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After nearly 27 years of fighting against the world’s most ruthless
terrorist force at last peace has been brought to our country. It is the
most admirable achievement of recent world history. Definitely it is a
victory won because of the iron resolve of one man, President Mahinda
Rajapaksa. No one can dispute it.
No doubt Sarath Fonseka contributed his share as Army Commander. He
too admitted on TV that the war was brought to a successful end because
of the political leadership given by the President. Any fool could
understand that.
The most important thing is to make a decision to wage war and go
ahead with it to a finish and that Mahinda Rajapaksa has done. What
about the immense responsibility he took by taking this decision.
There is another vital point. The way President Rajapaksa handled the
international pressures were really admirable. The UK, US, France, the
mighty Western powers and India and the United Nations tried their
utmost to stop the war but it was not President Rajapaksa who gave in.
In this regard the Rajapaksa Sahodara Sangamaya contributed its share
eminently.
If not for President Rajapaksa and his Sahodara Sangamaya what would
have been the plight of the country. Today Prabhakaran would have
established his de facto Eelam in one third of the country, nay, may be
even half and border clashes would have been another menace.
What happened to JR the ‘Old Fox’. He succumbed to India’s
interference in the late eighties and stopped the war. Premadasa
actually did the reverse of what President Rajapaksa did. Instead of
fighting the LTTE he misjudged and gave arms, ammunition and cement
hoping to settle the ethnic problem through negotiations. It is tragic
that this attempt culminated in his own destruction. He was the poor
man’s President a dynamic worker Chandrika could not go further than
conquering Jaffna.
The diplomacy, tact and iron determination shown by Mahinda Rajapaksa
were not seen in any of the previous Presidents. These qualities of
President Rajapaksa were the main factor that contributed to the victory
in the war against the LTTE. The value of this victory is beyond
estimation. Hence we can infer that he will show the same resolve in
developing the country and eliminating corruption and fraud. We can
support him by giving him the two-thirds majority in Parliament next
April, so that he can abolish the so-called obnoxious Executive
Presidency and the PR system.
After achieving such an impossible task are we trying to play into
the hands of the TNA and other international intruders. Sarath Fonseka
is now supposed to be entering into agreements with the TNA or giving
them promises that would eventually lead to separation, with the
intention of capturing Tamil votes. Sarath Fonseka if elected will undo
all the good work done by President Rajapaksa and put the whole country
into chaos.
He has already shown immaturity in his decisions and comments.
Moreover his advent into politics has begun on a vendetta with the
President.
Hence the voters of this country are requested to think before
casting their vote on the 26th.
T. Jayatilaka
At Nittambuwa the Retired General promised the voters that under his
Presidency that each and every Sri Lankan will be given 12 to 15 perches
of land.
What a hilarious statement. Even a student studying economics for GCE
(O/L) is aware that land is a limited factor. This shows the vision of
the Retired General.
His mission will be to bring land from the moon like somebody
bringing rice from the moon to fulfil a promise.
When a set of blinds are leading blinds, political platforms will be
full of classic jokes of this nature. This is just nothing, when the man
who offered bracelets, denim trousers and chewing gum to the youth of
this country is behind the General with speeches made by a ‘Tailor who
was not fit to stitch even underwear to the Army.’
By any chance if the Retired General becomes the President of this
country we will be ale to see the modern version of Kakille Rajjuruvo
with modern Don Juwan Dharampala hanging on to his tail for survival.
R. Liyanage - Colombo 5
Patriots are genuine Sri Lankans. Even though non patriots are
citizens of Sri Lanka, they are not at all interested in our country.
Both patriots and non-patriots are in all the communities. Patriots
among Sinhalese, Tamils and Muslims want all the problems of Sri Lanka
to be solved. Whether it is economic or ethnic, the patriots want a
solution. Non-patriots on their actions they are pro Sri Lankans.
Practically they are not interested in our country. They are the people
who create unwanted problems in our country.
They are against nationalism. Non patriots among Tamils use
anti-Buddhist, anti-Sinhala slogans. They poison the hearts of innocent
youths. Non-patriots among Sinhalese use anti-Tamil slogans. They always
unite in each other. Non-patriots among Sinhalese, Tamils and Muslims
unite for elections.
What is language? It is the medium of expressing our thoughts. Even
our thoughts are in our Mother Tongue. There are only two languages and
three major communities. Can’t we unite? For all of us food, sheltering
and clothes are very important.
To achieve our main goal unity is important. Peace is very important.
Now there is peace in our country, we don’t want our country to be
divided into pieces. But we need peace. Who brought peace? Our President
Mahinda Rajapaksa brought peace and the people of Sri Lanka are very
happy. We don’t want a change. We want peace to continue. The only way
to maintain peace is to elect our President once again.
We want our President to solve the ethnic and economic problems
facing our country. We as Tamils of Sri Lanka expect a reasonable
political solution.
The 13th Amendment should be fully implemented to bring the national
unity.
Now the people has to think about the future of Sri Lanka. The
present President is a patriot who likes all the citizens of Sri Lanka,
loves our country, respects all racial and religious groups. He already
started the development projects. Widening of roads, construction of
bridges, putting up new buildings. Employment is given to educated
youth. Most of the security check points are removed. For national
unity, economic development, employment etc. it is better for us to vote
once again our patriot Mahinda Rajapaksa and bring him as the President.
S. K. THANGAVADIVEL - Kopay
The normal lament of an average Sri Lankan is that there is lethargy
in the public sector and to get something done it is necessary to go
behind a politician and request the said personage to speak to the head
of the department. There is also a complaint that even if some kind of
action is taken advices or an acknowledgement to one’s letter is not
received normally. There is also the accusation of corruption.
The CEA however is different. It was necessary for me to lodge a
complaint to the CEA about a matter regarding noise pollution. Without
any inducement whatsoever the Deputy Director of Western Province
arranged for two officers of the CEA to investigate into the complaint.
After visiting the premises of the offending parties action has been
taken by the CEA as per the gazette notification etc. to alleviate my
problem. I take this opportunity to publicly thank the officials of the
CEA for the services that they are rendering to the public which should
be showcased as an example of an efficient public sector department.
Shiran Mendis - Rajagiriya
Whilst fully endorsing the views expressed by Nihar Marikkar (DN
January 13) I wish to point our one further and very important step to
be taken to minimize cruelty to animals. A few years back, this writer
personally witnessed the agony of a cow being slaughtered and the
unbearable pain experienced by the cow, in the process of being
slaughtered.
In the Western countries, cattle are slaughtered, after stunning
them, to ensure that little or no pain is experienced by the cattle when
being slaughtered. This I believe is a very humane method of slaughter.
I would, therefore, wish to add just one suggestion to the suggestions
made by Marikkar to minimize cruelty to animals. i.e. an appeal to the
relevant authorities in Sri Lanka, to ensure that the cattle are stunned
before being slaughtered, adopting the very same procedure adopted in
Western countries. I would like to hear from Marikkar as to whether he
endorses my suggestion.
D. Siriratna - Ambalangoda
A steel flyover is an urgent need for Ganemulla. When the rail gate
is closed for a few minutes there is traffic congestion in the town and
the traffic will extend up to about 500 metres on both sides of the
level crossing.
Avoiding the busy Ganemulla town, there is another alternative
parallel road passing the Police station and this steel bridge can
easily be installed over the level crossing without causing any
inconvenience to the people who are residing on both sides of the Police
Station Road.
Vijitha Ananda Jayasena - Ganemulla
It is indeed a welcoming effort to launch the Kandy - Jaffna CTB bus
service, through the A9 Road after a couple of decades, in the early
hours of the day.
It is apt to mention that so many workers attached to Government and
private institutions in the North/North Central area were subject to a
lot of inconvenience, due to poor transport service, which was dominated
by private bus owners. In the past there were instances that however
much a person leaves early from Kandy towards the Northern area, there
were no buses available on time, to reach their destination.
This trend has been eliminated now, people have got the opportunity
to travel to these areas after the introduction of the Jaffna bus
service.
J. M. Siddique - Kandy
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