
on horseback observing that one more hand could successfully accomplish
the task, questioned the young officer as to why he did not dismount and
assist the soldiers. The young officer said he was there to order the soldiers
to do their job and not to help them. The older gentleman dismounted and
gave the soldiers a helping hand and the tree trunk was moved. He then
requested the young officer to consult him if he had further problems in
commanding his soldiers. When the young officer asked his name, his reply
was, “I am George Washington, the Commander-in-Chief of the American Army.”
The country is in turmoil. Both the economy and the security of the
country have deteriorated to deplorable levels. Holding hands will not
bring peace to this country. Peace will only dawn when terrorism is eradicated.
Misguided businessmen and their employees must realize that peace talks
with the LTTE, that they were requesting through holding of hands, will
not improve the security situation or the economy of this country. On the
contrary their efforts will only strengthen the hand of the LTTE terrorists
who are fast losing international support. While the whole world is joining
hands to eradicate terrorism, these businessmen are trying to give the
LTTE a new lease of life, forgetting the fact that each time negotiations
with the LTTE were begun in the past, they used the opportunity to regroup
and enroll new recruits who were trained and equipped to fight more ferociously
for a separate state.
Attractive advertisements of a campaign called Sri Lanka First for which
treacherous businessmen are spending millions of rupees should not mislead
patriotic citizens. They should join hands instead to support the security
forces that have the ability to defeat terrorism sans political interference.
These businessmen should divert the millions of rupees they are spending
on their Sri Lanka First campaign, to a Patriotic Soldier First campaign
to provide artificial limbs to soldiers who sacrificed their limbs to protect
the unity and territorial integrity of our motherland for all of us.
All citizens must join hands to create public opinion against senior
officers in the three services and the police who try to please politicians
for rank, position and privileges, jeopardizing the interests of service
and police personnel in the battlefield. Every citizen must sacrifice some
of his or her valuable time or money to support patriotic non-political
organizations that are at work to pull the country out of the present plight.
If we do not do so today, we will not have a country to call our own tomorrow.
Lt. Col. A.S.Amarasekera
Kindelpitiya
War is not a solution
A renaissance of ‘war lovers’ in our country was apparent after the massive
terrorist attacks in America.
It is disgusting to see most people who howled about peace and national
unity chuckling over the prospect of a major war, most probably assuming
that US forces will bomb Jaffna and put an end to our problem on their
way to destroying Osama bin Laden.
The point we have missed is that we can in no way relate the situation
in America to that in our country. George Bush can sleep in peace after
killing bin Laden, but can we ever?
Terrorism in Sri Lanka is not a weed to be pulled out thus. Even if
all the Tigers are made to disappear, hundreds of others will rise in their
stead, as long as the problems remain unsolved.
It is vital not to wage war, making our country a land of widows and
orphans, but to resolve the problems peacefully.
R. Manatunge
Colombo 4 |