Today with the impact of corona pandemic felt in most countries, the situation is the same in Sri Lanka. With the situation getting worse; rulers are today, unable to provide much promised prosperity to bring in harmony within all ethnic and religious communities in the country.
Recent events have further marred the mind of the citizens; fearful their youth may in future have to have a working knowledge of Chinese to get jobs in their own motherland. It is because the rulers have been giving away prime real estates as Port City in Colombo city and many other properties elsewhere in the country as the Hambantota Port to China for money needed to settle country’s foreign debts.
Ironically, we citizens have very short memories on these debts, caused literally by bleeding people to death in the cruel civil-war that lasted many decades. The war was fought to solve ethnic problem, but the guns of the rebellious ethnic minorities were silenced, with much assistance from tens of friendly nations, each with their own agendas. But without resolving the cause of the war; and to this day the ethnic divisions between the main communities still remains, a decade after ending the civil-war!
Recognising that 12 years have lapsed ending the war, honoring the lives lost, and expressing support for justice, accountability, reconciliation, reconstruction, reparation, and reforms needed to ensure a lasting peaceful political solution for a prosperous future to all the people of Sri Lanka has not materialized.
Earlier, at independence in 1948, the rulers made up mainly of Sinhala Buddhist, opted to go it alone and neglected the Tamil minorities. Though the Tamils were natives of this country, disturbed by the discrimination they faced in the hands of the rulers; also opted to go their own way to find a solution. It was this that caused the civil-war; that resulted in the present situation for the whole country.
These massive setbacks would not have occurred, if all citizens had insisted in1948 on the rulers to seek a political solution to the ethnic problem, than letting the rulers to go it alone. As the result Ceylon, a united country of nations prior to independence; is today divided into smaller groups by ethnicity, religion and of late by region.
Consequently, today the rulers have come to the point of telling China to lend money to settle debts and, if necessary, take their heads instead. The rulers have, thus tied the hands of the ruled, creating this pathetic situation for the country. The situation got worse by the current brutal corona impact in the country. Today the rulers are unable to provide the ruled a prosperous country for all people.
In this scenario, as the country is trying to move away from remembering its brutal civil war; for the country to return to prosperity an attitude change is also needed today from all Sri Lankans, that includes the rulers and the ruled, irrespective of their ethnicity or religion!
Northern Breeze 