Piyal Samarakone – Dubai

Significance of winning the war against LTTE is not a one way ticket to prosperity without a doubt. But it certainly leaves the doors open to counter and engage with numerous ill-fated issues in our society. If terrorism was the epicenter of lawlessness, the corruption which mingled with armed gang culture is very much within its destructive perimeters.

Decades of multi-faced conflicts prevailed in Sri Lanka over shadowed countless adverse issues, even some unethical unlawful acts looked very much lawful as they simply exist far too long to prove the Gobel’s theory. Undoubtedly, we cannot expect a perfect world in overnight but our long awaited expectations run amok in the wake of diminishing the major menace which engulfed our society.

Especially, battling against well organized armed gangs may not easy task as one can predicts, to a certain extent it’s equally defeating of terrorism, simply because its roots firmly grounded with the help of few unethical politicians who are more than willing to give enough shades for most of these elements. The vicious tentacles of these armed factions go well beyond the imaginable boundaries and a clear threat to the slow growing normalcy in the country.

Politicised armed gangs pose a major threat than those isolated ill organized criminals, as they are well protected and immune to the existing law of the land. Beginning of the eighties our society was forced to accept the introduction of these entities which started operating at will in parallel to the country’s legal security personnel mainly to operate against southern political revolt. That was the most horrific breeding period for those armed gangs which eventually transformed into different forms with multiple agendas to pose a major threat, during and after war in Sri Lanka. Then politicians due to various reasons could not rely on states security provided or perhaps pretended to be, in order to achieve their extra judicial ambitions.

Today we can see some few genuine steps being taken to suppress this menace, which prevail in the country long enough to consider as a real danger for the future peace. The task not only complicated but somewhat invincible until otherwise those who bless these armed factions relinquish their ill habit and abide by their social responsibilities.

These armed groups caused major setbacks to our already battered economy by intimidation and money extortion in grand scale. The well known fact is substantial sections of genuine business leaders in different scales who represented various communities left the country by leaving its dependents only to add more in the unemployment list.

Once a tourists’ paradise eagerly waiting to get back its long lost glory where not only City of Colombo but all major cities in Sri Lanka considered as relatively safe places to be.

Fortunately we were not in the brackets of Mexico City or Johannesburg where mainly foreigners become sitting ducks to the armed gangs and simply we cannot afford to have that kind of a stamp on our island once referred as friendliest country in the Asian Continent. But startling fact is present scenario signals some kind of characteristics towards the wrong path.

Whilst we destined to suffer Singapore and Malaysia leapt to become giants on all sectors and isolated archipelago of Maldives benefited the most, proving the belief of “ones sins can become another’s glory.”
Understandably decades of lost prosperity cannot bring back by any means, hence Sri Lanka has no time for further dubious calculations therefore by disarming those rogue elements we can bring back the lost world. Where natives in different communities live mutual respect to each other with immense pride and our guests can admire the peace and tranquility once prevailed in every nook and corner of our emerald island is the perfect world for all Sri Lankans.