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Victory & Beyond | dailynews.lk

Peace for ethnic communities

“We are grateful for the President’s achievement of the Government’s policy of ‘one nation, one country’ and the sovereignty of our Mother Lanka has been established with the sacrifices, valour and devotion of our armed forces “


One flag, one nation

Peace has now become a reality in Sri Lanka as the President called all Sri Lankans including ethnic minority groups to unite in order to rebuild the nation. Despite the LTTE trying to segregate the Tamil population from the Sinhalese with the war, many of the woes of the other ethnic minorities went unheard.

As many ethnic minority communities were asked to leave the North and East within 48 hours just as the conflict broke out, they are now trying to pick up the pieces and continue with life, in spite of the LTTE permanently damaging them physically and mentally.

The majority of most ethnic minorities making Sri Lanka their adopted homeland was because they were driven out of their own countries and when the war broke out in Sri Lanka, they had additional trauma. Today, with the dawn of peace, they will be the first to savour it, being the new Sri Lankan patriots.

On behalf of the Moor community who represent the Muslim majority community, the All Ceylon Jamiyyathul Ulama issued a statement: “We are grateful for the President’s achievement of the Government’s policy of ‘one nation, one country’ and the sovereignty of our Mother Lanka has been established with the sacrifices, valour and devotion of our armed forces”.

Malay

The President of the Sri Lanka Malay Association Iqram Cuttilan: “As far the Malays are concerned this is indeed a victory for the whole population of Sri Lanka. Our brave Malay service men and women sacrificed their lives to uphold the sovereignty and integrity of the country.”

He added, “Their efforts are not in vain thanks to the vision and leadership of the President and the service commanders and the armed forces. We as Malays rejoice the victory and pray that our Motherland can enjoy peace and prosperity now that the terrorism menace has been wiped out”.

Colombo Chetty

The President of the Colombo Chetty Association of Sri Lanka (Sri Lanka Situ Sangamaya):

“The Colombo Chetty Community wishes to congratulate and salute our heroic security forces on their commendable achievements which has resulted in the liberation of our dear motherland”.

He said that the Chetties known historically as Setthi / Situ or Sitana have always stood for a united and peaceful Sri Lanka where all communities are treated as equal stakeholders.

We believe this is the ideal opportunity to forge unity among all communities and usher in an era of peace, tolerance and understanding which will undoubtedly result in prosperity and happiness to all our people.”

“We are hopeful that those displaced as a result of this conflict are quickly resettled in their homes so that they too could enjoy the rewards of this historic victory”, he said.

Dutch Burgher

The President of the Dutch Burgher Union, Nigel Austin: “We are overjoyed with the outcome and congratulate the democratically elected Government of Sri Lanka and our gallant forces for their success in what many believed to be an impossible mission in defeating the LTTE militarily.

This is a Victory for all the people of Sri Lanka and brings the promise of a future of Hope and Prosperity, with the defeat of Terrorism and the return of Peace to our wonderful country.

“We must all move forward as one people and one nation for the benefit of future generations and to position Sri Lanka to take advantage of opportunities that, as a country, we lost out on over the past 27 years of conflict”, he further added.

Borah

On behalf of the Borah community, Secretary of the ‘Anjuman’, Shabbir Asgerally: “We congratulate the President and the armed forces for liberating the country and the Borah community makes Sri Lanka their home so it’s good to have peace”.

He emphasised that the Borah community is a business community and they believe that trade will flourish making the economy prosper after peace.

“Our spiritual leader Dr. Syedna Mohammed Burhanuddin Saheb came here in 2007 and 2008 to pray for peace in Sri Lanka and we hope for a better unity in Sri Lanka from today” he said.

Sindi

On behalf of the Sindi community, the President of the Sri Lanka Sindhi association, Mahesh Gangaram: “We are happy with the victory and congratulate the President and armed forces for their efforts to bring peace to the country”.

He said that the Sindi community, who made Sri Lanka their home after they were driven out of India, hope for a lasting peace solution. “We are a business community and we are confident that Sri Lanka’s economy will be a prosperous nation in the future with the dawn of peace” he said.

Parsi

Renowned entrep- reneur and the President of the Parsi Community Club, Aban Pestonjee: “We are very happy with the Government’s victory against the LTTE but there is work to be done by all communities for a peaceful solution”.

She said that the international media have been negative-minded about the present jubilations around the country in spite of the IDP situation and those who gave their lives to liberate Sri Lanka.

“The Sri Lankans are happy because we feel a new sense of freedom, without any terrorist attacks and feel happy that we can walk the streets without any fear” she said.

She commented that everyone should have equal rights and all Sri Lankans including ethnic minorities should work together. All Sri Lankans should come together to change their attitudes towards the ethnic minorities and should not repeat the mistakes which culminated in the war, she said.

“Sri Lanka will be one of the best countries in the world to work and live as it has plenty of potential after peace” she concluded.

 

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