Rural development Govt’s key agenda

Senior Presidential Advisor and Parliamentarian Basil Rajapaksa in an interview with Jayasiri Munasinghe:

Sri Lankans as a nation had faced retrogression whenever a government leaning towards western powers had been in power. This had changed and the Nation had achieved progress whenever a progressive people-friendly government was in power under a benevolent leadership. Our country’s history bears ample testimony to this phenomenon.

Nominal freedom

The Independence and freedom we received from British colonial rule on February 4, 1948 was a nominal freedom where the people were almost made prisoners in the hands of Brown Sahibs who ruled the country. Prime Minister S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike together with my father D.A. Rajapaksa gave leadership to the 1956 Revolution to bring about a meaningful change to that system.

But their efforts were shortlived. The proclamation of the republic constitution by Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike in 1972 offered some boost to the freedom we had gained.

However, history proved that the changing of governments in a rotational basis had impacted on the level of freedom enjoyed by the people by swaying it up and down like a pendulum.

It is in this scenario that then Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa was elected the fifth Executive President on November 17, 2005 to shoulder the responsibility of rebuilding Sri Lanka as a free nation which can stand on its feet as equals among other nations as expected by all communities in this country.

To make this dream a reality, President Rajapaksa introduced a national policy framework named Mahinda Chinthana.

The main objective of Mahinda Chinthana was to take development beyond the Western Province to the rural villages. Its plan of operation was to restore honourable peace through devolution of power without dividing the Nation. The primary objective of this endeavour is to create a pleasant village by bringing in the resources found in urban areas to the village along with the political and economic freedom enjoyed by people in the affluent countries.

This program which re-awakens the Sri Lankan nation propagated respect to elders and a liquor-free disciplined society rich in moral and spiritual values. It aimed to conquer the whole world by uplifting the individual, family, village, province and the country in general in that order.

Challenge

The main stumbling block towards achieving this goal had been the distructive war that prolonged for nearly three decades.

The responsibility of ending the war and creating the environment for people of all communities to live in freedom in any part of the country devolved on President Rajapaksa. The President took up this challenge with humility.

But 14 days after he assumed office, the LTTE terrorists attacked a naval vessel bringing unarmed naval troops on home leave. The Tigers also attacked a civilian bus at Kebettigollewa and made unsuccessful attempts on the lives of Army Commander Lt. Gen. Sarath Fonseka and Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa. Even amidst these provocative actions of the LTTE, the Government made attempts to enter negotiations with the armed group despite its sordid history of back tracking. After three rounds of talks held abroad, the Tigers left the negotiating table blasting all hopes for peace.

The Tigers thereafter denied the people their right for water by closing the Mavil Aru anicut. The President who could not ignore the plight of innocent farmers reluctantly ordered the Security Forces and Police to launch a humanitarian operation to liberate the Mavilaru anicut from terrorist clutches.

Crushing terrorism

The Government took all steps to develop the east and re-settle them in their original lands.

The heroic Forces implemented this order to the letter by driving out the terrorists from the entire Eastern Province. Nearly 100,000 people were displaced from the east and the Government took all steps to develop the East and re-settle them in their original lands. Now the Forces had extended their humanitarian operation to liberate the people of the North from terrorist clutches and Tigers who are restricted to a very small area in the Mullaitivu district would be totally wiped out soon.

The Government had invested Rs. 103 billion for the development of the East under the Nagenahira Navodaya program. This is the largest slice of funding allocated for rural development in the country’s history. All infrastructure in the Eastern Province had been rehabilitated and the Government established a record by restoring electricity supply in Vakarai within 17 days. By now almost 97 percent of the IDPs from the East have been resettled. The Government hoped to re-settle the balance before the Sinhala and Tamil New Year.

Democratic process

Eastern youth who took up arms have been disarmed and brought back to the democratic process by conducting Provincial Council Elections in the east in a peaceful atmosphere. War heroes, some of whom hadn’t even an inch of land to call their own were sacrificing their blood, life and limb to protect the unity and territorial integrity of the Nation. Transforming the freedom won by the heroic Forces into true meaningful freedom is the duty and responsibility of each and every citizen.

The entire gamut of work undertaken by the Government to look after the IDPs, re-settle them and restore freedom, law and order in the liberated areas is no easy task despite the criticism levelled by certain opposition politicians and armchair critics in the South.

All this should be done in a systematic manner with a clear vision. We have to look after the Northern Civilians liberated from terrorist clutches and transform this country into a place where citizens belonging to all communities could live in a peaceful manner. It is the duty of all Sri Lankan citizens to strengthen the hands of those involved in the difficult and laborious task of performing this responsibility.