The Problem with Birth Certificates.
Dear Sri Lankans,
Where are we heading as a nation?
Piyadasa Gamage
We are a wonderful nation born in a beautiful country and yet we fail
miserably as a nation day by day due to our own destructive attitudes.
Sri Lanka is supposed to be the most peaceful place on earth but...
After the recent Presidential Election, there were endless speculations
about the new president and the peace process in the media. More and
more pessimistic ideas and use of provocative terms such as "Singhalese
Buddhist majority", "Singhalese South", "hawkish
new Prime Minister" "Tamil minority", "hard-line
Marxists", "return to war" has been used in the international
media media. Spreading fear and uncertainty does not help any of us
in Sri Lanka. We must march forward as one nation.
Now the election is over and people are still arguing. Unfortunately,
it has become the tradition in Sri Lanka to criticise the government
in power and introduce meaningless pessimistic ideas. These negative
thoughts are not good for our health. How long are we going to keep
on arguing and trying to prove that "I am right" or my party
is right or our demands are right and others are wrong? None of the
contesting parties intend to destroy the country. They all wanted to
do their best in a way that they believed was good. Why can't we use
this energy to achieve what all citizens need; peace and a healthy economy?
Pessimism creates "negative" energy and it will not do any
good to anybody or the country.
We all know that it is the time to stop these differences of opinion
and get on with our lives by supporting who ever is in power and to
begin rebuilding our troubled country. But are we doing it? Dear Sri
Lankans, the time has come for all of us to forget the past and change
our attitudes or else we will continue travelling down an endless road
of despondency, apathy and anger.
A New Era
Whether we like it or not we now have a new democratically appointed
leader. Everybody was given the opportunity to vote if they wanted to.
Some forces may have prevented them doing so in the past and let us
make absolutely certain such circumstances do not occur again through
time of peace. What is the next step of those who do not like the present
government? Are we going to keep criticising everything the government
is trying to do until the next election or bring down the government
in power? This is the time to stop what we have been doing for many
years. At least for the sake of our children we must stop this now.
Writing articles simply to criticise any government and inciting hatred
amongst readers is destructive. Constructive criticisms are a rare sight
in Sri Lanka. Singhalese people must be united before we find unity
with the LTTE. Only then can think about the future of the country as
one nation.
Who Separated Us?
When we were born, we were issued with a piece of paper called a "Birth
Certificate" labelling us as either Singhalese, Tamil, Muslim or
other. We were further divided as Buddhists, Hindus Christians and Muslims
depending on our parent's faith or birth certificates. With these differences,
we were brought up from birth in separate environments with separate
identities! Now we are further divided with different ideologies, which
have caused thousands of deaths. What is the difference between a dead
Singhalese and a dead Tamil? What is our purpose in life? Perhaps those
Singhalese, Tamils and Muslims who sleep in graveyards will tell us
how to live in peace if they can talk. They will tell us what is the
purpose of life and the best way for people to deal with their differences.
It is human nature to fear things that are different to what we are
used to, but as a supposedly intelligent species, we have the power
to look beyond these differences and live in harmony with our fellow
beings; this is why we are the most powerful animals on the earth.
We have all faced discrimination of some kind. All Singhalese, Tamils
and Muslims may have faced this bitter unpleasant experience on racial,
political, religious or other grounds. Not only between groups but also
within our own families. Some of our political leaders may have laid
down the foundations for some of the problems that we face today. May
be they did not have a better vision about the future or have been opportunists
at the time. They may have done what was best at the time. However,
we can't do anything about what they have done and there is no point
of digging out the past and blaming dead people or parties. Today, all
politicians have to deal with the mistakes made by foreign invaders
or previous political leaders. Unlike those days our political leaders
are well aware of today's sensitive issues and are capable of solving
any problems if we are reasonable. If the argument is correct and justifiable
we all can win.
We can create a society that does not discriminate people on any grounds.
We have the tools, knowledge, vision and power to do it but we do not
use them. When things are not designed to our expectations or go wrong,
we still use our old way of criticising, attacking and spreading negative
energy. Even good things suggested by the opposition parties or the
party in power has been criticised and action has been take against
them. Nobody listens to others by heart. How much time have we wasted
by arguing and criticising others? This is one of the biggest barriers
to our progress. If we can perceive the world without prejudice, as
all our religious leaders have taught us, the world will be a most pleasant
place to live but we kill each other over religion. With the right attitude
we can see the reality and do what is best for the country as one nation.
This is freely available to all of us in every corner of the country
but we turn a blind eye to it.
Political Differences
Mr. Ranil Wickramasinghe is going to leave his position. His intrinsic
knowledge as a leader must not go in vain. The new president said that
he was going to work together with other parties to solve the major
problems. So what is our problem? Singhalese are equally divided into
two major political groups; this is normal in a democratic society.
But the danger in our system is; this division is closely related to
wealth, businesses, education and geographical areas. Now we must forget
our political differences and support the leaders in power to rebuild
the country. We must trust our leaders and give them every encouragement
to solve national problems in the country. Educated people can select
the right leaders for the country and show the right direction to others.
We must all respect each other's vision and try to find the most fruitful
solution for everybody. Nothing is impossible if we are united.
Mr.Mahinda Rajapakse, Mr. Ranil Wickramasinghe. Mr.Prabhakaran,
Mr. Karu Jayasuriya and all of us were all born in the same land, as
innocent children but the administrative systems separated us as Singhalese
and Tamils. They are no longer children, and they have the power to
influence the future of our country. We as Sri Lankans must not be sensitive
to what the Western media says and support our leaders to find the best
solution to all of us. This is our problem and it is our responsibility
to support our leaders for the right course of action. The solution
should be sought through peace, which cannot be archived as long as
we stick to the description of our birth certificates.
This is a nice story for all of us to remember. A man wanted to cross
the desert and for that he hired a camel. Riding across the desert,
at midday it became very hot. So the owner of the camel and the passenger
decided to take a siesta and lay down by the side of the camel. After
a while, the one who hired the camel woke up to find the owner sleeping
under the shadow of the camel. He thought as the camel was hired by
him, the shadow too belonged to him.
So he pushed the camel a little further and went to sleep under it's
shadow. Later the owner woke up and thought that the passenger only
hired the camel and not the shadow. So the owner pushed the camel further
and went to sleep under the shadow. This went on and then the next thing
was they started fighting. Suddenly the camel decided to run away.
Without the help of the camel to cross the desert, the both of them
died. The shadow of the camel is like the land we are fighting and it
belongs to neither Tamils nor Singhalese, as we are only caretakers.
As a great Red Indian leader said; "The earth does not belong to
us we belong to the earth". The most important thing is to live
happily and die rather than fighting and die for a piece of land that
does not belong to any of us.
There are no winners in a war. All are losers at the end.
Piyadasa Gamage
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