To see only one side of the coin

The armed forces and the terrorists were fighting a war in the North of this country. The International Community has pointed out many atrocities they accuse the armed forces of. I recently watched a movie which showed just one side of this horrible story – but doesn’t it take two to fight a war? And why is the International Community only concentrating on the last stages of this war – which went on for almost 30 years?

Has the International community ever stopped to think, or ever tried to find out what the terrorists were doing outside the war zones in Colombo, Kandy and many other places in this country? They bombed the Central Bank in the heart of the city of Colombo which saw so many innocent civilians killed and many others injured. Shopping malls, Buddhist temples and many other places were destroyed by the ruthless terrorists and many, many innocent civilians killed or severely injured. They even tried to kill the Army Commander using a female suicide bomber, but by the grace of God - though he was very severely injured – lived to tell the tale.

We the people of this country lived in fear, wondering if our husbands, wives and our children would return home once they left for work or school in the mornings. We were terrified to travel in a bus or even travel in a vehicle behind a bus as many buses were planted with time bombs or grenades which would suddenly go off, killing and injuring many passengers and even those on the roadside.

The war in the North was brought to the South by these terrorists – though the armed forces were engaged in a war in the North. Does the International Community have any knowledge of these terrible happenings in this part of the country? I doubt very much.

I am not a Sinhalese, a Tamil or a Muslim – but proud to be a Sri Lankan. I am very concerned and upset by the manner in which the International Community is focusing on the atrocities of the armed force who were involved in this war only to protect our country, while the LTTE were fighting to claim something for themselves. Does the International Community know how many members of the armed forces have lost their lives in this unnecessary war and how many have been maimed by bombs, grenades and land mines planted by the terrorists.

As a SRI LANKAN I believe every bit of this country belongs to all Sri Lankans, whatever ethnicity they belong to. This country cannot and should not be divided, and it is far too precious to be broken up into pieces. Every citizen is entitled to live where they wish to and no one can dictate terms. Anyone who wants to live in SRI LANKA should respect the country and learn to live as SRI LANKANS - whether they be Sinhala, Tamil, Muslim, Malay or Burgher or else find some other abode.