All though we live in a turbulent world we must remember that life is essentially about accommodation and co habitation. Yes, it is all about living in peace with our compatriots, maintaining relationships with understanding for our mutual welfare.  However, in the Sri Lankan context relationships are influenced increasingly by political ideologies directed by politicians wanting to advance their political parties and, even more, their own political ambitions.  Who gets trampled upon or pushed aside in the process is of no consequence to the players on the field. Might become right, the weak gets walked over and remain inconsequential and powerless; a minority of the men and women with access to power and wealth increasingly control the destiny of the nation. It is surprising that in such an atmosphere thoughts of amity and bon homie will be farthest among its citizens? Instead corrosive thoughts of a divided society that benefit only sections of politicians, businesses and rabble rousers that will be uppermost.

If people are willing to live and let live the country can move on in peace in the interest of all enabling the government to apply itself to the business of developing the country for the mutual benefit of all its citizens. Alas, little did one expect to tread back into the violent past of suicide bombing, death and devastation on    such an unprecedented scale. Look at the pathetic scenes we witnessed in the churches and the three five star hotels. We look upon the magnitude of the horror and destruction and are saddened by the unwonted trauma of those affected directly by the criminal actions of a few.  So much planning had gone into snow balling hatred and anger that was vented during prayers in church during the Holy Easter week.

Reviewing the earlier periods of violence, I could understand from the point of the perpetrators, if not mine, the rational for the emergence of anger and turbulence within them.   Economic depreciation and ethnic differentiation were the reasons mooted by the JVP and the LTTE successfully for terrorizing the people to secure resolution to their problems.  At the end of the day no problem was resolved; only that they killed and were killed, the status quo was retained while life went on as before with economic deprivation and ethnic dedifferentiation no less for the violence that was unleashed. 

It is but appropriate that all attention is focused on the future plans to unite the nation without acrimony and judgment. Appropriate decisions must be taken without procrastination. We have failed to do this in the past but God forbid that we fail again. A decade after the end of the ethnic war the steps taken to unite the communities in a national bind remains weak indeed.

It is clear in hindsight that the provincial councils hailed as the solution to all grievances, have failed to deliver. In fact, its success can be measured largely by the platform the councils have given for aspiring politicians for entry into national politics. For much of its existence the Northern Provincial Council continued to highlight conflict areas in the design and functioning of the councils more than delivery of people’s urgent requirement.  The criticism that underutilised funds had been returned to the center is further proof of its redundancy or perhaps of the inefficacy of the councilors. Do we need institutions that replicate the expenditure patterns of the centre without being functional?  In fact, it has also served as a venue to ambitious provincial councilors to get into the frontal conflict situations with their political leaders in the central government highlighting drifts in the community when the call is for a show of solidarity present a united front for negotiating a communion of interest for racial and religious differences.

Unfortunately, people tend to forget the past.  It was not long ago that we moaned and lamented over the attack on the Muslim fraternity in Aluthgama and Digana; a minor one it would seem in comparison to what happened during the Easter weekend. We grieved for them then, but did not expect retaliation at any time.

After a lapse of ten years we are facing once again suicide bombers, mangled bodies and collapsed buildings, horrendous scenes of weeping and anguish, ambulances carrying injured persons, many with open wounds, flesh exposed, bloodied, men, women and children on stretchers many of them never to be wholesome again; all because our politicians did not know to initiate reconciliation amongst the people. They did not learn to ingrain thoughts of peace and amity in their minds. Our politicians have failed in the past and today as well.

On their own admission they had advanced information shared by the international intelligence sources of the planned attacks with even names of those involved, given.

It is an insult to the living to hear the apology from a government spokesperson for the inaction.The PM and his colleagues have been kept in the dark (again for political reasons) even as some others of importance had prior information. What excuse can one give for those who had been in the know and who chose to keep the public without awareness and let the people walk into devastation, be preyed upon as they were indeed. None whatever, I should believe. 

Shame On Them

When one comes to terms with anger and sadness, anguish of an unbelievable magnitude overwhelms one. Answers must be found as to why people commit such horrendous crimes against humanity, time and again, while we remain helpless; a large majority of us remain passive onlookers while a few amongst us gain political mileage or amass wealth from the wherewithal of warfare essential for such vile acts. Are we to be passive bystanders forever while a few screwed up beings amongst us plan and execute this type of violence against the people and the nation?

Those who had advanced knowledge of what was to happen are culpable and remain so judged against the follow up of events that unfolded.  Knowing all this and to remain silent without condemning the perpetrators of this massive violence onslaught against humanity and our nation is wrong, totally wrong. If we do not add to the voices of outrage it will make us equally culpable and in some ways a party to the crime.  It is in the light of this that this short piece to condemn the attack, as well as the inaction of the intelligence sources, is written.

The attack on the three hotels sought after by tourist bringing much touted foreign currency must serve as a wakeup call to the authorities in power.  Yet another commission appointed to look into the matters concerning national unity will not address the issue in the short or the long term.Well planned policies must be adopted with sensitivity to local needs that will find an echo amongst the people. It is time to think of them, the people, as opposed to looking for sustainable power and longevity amongst politicians as it happens today.

Let us hope that the sight and sound of the ambulances and the lifeless bodies on the stretchers will stir humaneness in even the politicians and make it possible for the powerless to hope for more focused attention to national unity and national development. Let us hope that we the people will have the foresight to let out the air off the bigwigs, if and when necessary, so that we avoid repetition of this Easter weekend.

We must abhor politicians and extremists who unashamedly try to divide society into compartmentalized groups, mutually exclusive and thus prevent the nation from jellying into a united whole. The path towards unity and justice to all must encompass the entire society from homes to schools to offices and to the man and woman on the streets. For a start, parliament must reinvent its role as people focused institutions and not in the service of the parochial interest of political ideology or family nepotism.

We have to be selective in the choice of representatives we elect to send to parliament to guide our nation.  We must ensure that what we witnessed on the first day parliament met after the Easter fiasco is never repeated – Ever again.

We cannot make a mockery of people’s pain.

It is good to remember and continue to emphasize the following:

Sir, no cause is good enough

To adopt violence as the path to problem solving
To indiscriminately kill men, women and children
To glorify violence as means to freedom

Sir, no cause is good enough

To equate violence with righteousness
To justify the evil that man commands
To wantonly destroy the wealth of a nation.