Peace for ethnic communities
Nilma Dole
“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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