No minority communities

Chaminda Perera

Dr. Gunadasa Amarasekera throughout the history has taken serious efforts to awaken the national conscience of the people of Sri Lanka. A poet. Essayist and novelist, Amarasekera was one of the founding fathers of Peradeniya school of literary tradition. Dr. Amarasekera through the Manel Mal Movement is striving to create national conscience among the academia and the public.

Amarasekera ventured in to criticism of political, social and cultural landscape of Sri Lanka after 1970 and his writings describes the evolution of middle class and enunciates the national conscience.

He said President Mahinda Rajapaksa won the third national liberation struggle by defeating one of the most ruthless terrorist outfits which was backed by western imperialist forces.

According to Dr. Amarasekera, the country has seen three main national liberation struggles and the significance of the third national liberation struggle is that Sri Lanka rejected the western new colonial forces by eliminating their agent Vellupillai Prabhakaran from the Sri Lankan soil.

He said Tiger leader Vellupillai Prabhakaran is an agent of imperialist forces and Prabhakaran merely did what he was dictated. “President Mahinda Rajapaksa following the footsteps of our Kings such as King Dutugemunu and King Parakramabahu eliminated the foreign invasion which came under the guise of the LTTE and united the country.

”We see the continuation of national liberation struggles from the 1817 rebellion led by Monarawila Keppettipola just two years after the British administration was formally established in the country.

Keppettipola awakened the national conscience and lead the people to fight against the foreign invasion Dr. Amarasekera said the prominent figures such as Anagarika Dharmapala pioneered in the revival of national conscience in the early 30s and 40s.

The impact created by the Anagarika Dharmapala on the Sri Lankan society directly helped the second national liberation struggle to take shape in 1956. The Pancha Maha Balawegaya led by Former Prime Minister SWRD Bandaranaike brought social, cultural renaissance to the country in 1956, he said.

Dr. Amarasekera welcomed the President’s viewpoint that there is no minority community in Sri Lanka. “The President in his address to the Nation said there is no minority community in Sri Lanka but two divisions persist namely the people who really love the Motherland and the others who betrayed the Motherland.

He said the LTTE had 1\3 of land and 2\3 of maritime when Mahinda Rajapaksa took office. Two Governments were in operation within the territorial boundaries of Sri Lanka.

”The Government should understand that elimination of Prabhakaran and his barbaric outfit is not the end of the mission. Prabhakaran failed in creating a separate State in Sri Lanka but the western imperialist forces who backed the LTTE will resort to numerous strategies to bring Elam to the country.

He said the Western imperialist Forces will not abandon their agenda to carve out a separate state in Sri Lanka. There will be more and more conspiracies against the Government. The patriotic citizens of the country know how the Government was pressurized by Britain, France and United States during the last stage of humanitarian mission.

British Foreign Secretary David Miliband and French Foreign Minister Bernand Kouchner forced the Government to go for a ceasefire to save their agent in Wanni, Dr. Amarasekera said.

These influential elements of the western colonialism will double their efforts to achieve what they failed to realize through Prabhakaran. He opined that bringing a political solution to the so called North and the East issue to win the hearts and soul of Tamil people is a myth. “We have already won the people and they have sought the protection of the Security Forces.

The Tamil people will never cross over to the cleared area if they have no faith in the Government and the Security Forces and I am of the opinion that political solution cannot win the heart and soul of people.

“The various forces who are talking of political solution should first think what the problem is, he said.

“There is no problem for the Tamils and the people of all communities are equally treated by the Government. Before solution is talked off, we should find out what their problem is, Dr. Amarasekera said.