Fight for a United Sri-Lanka

Jay Deshabandu

It does not matter who came to the beautiful Island of Sri-Lanka and who ruled it first and developed it first. If you are a citizen in Sri-Lanka you must feel that you are a Sri-Lankan and enjoy rights and privileges granted by the constitution of the Sri-Lankan government.

It is may be okay to think that King Vijaya came to this island first and established his rule but it is foolish to claim that therefore it is a Sinhalease country. Similarly it may be okay to think that there was a Tamil Elam but it is equally foolish to claim that part of Sri-Lanka should be declared an independent Tamil home land and be separated from the island.

Every citizen should face the facts that are available now. Sri-Lankans, no matter where they live now, home land or abroad, face hardships. Back home, they are in the risk of being shot by bullets or bombs, and in abroad they are being discriminated by many authorities.

True you are a Sinhalease or a Tamil. But what difference does it make to common people of other countries, be it USA, Canda or England? For them you are a dark skin man whether you are a Sinhalease or a Tamil. You are still considered a dark skin man and even if you are a new citizen of that country, you are a dark skin third class citizen who is always on the disadvantage side of the social circles. No one can deny for example, there are many Indians and other taxi cab drivers with master’s degrees. I have met many Sri-Lankans holding honorable degrees but working at gas stations and living under poor living standards in the USA.

Everyone should uphold to live with dignity and claim Sri-Lanka as his mother land and put pressure to end this wrath of terrorist’s cycle that is affecting our lives both in here and abroad. Everyone should fight against terrorism and fight for making Sri-Lanka a United Sri-Lanka.

Let us not forget that not only Sinhalease and Tamils live in this country.
There are Vaddhas, Muslims, Malays, Burghers, Moors and many others.
Everyone came to this island and became citizens through their ancestors.
Rightfully, only the Vaddhas can claim that this is their native country but they have been discriminated over 2500 years by the colonists, be they British, Sinhalease, Tamils or others.

But the fact of the matter is now you are a Sri-Lankan and you are responsible for making it a beautiful and peaceful place to live in for generations to come. Everyone should feel responsible for making Sri-Lanka a United Sri-Lanka. Everyone should make contribution to solve any problem be it ethnic or otherwise through peaceful means and not certainly in destructive ways. It is not what the government or LTTE can do to solve the problem, but it is what you are doing to solve the problem. Everyone should be part of the solution and not be part of the problem. Let’s get together and defeat terrorism, racism, caste, creed and separatism.