Letters to the Editor

Peace talks and lessons from Churchill
A book by the name ‘Germany What Next?’ edited by Richard Keane with chapters by several English and French writers, was published in 1939 by the famous Penguin Books. British Member of Parliament L.S. Amery was one of the contributors. This book should be good reading for those proposing peace at any cost and even those who talk of an honourable peace. It must be noted that at the time the book was written Adolf Hitler of Germany had very little power, fewer resources like iron and steel or even coal and oil.

Unfortunately for the world Britain was led by Premier Neville Chamberlain who was all bent on appeasing Hitler to prevent a war. Although Chamberlain had never flown an airplane despite the King’s offer to use the royal plane and take a holiday in Scotland, he decided to fly to Munich with representatives from England, France and several other countries.

Hitler was not present in person but his officials had maps drawn up by Hitler asking for parts of Czechoslovakia where he claimed there were German-speaking people. It is reported that the meeting went on till 4 a.m. on September 30, 1938. The book states: “Mr. Chamberlain yawned unceasingly without the slightest trace of embarrassment.” The agreement signed in Munich at that fateful hour virtually tore up the Versailles treaty of 1919 drawn up after the First World War which was also a creation of Germany.

In minutes, the Republic of Czechoslovakia ceased to exist thanks to Mr. Chamberlain and Herr Hitler. The only basis was language. This was the country that had all the capabilities of the huge Skoda industry, very large reserves of iron and steel as well as other critical metals. Had England been led by Sir Winston Churchill what would have happened to Hitler’s Munich demands? The least I can say is that they would be not frowned upon but scorned upon. Hitler hated Churchill all along and he painted a picture of him as a warmonger. We as children in 1939 found out who the real warmonger was. It was the dictator Hitler and not the fighting democrat Churchill. After arming and strengthening Hitler, Chamberlain resigned and Britain was led by a man with a backbone. Chamberlain’s policy was to defend England. But Churchill spoke quite clearly that England will not be an onlooker in European affairs. When Hitler attacked Poland, Churchill’s famous words were, “Thus far and no more”. In August 1939, England declared war on Hitler.

I feel that the book ‘Germany What Next?’ should be serialized in our national papers with permission from the publishers. Every sentence of the book applies to this country at the moment. Change the name Dictator Hitler to Terrorist Prabhakaran. If language is the issue for division the world will probably have over one thousand states. I would say that no division of any part of the world should take place on the basis of language, race or religion in this modern electronic world where instant translation is possible. One more matter on meetings in various parts of the world, beginning with Thimpu and ending with Oslo is worth considering.

Why not have the meeting in cyber space which is open to all? Let Prabhakaran outline what he wants and let the others say whether these will be granted. Ven. Missaka Kamalasiri Thera of the JHU stated on TNL’s ‘Jana Handa’ that he had been shown this book while in India, with the comment: “Fortunately for Asia, Sri Lanka did not yield to Prabhakaran and thus saved us all from an Asian Hitler.” Democracies should only talk to democrats and not give in to terrorists or their stooges.

Three ‘R’s to a clean environment
It is a pity that while the easiest way of garbage disposal is staring in our face, our city is littered with rotting garbage spreading stench and disease.
The residents of Vanderwert Place, Dehiwela have decided to take matters into their hands and come up with proper garbage disposal - nothing new, the well-known simple way of Reduce, Reuse and Recycle. All residents are asked to bring their recyclable refuse namely - paper, sili-sili bags, plastic, metal, cardboard and glass to a single collecting point.

The balance - in other words, garden refuse and kitchen refuse, are to be put into the compost barrel. Actually the garbage collectors may not need to visit us at all, if all will co-operate. Those from adjacent lanes also are encouraged to bring their refuse. Mrs. Lorna Wright, an active champion of garbage disposal took us to Mr. Hinni Appu of Mutwal, who is a simple man, who had acquired a machine which converts all the recyclable material into small particles which can be resold to those who re-use them to make plastic/glass things.

He buys the garbage for Rs. 10 a kilo, fragments them and sells for Rs. 35 a kilo, making a profit of about Rs. 20 a kilo after paying for electricity and labour. The machine can handle upto 1 ton of material a day with hardly any servicing needed. He is in the process of expanding this business and is willing to pick up sorted out material and pay for it too! We hope other lanes too will emulate this procedure.

Why the government does not want to take the example of this simple procedure and get rid of garbage while giving employment to hundreds of people is beyond me. But when did the government of Sri Lanka ever do things the simplest and easiest way?

Colombo’s Deputy Mayor Azad Sally, hopefully a promising young politician, had been taken to see this venture, and had promised to look into this matter.
Let's hope at least someone will really care for the country and start on some useful venture.

Prabha should learn from Aceh rebels
The warning given by the United States to the LTTE that it will pay a high cost if it goes back to war is indeed timely. A war is finally a war between economies, and without doubt the Sri Lankan state can outlast the vigorous efforts by the LTTE, even with the misplaced support of the Tamil diaspora.
During World War II, Winston Churchill sent a message to the Japanese not to enter the war, saying that the steel production of the Allies (including the US) far exceeded that of Japan and Germany, and that the Allies would finally prevail. The warning was not heeded and we all know the outcome. A megalomaniac Hitler who was boasting of a thousand year Reich committed suicide in his bunker soon after his defeat.

Today we have another megalomaniac Prabhakaran, boasting of an independent Tamil Eelam on the basis of a potty little illegal state he now runs, which no one recognizes. All tyrants, history shows, have one dire ending. When Israel was first formed on an illegal basis shiploads of Jews arrived from all over the world. Where are the shiploads of Tamils? Yes they come to Wellawatte and choose not to go to Tamil Eelam, to live under a tyrant.

The Government must carry out a census and show the extent of Tamil influx to Colombo, how many businesses are run by them to demonstrate to the world that this is a free country. The only restricted area to all communities is the so-called LTTE controlled territory.

Prabhakaran should take a leaf out of Banda Aceh, for the sake of his people, and negotiate an acceptable peace. They laid down arms, signed a peace treaty, and will soon govern their own land after elections. The problem perhaps is who will vote for Prabha the tyrant.

Rise from the ravages
of war and nature
'Much water has flowed under the bridge'
Some say 'It's only
Old wine in a new bottle'
Yet on this 58th anniversary
Let us refer back to history;

For nearly twenty years
Thousands have sacrificed their lives
Thousands maimed and traumatized
In a so-called...war
'Falling from the frying pan to the fire'
A year passed, since we faced
The worst natural disaster
In the history of Sri Lanka
The merciless tide devoured countless lives
Countless injured and homeless
Cared not, for religion or race
Cared not, for the rich or poor,

On this 'National Day'
Let us have a strong determination
To wipe our tears
And rise from the ruins!
Let us give a helping hand
To build a home for every family
Not only to tsunami refugees
But also to every one, in rented houses!
Hand in hand, let us stand
Bereft of colour, race or religion!
Our tribute to war heroes and tsunami victims,
Awake! Awake! One and all
Live Lanka, thou will never fall!
Anon

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