PATRIOTISM: Whatever the political differences one may have the fact should not be lost that Sri Lanka is our Motherland and this reality should be uppermost in our minds at all times. That is true patriotism.

While President Mahinda Rajapaksa has enunciated with clarity that there is no WAR in the country and that the current military action is not directed at the Tamils but against the ruthless LTTE terrorists and that every attack by the Armed Forces are in response to the attacks by the LTTE, this message has provided the Armed Forces with added morale to carry out their duties to safeguard the unity, and territorial integrity more efficiently than a decade ago.

This has also helped de-politicise the Armed Forces since orders emanate directly from the Head of State not from the politicians who have divergent interest in the ethnic conflict.

While the Armed Forces proceed with their task true patriotism demands rest of the country not to act in any manner that would give wrong signals to the West, and the international community waiting to fish in troubled water and for the LTTE to tell the world that the South is hell bent on destroying the Tamils.

It is the duty of the people in the South not to create a panic situation in the country by their action however small at a crucial time like the present where the Sri Lanka Armed Forces are engaged in their valiant task.

Just last week the country witnessed a group under the banner "Anti-War Front" holding a demonstration in the heart of the City of Colombo followed by a public meeting at the Vihara Maha Devi Park, which ended in chaos because of a group of Monks and laymen entering the stage while the meeting was in session and trying to pull the public address system and disrupt the meeting. This whole episode was well telecast and captured on film and there is no doubt the scene was witnessed by the outside world.

It is not my intention to find out who was at fault nor do I wish to pass judgment on the incident and about those who got involved in the verbal battle which ended in fisticuffs. What I want to stress here is that such actions give credibility to the lies spread by the LTTE to say that the Sinhala Government in the South was against the Tamils.

Though this is far from the truth as we know that majority of the Tamil community live among the Sinhalese distributed in the whole country, the incidents of this nature tells the world that there is no single mind in the South and genuine interest in resolving the ethnic issue. This is not patriotism.

Man is born free and wishes to live free. We all love freedom. We love freedom of movement and freedom of expression. The Sri Lanka Constitution guarantees freedom of movement and expression. It is a freedom given to all communities, to all groups of people representing different segments of the community.

We are duty bound to respect that freedom although we may not like what they say. But we can not behave like animals. The best thing the group that stormed the platform could have done was to hold a meeting of their own elsewhere to express their own point of view. The thoughtless action of a few gave the impression that Sri Lanka does not respect opposing views or tolerate opposition. This is not true patriotism.

Some argue that the Anti-War group should have made their demonstration in the North and not in Colombo. I do not see any logic in that. Our people stage demonstrations on issues of other countries which have a bearing on the people living here.

Those who organise those protests do not go over to the relevant countries but through their protests held in Colombo or elsewhere they pass the message they want and that is the accepted norm. But the issue I wish to raise here is, the relevance of the protest organised by the Anti-War Front.

I must confess here that it is my belief that there is no war in the first place. We are not at war with the Tamils either. Hence to display a banner and to call themselves "Anti-War Front" is wrong and it also brings discredit to the views expressed by the Sri Lanka President who at every meeting with the Religious dignitaries, diplomats and world leaders has said in clear terms that there is no war in the county. Does anyone contest that idea ?

Former President D.B. Wijetunga once said in public that there is no Tamil problem, there is no ethnic issue but only a terrorist problem in the country and that the Government was obliged to crush terrorism.

Various name-board organisations cry for the dollar to fall to their laps, create a picture of war situation in the country. They are partly to blame for the current situation and the entry of foreign countries into the Sri Lankan conflict. Hence it is high time that those in authority take note of these groups.

If we are patriotic, it should be our business to safeguard the unity and territorial integrity of the country without creating room for others to enter into a "home and home" issue. It is not too late to say `enough is enough' and turn the searchlight inwards instead of blaming others. It is time to say sorry and reconcile with our neighbour.

It is the duty of the Social Services Ministry to take account of all the Non Governmental Organisations operating in the country under various name-boards and scrutinise them.

It is high time that the Nation returns to true and sincere patriotism based on love and care for one's own country which is very much lacking at present which has been the root cause for a lot of evil and misgivings.