A new beginning for Sri Lanka

When President Mahinda Rajapaksa returned to Sri Lanka after cutting short his visit to Jordan he came to a country that had at long last been united after a fractured three decades when a group of terrorists supported by it’s foreign backers were bent on its dismemberment.

His emotional return where his knelt on the tarmac and touched the ground of his motherland upon landing not only brought a lump to the throats of the millions of Lankans who watched the scene on TV, but was also a symbolically charged gesture signifying a new beginning for this nation.

Overwhelmed

No Lankan could have failed to be overwhelmed by the event. A Head of State making a triumphant return to his motherland is an emotionally charged affair at any time. When this happens when the country itself had undergone a major transformation it is of monumental significance.

More so when that country had emerged united after decades of fratricidal war and at a time that country had been buffeted by the hostile winds from abroad as Sri Lanka had been all these years. Now the nation could look forward to an era of peace and tranquillity where all it’s sons and daughters could live as brothers and sisters under one banner.

Indebted

For this the nation will be ever indebted to President Mahinda Rajapaksa who will declare the country liberated in a special Address to the Nation from Parliament today.

It indeed is a tumultuous occasion unparalleled in recent history.While powerful nations are still groping in the dark trying to counter terrorism President Mahinda Rajapaksa had achieved the impossible, fighting against all odds and dodging all obstacles thrown in his path and standing against international pressure to vanquish the most ruthless terrorist organisation in the world.

To President Mahinda Rajapaksa the Commander-in-Chief of the of Armed forces defeating the LTTE is but a vindication of the path he set out for countering the three decades long terrorist problem as contained in his 2005 election manifesto.

It was clear that he was willing to tread a course that leaders before him were not willing to pursue due to external pressures.

Victory

Had President Rajapaksa succumbed to the niceties of smooth diplomacy his would have remained unaccomplished.

For him though the road to victory was almost pre-ordained and the large masses who elected him to office had the gut feeling he was the one leader who could rise to the occasion and salvage the country’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. He set about his task with determination.

To begin with he hand picked his Commanders on sheer merit and ability without political considerations. This signalled that President Mahinda Rajapaksa meant business and Prabhakaran was on notice. And he set about the task in his unique way defying the odds and all the obstacles that were thrown to queer his path by both by local and international actors.

“I am deeply convinced that we need to think from a fresh perspective and devise a new approach if we are to find a suitable solution to the conflict in the North and East”, he said in that part of the manifesto devoted to the conflict.

He said “the violent conflict and the stalemate in peace talks over the past years have gradually led to this issue progressing beyond the North-East to engulf the entire country.Thereafter it has widened further and became internationalised. This situation also led to external interference into the issue.

Leadership

It is no exaggeration to state that it was his leadership and his unwavering commitment to see the war through to a decisive end that inspired the Armed Forces to throw in their full might towards attaining victory.

He was well aware that the soldiers needed assurance that an offensive would be not be brought to an abrupt end as had been the case before.There was a time when the Security Forces were confined to their bunkers and compelled to fight a largely defensive war.

The leaders at the time lacked commitment and as result the soldiers lacked resolve. The Governments at the time were hamstrung by various constraints not least of which were international pressure and outcries by human rights groups which were only bent on throwing a lifeline to the terrorists.

President Rajapaksa no doubt would have been viewing the whole scene from the sidelines both as an opposition politician, Leader of the Opposition and Prime Minister and mapping out his own strategy on how to deal with the issue once he collect the reins.

Determination

For the first time our soldiers went out seeking out the enemy with determination because they had the full backing of their Commander-in Chief who had the courage to defy international pressure and refused to cave in to subtle arm twisting or aggressive diplomacy to detract from his goal.

It was obvious that from the very outset of his Presidency he was determined to end the scourge of terrorism that others before him had left to thrive and fester for over three decades.

The overwhelming mandate he received at the hustings showed the people trusted him as the only leader capable of finishing off the job and usher in the progress and prosperity that was pegged back by a debilitating war that had already sapped the vitals of the nation.

The nation as a whole today will not doubt salute this great leader who conquered the might of all sinister forces to finally rid the country of the scourge of terrorism and unite the nation under one banner.

No doubt the name of Mahinda Rajapaksa would be enshrined in letters of gold in the annals of Sri Lanka for leaving a country in tact for it’s future generations.From the beginning it was clear he was a leader who held the destiny of the nation in his hands.Now it is up to the people to take the nation on the course of the destiny he has charted for them.