Let us live unitedly

OUR PAGE three story yesterday together with the picture of Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickremanayaka warmly receiving a group of schoolboy cricketers from the North East, we hope would act as a catalyst in the healing process that should be speeded up to help banish the scars of war from the minds of this liberated people.

It would also have evoked a sense of nostalgia in many old timers who would no doubt hark back to those spacious day when all communities lived together in brotherhood and harmony where friction and animosity based on ethnic bias was unknown.

It also mirrors the hope and expectation for a rekindling of this fraternal feeling in the not too distant future with the dawn of a permanent peace where all communities could live under one umbrella as brothers and sisters of a single nation.

Time was when a single desk in a classroom was shared by students of different communities where the spirit of camaraderie was very much evident lending to a rich tapestry of cultural diversity that mirrored the promise of a country as a single a cohesiveness entity.

Sadly, though opportunistic politics and greed for power put paid to this serene phase and brought the country to this sorry pass where today we are waging war against our own brethren.

It is this feeling that the Premier articulated when he told the cricketers from the North that they were all Sri Lankans whether they hail from the North or South and members of one family.

He also noted the immense suffering they had been subjected to during the years of war and sympathised with their plight.

The Premier also noted how sports and arts could act as a vehicle to build bridges between the two sides since these were the two disciplines that have an empathy with the public cutting across all ethnic and religious boundaries.

We cannot agree more with the Premier seeing as we do how our own Muttiah Muralitharan is almost defied in the South where the heroics of the world renowned spinner is received with rapturous ovation.

The Premier said that it was the aim of the Government to banish their suffering and ensure a bright future for them.

Sentiments no doubt which would receive a ready endorsement from the people of the South.

No doubt there would have been many hearts which would have gone out to these youth who had taken pains to put together a cricket team to play against their more sophisticated counterparts in the South after being cut off from the mainstream of activity all these years and denied the pleasures and comforts enjoyed by the rest of their brethren in the South.

There is therefore, an urgent need for steps to heal the scars of war and usher them into normal life.

The liberation of the East from the Tigers should spur the Government to put in place all infrastructure facilities towards this end and enable these segments which have been living a life of isolation to pick up the pieces and start anew.

There is also an immediate need for similar interaction and exchange programmes so that these youth would be integrated into the mainstream of activities and not harbour a feeling of isolation.

The private sector too should be co-opted into this scheme.

The interaction should gradually expand beyond the realm of sport and include other aspects and programmes that would help build trust and understanding between the communities.

Every endeavour should be made to banish the war mentality of these youth and measures taken to realise their full potential.

Above all they should be co-opted into the development drive planned for East so that they would feel a sense of belonging.