INDEPENDENCE DAY MESSAGE BY FOREIGN RELATIONS MINISTER DINESH GUNAWARDENA

Since independence Sri Lankans and their sociopolitical leadership have always taken the right path in progressing towards success despite the power conflicts of great powers. The third decade of the twentyfirst century dawns in the midst of conflicting situations among great powers. In celebrating the seventysecond Independence Day, as a nation, our determination should be to face world economic issues, political crises, power conflicts, regional contingencies and neocolonial socio-political strategies disguised as globalization, under a visionary political leadership that fosters socioeconomic progress, political stability, and cultural preservation.

The earliest human remains found in Sri Lanka, dating to thirty-five thousand years from today, substantiate the fact that this island has, “ever since, been a geographical region favourable for human existence. The island is considered as an oasis of calm, unlike most other regions where natural and climatic hazards regularly occur. There is also ample evidence to prove that owing to its easily accessible geographical location, people from various quarters of the world had Immigrated to the island making it ethnologically variegated even in the prehistoric period. The foundation to the present civilization of the island was gradually laid by the new island nation that emerged as a mixture of the native inhabitants and the culturally advanced Indian immigrants who invaded the island many a time in the first millennium AD. After the introduction of the teachings of Gauthama Buddha in the third century BC, the island nation developed a great culture disciplined by his visionary teachings. The Sinhalese language, the main tongue of the island nation is one of the world’s oldest living languages that has been spoken continually for more than two millennia. The island nation is renowned for its geographically and environmentally harmonious irrigation works that are regarded as unique heritage of the world’s irrigation technology. Their fine arts such as paintings, sculptures, carvings as well as their exquisite literature scribed in a unique language are among the other heritages that bring them glory.

Throughout their history, Sri Lankans have remained loyal to their ruler by bravely joining in hands during hard times to beat off foreign invaders that came to loot their geographical and natural resources.