Let democracy dismantle terrorism !

Terrorism today in Sri Lanka has no colour or race. It is a part of the global terror network to destabilise democracy in the country and region.

It was nurtured under the guise of being 'Liberators' of Tamils. Within a short space of time, these terrorists received training abroad sponsored by the global terror network. Terrorism has no respect for life, race, religion or culture. Terrorism explores all avenues to attack democracy, which it views as its arch enemy.

Over the years we have witnessed many an explosion caused by terrorists. Clouds of black smoke ending in the air. Pieces of metal scattered at those gory scenes. Human bodies strewn on streets. How many have been rendered disabled? How many young and old in the country carry torn bodies and fractured limbs?

Brutality

Our politicians of the past and present have witnessed these gruesome, barbaric and butchery acts of terrorists. Some politicians have fallen victims to terrorism. But, have our politicians joined hands to eliminate this menace?

Today, peace loving Tamil people do not need armed terrorists to be their 'Liberators'. The Tamils have suffered enough and more at the hands of terrorism once nurtured by their political leaders.

Conscription of the underaged by the LTTE destroyed at least three future generations of Tamils. The political leaders who nurtured these terrorists were unfortunate victims of terrorism of the LTTE which claims to be the sole representative of Tamils.

Tamil political leaders have been brutally killed inside places of religious worship. The LTTE brutality has no respect or regard to religion and race. The LTTE's culture is gun culture and not the proud Tamil culture.

The urgent question before the nation is - How long are we going to suffer in this manner ? In the recent LTTE bomb explosions and suicide missions, a number of students in the South were killed. Among them was a promising Tamil student who excelled in sports.

Velupillai Prabhakaran is an agent of a global terror network operating from the thick jungles in the Wanni to destabilise Sri Lanka and the South Asian region. To him, a Tamil, Sinhalese, Muslim or an Indian do not matter.

This position is proved beyond reasonable doubt as he has killed a former Indian Prime Minister, massacred over 1,000 Indian troops and also maimed a few more thousand Indian soldiers.

Tragedy

It is unfortunate that we still continue to live divided in this society experiencing the gruesome terror of the LTTE. As long as we stand divided, we would only be helping to foster terrorism in this Thrice Blessed land. The tragedy is that our politicians too stand divided on national issues.

Petty politics seem to be the order of the day. Opposition politicians in our country believe in a self proclaimed ritual that the Opposition should oppose everything as long as they stand in the Opposition. Political bickering is at its peak today.

National issues seem to be ignored due to political squabbling in the bid to grab or gain power.

While our politicians stand divided bickering on national issues, the enemy has advanced to light aircraft power.

The enemy displayed it twice attacking the Colombo Airport sometime ago. Sri Lanka is a signatory to the Hague and Montreal Conventions which are designed to combat illegal movement of aircraft.

Should not we unitedly stand up as a nation in one voice to tell the world to help us as we too are partners of such Conventions ? Instead what do we see?

We see Opposition political parties taking advantage of LTTE acts to battle with the Government.

Neither the Government nor the Opposition become winners in such battles. The nation and the people are the losers. What we lack today is political unity. The 'game play' is to gain or grab power at the earliest or take political mileage over the crises that affect life and property.

It is not too late for our politicians to learn to criticise themselves to change for the better.

The challenge before the Opposition is to tell the people and the country what and how they could contribute to make this nation a better land.

And not continue to oppose every action of the ruling party meant to resolve national crises.

Resolve

Without political unity, a national agenda to resolve the national crisis will only be a distant dream. Politicians must not give into emotions and thereby gain undue political advantage of crisis situations.

Opposition politicians must realise that the understanding and management of the dialectical process of resolving the ethnic crisis is the principle challenge before all political party leaders. To eliminate terrorism all sections must join hands.

All Tamils are not terrorists. And those who indulge in LTTE terrorism are not true Tamils. They are members or cadres of an international terror outfit. Therefore, we must foster the art of managing the crisis with utmost care.

One country

Let us not follow the deadly features of William Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice between Shylock and Antonio. We are people of one country who lived like brothers and sisters for centuries. We all have wronged in the past. Therefore, we must adopt the practise of forming forgiving minds. Let democracy dismantle terrorism.

We must, as one people, move towards the realisation of reconciliation among different ethnic groups in our country. That should be our noble objective. We ought to respect each others' language, culture and identity to establish equality.

The need is an open, practical and meaningful participation by all politicians towards a journey to determine the destiny of this country torn apart by ethnic strife. Whatever the setbacks, we must move forward with determination.

Whatever the obstacles, we must forge peace.

Let us tell the world that Sri Lanka will soon prosper as a nation of one people in brotherhood and harmony. And something new will always emerge in the Latin saying-" Semper Aliquid Novi".

We could then proudly sing together "Amo te Mater Lanka" (Love you Mother Lanka).