{"id":98683,"date":"2020-02-04T17:52:47","date_gmt":"2020-02-05T00:52:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=98683"},"modified":"2020-02-04T17:53:12","modified_gmt":"2020-02-05T00:53:12","slug":"sri-lanka-must-celebrate-republic-day-on-22-may-not-4th-february-independence-day-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2020\/02\/04\/sri-lanka-must-celebrate-republic-day-on-22-may-not-4th-february-independence-day-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Sri Lanka must celebrate Republic Day on 22 May not 4th February Independence Day"},"content":{"rendered":"

Shenali Waduge<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n

What do we think we are\ncelebrating on 4th<\/sup> February every year? Our independence from\ncolonial rule. But did we really get independence on 4th<\/sup> February\n1948? We didn\u2019t because we became by choice a dominion of the British Empire.\nIt was only on 22 May 1972 that Sri Lanka shred all ties with the colonial\nBritish & became a true Republic. With 19 May 2009 becoming a\nsignificant milestone in view of our armed forces uniting the entire island\nunder one national flag we should ideally hold 19 May as Victory Day, 22 May as\nRepublic Day and the week covering this celebration as Heroes Week. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our island nation was attacked\nover 17 times from South Indian invaders though no invader was able to take\nover and rule the entirety of the island. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Then came 3 western European\ncolonial explorers. The Portuguese, Dutch or the British also failed to conquer\nthe island. They tried but they failed. But they did eventually take over the\nisland primarily as a result of our own people betraying the island. Our own\nbetrayed the island & its people to the Portuguese, our own betrayed our\nisland & its people to the Dutch and our own betrayed our island and its\npeople to the British and that DNA of treachery & betrayal appears to be\ncontinuing. It was always a case of \u2018inguru dee miris gaththa wage\u2019 \u0d89\u0d9f\u0dd4\u0dbb\u0dd4 \u0daf\u0dd3\u0dbd\u0dcf \u0db8\u0dd2\u0dbb\u0dd2\u0dc3\u0dca \u0d9c\u0dad\u0dca\u0dad\u0dcf \u0dc0\u0d9c\u0dda\nexchanging ginger for chillies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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With the signing of the Kandyan\nConvention the island of Sinhale came under British rule and Sinhale was\nchristened Ceylon. The British ruled till 1948 when decolonization of other colonies\nled to Sri Lanka getting dominion status on 4 February 1948. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Head of State of Ceylon\nremained first King George VI until 1952 his daughter Elizabeth II was crowned\nQueen. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Independence did not even\nchange our name back to Sinhale. We continued as Ceylon with the Queen as Head\nof State and final judicial decisions decided by UK Privy Council. Britain\ncontinued to maintain air & sea bases in \u2018Ceylon\u2019 and British officers\ncontinued to fill the high ranks in the army!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Citizenship Act of 1948\n& the Official Language Act of 1956 were both introduced with the consent\nof the UK Privy Council. The British monarch held final authority on all\nlegislation. No bill presented to the Ceylon Parliament could become law until\nthe Monarch\u2019s royal assent was given as the Constitution of Ceylon at\nindependence made the British monarch part of Ceylon Parliament.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So what is the independence Sri Lanka enjoyed? What are\nwe really celebrating annually?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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True independence came only in\n1972 with the Republican Constitution when the Queen was no longer head of\nState and Sri Lanka had its own judiciary to determine judicial matters. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Article 3 of the new\nconstitution asserted Sovereignty was with the People and it was inalienable.\nArticle 13 removed the British monarch from the legislature. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, sadly the name Sinhale\nwas again forgotten and instead Ceylon was replaced with Sri Lanka. Hon.\nWilliam Gopallawa became the First Non-Executive President while Hon. Sirimavo\nBandaranaike continued in office as Prime Minister.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If we are to be proud to be\ntruly independent, it also questions why we remain embracing the Commonwealth\nwhere the Queen remains ceremonial monarch! Myanmar on the other hand left the\nCommonwealth when it became independent. It is not too late for Sri Lanka to\nleave the Commonwealth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If we are to celebrate as a\nnation, we must celebrate with meaning and significance. There is nothing\nsignificant to celebrate of 4th<\/sup> February when realizing that\nthe Queen was head of state, the UK courts had the final say and British bases\nremained on our island even after 1948. All that changed in 1972 with the\nRepublican Constitution. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thereafter, the island nation\nwas plagued with 2 insurrections and terrorism by LTTE. LTTE held defacto\nterritory even given to the officially via 2002 ceasefire. However, by order of\nthe then Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces the National Army was ordered\nto militarily defeat the LTTE and reunite the country under one national flag.\nLTTE was vanquished on 19 May 2009 bringing Sri Lanka under one rule. That\nVictory Day must continue to be celebrated just as The Allies continue to\ncelebrate V Day against Nazi Germany and end of World War 2. Every year key\nbattles are enacted still. No one has any right to downplay Sri Lanka\u2019s\nmilitary defeat of LTTE terrorists by defining it as \u2018triumphalism\u2019. If so, the\nsame must accuse the Allies of celebrating \u2018triumphalism\u2019 too. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Therefore, it is suggested that\nSri Lanka celebrate Republic Day \u2013 22 May together with Victory Day and declare\nthe week as Heroes Week in honor of all the brave men and women who sacrificed\ntheir lives and limb to defend the Nation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shenali D Waduge <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

http:\/\/archives.dailynews.lk\/2009\/05\/22\/supstory.asp?id=s26<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Nothing to celebrate about a Dominion Status in 4 February 1948. Sri Lanka must celebrate 22 May 1972 Republic Day<\/a><\/blockquote>