New Year musings

The festive season is all around us as Sinhalese and Hindus celebrate the traditional New Year in the customary manner.

The Sinhala and Hindu New Year provides an opportunity to one and all to sink petty differences and unite in harmony. As we celebrate the New Year, quite naturally, expectations are high but not all could achieve those dreams and aspirations eventually.

Therefore, it is the duty of all of us to usher in a peace that guarantees and safeguards the freedom, democratic as well as human rights of the people.

It is the fervent hope of people that the efforts to eradicate terrorism and achieve an honourable peace will be crowned with success before long. The Government has achieved great success during the past few years.

While continuing its relentless battle against terrorism, the Government has maintained the pace of its development projects. The people of this country expect an honourable peace and many of them are confident that President Mahinda Rajapaksa is the right man to provide an able leadership towards that goal.

We need a peace that ensures that all ethnic and religious groups enjoy their rights legally and constitutionally. Be they Sinhalese, Tamils, Muslims or Burghers, this country belongs to all of us and all communities should live in peace and harmony.

While creating conditions for the dawn of peace in the North and East, we cannot be unmindful of the fact that there should be peace and unity in the rest of the country. Peace is not divisible. It should be equally meaningful to all.

Having liberated the East from the clutches of terrorism and ensured that people in the Trincomalee, Batticaloa and Ampara Districts enjoy their rights to live honourably, the Government aims to do likewise for the people in Mullaitivu and the Wanni before the next Sinhala and Hindu New Year.

As we begin yet another year in keeping with the Sinhala and Hindu customs, it’s time to take stock of our achievements as well as our failures to face the New Year with greater courage and determination.

It is indeed heartening to see people paying more attention today to our age-old customs and traditions - more than ever before. The Sinhalese and Tamils give equal prominence to their New Year customs under one banner.

We must take this as a positive sign to protect our Sri Lankan identity. There was a time when some people felt ashamed of talking about our customs and ignored them altogether. Some chose to think that those customs did not fit into the fast developing world. We also had so-called leaders who celebrated their birthdays and New Year abroad in grand style.

Thanks to the untiring efforts of President Rajapaksa and his Government, most Sri Lankans now acknowledge the importance of taking forward our valued customs and traditions.

People now give top priority to our motherland, irrespective of their social and political affiliations. This is a positive sign for any nation to prosper.

President Rajapaksa, as the First Citizen, has set a shining example by observing the time-honoured New Year customs at his native Hambantota residence each year. For the villagers there, he is the simple Mahinda they had known for decades - not the Executive President or the Head of State.

When taking stock of our achievements as a nation during the past year, we can feel justifiably proud that our Security Forces have liberated the entire Eastern Province from the jaws of the blood-thirsty Tigers.

The successful operations in Mavil Aru, Sampur, Vakarai and Thoppigala have given true liberation to the Tamil civilians in those areas. It’s completely different from the so-called liberation professed by the LTTE.

The Government has not only liberated the East but also restored democracy in the area. Under the first phase, the Local Government elections were held in the Batticaloa District and the Eastern Provincial Council Election is scheduled to be held on May 10.

What is most significant is that the Government has been able to convince the former LTTE cadres in the breakaway TMVP to rest faith in the ballot. That alone is a great victory for democracy and the peace-loving people of this country.

Our valiant Security Forces are in the process of liberating the North and as the first thrust towards that goal, they would soon liberate Madhu from the Tigers. The Government has shown no mercy to terrorism and made every endeavour to protect innocent civilians who have been under Prabhakaran’s ruthless rule.

Simultaneously, development work has not been neglected citing defence expenditure as an excuse. Mega development projects such as the Weerawila International Airport, Hambantota Harbour, Upper Kotmale power generation, Kukule Ganga and Moragahakanda projects are some of the laudable ventures undertaken by the Government.

Opportunist political opponents are free to accuse the Government of the high cost-of-living. But who has benefited from the increased prices? Local paddy, coconut and dairy farmers are now getting better returns for their produce. These farmers would certainly derive the biggest income to celebrate this New Year.

We are not saying that everything is hunky-dory. But when one considers the nation’s fearless battle against terrorism and the economic and social development we have achieved during the past couple of years, we as a nation could hold our heads high. Sinhalese, Tamils, Muslims or Burghers are all sons and daughters of this soil and this resplendent isle belongs to them.

In keeping with the spirit and joy of the season, let us resolve on this New Year’s Day to strive to usher in a peace, which meets these objectives.