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DateLine Tuesday, 17 March 2009

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Towards national integration

The project launched by some leading film artistes to establish a fund to build an arts centre in Jaffna it is hoped will be a harbinger of similar moves to rebuild broken ties and augment efforts to forge a strong North South dialogue between the hitherto estranged communities.

Now that the Government is set to open up the North that was behind an iron curtain all these years there is an urgent need to make every effort to open up all vistas leading to a firm integration process.

Such a process should necessarily go hand in hand with the economic development of the region and nothing can facilitate such a dialogue more forcefully than the medium of arts and culture that has bonded human relations from time immemorial.

Fittingly queen of the Sinhala cinema Malini Fonseka is giving the lead to this project assisted by other veterans in the field. It is doubtful whether during the last thirty years the name Malini Fonseka was any more than a mere name to the people of Jaffna. Conversely cinema goers in the South lapped up the action of Tamil film stars to their hearts content without let or hindrance.

This more than any thing demonstrates the gulf that was evident in the lives of both communities across the divide. What we should all now do is try to bridge this gulf by a process of integration that would bring into play all aspects of life and living that is taken for granted in the South and supplanting them in the North. No time should be lost getting things moving in this direction. There should be no room left for any vacuum in social and cultural life of the people of the North while economic development goes on apace.

It is hoped others in the various fields of culture and arts would contribute their mite to this integration process. We say this since economic fruits alone will not suffice to rid the tamils of the North from their sense of alienation and heal the damaged psyche. Concurrently there has to be efforts to seek optimum use of other areas in the socio-cultural sphere that would offer scope for this bridge building exercise.

The key element is convergence in all fields of activity be it sports, arts and culture, flowing from the South to the North. In this respect the contribution that could be made by our local artistes cannot be over emphasized.

We say this because anyone acquainted with the living patterns of the Northern citizenry is aware that arts and culture virtually forms the lifeblood of their existence.Any contribution made towards fostering these fields would be met with great appreciation.

Those familiar with the Jaffna of the past would relate about the film crazy populace who deified South Indian stars and their close affinity with Tamil Nadu filmdom. Alas those teeming cinema halls that dotted the landscape of the peninsula are no more. Nor is there the inclination of the vast majority of people to indulge in their once popular pastime.

They are still recovering from the nightmare they were subjected to all these years. It is time now to awaken these hapless people from this nightmare and bring to them to the real world full of entertainment and attractions. Our artistes no doubt can contribute much towards this reawakening giving the Northerner a nostalgic reminiscence of the past.

In an earlier column we emphasized on the need for our film stars and popular artistes to make frequent visit to the North. For more than any politician they would be most welcome to our northern brethren.

Arts and culture is some thing that strikes a deep chord within people and is a sure means of winning over a dejected populace. The presence of our film stars in Northern terrain would also go a long way in breaking the barriers of communalism since arts spells out the message of brotherhood and fraternity where there is no place discrimination on racial, religious and ethnic grounds.

This project by our film artistes it is also hoped would be the start of a process of interaction and signal a cultural awakening among the Northern populace. Building on this positive development there has to be other endevours by persons in other fields aimed at cultivating the good will of our northern brethren.

In this respect a proposal made by World cup winning captain Arjuna Ranatunga to build an international cricket stadium in the East should receive the favourable attention of their authorities.

What is of importance is a level playing field where the people of the North would not be left of any activity that is taken for granted in the South. It is hoped that the initiative taken by local artistes to reach out to the people of the North would be emulated by others of similar ilk. The people of the North deserve our collective attention after the terrible ordeal they were subjected to all these years.

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