In search of a New Sri Lanka

(This entry was originally uploaded on May 2009.)

Dhanapala Weerasekera has written a commentary on the current condition of Sri Lanka in Daily News. If you read it then you will understand that Mr. Weerasekera has praised the role of current president of the country, Mahinda Rajapaksa. There is no doubt that Mahinda Rajapaksa has shown leadership skill in bringing the civil war to an end. He has received generous praise from home and abroad for his efforts and leadership. However, with the end of the civil war, there are now new challenges. I am quoting from that article:

Equal rights for all as Sri Lankans

The President’s firm assurance that hereafter there will be no minority communities or majority communities, but all Sri Lankans, is a statement that none of our past leaders had the political sincerity and self-confidence to declare.

The divisions and differences among people were used by past leaders to gain power or remain in power from the time of independence. This folly of dividing subjects of colonial Ceylon when independence was won was supported by Sinhalese Tamil and other leaders as proposed by the then UNP leadership.

I think that this will be the biggest challenge for the government: to ensure national solidarity and reconciliation. All the political parties of the country must try for it from their heart. They should learn from the past and remember that if the country again falls into civil war and unrest then their safety will at stake too.