Madhu liberation

The liberation of the Madhu Church precincts from the terrorists marks a watershed in the Northern war theatre. The troops trod with utmost caution in the sacred area, honouring a No Fire Zone arrangement, which the LTTE unfortunately violated. The soldiers ensured that no harm was caused to the Sacred Shrine, renowned throughout Asia.

The Army faced a formidable task vis-a-vis Madhu. The LTTE had heavily mined the area. The slightest propaganda by the troops and any damage to the Church would have sent the LTTE misinformation network into hyperdrive. It is to their credit that they managed this feat without literally falling into the traps laid by the LTTE, physically and metaphorically.

One unsolved mystery is why the Madhu Church authorities conveyed the Scared Statue of Our Lady of Madhu to another location in an LTTE-dominated area, in spite of repeated pleas by the clergy and laity to convey the statue to a Government-controlled area, so that Christians from both Sinhala and Tamil communities could pay homage to it.

We hope the priests will now return the Statue to its rightful abode, where it will be protected and venerated by all. The Government and the Army will spare no effort to preserve the sanctity of the church zone, which has seen conflict for a number of years.

It is not only the Madhu Church that has seen the ravages of conflict. The Sri Dalada Maligawa was attacked by LTTE terrorists 10 years ago.

The LTTE gunned down pilgrims in Anuradhapura in 1985. Many Buddhist places of worship in the North and East have been partially or completely destroyed. Kovils and mosques have also been affected.

It is an unwritten rule of war that places of worship are not attacked. But the LTTE has violated this rule many times. In the case of Madhu, newspapers reported how LTTE cadres virtually set up base in and around the Church. They disregarded the No Fire Zone.

Now that the Forces, and hence the Government, have regained the Madhu Church area, Christians can heave a collective sigh of relief. With the impending liberation of the entire North, pilgrims of all over Sri Lanka will soon be able to venerate this famous shrine in a free and peaceful atmosphere.

Boost for agriculture

It was just a few days ago that we commented on the world food crisis which has reached alarming proportions. Even the US is rationing rice for its consumers. Sri Lanka too is taking swift measures to address the food crisis.

While short term measures such as additional imports may address the issue, only long term measures can truly prevent another occurrence of the problem. The Government’s long-term answer is the Api Wawamu Rata Nagamu (let us grow more food to develop the nation) programme initiated last year, well before the present food crisis.

As we reported recently, this programme is already showing results in the form of bigger yields for many crops. Home gardening projects too have increased exponentially under this programme. But no programme can succeed without proper financial input and support.

This is where the Government has stepped in, requesting commercial banks to dedicate 10 per cent of their lending portfolio to agriculture. This is a far-reaching measure mooted by the Central Bank which has reported a healthy growth in agriculture across the island, including the newly liberated East.

As a Central Bank official has said, though over 30 per cent of the public is engaged in agriculture banks have not been giving preferential treatment when it comes to borrowing. With this decision the banks would be compelled to provide more lending to the agricultural sector which will stimulate agricultural development.

With such financial help for the agricultural sector, farmers will be able to reinvest in modern machinery, technology and advanced scientific methods. One of the biggest benefits will be a possible rise in paddy yields as a result of modernisation and the use of better paddy varieties.

If loans are easily available, more people are likely to get involved in the agricultural sector thus generating more employment. It may even reverse the trend of farmers’ offspring turning towards white collar jobs.

Livestock is another key sector which will benefit through this decision. Dairy farming is becoming more popular as farmers command higher prices following the international milk food crisis.

The proposal, while helping the agriculture sector, will benefit the banking sector itself. It will extend their lending portfolio and most importantly, contribute towards developing the economy.