Religious and racial amity is the way forward
B. Anton Jeyanathan
The year 2018 was a period of economic setbacks. Apart from the sharp depreciation of the rupee, the ever-increasing repayment of debts, depletion in the foreign reserves and a drop in remittances sent by expat workers, a cloud of darkness prevailed due to a constitutional crisis which nearly brought our country to its knees.
The country came out on top with the independent judiciary stamping its authority against illegal executive actions and brought back the democratic system once again. During this dark period, the armed forces and police ensured the law and order was maintained and there were no incidents of any communal clashes, the types of which were seen early in March 2018 at Digana in Kandy and in Ampara.
It is regrettable though some miscreants were arrested and are yet to be brought before courts, there has been no departmental action taken against senior police officers who were mere bystanders when properties were damaged and serious injuries were caused to people. Thankfully, the religious leaders go together and brought the situation under control, before they flared up as countrywide clashes.
It appears that certain political parties are fanning the racial and religious emotions to set this country on fire again. There were reports of the killing of two policemen on duty at a checkpoint in the Eastern
Province. The crime was allegedly committed by former
LTTE cadres.
Subject to correction, up to now, except for a few reports of the arrest of some rehabilitated LTTE cadres, it is still not known who the real culprits are, whether they are
LTTE cadres or not and whether the weapons stolen from the policemen have been recovered.
Meanwhile, reports from the north said the letters of a signboard showing the direction of the Naga Vihara had been obliterated by unknown persons. There were also reports of ex-LTTE cadres carrying out attacks on armed forces and Police personnel in the North. Just this week the Chunnakam Police have arrested some persons in connection with the discovery of explosives and firearms which have been left behind by some youths suspected to be LTTE cadres, on seeing members of the armed forces. The law enforcement officers should take every step to prevent the resurgence of the LTTE in the North and East.
In Mawanella and other areas, Buddha statues had been damaged and desecrated by persons of a particular ethnic group. Some arrests have been made and they have been brought before a court of law. However, some politicians and some of the religious leaders are uttering falsehoods and half truths, instigating the majority community against the minority communities. With the aim of capturing political power, they propagate misleading statements against certain proposals by the government. They seek to bring about discord between communities. All political parties must sit together and find a political solution acceptable to all communities – a solution that will give equal status to all as citizens of Sri Lanka, so that the ethnic problem is solved once and for all, leaving no room for miscreants and racist politicians to whip up ethnic or religious emotions and mislead the people at every election to gain power.
With the forthcoming elections, politicians of all shades are uttering various statements bordering racial and religious disharmony to win votes. Such utterances should be dealt with by the law enforcement authorities to prevent the country from plunging into mayhem and bloodshed once again.
Sri Lanka is a multi-racial and multi-religious nation. We are all Sri Lankans though we may belong to various ethnicities or religions. We have to live together identifying ourselves as Sri Lankans. This is the way for the progress.
All religious leaders must preach and campaign for the common Sri Lankan identity so that we will not be identified by our race or religion. Then, we can go forward as one nation – Sri Lanka.
Let there be racial and religious amity throughout the country so that from this year onwards our country will be able to raise its head above the economic, religious and racial clouds.
With the forthcoming elections, politicians of all shades are uttering various statements bordering racial and religious disharmony to win votes. Such utterances should be dealt with by the law enforcement authorities to prevent the country from plunging into mayhem and bloodshed once again.