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Wednesday, 25 January 2012

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Strengthen hand of government

Our front page lead story yesterday, quoting Mass Media and Information Minister Keheliya Rambukwella should help to put the record straight on some of the issues facing the state and the people. The minister was forthright on the question of the readiness of the state to meet any challenge to the law and order situation. Any efforts to sabotage the progress of the country by disruptive elements will be put down by the state, the minister said most emphatically.

While there are pockets of unrest in the country on perceived grievances and this should be expected to a degree in a vibrant democracy, what an impartial observer should find intriguing is the simultaneous cropping-up of these trouble spots.

It is too much of a coincidence that these issues should come to the surface all at once, particularly at a time when most people cannot grumble about their lot, materially speaking. Accordingly, as observed by the Media Minister, there is a 'hidden hand' behind this disgruntlement and this 'hand' seems to be twitching to commit sabotage on a wide scale and thereby impede the progress of the country.

But there exists a system of government in this country which is, of course, democratic in nature and the option before those political forces which are seeking to come to power is to try their fortunes at the polls, which are held in time and on the basis of the conditions stipulated in the country's constitution. Attempts to come to power by undemocratic means, such as through the use of violence, are blatantly illegal and would be dealt with by the government in terms of the law. In fact, the majority of the public expects the government to use the legitimate means at its command to deal with disruptive acts which undermine the peace and stability of this country.

Sri Lanka has seen very dark times in the past when political forces operating outside the democratic structure sought to come to power by the force of arms. The consequences for the country from the exercise of these undemocratic options were most tragic. The citizenry of this country would not like to see this country in political turmoil once again. They would expect the government to do its duty by the people and the country by using all the legitimate means at its disposal to maintain peace and stability within Sri Lanka.

That said, the citizenry too must carry out its obligations towards the state by supporting the state's hand in its drive to maintain law and order. It would be most unfortunate if sections within our polity fall for the baseless propaganda of the enemies of the state and collaborate with them or turn a blind eye on their disruptive acts.

As the Media Minister explained, some of these destructive critics of the state are luxuriating in dollars and are based abroad. There are some NGOs which are intent on fuelling unrest in this country under the pretext of working towards democratic development, whereas this country is a functional democracy and is not in need of any pontificating on democratic rule and its virtues. These critics and their NGO buddies who are hand -in -glove with some of the biggest powers of the West would do well to read a recent report brought out by Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation titled, 'Report on the Situation with Human Rights in Certain States', which lays bare the human rights abuses committed by some of those Western states which are self-righteously breathing fire about the human rights situation in the developing world.

The Free Media Movement is one of those organizations which have been in the forefront of lambasting the Lankan state on numerous issues but it too has been steeped in controversy and has a lot of soul-searching to do. We wonder where its 'Founding Fathers' are today? Are they in this country or in some safe Western Comfort Zone?

This is a moment for sensible reflection on the part of all. Fuelling unrest in this country would prove highly counter-productive from the point of view of particularly the majority of the people who are quite content with their lot. There needs to be a coming together of all progressive forces for the purposes of taking Sri Lanka continuously on the path of progress.

Ushering in a better world through the minds of youth

Inventions and discoveries have emanated from creative minds that have been constantly working and imagining the outcome in the mind. With imagining and constant effort, all the forces of the universe work for that inspired mind, thereby leading to inventions and discoveries. The question is: are you willing to become a unique personality?

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The Human Dimension

Igniting the minds of not only youths but everyone…

The opportunity to listen to one of the region’s – and the world’s best known personalities, Dr. Abdul Kalam, India’s 11th President and its foremost nuclear scientist, was a rare one for most Sri Lankans, including myself. In his usual, simple style with much wisdom in his words delivered in a rustic, down to earth manner,

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Reconciliation, Sri Lanka and the world

These areas then remain problematical. The argument that applying pressure on the grounds of war crimes will lead to a political solution is a pernicious one, and counter-productive. Sadly, I have even heard this suggestion advanced by an Indian General who, with active experience of Sri Lanka, should have known better. That was not however an Indian government view,

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Back to BASICS

Why should frugality be a village?

Just last week during a casual search on Google for some material, I stumbled on an interesting image. It was a photograph of a road signage, which read ‘Village of Frugality’. The first thought that came to my mind was ‘Why only a village, why not the whole wide world?’ I did casually post that on my Face book page, and moved on to other things.

Full Story

 

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