I wish I was born a Tamil in the yesteryear than now when I see the
current terrorist conflict in Sri Lanka. I am ashamed of being a Tamil
of what's happening now when the LTTE continues with the extermination
of the moderate Tamil intellectuals and the latest being the Deputy
Director of the Peace Secretariat Kethiswera Loganathan.
When I was reading the 'Revolt in the Temple' by D.C. Vijayawardene,
I came across the following statement by an eminent knowledged Tamil
Leader of Jaffna Tamils Sir Waitthilingam Duraisamy - the then Speaker
of the State Council, which he has said openly and fearlessly on May 8,
1931 at a meeting held at the Jaffna Esplanade to demand the immediate
grant of a full responsible Government.
This is an opportune time for every right-thinking Tamil to reminisce
his statement which is quoted below.
"Let us also take this opportunity of repudiating the suggestion that
our action is a communal one and based on communal interest. We are not
weak and we do not consider ourselves weak to depend on such sectional
ideas. Though few in numbers we are able to think for the good of the
whole of Ceylon.
Never did I, in my political career think and speak in terms of
communalism when I advocated reforms for the island. We, Tamils, always
worked for the good of the whole island, making no differences between
race and race, our safety lies in the safety of the Sinhalese race (loud
cheers).
Our Freedom lies in the freedom of the Sinhalese race. Our progress
in constitutional reforms depend on the co-operation of the Sinhalese.
The policy of Divide and Rule shall not make us great. Therefore let me
once again assure the people of Ceylon that we are acting on behalf of
the whole of Ceylon and not from sectional motives" (Revolt of The
Temple page 448-449).
This is an eye-opener to the LTTE proxy TNA Parliamentarians (I doubt
that they have the capacity to read and comprehend the speeches made by
great Tamil leaders in the past other than following the LTTE blindly)
and those vulnerable suicide bombers who act on the orders of the
megalomaniac Prabhakaran and his gang. We must read and follow in the
foot steps of those great Tamil leaders who advocated one nation and one
country but not a divided nation as wanted by the LTTE.
RAJAN SELVA
Australia
via email
I refer to the article by Tissa Jayaweera titled '120 KMPH
Expressways: the need for road discipline' which appeared in the Daily
News of August 18, 2006.
Whilst we fully understand the need for road discipline by drivers
before introducing high speed roads in Sri Lanka the main purpose of
this article appears to be the sarcastic remarks on various
professionals involved in the road development and law enforcement
related to traffic.
Mr. Jayaweera refers to them as Pandits for some unexplained reason.
The boasting of his driving experience in various countries also forms
part of the purpose.
He congratulates Sri Lanka for being the last in South Asia to build
an expressway.
To my knowledge the Maldives, Nepal and Bhutan are yet to build
expressways.
Mr. Jayaweera seems to confuse himself in the terminology related to
road classification when he mentions of 1km 'freeway' along the Kalutara
built in the '60s.
In fact the said urban section of highway A2 is only widened to four
lanes with two centre lanes dedicated for through traffic by means of a
barrier fence separating from two outer lanes. He refers to these two
central lanes as a freeway.
Also he questions "Do the experts realise that all expressways have a
center divider minimum of 1m in height.......?". I think all road
designers in Sri Lanka are aware of the need for centre divider on
expressways.
In fact the centre divider is a strip of land usually landscaped but
in urban areas with land space restrictions, it is limited to a narrow
strip with a barrier fence adjoining the edge of the traffic lane.
According to the details I read on the website of the Ministry of
Highways on the Southern Transport Development Project, the first 40 kms
in distance from Kottawa to Dodangoda is a four lane expressway but the
next 80 km will remain as a two lane access restricted highway until it
is widened to a 4 lane expressway at a later phase of the project.
It is interesting and funny to note his conclusion that the 80 km
section of the road project is planned as a two lane due to 'Bribery and
corruption'.
All professionals including foreign consultants involved in the
planning and preliminary design of this project would have recommended
six lane and four lane lengths of expressway in keeping with
international standards for expressways but the limited funding makes
the authorities compromise on standards.
Such reduced standards have to be accepted particularly if the
forecast traffic volumes are lower for the period after the phase 1
completion.
Mr. Jayaweera requests the RMV, RDA and the Traffic Police to educate
drivers on how to pick-up faster from a stop at a traffic light or while
entering an expressway.
Whilst it is understood that this may cause some delay to other
traffic I do not consider this as a critical need of the day when most
drivers are adopting various dangerous methods to reduce their own
travel time.
The first step in educating the present drivers should be focused on
safe driving methods.
D. KARUNARATNE
via email
What Maureen Wickremasinghe says is what we should have done all
along.
Making English the language taught in all schools, even in village
schools in addition to every child being forced to learn Sinhala and
Tamil even up to Grade 5 or 6 to give them a chance to learn enough of
that language to be able to communicate with other ethnic groups if
necessity arises, is what we should have done.
It is not too late to go back to this. In India most schools have
English as the medium of education. Living in a tiny island how can we
afford to make our people remain ignorant of the world langugage -
remain cut off from the rest of the world?
We did this foolish mistake of educating in the vernaculars - but it
is never too late to go back to what that girl said - Her father and
grandfather could speak English but living in this modern world that
girl cannot converse in English. That is sad.
Olga Mendis
via email
While I agree with Ruah that sexual harassment has to cease in Sri
Lanka, I do not agree totally with the feedback written by Subhashi
where she says she is glad to have left Sri Lanka to the West and that
there is no sexual harassment in the West.
I quote below from a publicly available Web page I came across
written by a Westerner, while searching for travel information about
Sicily. This itself is a proof that the sexual harrasment is prevalent
in Italy, the US and in the UK.
Quote:
(Source http://www.bestofsicily.com/faqs.htm)
Public lust: During the passeggiata (afternoon stroll) in larger
Southern cities, it's not unusual for undisciplined young men to call
out to attractive young women they don't know with remarks like 'Bella!'
and 'Pupa!' Sicilian women are quite accustomed to such behaviour,
though they usually don't encourage it.
In itself, such practices may seem innocuous, but they do reflect the
persistent attitudes of some Italian men accustomed to viewing women as
potential sexual conquests rather than social equals.
Throughout Italy, sexual harrassment is somewhat common in the
workplace (or at least moreso than in the US and the UK), and southern
men seem to do it more openly than northerners.
W. RANJIT
via email
My heart broke after reading these articles. These brave young men
protect Presidents, dignitaries, Prime Ministers and the whole country.
They give their lives, so that we country men can live a peaceful life.
Let's all get-together and do more for their families and also those
who have fallen during battle.
May God Bless them!
LAL FERNANDO
Australia
via email
All the TNA MPs are pro-LTTE. Their backs are burning when the LTTE
suffer.
They really don't have any sympathy towards the innocent Tamils or
their problem, their main concern is to look after the bloody LTTE
killers. They are the real terrorists.
Seneviratne
via email
I am confident many of us will sigh a comfort of relief in many ways
and count on the blessings that have been merited on us!
Hats off to the team that caught the Borella suspicious item in the
knick of time...., or else we will remember the 1983 riot, violently
spreading in Borella once again! Whoever who said that we have a puppet
defence system should recall!
NINA HARIM KAMAL
via email |