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| Sunday, 6 February 2005 |
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A nation state 57 years old by Athula K. Samarakoon On 04th February 2005, Sri Lanka celebrated her 57th indepedence anniversary just like she had done in past, at the Independence Square but with a different tone and theme.
This time Sri Lanka's independence anniversary has prompted the national leaders to concentrate on a common agenda converging all the strength of the nation in succeeding the tsunami challenge. Sri Lanka has suffered the most ferocious destruction ever in her history from tsunami. This enormous suffering of us was compassionately realised by the world and their response was immense. The world's helping hand we recieved in the immediate aftermath of the calamity enabled the affected nation to breath and ponder on a tomorrow with a new vigour. Now the reconstruction and rebuilding being underway and all social strata paying attention towards it, the nation seems to have entered the correct path leading to quick prosperity. In fact the mental trauma caused by tsunami to the nation is currently fading away bringing nomalcy to the public life. First the government of Sri Lanka set the example before the nation and the whole world by defiantly accepting the grave challenge of directing the country to the future despite the natural calamity added to the ethnic war. The courage and the dedication of the government was praised worldwide and the citizens could be proud of their rulers whom they have trusted in the elections. Since her independence the need for a national consensus in building the nation has been the widely spoken and debated topic among the academics, politicians,journalists,professionals and all the other strata of the society. However never could the nation come to any common ground to solve their differences and petty opportunisms throughout the post-independent era. The country which was at the level of some other developed nation at the independence and even once had become a model for some countries today has been ranked among the poorest lot in the world who are ever to be developed and never to be in developed. Just few weeks before the 57th independence Day celebrations the unprecedented tsunami crashed into the coastal areas of the country and made a graveyard there, while the whole country became disabled and traumatised. The fury of tsunami could awaken the highly opportunist politicians to the reality and they promised to work together with the government to take the country forward. The opposition and the LTTE both extended their willingness to give consent to the government relief and reconstruction programs to much amusement of the political analysts and the general public. On the part of the LTTE they had to realise that even though they have some areas under their control. They lacked status of a separate ruling body with international recognition that would enable them to have their own measures to rebuild their areas. Also the pressure brought on the LTTE by the presence of the foreign armies specially the Indian and the USA and the damage to their military capacity brought about by tsunami must have forced them to think of their real ability. The post-independent Sri Lankan state had to remain ever poverty stricken and ethnically hostile because our independence was not a result of a national independent struggle like that of India and it was only an opportunity gained by our bourgeois class to have their political independence only. Now after 57 years of the independence our national consciousness has still to be built and the political and economic independence to be won. The tsunami has been a warning in the guise of a natural calamity prompting us to be united to solve our deep rooted problems. |
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