Asada M Erpini

An International Finance Corporation and World Bank survey of 185 countries says, in a report dated 23 October, that Sri Lanka is among the 10 best countries as regards the improvement of the ease with which business could be done. Just the previous day, Lonely Planet ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…” if Karunanidhi knows what it is ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…” cites Sri Lanka as the best country to visit in 2013.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Karunanidhi, the octogenarian in his twilight years, is blind to what is going on Sri Lanka. The reports mentioned previously, and many others not stated here, have been possible because of the war that led to the annihilation of the LTTE leader and his top lieutenants in the Nandikadal watery graves in May 2009 at the hands of the valiant armed forces of Sri Lanka. A war memorial is thus a logical, fitting and vivid symbol of a nationƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s gratitude to those who delivered peace to all Sri Lanka, ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-sacrificing their today for Sri LankaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s tomorrowƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚. The fighting units of the armed forces were in the frontline, both literally and figuratively, in the deliverance from the terrorist curse and the whole nation is in debt forever to them for giving the average citizen the peaceful Sri Lanka that once existed as the Emerald Isle.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  The reported 18% increase in tourist arrivals in September 2012 when compared to the figures of the previous year is clear evidence that many others too think that Sri Lanka is a peaceful place worth visiting, after the annihilation of the armed wing of the LTTE.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ The developments that started dawning in Sri Lanka after the local arm of the LTTE bit the dust benefit all Sri Lankans. One could clearly say that the advantages are accrued most by the Tamils than by any other ethnic group. There are vast infrastructure development projects in the Northern and the Eastern provinces (there is, and never was, a North-Eastern Province), and the bridges and the roads that have come up in these regions are of the calibre that many Tamils who did not venture out of Sri Lanka may not have ever seen. A new five star hotel has been just opened in Pasikudah and a good proportion of the employees will be local Tamils. Another hotel that opened bordering the Pasikudah beach ten months ago has half its employees from the locality who are Tamil. More importantly, the Tamils in the North and the East can now send their children to school to engage in education instead of running the risk of never seeing them again after getting abducted by the LTTE to be members of its child killer brigade.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ The LTTE, its remnants and the supporters will naturally detest, loathe and denigrate any war memorial to Sri LankaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s armed forces: after all, their dream of a mono-ethnic Eelam for Tamils, which existed for a while in the North and East of the country thanks to the open backing and manipulations of countries such as Norway, was blown to high heavens by the armed forces of Sri Lanka. With that, the massive investment that the LTTE and its supporters had made from their annual collection of over 200 million US Dollars (JaneƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s Defense Weekly) in the pursuit of a myth came to nothing.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ The plight of Karunanidhi is understandable. Unless he keeps on harping on his favourite theme of discrimination of Tamils in Sri Lanka, no one will notice that he is still around. Making various announcements that purport to show his love towards Sri LankaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s Tamils ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…” he forgets the fact that Tamil Nadu has over 72 million Tamils who have their own problems worse than those of Sri LankaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…” helps the poor man to score Brownie points over his competing rivals such Vaiko, Jayalalitha and Sreeman in playing the Sri Lanka Tamil trump card.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ It is too much to expect Karunanidhi to realise that Sri Lanka is an independent, sovereign nation that is separate from India, and that it is not a state such as Tamil Nadu, Karnataka or Kerala in the Union of States of India. As people grow old, they tend to lose their abilities of judgement because the grey matter in the brain shrinks. All that Sri Lankans could do is to merely feel sorry for the old man.

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