{"id":88286,"date":"2019-05-06T23:45:55","date_gmt":"2019-05-07T05:45:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=88286"},"modified":"2019-05-06T14:31:18","modified_gmt":"2019-05-06T21:31:18","slug":"sons-of-lanka-wake-up-save-mother-lanka-an-appeal-to-all-srilankans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2019\/05\/06\/sons-of-lanka-wake-up-save-mother-lanka-an-appeal-to-all-srilankans\/","title":{"rendered":"Sons of Lanka Wake-up, Save Mother LANKA -AN APPEAL TO ALL SRILANKANS"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Dr. Ranjith Hettiarachi <\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n

Undoubtedly, all Srilankans  are shocked and devastated by the\nunprecedented, widespread acts of terrorism \non the EASTER Sunday (April 21, 2019), inflicted on Srilanka, it\u2019s\npopulation, the catholic community and the tourists in particular.  Srilankans, both within and outside Srilanka\nare much grieved by the death toll and those seriously injured.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Freed of terrorism for nearly a decade,\nSrilanka had surged ahead with tourism and development in general, becoming one\nof the topmost attractions to tourists and visitors worldwide. For reasons\nknown and unknown, Srilanka has now become a target of viciously inflicted terrorism,\nthough the exact underlying reasons for the current attacks are only now surfacing\nthrough relentless investigations.  . <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We have known many countries across the globe, who\nhave been subject to terrorism, ultimately gaining freedom from the coils of\nthis terrorist menace and achieving stability, progress and development.\nSrilanka  though unlucky to be subjected\nto terrorism repeatedly within the last few decades, has shown the capacity to\nrecover and surge ahead. Only a few years ago it was nominated by the New York\nTimes as the most attractive tourist destination in the world. 300 % growth in\ntourism was evident in the 6 years after terrorism ceased in 2009.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most Srilankans seem exasperated after Easter\nSunday\u2019s bombings, many resigning themselves to a period of rapid deterioration\neconomically for many years. Srilankans, tourists and visitors who enjoyed the\nfreedom of travel, accommodation and the resorts are certain to see a decline in\nstandards in the years ahead. Needless to say that immediate and timely\nremedial measures would slow down and \/or prevent the possible down-slide in\nthe economy and in the living standards. Responsible Srilankans both within and\noutside the country need to contemplate and map out a scheme and implement all\nurgent measures towards an urgent recovery, without leaving such matters purely\nin the hands of incompetent Lawmakers in Parliament and POLITICIANS in general,\nwho have mismanaged much of the affairs of the country leading towards a state\nof utter disorder and chaos. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even though what happened on Easter Sunday and,\nwhat could ensue in the years immediately ahead are likely to be damaging to\nthe well-being of the country, all Srilankans need to summon the required guts,\ngrit and the courage to face up to the disastrous impact on the country, and\ncontribute in every possible way to steer the country towards a state of well-being\nfree of deadly violence. . How could this then be achieved ?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Paths\nto recovery of the economy<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The FIRST\nstep<\/strong> would be the need for a solid commitment on the part of expatriate\nSrilankans towards their country of birth, even though most of them are\nresidents \/ citizens in their countries of adoption. To most of us our country\nof birth provided our education, learning, training and the experience, that\npaved the way for our well-being and advancement in the countries of adoption.\nNo doubt, most of us achieved and progressed much higher and further, with the\nsubsequent learning and training made available to us in the countries of\nadoption, by virtue of the levels of expertise we held on arrival in these\ncountries. Yet, our allegiance to our country of birth cannot be disregarded or\nundermined, regardless of the period of residence overseas. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Second\nstep<\/strong> would be to convey our condolences to the Srilankan victims, Catholic\/Christian\ndevotees, members of our security forces and families of the tourists who have lost\ntheir lives due to the vicious bomb attacks. No doubt all Srilankans are deeply\ngrieved by the loss and injuries sustained by the several hundreds of victims.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The THIRD<\/strong>,\nbut more difficult step is the creation of a large-scale, influential and \u2018Resurrect\nSri Lanka\u2019 lobby including  Sri-lankans\nand other well wishers, within and outside the country, that would enhance and\npromote the  furthering of all possible\nmeasures to ensure the welfare\/well-being of Srilanka. This is easier said than\ndone. The expatriate Srilankan lobby that sought negotiations with Srilankan\nPolicy-makers in connection with the recent Constitutional Amendments did not\nseem to have been favourably received by the said Policymakers, and hence their\nsuccess seemed questionable. However, considering the large numbers of\nSrilankans who have expressed various views on-line and the social media in\nresponse to the Easter Sunday Disaster, we could assume that most of them would\nbe willing to play a greater pro- active role within a Srilanka revival Lobby.\nAll Expatriate service organisations should be invited warmly to play a major\nrole in helping Srilanka, in this hour of crisis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For\na Srilankan lobby to be effective, it must be able to command a membership of\nat least 100,000 persons. We can confidently say that we are assured of a\n100,000 or more strong lobby of competent, committed  persons, within and outside the country. The\nmajor challenge we face is the creation of an infra-structure secretariat,\nrequired to co-ordinate, manage and liaise with others, first within the lobby\nand, secondly with Srilanka\u2019s Policymakers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

OSLONU<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We\nneed to take our minds back to the establishment of the first-ever World-wide \u2018Overseas Sri Lankans\u2019\nOrganisation for<\/strong><\/em> National Unity\u2019<\/strong><\/em> (OSLONU<\/strong><\/em>) in Melbourne in July 1983\nin the wake of the civil unrest caused by the ambush and killing of 13 Army\nsoldiers while on patrol in Thirunelvely in Jaffna by the LTTE on July 23, 1983. OSLONU was formed using the\ngood offices and active participation of persons of the calibre of the late World\nCourt Judge Christie Weeramantry, Mr. H.L.D. Mahindapala, Mr Senaka Weeraratna\nand the writer Dr. Ranjith Hettiarachi. \nThe management of affairs amongst member groups in Australia, New\nZealand, Toronto, London, etc, became formidable with the concurrent increase\nin activities of the Tamil expatriate dis – information and terrorism network. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The question needs to be raised as to whether\nthe creation of a Srilankan Lobby is feasible, appropriate and practical with a\nview to supporting Srilanka to get over its bad periods, since there are no\nother dependable sources Srilanka can look up to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The FOURTH\nstep<\/strong> is how exactly an INDIVIDUAL Srilankan could contribute towards the\nwell-being of the country, when it is going through a bad period. Based on the\navailable statistics that Srilankans are the second largest expatriate\npopulation in the world (3 million), and that they remit in excess of a 5\nbillion US dollars per year to Srilanka, if they have the capacity to continue\ndoing so, Srilanka\u2019s foreign exchange earnings would be substantial. Acknowledging\na clear loss of earnings from tourism for an unforeseen period, all expatriate\nSrilankans could make up for some part of the loss by at least making an annual visit to the country<\/strong>. A Srilankan\nLobby earlier referred to could promote expatriate travel back to the country\non a large scale. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The FIFTH\nstep<\/strong> is to pool all well directed efforts to raise the living standards of the\nlocally resident Srilankan population and contribute to their well-being within\nthe country.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The SIXTH\nStep<\/strong> is the replacement of a pre \u2013 existing degenerate Political Structure.\nThis is an indispensable priority and challenge for Citizens of Srilanka. Well-\nwishers need to consider their own balanced, realistic and realisable options\/alternatives.\nMaintenance of an elaborately set-up National Security system seems paramount\nat all times. There cannot be any lapses or excuses for such lapses by uncaring\nrulers, solely pre-occupied with their own political and material advancement,\nhook or by crook. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

CONCLUSIONS<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

All well-wishers of Srilanka need to step-in\nand play a pro – active role in the rescue of the country reeling under a\nsavage blow by terrorists. While it is natural to make recriminations and\nretaliatory threats, in the initial phase of such crisis due to shock, anger\nand despair, all sensible Srilankans eventually must roll up their sleeves to\nwork together for the common cause of salvaging the country. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The various steps listed above are only some of\nthose one could envisage at this early stage, but there would be many others that\ncan be envisioned by our intelligentsia. Some of them may seem theoretical, but\nby strength of sheer commitment to the country, the most relevant and practical\nmeasures can be implemented, seeking both immediate and long term benefits for\nthe country including an early recovery. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finally, Let us all be Reminded not to\nbecome victims of our own TOLERANCE.<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

RANJITH\nHETTIARACHI  – MELBOURNE,  AUSTRALIA.<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

May 03, 2019   <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Dr. Ranjith Hettiarachi Undoubtedly, all Srilankans  are shocked and devastated by the unprecedented, widespread acts of terrorism  on the EASTER Sunday (April 21, 2019), inflicted on Srilanka, it\u2019s population, the catholic community and the tourists in particular.  Srilankans, both within and outside Srilanka are much grieved by the death toll and those seriously injured. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-88286","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-security"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88286","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=88286"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88286\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=88286"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=88286"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=88286"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}