Is this chauvinism or patriotism?

Today what does Sri Lanka really need? Any sensible person would say “peace”. The Ceasefire Agreement in 2002 marked the end of hostilities between the government and the LTTE. We experienced the essence of freedom and security. People walked in the streets of Colombo without fear of a possible terrorist attack. Development was evident in every facet of the economy.

Unfortunately today whoever stands for peace is viciously branded as “traitors” or infamous Sinhala parlance “sama kakko”. These so-called patriots who produce these labels have pushed their campaign to such extremes, as was evident recently in a rally organized by the anti-war front. A group of Buddhist monks staged a protest carrying banners, which read “Sama pagaman Kilinochchiyata palayan”.

This cannot be considered an isolated case, because it underlined the threat posed to the freedom of speech. Recently we witnessed a mushrooming of several pressure groups, whose doctrine was to crush the LTTE militarily. These groups were led by prominent figures in our society such as monks, scholars and artists. Everybody knows the fact that the LTTE is a brutal killing machine and its image as capable of delivering death at will has grown rapidly. The people who preach war neither go to the battlefront nor encourage their children to join the army. The harsh truth is that the rural youth who join the armed forces to earn their livelihood either die young or become disabled.

Civilian casualties are a major concern. Media reports revealed that over 200,000 were displaced as a result of fighting in Sampur. Some have gone to India as refugees. Seventeen aid workers of a French NGO were killed and the SLMM chief claimed that the armed forces were responsible. Abductions of Tamils in Colombo by unknown groups have increased and a young defence journalist was assassinated.

A question arises as to why these pressure groups don’t speak about these civil rights violations? Instead they seem to attribute everything to Norway, the USA and the Ceasefire Agreement. The people of Sri Lanka should be open minded to understand who the true patriots are. The war will leave nothing except a devastated land, human rights violations, casualties and a low GDP. Nobody can bring peace overnight unless a miracle happens. The only thing that’s going to solve this is rational minds and lot of sitting down and talking. All Sri Lankans must be united in the quest for peace.

~ By Umayanga Hettige, Meegoda.