Letters to the Editor

21st October 2001

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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



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