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by Dr. Narme F. Wickremesinghe

The cessation of hostilities in World War I took place at 11 a.m. on 11th November 1918. This came to be observed throughout the world annually, at the same time on the same day, and was known as Armistice Day, when the grateful living remembered those who died during the war in order that future generations may live in peace. Two minutes silence was observed in all countries - and all activities came to a standstill, and religious services were held at War Memorials.

In 1946, after World War II, the fallen of both wars were commemorated, and in some countries, as in the Commonwealth Nations, the observance was later transferred to 11 a.m. on the Sunday closest to 11th November. In countries where there has been regional wars or even internal strife, the soldiers who defended the nation were remembered at the same time at civic, national, and religious ceremonies. Bells tolled, ship and vehicle horns were sounded, and artillery guns were fired, sharp at 11 a.m. to call a grateful public to remember those who sacrificed their lives for us.

Although we in Sri Lanka remembered those who are defending the peace and integrity of our nation on 7th June (Ranaviru Day) on a special call by President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga, it would also be appropriate to remember our war heroes again in November, joining the rest of the world. We can join hands for peace in Sri Lanka, our motherland, and engage in business or other pursuits because of the valiant effort of our soldiers, sailors, airmen, and police personnel who have put Sri Lanka first and gone to the strife-front, thousands of whom have sacrificed their lives and limbs in the patriotic defence of the nation against group of brigands attempting to wrench off a part of the country.

They shall not grow old as we that are left grow old:

Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn At the going down of the sun and in the morning

We will remember them.

Our responsibility

The rest of the population has a duty and a responsibility to at least say 'thank you' to those who are fighting our battle for peace in our land, thereby enabling us to lead normal and peaceful lives in non-conflict areas - if not constantly, at least on Ranaviru Day in June and Remembrance Day in November. Can we forget that so few have given so much for so many?

They have left family and friends unselfishly to be in the forefront of the battle, living in bunkers, suffering untold hardships and severe wounds, watching their closest colleagues die in front of their eyes, and then be inflicted with mental agonies for life.

Are we so bereft of national feelings or so concerned for a civilian population devastatedly affected in the strife-torn areas that we do not remember those killed, maimed or fighting on our behalf for our one nation? It is the members of our armed forces and police who have put Sri Lanka First to defend the peace, sovereignty and unity of our country while we hold hands in peace and mirth calling for an immediate cessation of hostilities.

And should we not be grateful to another civilian population - the parents, wives, children, families and friends of the personnel of the uniformed forces, for having patriotically allowed their loved ones to go to the strife-front risking their lives on behalf of the rest of the population in the defence of our beloved motherland.

Sri Lanka First

Last year when it was reported that a mighty stand was being taken by our heroes in the armed services to prevent a part of our country being divided by the power of the gun unlawfully, an international service organisation committed to help the sick and injured raised cries of foul, both locally and abroad to stop the concerted patriotic efforts of our air, land and sea forces - and this organisation was supported by some vociferous groups in Colombo with international connections. They failed to accept the reality that a nation is entitled to defend itself from raiders and unlawful elements from among its own and there was hardly and empathy from so-called humanitarian agencies and the peace lobby for the thousands of our heroes entrapped, killed and wounded, valiantly putting Sri Lanka First by preventing a physical division of our land mass and of our people in one country.

When nearly 20,000 innocent people were killed by terrorists in New York on 11 September, 2001, America and the world including international agencies, in one voice condemned terrorism and have vowed to wreck havoc on the megalomaniacs responsible for this dastardly disaster.

But closer home, when hundreds are killed and wounded in our own World Trade Centre in Colombo, when pilgrims and Buddhist monks are gunned down in Anuradhapura, Dimbulagala and Aranthalawa, when a holy shrine - a world heritage site is blasted in Kandy, when innocent women and babes are butchered in townships, when 30,000 law enforcement officers are killed and 10,000 of them maimed and disabled, the call by vociferous Colombo based and foreign funded organisations is to immediately cease law enforcement in the North-East and make public demonstrations for negotiations by one side alone, as if Governments now and in the past have not bent over backwards to negotiate and to demonstrate their goodwill for talks to usher in peace to this blessed and beautiful land. Peace is the will of all - the soldier, the widow, the fatherless, the disabled, the refugee, the prisoner, the businessperson, the worker, the farmer, the fisherman, the professional, and the forced lawbreaker.

But when we aspire for peace, let us not forget those patriots who layed down their lives for us.

Let us also remember on Remembrance Sunday the moderates like Neelan Thiruchelvam, Appapillai Amirthalingam, Sarojini Yogeswaran, Rajeev Gandhi, and former President Premadasa who lost their lives at the hands of the terrorists whose so-called 'freedom fight' they themselves tacitly condoned.

Hopefully, the clergy of all religions will toll their bells and sound their loudspeakers that usually come out nauseatingly loud, to call the population to be still and silent for two minutes on Sunday 11th November 2001, at 11 a.m. to remember our dead heroes with an aspiration for peace in our time.

Caring

The Rana Viru Seva Authority (RVSA) and the Ranaviru Surakum Ekakaya (RSE) of the Presidential Secretariat were formed in the middle of last year on the direction of the President under an Act of Parliament to provide welfare measures and psycho-social support to the combatants, the disabled, their families and the families of those missing and killed in action. Both these organisations need more volunteer and funds to accomplish its aims 'to care for those who dare'.

The RVSA and RSE located at 23, Clifford Avenue, Colombo 3 (telephone Nos 564806/564765) has as its mission to empower, protect, develop and to improve the morale of those who are actively defending the unity and peace of Sri Lanka, and provide, strengthen and support, the psycho-social services needed for their families to cope with the situations that arise as a result of their loved ones joining the disciplined services or are maimed, killed or missing in action.

The private sector organisations led by former chairpersons of the Chambers of Commerce such as Armyne Wirasinha, Ken Balendra, Cubby Wijetunga, Lal de Mel, Chandra Embuldeniya and others, and professionals such as Earle Fernando, Dr. Damani de Silva, Dr. Gameela Samarasinghe, Dr. Padmini Mendis, Prof. Kumudu Wijewardana, Jerry Hiddelaratchi, Psy. Rushika Amerasekera, Psy. Piyanjali de Zoysa, Ananda Kasturiaratchi, Dian Gomez, Kingsley Wickremasuriya, Dr. Padmini Gunawardena, Dr. Sunil Navaratne, Dr. Niel Fernando, Dr. Visaka Dissanayake, Psy. Shehani de Silva and others have come to the forefront to help the RVSA and the RSE in supporting the combatants and their families.

Similarly every government department and district secretariat as also the corporations have set up 'ranaviru desks' to support these families, and with the full participation in these tasks of the Association of Disabled Ex-Service Personnel (ADEP), the different associations of families of those Missing or Killed in Action, the Kobbekaduwa Foundation, the Sarvodaya Movement and other volunteers, the National Lotteries Board, National Integration Programme Unit and the Free Legal Aid Scheme. These civilian families and the retired disabled have programmes supported by OXFAM, ILO, Save the Children Norway etc. Many renowned NGOs operating in Sri Lanka have shied away from assisting ranaviru families, who are also civilians, but there are many village-level societies and the Retired Flag Officers Association supporting these anxious families.

All work of the RVSA and RSE is done through private donations - though now fast depleting. Dr. Tara de Mel, the adviser to President Kumaratunga set up these two official ranaviru organisations in May 2000, and set the groundwork for its projects. Each donor is linked to the recipient of the service provided so that a new relationship could be established as well as for purposes of transparency. Again, these are not mere handouts but projects for empowerment and initiative.

Projects of the Rana Viru Seva Authority

The major project of the RVSA, managed by a Special Presidential Committee consisting of private sector and professional representatives (chaired by Mr. Armyne Wirasinghe) is the Housing Project, through which up to now, 700 low-cost houses have been built for families of combatants, disabled and widows on private donations alone. Another 1,000 are planned for next year with assistance from the President's Fund.

In the Education Project, children of this clientele in the GCE 'O' level and 'A' level classes are given a monthly scholarship for two years, for which up to now 8 1/2 million rupees donations remains committed. But much more is needed.

Scholarships are awarded according to the donations received.

This is mainly done by expatriate Sri Lankans in Saudi Arabia, the Netherlands, England, Egypt, Botswana, Japan, South Africa, Australia and USA. Donors include Sinhala, Muslim, Tamil, Burgher, Arabian and English people.

The Skills Development Project assists the families and disabled in obtaining placements in various State and Corporation vocational training institutes. Six thousand placements were obtained but takers are few, as most wish to have direct employment. The RVSA calls upon the State and Private Sectors to give priority to members of Ranaviru families, the disabled in action and the demobilised ex-service and ex-police personnel in recruitment for employment.

This project will provide the infrastructure and experience for job training and placement when massive demobilisation takes place from both sides when peace is achieved.

Having assessed the needs of the disabled, the RVSA started a project to empower the otherwise abled (the disabled) battle heroes by conducting self-employment training, and assisting in the completion of houses, obtaining invalid transport, mediating in obtaining social needs, and in psychological training.

The aim is to help them to come to terms with loss and to advance in life as independent citizens. A similar programme for the families of those killed and missing is being planned, but initial attempts have proved difficult due to the unresolved grief of their womenfolk. The false hopes of the imminent return of their loved ones and displaying them crying, on the electronic media, has not helped these poor widows to get on with life independently, as such acts by the cinema and TV only tend to reopen the wounds in a healing mind.

For the past 15 months the RVSA has sent 15,000 letters and as many telephone calls, mediating to alleviate the problems of Ranaviru families. To give instant solutions, mobile services have been held in collaboration with the Ministry of Justice and various government departments and the uniformed services, with the BOI companies also stepping in to give jobs.

These mobile services attract large numbers of Ranaviru families (average 5,000) and so far have been held in the Raja Rata, Ruhuna, and Wayamba Provinces. Whilst combatants are away at the strife front, we need to show our solidarity by helping the families to face life's stresses.

Two other projects are the one for building a new transit camp for the army to enable the soldiers to go to the front in the right frame of mind and the other is the environmentally friendly Remembrance Park in Mailapitiya, Kandy in association with the Mahaweli Ministry, the Ceylon Tobacco Company and the Army Field Engineers.

General Dennis Perera, a former commander of the army, is the chairperson of the latter project. Both these projects need massive funds if they are to be brought to a fruitful completion.

A major project is for Psychological Interventions. Psychologists and doctors conduct training programmes for volunteer befrienders and first contact medical personnel in the services and police enabling them to handle and strengthen the minds of the injured, their families, the children and wives of those missing in action, and the disabled. Nearly 500 befrienders have been mobilised and trained in five provinces. Funds are needed to continue these training programmes. Training combatants in mitigating Combat Stress Reactions, and further training of befrienders to handle traumatised women, parents and children are planned for next year.

In all these projects the Service Commanders, IGP, Directorates of Welfare of each of the armed services and police, and others at their headquarters have been of immeasurable help.

They have died for us to live in peace.

Others are dying and are being maimed for us to live peacefully in non operational areas. Still others have died in the pursuit for peace or for just waiting around uncommitted. Let us remember them all on Sunday the 11th and make an aspiration or prayer for peace. Let us then support those organisations who care for those who dare in mind, money, materials, and voluntary service.

You were once our companion
You were much that mattered
You were once our friend and father
Then our world was shattered
But we must put together every piece
For life to go on in peace.

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Copyright 2001 The Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Ltd.
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